Saving doomed rabbits?

[leyley904]

 I’m sorry if this is against the rules. I see that talking about rabbits for food is prohibited. But, I just have a quick question, with good intentions. 

 

Is it possible to save a rabbit meant for food to be a pet? I see adds on craiglist giving away rabbits for food . I’m just wondering if they are much different from a non-meat rabbits. Like, I’ve heard that meat animals are bred so much that they have an extremely short life span, just long enough to fatten up.  But could a rabbit meant to be food be a pet instead? I would love to adopt a big checkered giant (or any meat breed) one day that is sold for food purposes! I want a big lug-of-a-bun as a house rabbit when I get in college (apartment). Saving them from their death would definitely be a plus!

 

Sorry if this is prohibited. I understand and apologize if it is removed.

[Sarita]

I have had many “meat” rabbits as pets. They are considered this because of their size – New Zealands, Flemish Giants, Californians. And in fact they make wonderful pets – they are gentle giants. I love the big lug-of-a-buns and saving one would be a wonderful thing to do.

[Elrohwen]

Yep, “meat rabbits” make wonderful pets. They’re usually the larger breeds and are typically more laid back than the little dwarf buns many people keep as pets.

[Deleted User]

It is very kind of you to consider a rabbit who was bred to be livestock. They make fine pets. My Deirdra was sold at an auction for meat. This means I can’t know her pedigree. It is possible she may not be the healthiest for poor breeding practices but I love her now and for as long as she may live. she is great.

[Sarita]

Having a large rabbit does require some different requirements as far as housing too – free roam would be good for these big buns and a larger litter box.

They are more difficult as far as handling for medicating and nails trims and such so you have to be super confident when handling them for these reasons.

[Deleted User]

they eat a ton of hay

[MimzMum]

My Pip is a palomino/lionhead cross. We did get her from a pet store, but she was the last one left there because she wasn’t ‘tiny & cute’ like all the hollands and netherlands in the tanks with her. Obviously she was one of those ‘oops’ bunnies from an unintended litter.
She would be considered a meat rabbit because of her size, which is bordering on 8 pounds. (I’m guessing)
She is the best bunny. She is much calmer than my other two (holland and mini-rex) and has made a wonderful pet for my older daughter, who is usually squeamish about holding squirmy animals…she has no problem holding and cuddling Pip because Pip will put up with more handling than most other rabbits would. And I find these rabbits are sturdier too, surviving many of the normal difficulties medically that other rabbits would swoon under easily.

The only problem I would see is, how do you choose just one, or two at the most…because I could see wishing I could take home a whole pen-full, and that would be a tough row to hoe.

[Andi]

I’m with everyone else, we have many breeds of rabbits adopted out, the large breeds are usually the most popular to be adopted.

[leyley904]

Yay! I’m so happy!

Just to make things a little clearer:
I know new zealands, californians, ect. are “meat breeds” and I knew and know they are very common pets. I was more pointing towards specific rabbits that are bred to be sold at auctions for meat and similar things like Deirdra. But, all of you guys helped answer my question! I just didn’t make my question very clear. But I do know that these large breed rabbits make wonderful pets.

I don’t mind not knowing their pedigree or even if they live a shorter life. I just want them to be happy
I just wanted to make sure that rabbits bred for meat auctions didn’t live, like… one year. It would be to hard to love a rabbit but lose them after one year.

The rabbit rescue my Benny is from has several huge buns that love to be held like a baby. One even falls asleep in your arms and snores!

Thanks again for the help! Too bad I have to wait until I move out :\

[Andi]

We have those ‘mix’ rabbits at our shelter, some are 10 years old.

[Sarita]

Actually I think the New Zealands and Californians are overlooked at the shelters because they are large and they have pink eyes – I find them much less common than the smaller designer breeds like Holland Lops and Lionheads.

Many Californians are bred by 4H’s and then are sold at their auctions. I had a female New Zealand white that had a tattoo that I suspect was a “breeder” for a meat/fur rabbit breeder but I cannot say for sure since she ended up in a shelter.

I love the large breeds too. To me they are the bestest :~)

[Beka27]

A rabbit is a rabbit is a rabbit.

I’d have two of every kind if my house were big enough!

[leyley904]

Sarita, do you think she could have been a breeder bun, or just intended to, but never actually bred? I hope she didn’t have to go through that!
If it offers any hope that she didn’t have to go through something bad, my bun has a tattoo from the local rescue. They just do it while the rabbits are under for a spay/neuter. It helps them keep track of who is spayed/neutered. And they have also had a rabbit get adopted from them, go through FOUR different houses, then come back. It is at a ladies house, and she gets to know the buns on a personal level. She recognized that particular bun, but, you never know.

