THE FLEMISH GIANT RABBIT

The Flemish Giant is a semi-arch type rabbit with its back arch starting back of the shoulders and carrying through to the base of the tail giving it a "mandolin" shape. It is one of the largest rabbits recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association. The minimum show weight for a Senior (older than 8 months) doe is 14 lb, and the minimum weight of a Senior buck is 13 pounds. It is not unusual to see a 22 pound Flemish Giant, and specimens weighing 28 pounds have been reported. A comment heard from many individuals seeing a Flemish giant rabbit for the first time is, "Wow, its bigger than my dog!"

The body of a Flemish Giant Rabbit should be long and powerful with good muscular development. The hindquarters should be broad and massive. Bucks have a broad, massive head in comparison to does. Does may have a large, full, evenly carried dewlap (the fold of skin under their chins).

The fur of the Flemish Giant is glossy, dense and full of life and brightness. When stroked from the hindquarters to the head, the fur will roll back to its original position. Seven colors are recognized by ARBA: black, blue, fawn, light gray, sandy, steel gray and white. At many rabbit shows, most of the recognized colors can be observed, but the sandy color (the natural color) seems to be the most popular. 

ORIGINS

The Flemish Giant was imported from England and Belgium to America in the early 1890s. It received no special attention until about 1910 where it started appearing at small livestock shows throughout the country. Today, it is one of the more popular breeds at rabbit shows because of its enormous size and its many and beautiful colors.  It is promoted by the National Fwderation of Flemish Gioan Rabbit Breeders which was formed in 1916.  The reader is encouraged to consult the web site of the National Federation of Flemish Giant Rabbit Breeders <http://www.NFFGRB.com> for further informarion on the breed and to identify nearby breeders.

RAISING FLEMISH GIANTS

Flemish are also called "The Universal Breed," because they are fast developing rabbits suitable for either meat or fur production. They thrive on a large percentage of roughage and green feed reducing total food costs. Because of their large size, they are ready for market as fryers as soon as they are weaned; they do not require feeding or "development" for the market. It is not uncommon for a Flemish to produce 35 pounds of marketable bunnies in 8 weeks. On the down side, Flemish have larger bones than other commercial breeds and command lower prices from processors.

Best of all, they make wonderful pets. They are large and strong enough to hold their own with small children, but are docile and gentle. However, when abused, they can scratch or bite painfully! Like many rabbit breeds, they can be trained to use a litter box, making them ideal, lovable pets. Mature bucks seldom spray. Flemish also have a good tolerance for the cold outdoors if you don't want them indoors. The only thing they do not endure well is extreme heat. It is essential that they be kept in the shade during the summer. If the temperature exceeds 90, evaporative coolers can be used in barns to keep them cool; fine water sprays can be used outdoors. They especially appreciate a large plastic pop bottle, filled with water and frozen in the freezer, to snuggle against when the temperature approaches 100 F.

A word of advice to those contemplating letting their pet rabbit roam their house freely. Rabbits seem to have a fascination with lamp cords. They will frequently chew on a cord, damaging it and injuring themselves. Owners are advised to keep excess lamp cord out of the reach of their rabbits!

Cages

FEEDING

BREEDING PRACTICES

The doe is always brought to the bucks cage and never vice versa. Watch them carefully and remove the doe after she is bred once or twice; that should take less than 5 minutes. Separate them immediately if the doe starts nipping at the buck he may be injured. A second breeding 6 to 8 hours after the first can increase the number of kits born. 

Some does are frantic for a nest box after 3 weeks of pregnancy; some are interested only during the last 20 minutes before kindling. We usually give the nest boxes at least 3 days earlier unless they become frantic. Our nest boxes are 14 in. x 14 in. x 24 in. and are made of plywood or wafer board. They have partially covered and have a board across the front to "detach" kits holding on to mama as she leaps out of the box. We have found that these nest boxes may be slightly too large, as they seem to encourage the does to lounge in them. The next batch will be 2 in. Smaller in all dimensions.

