critique for commercial type

[akane]

Unable to get pure amchins I bought 2, 12week old amchin x cinnamon does. I'd like to breed the amchin type back out of them and use them to outcross both some 3/4amchin 1/4palomino I'm getting in the spring when I have money to drive that far and also I'd like to cross them in to my american sables which were a sport of the amchin in the first place and are highly inbred in my area. Also in my area all common meat breeds have long shoulders which has spread to the sables since they were crossed with calis to bring the numbers up. If I can fix the shoulders and breed true the rollback fur instead of flyback I'd have an advantage on the show table. For that reason I'm extra interested in what you think of the shoulders on these rabbits but also overall body type.

I know the pics aren't the greatest because my husband took them with his phone and didn't get on level or perfectly straight but they aren't bad.

Greyish one

reddish one

 

[majorv]

I'm not very familiar with those breeds, but as a meat breed they would all have something in common - a nice full loin. They appear to have pretty good depth, but you really need to take pictures with a side view and a top down view to get a better idea of the width and depth. When we were raising Californians I learned that a good meat pen rabbit doesn't usually make a good show rabbit as they get older, because of their shoulders. A good show Cal won't have the long shoulders, but it doesn't matter in a meat pen.

 

[Blaze_Amita]

IF I was looking at the two you posted for a meat pen I'd go for the top one over the bottom one. Just something about it's body and hindquarters looks better to me.
When I had just strictly New Zealands for a meat pen- What I looked for was production rates of the parents, body depth and the fullness of the hindquarter since that, to me, is where the meat is if you think much about it(I am a hunter so this is what I've learned as a junior hunter MANY years ago). If they breed out tiny litters but big beefier fattier babies who's going to want the excess fat? I'd rather have a good production number(my new zealands I looked for 8-10 per litter) and the body for the production. Which I also found I could still find them within the pedigreed show stuff as well. The juniors never showed as well as the ones bred specifically for show, but the showing was just the fun side affect.

 

[akane]

I do like the meatiness of the top one but for show I think I like the bone structure of the 2nd one better. I absolutely love their fur. I don't know if it's a chin breed thing or what but they are soooo soft and their color is even smooth and soft looking from a distance.

 

[NorthernAutumn]

Some confusion from earlier this afternoon...

Clarification for members not familiar with the "meat" term in this context.
Some rabbit breeds were originally developed for commercial purposes - and as such, were referred to as "meat breeds" or commercial breeds in a traditional agricultural context. Currently, many young 4H members bring their own personal pet to show in the "meat pen" at county fairs. These are often loved pets and show bunnies - Little Suzy takes Snowflake home after the fair to be petted and fussed over till next year's fair. "Meat pen" is simply the category under which a given breed is judged.

Here is an excellent reference to rabbit breeds by body type, including full arch, semi arch, commercial, compact, etc.
http://rabbitempire.org/breeds-of-rabbits

As such, the term "meat pen" may show up in Rabbitry discussions as descriptors of the body form and judging class that these breeds are shown in.

Bearing the above point in mind, I remind readers and posters that all members are responsible for following the Rabbits Online policy, which states:
"We do not discuss the mechanics of dispatch/killing, processing or consumption (fur, meat, etc.)in any form. "

Again, the discussion of "meat pen" showing and breeding is limited to discussion of body type and showing capacities only.

PM me if you need further clarification on this point.

NorthernAutumn,
Admin.