Successfully Culling New Zealand Whites

The most important part of raising rabbits is to have a good culling program and have a solid knowledge of your breed(s). The breed of choice for this paper is New Zealand Whites, but much of the information can be used for any breed. These rabbits were first recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) in the 1920’s and are now the number one commercial breed in America . The National Federation of New Zealand Breeders (AFNZRB) chose the slogan “The Breed in the Lead” for good reason.  This is because New Zealands are one of the only breeds you can raise for show, personal consumption and as a commercial money maker. The key to being successful in any breed is knowing how to put together a successful culling program, which is knowing how to remove the undesirable stock from your herd. A solid knowledge of your breed will lead to a successful culling program.     

When judging, or analyzing, a New Zealand you should refer back to the ARBA’s Standard of Perfection until you have a solid knowledge of your breed. This book gives you the idealized specimen for each breed and gives a schedule of points for you to follow. Each breed has a total of 100 points; these are broken up into General Type, Fur, Color, and Condition. This, along with experience, is the number one tool for culling.

The ARBA’s Standard of Perfection portrays the ideal commercial rabbit as a medium length animal with width equaling the depth of body. The animals must be firm in flesh and body, as well as show roundness. Commercial breeds all have tremendous hindquarters because that is where rabbits carry the most meat. An easy way to remember this is to think of a basketball, cut in half, with a softball for a head. The basketball is equally as wide as it is tall, creating good depth. The roundness continues all the way to the table creating balance. The Standard of Perfection says that the New Zealand ’s ideal body type should create in the mind an impression of balance and uniformity. The best way to judge this is to get a good hands-on feel of the animal because this can make all the difference in your decision making. Between 7 and 9 weeks old the rabbit has developed enough to get an idea of what they’re going to become. Even though the rabbit isn’t fully developed there are enough signs to watch for and these can help you in your culling process.

The hindquarters are worth 20 of the 60 points assigned to general type. This is the rear portion of the body starting from the last rib; including the loin, rump and hind legs. The loin is the portion of the back on each side of the spine from the last rib to the hip joint and the ARBA’s Guide Book says that commercial breeds should have a slightly longer loin to allow for more meat. It should be deep and wide, as well as, full and firm to help keep the rabbit in balance with its hindquarters. Look at the rabbit from the back and ask yourself if it looks like someone pinched the base of the rump. An animal with this characteristic is undercut, or has a skeletal and or muscular condition in which the structure doesn’t fill the lower hindquarters. Next, look at the rabbit from the side and ask yourself if the rump looks like the animal backed into a wall. If flat, the animal is chopped, which means it has an abrupt and sharp vertical fall off the top of the hip to the tail. Flip your rabbit over and look at the hind feet. They should be straight and parallel with an equal distance between the hocks and the toes of both feet. If the hocks are closer than the toes your rabbit will be undercut and probably has Cow Hocks, a disqualification from competition. All of these traits will breed true, and any animals exhibiting them should be culled. Lastly, run your hands over the top line of your rabbit. It should be smooth and round. If your hands catch on the hip bones or anything else cull the animal.

The midsection are worth 18 of the 60 points assigned to general type. This is the section of the body starting with the 6^th rib back to the rear legs on the sides, including the loin from the last rib to the high point of the body. It needs to be well rounded, broad and firm with good width to help balance the depth. This area should have as much flesh as possible and have a nice, firm belly.

The shoulders are worth 17 of the 60 points assigned to general type. The upper joint of the forelegs that connects them to the body makes up this area. This is a notorious trouble area for breeders and can be very difficult to get right.  They need to be well developed with good depth and width. The shoulders start the rise of the top line, this should happen right at the base of the ears. Problems in this area include low, late, narrow and/or weak shoulders. All these traits breed true and are hard to correct.

The head and ears are worth 5 of the 60 points assigned to general type. The head should have well filled jaws accompanied by a well filled face. The head should be full and massive and be in proportion with the rest of the body. The head will be more massive on bucks, males, than on does, females. The rabbit should have as little neck as possible and have a slight curvature between the eyes and nose. The ears should be in proportion with the head, as well as the body, and should be carried upright and straight. The ears are to be medium thick, with a nice heavy ear base, well rounded tips and a well shaped ear. Cull rabbits with snipe heads; a long, narrow head that makes the rabbit look very skinny.

Even though there are no points given for the feet and legs you do still have to check these areas. The best place to check for the width of bone is in the front legs, the standard calls for medium to heavy bone. Many people forget to check for this and end up with small boned animals that will be disqualified on the show table. The hind legs need to be stout, full and firm because these carry a lot of meat as well. Make sure the rabbit has nice wide back feet that are well covered with thick fur.  The front feet should also have thick fur on the pads. Animals with thin fur are more prone to sore hocks, an ulceration of the foot, and these can be very painful. White New Zealand’s must have white toenails, and also for a show career must have all 18 of their toenails. Since they are a true albino their nails will be white.

The fur is worth 15 points of the total 100 points given to the breed. There is no reason to look at the fur on a badly typed rabbit because type and condition are always number one in New Zealands . You can judge the coat using the Commercial Normal Fur Standard; this is worth 100 points on its own. It states that the usable portion of the pelt must be white and free of stains. Because the rabbits are still in their baby coats you shouldn’t spend too much time on this. The texture, worth 40 points, should offer resistance when stroking the animal from tail to head. The fur should bounce back to its natural position making it fly back fur. The undercoat should be soft. Density, worth 30 points, is the number of fur fibers in a given area.  Dense fur should cover the body, with shorter, not wooly, fur on the belly and crotch. Finally the balance and condition is worth 30 points. New Zealand fur should be short; about a half inch to ¾’s an inch and be uniform over the entire body. The coat should be glossy and alive as well as bright and clean. The rabbit’s adult coat will come in anywhere from 4 to 6 months of age.

The color is worth 15 points of the total 100 points given to the breed. New Zealand ’s come in three colors; black, red and white, but you’re learning about the white. The white is a true albino which will always breed true. Their eyes should be pink and clear.

The condition is worth 10 points of the total 100 points given to the breed. The rabbit must be healthy and vigorous with bold, bright eyes. They must have firm flesh condition covering the entire body.

90% of condition is genetic and only 10% is feed, but in a big show that 10% can make all the difference. The AFNZRB Handbook says that it is easier to ruin a good rabbit than it is to condition one with nothing to condition. If a rabbit doesn’t finish its portion of food for the day after weaning it will never reach its full potential and this will create size problems in your breeding program. Also, many think that feeding your rabbits at a regular time everyday will help your conditioning. If you have a bony rabbit, trying to put fat on them will not correct the problem because rabbits deposit fat under their loin, on their kidneys and beside their shoulders unlike other animals that deposit fat above the spine. Fault rabbits that are flabby, fat and or soft; cull bony rabbits as well.

If you have a good culling program you should be a successful breeder and exhibitor. Always listen to what everyone else tells you, but when you go home only use what works for you. The ARBA Guide Book says that when you have developed an eye and a feel for type, your rabbits will mean much more to you. If you have chosen the Breed in the Lead good luck, and remember when you no longer look forward to the next litter, it’s time to quit raising rabbits, a quote from the AFNZRB Handbook.