FLEMISH GIANT - Nikki White (Reguli Cavy & Rabbit Stud)

Often confused with the British Giant and vice-versa, the Flemish is a Fancy Rabbit only available in Steel (according to the BRC standards) while the British is a Fur Rabbit, available in a number of colours. These are the largest rabbits in the fancy. There is no maximum weight. Indeed, the largest rabbit in the world, according to The Guiness Book of Records is a white British Giant who is a metre long and over 10 kg in weight. These rabbits don't take no shit from no dog!

The BRC Standard for the Flemish Giant calls for a large, roomy, flat body, with broad fore and hindquarters. The legs and feet should be in proportion to the body and strong in bone, large and straight, velvety, dark and ticked, the ticking to show when the coat is rubbed back. The head is to be large, full and shapely, the eyes bold and dark brown in colour, ears erect. The coat should be full and short, the body firm in flesh and moderately thick. The colour should be dark steel grey with even or wavy ticking over the whole body, head, ears, chest alike except belly and under tail which should be white. Disqualifications include not being dark steel grey and having any grey, steel, sandy or other shade on the belly or under tail except a streak of grey in each groin. Faults include excess white hairs and a chopped off rump. The minimum weight is 4.974 kg for a buck and 5.44 kg for a doe. There is an Intermediate class for Flemish under these weights but over 6 months. This has a maximum weight of 4.98 kg (bucks) and 5.44 kg (does).

Just to repat, if bred to BRC standards, they only come in one colour, dark steel grey. So Flemish Giants in other colours - aren't. Some will try to pass them off as "American Flemish Giants" but ARBA (and the National Federation of Flemish Giant Breeders) only recognise the following colours: Black, Blue, Fawn, Light Grey, Sandy Steel Grey and White. So no Orange Flemish Giants.

The Flemish is an old breed, originating in Flanders (part of Belgium), probably near Ghent. It is believed that they are descended, at least in part, from the Patagonian, a rabbit brought back by Dutch traders in the 16^th and 17^th centuries and raised as meat. The earliest reference to the Flemish Giant is around 1860 when English travellers told of the enormous rabbits raised in Flanders. These rabbits were shorter than the current breed with a finer bone structure and their great weight (7.7-8.1 kg) made them misshapen and unable to move around. Indeed, the emphasis was all on size and weight and not much on shape or type. The breed in its present form is generally attributed to the English (though a book by a Dutch author attributes the breed to German breeders!) namely one Christopher Wren (no, not the bloke who designed St. Paul's). The Flemish Giant was imported into the United States in the 1880s.

Some fanciers in Britain felt that confining the Flemish to Steel Grey has kept its weight down. Just recently, the BRC put the Flemish Giant on the rare rabbits list as so few people breed them now in Britain.

They have been used as meat rabbits. In some ostrich farms in Europe, the young ostriches have Flemish Giants as nannies, companions to keep them happy and content. (Dwarf rabbits are used when the ostriches are chicks).

Called "gentle giants" both breeds make wonderful pets, being docile and placid yet strong and big enough to hold their own with small children's rough-housing. If abused, they can bite or scratch quite painfully but this is rare. They are intelligent and if given plenty of attention they make affectionate pets, though some of them can sometimes be moody. Mature bucks seldom spray and like many bunnies, they can be litter-box trained. They have good tolerance for the cold but don't much care for heat and must be kept in the shade in the summer. They are very vigorous and healthy and easy to care for.

The doe should be bred at 8 months or when she is 6.35 kg. She should be bred as soon as she reaches maturity because she can get too much fat around her ovaries and have difficulty conceiving. She can have from six to 18 kits in a litter but the ideal is eight or less, otherwise they will be small and less developed when they reach maturity.

They need exercise to prevent boredom and becoming overweight. They even can be trained to walk in a harness (and a bunny this size wouldn't look as daft as some poor, wee, dwarf breed trying to keep up with a human).

As meat rabbits, they are fast developers, suitable for market and as fryers as soon as they are weaned. They can even be kept as house bunnies.

Ted Williams recommends starting small and buying one good doe, as good as you can afford, rather than say three poorer does. He also suggests you mate her at the stud you got her from and if possible mate the offspring back to the sire. If that isn't possible, buy a good buck. Colour in the Flemish Giant is worth 30 points so is important. If you work from poor stock it will take years before you get anywhere. You want a good, solid, not baggy or flabby rabbit, good type, firm flesh, and the right colour.

HOUSING AND CARE
Needless they need plenty of room. David Taylor recommends a hutch for outdoor rabbits 180 x 75 x 75 cm minimum and for indoors 153 cm² . However, one local breeder had a cage 8 feet long for the doe which could be divided into three sections and allowed her plenty of room when she had litters. So you need a yard with plenty of space or else an uncluttered house for your big friend to dash about in. They mustn't be cramped because they need room to exercise to prevent boredom and obesity. The hutch should be well ventilated but not draughty (the above mentioned  hutch had shutters that could be put over the window areas in bad weather). The floor can be covered with sawdust, wood shavings, carpet or whatever you prefer, with a litter tray at one end. A good heavy ceramic bowl for food, a water bottle and a hay rack complete the furnishings.

They thrive on a large percentage of greens and roughage but don’t actually eat more then a Chinchilla Giganta despite being bigger. They like good clover, meadow hay, roots and leaves from the greengrocer or you can grow chicory, kale, kohlrabi, mangolds and swedes for them. These should be supplemented with pellets and mix. Like all rabbits they should have plenty of fresh water.

British Rabbit Council, Standards of Rabbit Breeds 3rd ed. 2011-2016.

Giant Bytes: Flemish Giants and Chinchilla Gigantas  edited by Roland D. White. Chattisham, Printing for Pleasure, 2014

Russell, Geoff, Mini Encyclopeda of Rabbit Breeds & Care. Dorking, Interpet Publishing, 2008

Sandford, J.C., The Domestic Rabbit 5^th ed. Blackwell, Science, 1996

Taylor, David, Rabbit. HarperCollins, 1999

Verhoef-Verhallen, Esther, Encyclopaedia of Rabbits and Rodents. Lisse, Rebo Productions, 1998

Vriends-Parent, Lucia, The New Rabbit Handbook. Hauppage, NY, Barrons, 1989

Whitman, Bob D., Domestic Rabbits & Their Histories: Breeds of the World. Leawood, KS : Leathers Publishing, 2004

Williams, A.E. Ted, Rabbit Breeding for Perfection. Melbourne, AE Williams, 1992.

National Federation of Flemish Giant Breeders (USA)

National Flemish Giant Rabbit Club (UK) (no current website as of Dec. 2014)