As I wrote previously, NZW were not my favorite rabbits. They have their advantages. They are more heat hardy. They develop faster. They have been bred for commercial use for about a century without concerns about fur colors, just body shape and faster growth were the main goals, so they are often a solid rabbit with which to cross or even improve another breed. Because they are one of the most popular commercial rabbits, they typically are not handled much, therefore are not as tolerant to handling and can even be quite skittish even while in their cages. Our first doe liked to try biting me often, but she never got me, and the other doe was terribly skittish. However, we have been fortunate with good temperament in the NZWs we have had since our first three.
Our first two Silver Foxes were not all we hoped them to be either. The buck was rather small and later he had some teeth and ear mite issues. The SF doe was difficult to get bred, but an excellent mother. Still, Silver Foxes had and have my heart. I felt if we would breed only Silver Foxes that we could work to produce healthy, high quality rabbits and help preserve a threaten breed.
My husband and I had a talk about this and he said that years ago when we started he was trying to get me more interested in all this and I just did not seem to be, but he was glad that I am now. I reminded him that NZWs just are not my favorite so I just saw them as livestock and wanted to keep them healthy and breeding, but being highly involved...well, I was juggling homeschooling of a teenage daughter (need I say more here?), church, his traveling for work at the time , and a whole lot of other things I am not going to get into here. It was hard enough to make sure all the kits in large kindles were getting nourished and, if not, hand feeding them at least twice a day.
When we added Silver Foxes, I really was interested in just breeding them practically from the start, but he was more interested in crossbreeding for faster growth and high meat ratios. So when I told him that we could still crossbreed but I really wanted to focus on the Silver Foxes, maybe just breed them, he said then we will do the Silvers Foxes. That is what I really wanted, but then I realized...
When we added Silver Foxes, I really was interested in just breeding them practically from the start, but he was more interested in crossbreeding for faster growth and high meat ratios. So when I told him that we could still crossbreed but I really wanted to focus on the Silver Foxes, maybe just breed them, he said then we will do the Silvers Foxes. That is what I really wanted, but then I realized...
ALL my breeding plans just blew apart!
Okay, maybe not ALL, but most. The truth is we had no SF bucks breeding age and the NZW bucks were young but after one breeding that did not take, the second did. So, at least we would be producing crosses and NZW purebreds as originally planned for a few months while our SF junior buck Comet develops.