Aquitaine Chevre rabbits

[Chevre]

Hello everyone,

I'll be using this thread to document my new rabbit breeding aventure.

After reading up on this forum and also the few threads on BYC, I brought home a couple of rabbits this morning.
They are a French breed known locally as ''Chevre D'Aquitaine'' which translates to ''Goat of the Aquitaine (the South Western region of France)'' Hopefully they aren't as hungry as goats!
They come in either black and tan or blue and tan and are a fairly large breed. I mainly chose this breed for the color and their big ears. The breed is said to have been created as a farm rabbit and was once very common in the local homesteads and farms.

My new pair are an 8 month old black doe and a 7 month old blue buck. The breeder assured me that they are not related and I hope to try my hand at line breeding them and their offspring.

I aim to let them adjust to their new home for a week or two before breeding them. If they are successful in having kits, I do not aim to have any more breeding pairs. I think two adults are about right to get me started.

This is the doe:

And this is the buck:

Here's hoping to get to you lot a bit better and as I have never kept rabbits before, I look forward to hearing any advice you can give me!

Chevre

 

[Mini Horses]

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of rabbit people on here, many with years of experience. Looking forward to kit pics. 😊

 

[Chevre]

I'm aware that most rabbit keepers have their rabbits in wire cages and Storey's guide to raising rabbits recommends this too.

Traditional farm rabbits here were kept in concrete hutches and I managed to find one for sale locally very cheaply. So I'm going to start mine off in the traditional French way.
The waste will go towards my compost for the garden.

I have the doe in the top right hole and the buck below her. I read a few accounts of bucks spraying so that's why he is on the ground floor!

The other two holes on the left are empty for the moment. I aim to use them to grow out the future kits.

Here are a few pictures :

Chevre

 

[Baymule]

Welcome! Your rabbits are lovely and I wish you much success in raising rabbits.

 

[Chevre]

Welcome to the forum. There are a lot of rabbit people on here, many with years of experience. Looking forward to kit pics. 😊

Thank you for the warm welcome! I look forward to posting them!

 

[Chevre]

Welcome! Your rabbits are lovely and I wish you much success in raising rabbits.

Thank you very much!

 

[Youngfarmer2019]

Your rabbits are gorgeous, especially that buck of yours! I raise New Zealand/Flemish giant crosses, with some purebred New Zealand as well. I have been extremely successful with line breeding, getting bigger and bigger grow outs at 8-12 wks. My goal with these two breeds was to get fast grow out rates of the New Zealand and for the grow outs themselves I wanted the fine bone of the New Zealand but heavier muscle mass, which the Flemish gave me. It was a VERY fine balance though, too fine a bone and you get broken legs, too heavy muscle and they can’t move around anymore. Here are my rabbits today (not all of them).

 

[Chevre]

Your rabbits are gorgeous, especially that buck of yours! I raise New Zealand/Flemish giant crosses, with some purebred New Zealand as well. I have been extremely successful with line breeding, getting bigger and bigger grow outs at 8-12 wks. My goal with these two breeds was to get fast grow out rates of the New Zealand and for the grow outs themselves I wanted the fine bone of the New Zealand but heavier muscle mass, which the Flemish gave me. It was a VERY fine balance though, too fine a bone and you get broken legs, too heavy muscle and they can’t move around anymore. Here are my rabbits today (not all of them).

It seems everyone likes the blue buck whereas I prefer the black doe!

Your rabbits are very pretty too. I like the black and white ones. Over here they seem to call the black and white rabbits 'butterflies'. I'm not sure if that's a breed or if it's the markings though...

This is my first time raising rabbits and I must admit that they are a lot bigger than the ones you see in the petstores. I've still very much to learn before I start imagining crossing different breeds to suit my needs. I take my hat off to your knowledge. At the moment I'd be happy with producing a couple of litters of kits whatever size, shape or color they are!

The couple are settling down a bit after the upheaval of yesterday's move. The doe seems more relaxed than the buck who spends most of his time cowering in the back corner of his new home. He hasn't finished his food although he is eating. The doe is eating and drinking like she's on a mission! Hopefully I'm feeding them enough...

They have plenty of straw and hay and I gave them a couple of handfuls of pellets last night.

How do I get a good idea of how much to feed?

 

[Youngfarmer2019]

It seems everyone likes the blue buck whereas I prefer the black doe!

Your rabbits are very pretty too. I like the black and white ones. Over here they seem to call the black and white rabbits 'butterflies'. I'm not sure if that's a breed or if it's the markings though...

This is my first time raising rabbits and I must admit that they are a lot bigger than the ones you see in the petstores. I've still very much to learn before I start imagining crossing different breeds to suit my needs. I take my hat off to your knowledge. At the moment I'd be happy with producing a couple of litters of kits whatever size, shape or color they are!

The couple are settling down a bit after the upheaval of yesterday's move. The doe seems more relaxed than the buck who spends most of his time cowering in the back corner of his new home. He hasn't finished his food although he is eating. The doe is eating and drinking like she's on a mission! Hopefully I'm feeding them enough...

They have plenty of straw and hay and I gave them a couple of handfuls of pellets last night.

How do I get a good idea of how much to feed?

Here the spotted/splotched coloration is called ‘broken’ I think I like your word ‘butterflies’ better though, much more elegant 😂.
I feed free choice, high quality hay (free choice meaning as much as they want) and a quarter cup of pellets per 5lbs of body weight (although I put my grow outs on grass and give them free choice pellets which they hardly touch). Good luck on your adventure! Do you have names for them yet?

 

[farmerjan]

Welcome to the forum. I do not have rabbits but really like the pelts of the Rex Rabbit breed. Your rabbits are very nice looking... and I kinda like the female's color with the big ears more.
Best of luck and thanks for the pictures.