The big rabbits are more huggable and snuggable! (I’m not sure if that’s a word…. maybe snuggleable? Lol!)

[Nibbles_NZ]

My Baxter was bred for meat. He is a red and white New Zealand. He is the best! He is so sweet. A gentle giant. It isn’t true at all that they live short lives. The ones that are being bred, yes but not necessarily thier babies. In fact, before I picked him up I researched New Zealands and I found that they live very long lives and they are less affected by a lot of other common ailments that some of the other breeds face. New Zealand rabbits are much larger than others, reaching up to 12 lbs. Some are even larger. If you get a New Zealand, I would go for a male. The females, from what I understand can be much more territorial. I’m sure some are very sweet though. I have also noticed that my New Zealand is a lot more laid back than Bella (my dutch). Right now he is hormonal and needing neutered but he is still managable as long as he has no carpet to destroy lol. I think it is great that you want to save one! I wouldn’t know which one to save

*Oh and only the New Zealand whites have pink eyes. The others all have dark eyes.

[Deleted User]

I agree with you, Nibbles, that they are not short-lived as a breed. Many of the actual meat rabbits, the ones raised in the rabbit meat industry, however, are not always genetically sound due to inbreeding and other breeding malpractices.

[Sarita]

I can only speculate that she was a breeder bunny since she was a female and usually they keep the females for this purpose. I have no idea if she was bred BUT she was spayed which makes me think she was rescued from a breeder since a breeder of these type rabbits would never ever spay them. She was in the shelter as a result of an eviction so who can really know her whole life story was. She had a tattoo in her ear but I have no idea what it meant – the rescue I helped at used to do a tattoo with either a S for spay or N for neuter and the year they had it altered.

I don’t think the females are more territorial – I imagine that behavior is due to most not being altered. I think the big buns are more snuggleable too :~)

[Nibbles_NZ]

Oh, and I completely agree! Good luck clipping the nails or getting a larger bunny to do something they don’t agree with! They have very strong back legs! Baxter doesn’t like getting his nails clipped. Now that he is hormonal, he will nip at me if I try to hold him down. So far, not enough to really hurt though!

[Nibbles_NZ]

Posted By Petzy on 05/26/2010 05:27 PM
I agree with you, Nibbles, that they are not short-lived as a breed. Many of the actual meat rabbits, the ones raised in the rabbit meat industry, however, are not always genetically sound due to inbreeding and other breeding malpractices.

 

That is true. I didn’t even think about that. How sad!  Now I am a little worried at Baxter. Would it have come up in his blood work? The Vet said that he was very healthy. Hmmm….should I be worried at all? I mean, he is going to be neutered soon and if there is something that isn’t sound, could he not make it through?

[Nibbles_NZ]

Hmmm…The breeder told me that he was not meant to be a meat rabbit and she wouldn’t sell him to anyone who she thought would use him for that purpose. BUT, she also breeds rabbits for meat. I don’t know what to think now.

[Nibbles_NZ]

Petzy, your bunny is so pretty! I cannot imagine her not being someones pet! How big is she?

[Deleted User]

Thank you Nibbles. Deirdra is about the size of an average cat. A small, plump cat.
Don’t worry about Baxter’s bloodlines. I don’t about Deirdra’s. Even pets are sometimes poorly-bred, to increase the incidence of certain coat markings, for example.

[Nibbles_NZ]

Yeah, I’m not going to worry. He is who he is. Wow, she is pretty big. I’ve wondered how big Baxter will actually get. His breed is 9-12 lbs but I read that the females are usually the 12 lb buns. Who knows. He looks huge now but only wieghs about 4 lbs.

[The Rabbit]

I had someone (who knows nothing about rabbits) tell me that large rabbits are all meat rabbits, and are not real pets. I tried explaining to him to no avail. Rabbits are pets, not meat. It would be a lot of work but probably worth it.

[leyley904]

Yeah! I’ve seen many large rabbits as pets! Sorry if it seemed I was implying that they are only for meat.

I don’t know if it’s technically correct, but when I say “rabbit meant for meat” I’m only talking about the specific rabbits that are in the meat industry. Bred or breeding for rabbit meat Not blanketing the whole breed.

I mentioned those breeds because of the percentage of meat rabbits that are those big breeds. I did NOT (caps for emphasis, no yelling ) mean to imply that a large percent of those breeds are meat rabbits….. Does that make any sense?

TRUE: (large number)% of rabbits in the meat industry are large breed rabbits (new zealands, californians, ect.) 

FALSE: (large number)% of large breed rabbits are rabbits in the meat industry 

Petzy, I’m now very interested in your Deirdra! I didn’t realize she was so big in your pictures! She’s the kind of rabbit I would want to save, one that could have had or did have a bad life. But, if someone were to adopt a rabbit bred in the meat industry, with possible inbreeding or poor breeding conditions, would it be too risky? Or do you think they could live a healthy, fairly average (length wise) life?

