Beveren Rabbits ...Not Just Another Rare Breed

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The Beveren rabbit, "The Breed of Distinction," is recognized as a rare breed of livestock by the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (http://albc-usa.org).  The Beveren was first recognized in Europe in 1898 and was named after the town of its origin in the Waas region of western Belgium. Beverens arrived in America about 1915. Currently, Blue-eyed white (BEW), solid black and solid blue are recognized types of Beveren rabbits in the US.

Though fairly new to Beverens I have now bred BEW, blue, black and brown Beverens in my barn. They are fur and meat rabbits and claims to fame are the lovely blue eyes on the whites, the luxurious fur and docile temperament. They are big buns, and many of my brood does hit 12 pounds and have enormous dew laps. They are the biggest rabbits in our barn other than the Flemish Giants, and we have many big breeds!

I had never heard of Beverens until a few years ago when I was walking a summer show in Monroe looking for some white New Zealands for our meat rabbitry. I saw some big white rabbits which turned out not to be New Zealands but BEW Beverens with a youth breeder named Lexi from Eastern WA. Lexi did a wonderful job of introducing me to the rabbits but she really didn't have to sell me on them! I ended up sitting around all day waiting for her to decide which rabbits she would sell to me at the end of the show (I wasn't leaving without those rabbits!) It was through Lexi that met my dear rabbit friend Judy in Idaho, who just so happens to raise white Beverens and one of my other bunny loves, Champagne D'Argents, but that's another story all together...

My first pair of whites, Van and Skye, were perfect. Van was initially on a top row of cages and he would climb down the cages and jump into my arms and I would carry him around while I fed. Skye was a little less lovey (hormonal doe) but she has had several bucks just like their Papa. Very laid back, these buns even played dead at shows, sleeping so soundly and in contorted positions that others thought that surely they must be dead. I can't tell you how many times some shocked person at a rabbit show pointed out one of my "dead" Beverens. But no, when you wake them they just yawn and stretch. Van and Skye are gone but their grand kids, Neve and Schylar, and very much like their grandparents. Neve is soon going to be a grandma!

It wasn't long after I got the whites that I HAD to have a blue. I found a local meat breeder who had blue does cross bred with blue Flemish Giants to "improve" their blue color. I've since learned that this is a common mistake, as the true blue of a Beveren is a light, lavender blue, not the darker slate gray hue of the Flemish. I no longer have those crossbreds but after many generations of breeding back to whites and blues their descendents are quite beautiful! This year I took the leap and got blue and black stock via National Convention. Some stock came from the East Coast and some from the Midwest (thanks Amy and Don!). While waiting for my blue and black does to mature one of my blues started throwing brown!

I bred heavily this year and it has paid off. I have several litters of blues, 2 litters of black, and a new line of whites, and now a young breeding pair of browns that I cannot wait to get going! Another hard lesson learned when I brought a new line of whites into the herd is that some Beveren does can be quite vicious with bucks! It’s now my policy to hold all my does when they breed.

While I love that "painted Vienna bunny," it wreaks havoc on your herd to allow the Vienna gene to run amok by cross breeding! I still constantly cull Vienna marks from my line originating from the crossbreds. I keep the very cutest of my Vienna marked does for meat mamas as I just love them. But breeding them into your lines gives you spots, stray color patches and blazes, even without the full Dutch look, for many generations.

I am currently working on improving the ears and head on my whites, and fur density. I believe I have hit on several lines of beautiful lavender blue so my next task is getting that lovely Beveren caboose and depth in the loin improved in the blue lines. The blacks need work on both fur and type, though fur has improved with just one breeding. The browns have wonderfully soft fur with a beautiful sheen on their chocolate brown coats, but they lack fur density and they are on the small side so far though they do make weight. Hopefully, along with a few other brown Beveren breeders, we will get a Certificate of Development to get the browns recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association.

You can learn more about the Beveren rabbit at the American Beveren Rabbit Club www.freewebs.com/beverens/

Yes! We breed and sell this wonderful rabbit on our farm. Check out http://sagelakefarm.com/Rabbitry.html

~Jolynn