What Do You Get? Silver Marten X Creme d’Argent

This was something I researched a lot when I was first getting into cross-breeding rabbits but couldn’t find a whole lot of information. I wanted to see what the resulting bunnies would look like. There are lots of “cross-bred” rabbits out there but I’m talking about F1 hybrids which supposedly benefit from “hybrid vigor”.

I didn’t want to cross-breed necessarily but I wanted rabbit meat and it was my only option at the time. I actually found the coats of the offspring to be very attractive and wild-looking and the growth rate was good. The kits had very cute black eyeliner and ear tips.

So, what do you get when you cross a Silver Marten sire with a Creme d’Argent dam? You get this:

Silver Marten X Creme d’Argent hybrid kit at about 12 weeks old, just prior to processing

A large brown rabbit that looks very much like you would expect a wild rabbit to look. Of course, that’s just what I got. I’ve had a few litters where the kits look consistently like this. A few end up a bit darker, but otherwise they look like agouti coats. I’m considering eventually keeping a doe for breeding and would mate her to a third breed, supposedly maintaining hybrid vigor. I’m definitely excited to try more hybridization in the future.