I use parentheses too much 

[Deleted User]

I wouldn’t worry about it. Any rescued animal is a matter of luck of the draw. You just can’t know their background. If you are worried about inbreeding you could go with a mutt. A single outbreeding is enough to undo many bad effects of inbred previous generations. My Deirdra is a mutt.

[leyley904]

Okie doke! Wonderful to know! Thanks so much!

[LittlePuffyTail]

The stable where I used to keep my horse had a rabbit they bought from a meat farm. He had the sweetest disposition ever and was very healthy. I loved him very much until some idiot left his cage open and he disappeared despite all my efforts to find him

[lwayne]

The only issue I see that it raises is: fueling the fire. The reason we don’t like getting bunnies from pet stores it that it continues the cycle of them getting more bunnies to sell and many times to irresponsible owners. Adopting a meat bunny only encourages the breeder to breed more, they don’t care what the rabbits will be used for.

[leyley904]

 Woah, I didn’t even think about that. And I do have a very strong opinion against pet stores. Can you think of any way to save a rabbit that could potentially be food, without encouraging bad “things” (for lack of a better word)?

[Deleted User]

I see your point Iwayne, but the meat rabbit industry isn’t going to come to a halt, no matter where you are getting your bunny. People eat rabbits. There is a demand. If you get your bun from a meat auction, that one bunny will be saved even though thousands more will be bred and processed. It is a nice thing to look at your bunny and know that this one got away!

[leyley904]

I guess I see the difference. Like, if you get a rabbit from a petstore, you create room for another. They won’t go over their space limit. So another in bred (in horrible conditions) to replace that bunny.
But from a meat auction, there really is no limit. Rabbits are being bred and sold left and right. They are being juggled around and maybe even shifted from place to place. There is just too many meat rabbits to have a set capacity.

Maybe? Petzy, is this kinda what you meant?

[leyley904]

So that one specific rabbit that (I) buy, will maybe not even get replaced.
But, lets say you work for a restaurant or something, when you buy 50 rabbits that will make a dent where rabbits will need to be bred quickly to fill in the available space, which “space” is loosely defined.

[Deleted User]

It is hard to say if a given pet store practices inbreeding. They just get their rabbits from rabbit breeders or just people; I know a pet store further north of me that is supplied with rabbits from the local SPCA…

Commercial rabbit breeders often sell rabbits for meat and pets alike; the purpose of the rabbit doesn’t matter to many breeders as long as you pay for the bun.

You can’t save the world, Leyley, is what I’m saying, but you can save one meat rabbit

[leyley904]

I was mainly pointing towards large chain pet stores that get their “merchandise” from mills.

I just want to save one rabbit, I was just saying that saving one wouldn’t necessarily cause more to be bred into the meat industry population, which I of corse don’t want.

[Deleted User]

Posted By leyley904 on 06/02/2010 08:46 AM
I was mainly pointing towards large chain pet stores that get their “merchandise” from mills.

I just want to save one rabbit, I was just saying that saving one wouldn’t necessarily cause more to be bred into the meat industry population, which I of corse don’t want.

 

yes, I agree.

[bunnytowne]

I can say from experience.     Meat rabbits are breed for rapid weight gain and big litters.    I was at a place where a lady sells meat rabbits.

As far as one for a pet.   I wouldn’t recommend it.   They are totally wild and not taken to being petted or handled. The only handling they get is to check their gender and seperate then when 2 months old.    These can kick and scratch you up pretty good too. They dont’ take to being petted either. 

Now being bred as pets they get handled.  They can be marvelous pets.   I  just don’t recommend buying from a meat breeder for a pet.  from experience.

When I was young and bred them I played with them too.   They were still pretty wild though.  Only 1 a gray one I had as a pet was very tame.  I gave him lots of attention.  Therefore he was very tame.    The others I just trained them to sit in position for showing.   Long time ago this was.  

[bunnytowne]

Nibbles that is why the lady told you the meat rabbits she raises are not good pets.   They haven’t been handled.   The other one she may have handled it a lot and it is a pet.

By the way Californians also have red eyes. 

[Deleted User]

Leyley could go with a young kit and handle it herself to tame. Also, those wild meat rabbits you have know, Bunnytowne, were all intact, and cooped up.
Isn’t Binkybunny’s own, Jack, a retired meat rabbit type bunny? Maybe I misremember this. Someone correct me.

[Sarita]

I imagine that those rabbits are kept in a HIGHLY stressful situation which would cause any animal to react this way. I would not let that keep me from adopting one of these rabbits. As Beka said, a rabbit, is a rabbit, is a rabbit. In a safe environment, vet care, being altered and a patient person I believe any rabbit no matter what it is bred for can make a good pet.