Before placing a nest box in a cage, the bottom is covered with 2 layers of cardboard or 3/4 of white wood chip for moisture absorption and insulation, and it is filled with clean bright straw. The doe will create a pocket in the straw and line it with fur "at the appointed hour." In cold weather, we have not found it necessary to use "bunny warmers"; however, we sometimes will use an infra-red light bulb at a distance of 24 inches to provide some warmth if the temperature drops near 0 F. In hot weather, we remove some of the fur from the nest box to prevent the kits from getting too hot. The chips and straw are removed and replaced with clean material each week for 6 weeks. At 6 weeks we remove the nest box, because allowing it to remain longer seems to promote wet eyes among the kits. Sometimes, if the weather is bitter cold, we will clean out the nest box and turn it on its side to give the bunnies protection from the wind and cold.

A Flemish doe can have anywhere from 6 to 18 kits. However, the litter should be thinned down to 8 or less. If more are saved, they will tend to be smaller and will be less developed when they reach maturity.

We wean the bunnies at 8 weeks, and separate the young rabbits when we observe the bucks trying to mount the does. At that time, we save the best and cull the rest.

The does are bred back at 6 to 8 weeks after kindling, depending on the condition of the doe. Breeding back too soon repeatedly will cause the doe to fail to produce large litters or fail to conceive at all.

Handling Flemish Giants

Another consequence of its large size and strength of the Flemish Giant is that it consumes more feed than other breeds. Some commercial rabbit meat operations occasionally cross Flemish Giants with the usual commercial breeds, e.g., New Zealand and Californians, to produce a larger meat rabbit. However, the lower feed efficiency inherited from the Flemish Giant make such crosses uneconomical in many cases.

One might think that a huge, docile and attractive rabbit has much potential as a pet, and many people do, indeed, seek them out as pets and love them. There are others who complain that the Flemish Giant is too laid back and docile and turn to breeds that show more physical activity.

Obtaining Breeding Stock

Those interested in acquiring breeding stock should consult the web pages of the National Federation of Flemish Giant Rabbit Breeders to locate a nearby breeder.

1. Weights and measurements.
2. Common and not-too-common disqualification.
3. Type.
4. Color.
5. Fur.
6. Balance.

1. Weights and Measurements. On seniors, the minimum body length is 20 inches from the base of the tail to the end of the nose. The minimum ear length is 5 3/4 inches. The minimum weight for Senior bucks is 13 pounds and for senior does, 14 pounds. Since Flemish Giants do not attain full development until the age of 12 to 14 months, it is not unusual to see inexperienced breeders presenting young seniors for judging that have not yet attained minimum weights and dimensions. These animals should be disqualified.
2. Disqualifications. Disqualifications that a judge should watch for in the Flemish Giant include the following:
• Short, blocky body.
• Ears that turn over at the tips (bell ears).
• Cow hocks.
• Fine bone.
• Weak ankles affecting the straightness of the forelegs.

 
3. Type. The description of type in the ARBA Standards of Perfection is based on fully mature animals, and an animal being judged, regardless of class, must by evaluated on the basis of this description. However, the actual type seen in younger animals is somewhat different since the Flemish Giant matures in a definite pattern. A judge needs to be aware of this pattern to know what to look for in his evaluation of type points in younger animals. The general type you can expect to see is as follows:
• Pre juniors - Pre Juniors are shorter, like commercial type, lacking strength in the shoulders and loin.
• Younger juniors - These look "gangly"; stretched out but not filled out. This is OK because you want good length of body and extremities. Look for good spread in the rib cage even though not filled out. Also look for possible weak ear base because the ear base hasn't caught up with the weight of the ears.
• Older juniors - Older Juniors are generally very solid in flesh and showing smoother transition from shoulder through the midsection and into the hindquarter. They might still be a bit protruding in the hips until the loin fills in over the hips.
• 6/8 - Intermediates should show good structure and depth at this age. They may not have the massiveness of seniors.
• Seniors - Seniors should be large massive and long. Young seniors are still not fully developed and may not attain full growth until a year or so old.
4. Color. The Standard says that a rabbit must be disqualified for "any other color than described in the variety description. This means that an unrecognized color must not to be given an "unworthy of award;" instead, the animal should be disqualified. 

