Helpful Links For Commercial Rabbit Selection

Here are some links I've found over the past few months about making meat rabbit selections. This also generally applies to anyone that breeds for commercial type rabbits. These breeds include:

American Chinchilla
French, Satin, & Giant Angoras
Blanc de Hotot
Champagne d’Argent (and Bruns)
Californian
Cinnamon
Crème d’Argent
French Lop
Harlequin! (Sorry, I couldn't resist bolding and adding an exclamation point, lol).
New Zealand
Palomino
Standard Rex
American Sable
Satin
Silver Fox
Silver Marten

First, what is commercial type anyway and what traits are we looking for? Click below to find out (with a diagram from Judge Mike D'Amico!):

Commercial Type Rabbit

When thinking of body types and qualities, I always try to remember the more extreme examples of each. For example, an extreme semi-arch or mandolin body type is an English Lop. They are built entirely different from a New Zealand and they have heavy bone. Mini Lops are built entirely different from either and almost look like a basketball cut in half with their compact little bodies. Cylindrical (Himi's) are shaped almost like ferrets or tubes and yet Tans have an almost jackrabbit shape as a full-arch breed. It makes sense that commercial rabbit breeds are solid with beefy quarters and a thick loin when comparing to the others as many were developed primarily as meat rabbits. Here is another link with information about selecting for good breeding stock and good meat rabbits in general:

What to Look For

Now that we know what to keep an eye out for, here is an article about showing meat pen rabbits, but it also talks about how to feel for good commercial type:

Selecting and Evaluating Meat Pens

And finally, how many rabbits does someone need to feed their family? How much will it cost to do so? Here are some handy calculators to help you figure it all out:

Rabbit Calculators

I enjoyed looking at these and comparing qualities in my litters and I hope it will be helpful to others as well. :)