[leyley904]

“Only 1 a gray one I had as a pet was very tame.  I gave him lots of attention.  Therefore he was very tame.  ”

 

I would give my rabbit attention, so what’s your point exactly?

 

Just because it would be difficult, and they wouldn’t be entirely social at first, doesn’t mean they don’t deserve a good life. The only ones that would live in a situation like this for a long time would be a breeder rabbit. The ones that are sold are their until they get enough meat on them. I’m sure thats plenty of time to be traumatized, but I don’t think that if I worked hard with him he would still be “wild”. Thanks for the concern, I am not expecting this to be a cuddle bun that love people at first, especially if bred in a bad situation (which is likely).

 

[Deleted User]

Bunnytowne was just relating an experience.

Leyley, you will be very happy with your rabbit, I can already tell. It is very rewarding to tame a shy rabbit. Your only challenge here is going to be which one to pick…

[leyley904]

Of corse! I would be the one to walk out with a wagon full of big bunnies! I’ll have to find a way 

[4Lily]

I had a bunn that I saved, he was raised for meat! He was really hard to train, but that’s not because of that! He was still a binky bunny! And I loved him raguardless of what he was raised for! If I could have, I would have saved them all! I wish I had a video of him when he was living outside (he was so much happier out there) I would get home from work and call his name & he’d come running to me! There was a little hole in the barn that he could get out! It was so awesome to see that! ( BINKY FREE FOREVER BUTTERCUP!)

[leyley904]

[Nibbles_NZ]

Posted By bunnytowne on 06/02/2010 09:15 AM

I can say from experience.     Meat rabbits are breed for rapid weight gain and big litters.    I was at a place where a lady sells meat rabbits.

As far as one for a pet.   I wouldn’t recommend it.   They are totally wild and not taken to being petted or handled. The only handling they get is to check their gender and seperate then when 2 months old.    These can kick and scratch you up pretty good too. They dont’ take to being petted either. 

Now being bred as pets they get handled.  They can be marvelous pets.   I  just don’t recommend buying from a meat breeder for a pet.  from experience.

When I was young and bred them I played with them too.   They were still pretty wild though.  Only 1 a gray one I had as a pet was very tame.  I gave him lots of attention.  Therefore he was very tame.    The others I just trained them to sit in position for showing.   Long time ago this was.  

 

I strongly disagree with that. I have one of those rabbits. Everytime I get into his pen he climbs all over me. He licks me and want me to pet him all of the time. He is very sweet. He isn’t even altered yet and he still has never been territorial towards me. He lets me groom him and look at his teeth. I got my bunny when he was only 2 months old but he was never handled before then. He is so happy and he really brightens up my day. When I was a kid my parents had friends who bred them for meat and I played with all of them. They were all sweet.  While I don’t agree that you should go to a breeder and buy a bunch of meat rabbits but if there is an ad that someone is giving them away than they are obviously not breeding them for profit. By taking one of them as a pet, that is one bunny saved. People go to shelters to save rabbits, how is this any different? Buying one, is but taking in a “doomed rabbit” is just the same as saving one. I agree with Petzy that the meat rabbit industry isn’t going to come to a hault just because someone got one as a pet. It is nice to look at Baxter (my bunny) and know that he has a chance to be a happy healthy rabbit.

[PrincessCharming]

My Boof were meat rabbit. Most loving sweetest gentle bunny. Large bunnies are just so placid, little (big!) couch potato hehe.

[leyley904]

Yes! They are all so laid back! There are a lot at the rescue that I got Benny from. They actually got in 9 (yes, 9!!!) new zealands at one time from the same owner last month! They are all bonded, and got adopted out fairly quickly. There may be one or two left, though. They were big lugs! Just laid around grooming each others and doing their ginormous flops!

[Nibbles_NZ]

That’s great that they got adopted quickly! I love that people see New Zealands as pets instead of well…you know. They are so sweet. My Baxter is great! I think I will always have atleast one New Zealand and one Dutch. I can’t leave Bella out lol. Congrats on your new addition Leyley! I think you will have lots of fun loving your big guy!

[leyley904]

Oh! I haven’t got one yet! This is in the future. I just wanted to get some info on this subject.

I totally wish I could get one now! But our household is at max capacity!!! Haha! I’m going to wait until I can have a nice free range set up before getting such a big bunny! Most likely not until after my current buns pass away. (hopefully in a lonnnggg time!)

Thanks for sharing about Baxter! He sounds totally wonderful!

[Nibbles_NZ]

That’s good that you wish to have a free roam set up for a larger bunny in the future….good luck with that! lol

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