Seven Varieties of Flemish Giants are recognized in the Standard: White, Black, Blue, Fawn, Light Gray, Sandy, and Steel Gray.

• White, Black and Blue- The colors are typical self patterns with typical faults.
• Fawn- The Fawn color has typical wide band pattern. Look for a true golden straw color. Variance can range from an orange color to a color approaching yellow. The cast should be light, but when it gets yellowish it is too light. When the color approaches orange it is too dark. It is difficult to get good even color. Watch for smut anywhere on the animal and for ear lacing. These are faults..
• Light Gray- The Light Gray has typical agouti pattern and is very similar if not identical to a slightly light chinchilla color on the surface. The Standard refers to "uniform" light gray on the surface. This implies even ticking as opposed to wavy ticking. Note that faults only refer to surface color but I would not hesitate to reward well colored and well defined base and ring colors at least by commenting about it. .
• Sandy- Sandy has typical agouti pattern and is similar to a chestnut but color more reddish where a chestnut is more brownish. Look for even black ticking but not too heavy as it hides the reddish color. Look for brightness and definition in the reddish intermediate color. Also look for well defined black ear lacing.
• Steel Gray- Steel gray color has a black base color tipped with light gray guard hair. It's hard to get even color. Note that the standard calls for belly surface color and underside of tail to be as "white as possible;" this is very unusual. This feature is, in fact, unique to the Steel Flemish Giant. Watch for ring color over the back of the animal. This is a disqualification. It's OK for slight ring color on lower part of body.
5. Fur. Fur Should have roll-back type coat. If it flies back it probably lacks density. There is no mention of texture in the Standard, but, typically, the better conditioned coat seems to have a very slightly harsh texture as compared to, let's say, a Californian rabbit. The hairs themselves seem to be a little thicker than any breed with the possible exception of the French Lop. I'm sure that this thickness makes sense. Since all parts of the Flemish Giant are larger than any other breed it stands to reason that even the individual hairs in the fur would be larger too.
6. Balance. Although the Standard of Perfection awards no points for overall balance and proportion, it does offer a paragraph to emphasize the importance of balance in the Flemish Giant. No other breed description offers a special paragraph on this subject. The word proportion (to body size and length) has been deliberately inserted in the description of the head, ears, feet and legs and even of the tail. Within these components is where the balance points lie. Balance is most easily assessed by standing back from the animal to see if all the parts appear to belong together. If you find yourself thinking "good length of body, but the ears barely make minimum length" or "this is a large animal but the bone seems a little thin to support the weight" or " I would expect to see this slightly blocky head on a shorter bodied rabbit" then you are identifying balance problems. Although these animals by definition should be large, remember that balance comes before big alphabetically, and it also does in evaluating the Flemish Giant.

A WORD ABOUT POSING. Yes, the Flemish Giant should be posed with elbows and hocks on the surface with rear toes lined up with the stifle joint and front toes lined up with the eyes. This enables us to see the graceful arch beginning from just behind the shoulders. It also allows evaluation of the depth of body, smoothness of transition in the side lines and fullness. But I also recommend allowing the animal to rise up and move about a bit. The purpose of this is to assess the strength of the legs. This does not mean that the rabbit has to run the length of the show table. Do not expect a Flemish Giant to pose on the tips of its toes like a Britannia Petite or a Belgian Hare. It is not in their nature. But you also don't want a rabbit which does a deep elbow bend like it's having trouble supporting itself. Keep in mind that the rabbit might be a little cautious about moving around at first so give them a little time to demonstrate their strength. 

(Revised 7/15/05)

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