Flemish Giant Rabbits?


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Posted

Homesteaders know this breed very well.

It's usually one of the very first questions asked by newbie homesteaders... why don't you raise Flemish Giants?  They're HUGE and would provide double the amount of meat!  The answer is, of course, very simple... medium sized rabbits like the most popular New Zealand breed in homesteads... are the same size as Flemish Giants at 8 weeks - the age by which you have the highest meat to feed economic ratio.

Jersey Giants (even bigger than Brahmas) are the equivalent newbie questions for chickens.

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Posted (edited)

Flemish Giants are awesome rabbits, both in being huge and in being friendly and well-tempered. They're quite popular among rabbit aficionados.

They're great pets, so people say, but not ideal for a home farm where you want to produce rabbit meat. Their enormous size means that (1) regular rabbit cages are not nearly large enough, (2) the rabbits require a lot more open space than their regular-sized cousins, and (3) they eat a LOT. This last point is less important if you have tons of feed lying about your farm. But for most who raise rabbits, including farmers, supplement their livestock feed with something like Purina. Feeding these monstrous rabbits will quickly deplete your feed budget. And as @anatess2 points out, the Flemish Giant fryers are the same size as the fryers of smaller breeds, so you don't earn back your money at the slaughter.

Edited by Vort
Posted

When I was a kid, my friend's mom got a couple pet rabbits, thinking they were the cute mini ones.  They each ended up over 3 feet long.  I'm not sure what type/breed they were but they were mean!  They would chase neighbors cats out of their backyard.  Even killed a couple.  

Guest MormonGator
Posted (edited)
2 hours ago, mordorbund said:

Are you starving that much for sports

Yup. 

1 hour ago, Vort said:

Flemish Giants are awesome rabbits, both in being huge and in being friendly and well-tempered. They're quite popular among rabbit aficionados.

I'll stick to dogs. 

Seriously, I had no idea that rabbits were this big. 

Edited by MormonGator
Posted
1 hour ago, dprh said:

When I was a kid, my friend's mom got a couple pet rabbits, thinking they were the cute mini ones.  They each ended up over 3 feet long.  I'm not sure what type/breed they were but they were mean!  They would chase neighbors cats out of their backyard.  Even killed a couple.  

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Posted
3 hours ago, anatess2 said:

Homesteaders know this breed very well.

It's usually one of the very first questions asked by newbie homesteaders... why don't you raise Flemish Giants?  They're HUGE and would provide double the amount of meat!  The answer is, of course, very simple... medium sized rabbits like the most popular New Zealand breed in homesteads... are the same size as Flemish Giants at 8 weeks - the age by which you have the highest meat to feed economic ratio.

Jersey Giants (even bigger than Brahmas) are the equivalent newbie questions for chickens.

99eca3cd446dbf33cd9e8c25335dbee4.jpg

 

That's a good point.  BTW, is that you or just some random farmer?

On the flip side of your comment, -- When growing nectarines, I have to thin them as they grow to the size of a cherry or so.  If  leave all of them on the branches, they wouldn't get much bigger than a small plumb.  But when branches are properly pruned and fruits properly thinned, they can grow to the size of an apple (which is optimal).

Likewise, watermelons can be the size of cantaloupes if they aren't thinned and pruned properly.  I just learned this because I finally got my Bradford Watermelons to grow.  I've been looking for how to properly grow them.  I'm really hoping they are everything they purport to be. 35 lbs of the sweetest watermelon on the planet. Mmmm Mmmm.  I'll be sure to report in about 40 to 50 days.

 

Posted
1 hour ago, mordorbund said:

Yeah, but you raise Flemish Giants for competition, not for food. I mean, who's gonna arm wrestle this guy from the article?

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I saw that photo online and I thought that was a woman.

Guest MormonGator
Posted

Those rabbits must jump like kangaroos! It could jump over a house. 

Posted
26 minutes ago, Carborendum said:

I saw that photo online and I thought that was a woman.

I think he was talking about the remarkably buff rabbit.

Guest MormonGator
Posted
7 minutes ago, Vort said:

I think he was talking about the remarkably buff rabbit.

Yeah we really shouldn't go down this road! 

Guest MormonGator
Posted

This is my kind of rabbit. He has a nice sense of irony for stopping by today. Maybe he heard me talking about his kin. 

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Posted (edited)
15 minutes ago, MormonGator said:

This is my kind of rabbit. He has a nice sense of irony for stopping by today. Maybe he heard me talking about his kin. 

96545937_10157905908292561_580092808577155072_n.jpg

Are you referring to the car or the furry friend?  I can't see the emblem.  But it could be a VW Golf (re-packaged Rabbit).  I was wondering if you were being clever.

Edited by Carborendum
Guest MormonGator
Posted
1 minute ago, Carborendum said:

But it could be a VW Golf (re-packaged Rabbit).

It's my Prius. 

Guest MormonGator
Posted
Just now, Vort said:

That's truly horrifying.

@Just_A_Guy has some odd tastes in fashion, but he doesn't need your opinions pal. 

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