Years ago, on a whim, my brother and I each chose a baby rabbit from a local farm store. When we originally purchased rabbits, we were not prepared. We jumped in with little knowledge. A poor decision which resulted in a lot of failures, which I learned from. Our rabbits were mongrels, but did fairly well! Many rabbits came and went. Then, over the years, we lost both of our first rabbits.
Soon after that we had too much trouble trying to succeed with lesser quality breeding rabbits. We decided to thin our herd, except Cala, the pet rabbit (and escape artist, Mother calls her Kamikaze Cala). Then I researched and decided on a breeding pair of American Chinchillas, a Heritage Breed.
According to the Livestock Conservancy, Heritage Breeds are traditional livestock breeds that were raised by our forefathers. These are the breeds of a bygone era, before industrial agriculture became a mainstream practice. Of the rabbits on this list, the American Chinchilla is number 12.
The American Chinchilla is a gentle and hardy breed. They have beautiful, thick fur. The bucks weigh 9-11 pounds. The does, weighing 10-12 pounds, are excellent mothers who produce large litters . So why are they in danger of being wiped out?
The first Chinchillas were created by french engineer, M.J. Dybowski, and shown for the first time in April 1913 in France. This new breed greatly excited rabbit breeders because it’s pelt was identical to the South American Chinchilla lanigera, which was prized for it’s expensive, beautiful, and soft fur. Now here comes a much larger animal and cheaper than going all the way to South America to kill thousands of small rodents with the same fur quality.
The breed spread like fire. In 1917, Mrs. Lacy-Hulbert of Surrey imported the first Chinchillas to England. In 1919, a British exhibitor took some of the breed to the New York State fair, introducing it to America. After the fair, Edward H Stahl and Jack Harris purchased the stock.
The original Chinchillas were quite small, weighing 5-7 pounds. American breeders set out to make the breed larger, tougher, and, overall, a better rabbit. Through this selective breeding, a breed standard was set for the Heavyweight Chinchilla. Both breeds were adopted into the standards book in 1924, and later the Heavyweight Chinchilla was renamed the American Chinchilla. Which, considering that they were now working on a giant breed of Chinchilla, wasn’t so heavy anymore.
In the 1940s, a tough period for Americans, the bottom fell out of the fur market. Since fur was the main purpose of the breed, it caused a major decline in the population. Meanwhile, large meat producers prefer an all white rabbit, such as a New Zealand White.
By breeding the American Chinchilla, not only are we feeding the family a quality and ethically raised meat (and possibly providing a soft and warm pair of gloves), we are supporting a heritage breed that does not deserve to be wiped out by the big guys.
Did I mention, we also get soft fuzzy babies? I can’t wait for Spring.