How big do flemish giant's actually get?

[maddogdodge]

I've been fascinated by this breed for a while now and there seem to be a lot available in my area (both from breeders and rescues).

When i google them I see pictures of rabbits the size of labradors, but do they really get that big?

Wikipedia says they average around 6kg, which is about the same size as my large cat.

 

[Aki]

They are pretty common in France as "meat rabbits". They weight around 6-8 kilos, some of them can weight 10 kilos. But for the Labrador size, I don't think you'll find any that big. The biggest rabbits I've ever seen were Continental Giants - a woman from the UK was breeding some on a forum I was a member of some years back and she had rabbits who weighted around 17-18 kilos. I seem to remember the biggest rabbit in the world is a Conti and he's around 22 kilos for 1m30 so... not very far from your lab ^^.

 

[Aki]

OK, so I mixed up something (Continental Giants are Flemish Giants - why can't breeds have the same name everywhere? It seems they are called "German Giants" too) and by the time I noticed, I couldn't edit my message so... Yes, one or two can reach a (small) lab size but that's really rare even if some breeders put the emphasize on the size and obtain bigger rabbits than the average Flemish.

They are nice but a lot more fragile than other breeds (the bigger the rabbit, the weaker his heart...) and tend to have a significatively shorter lifespan. The breeder I was talking about was a very dedicated breeder and her rabbits were living in good conditions, but I remember they seldom made it past 5.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

We had a Flemish that was 6 kilos at 6 months--some can get quite large, but those are exceptions. We had a Checkered Giant that was a little over 8 kilos. The biggest bunny we ever had and they are fairly active for that size group.

 

[Buns16rouge]

Hey I have a Newzeland but I'm not totally sure what type because she has brown eyes. Most are blue or red but she has brown? Does anyone know the breed name for her possibly.

 

[Buns16rouge]

View attachment ImageUploadedByRabbit Forum1466966812.274969.jpg

 

[Charmander]

Buns16rouge you know you can make your own post instead of commenting on all the top posts for more information.

 

[doodlebugger]

Our male Flemish Giant was approximately 20lbs. Unfortunately, the larger breeds don't always live as long as the smaller breeds. We lost our male at almost 3, and our female at 2. The male had chronic health issues from an early age due to poor breeding, and the female had an undiagnosed thymoma that wasn't discovered until it was too late. Lovely creatures though! Totally different from our mini rex and mini lop. More like a small dog than a rabbit.

 

[maddogdodge]

Thanks all

Yep sounds more like what I was expecting, rather than the labrador sized ones I've seen on google, haha!

I'm not surprised about their shorter lifespan too, it's the same in dogs... It's unusual for a Great Dane to live longer than 8 years.

I'll have to do more research into what breeds I'm interested in I definitely want a rabbit on the larger side, but what I get in the end will depend a lot on what is available at the time (either from breeders or rescue places).

 

[woahlookitsme]

Probably not going to change anything but just wanted to add a continental giant is not the same as a Flemish giant. Here's a good read: http://www.raising-rabbits.com/flemish-giant-rabbits.html

 

[Jen Finley]

OK, so I mixed up something (Continental Giants are Flemish Giants - why can't breeds have the same name everywhere? It seems they are called "German Giants" too) and by the time I noticed, I couldn't edit my message so... Yes, one or two can reach a (small) lab size but that's really rare even if some breeders put the emphasize on the size and obtain bigger rabbits than the average Flemish.

They are nice but a lot more fragile than other breeds (the bigger the rabbit, the weaker his heart...) and tend to have a significatively shorter lifespan. The breeder I was talking about was a very dedicated breeder and her rabbits were living in good conditions, but I remember they seldom made it past 5.

 

[Jen Finley]

The Flemish giant and the Continental giant are not the same breed. Descendants of one another but different breeds

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I still like the Checkered Giant the best--very active for such a large rabbit, ours was a lap rabbit and she lived more than 10 years--rescue, so we can only account for the time she was among us. There was someone here in Vegas with a Flemish called Moose that was around 15 pounds. Our Checkered Giant girl was 20 pounds.