Your mental picture of a rabbit is probably the same as mine and everyone else’s: a cute little fuzzball that can almost fit in your hand! This is the iconic image of a rabbit for good reason: most of the time it’s true. But, not all rabbits are teeny tiny! In fact, some are downright huge. Or at least, as huge as rabbits get!
For whatever reason you want rabbits, be it as precious pets or livestock to raise for meat and fur, some of the bigger breeds have a lot to offer. I’ll tell you about 13 large-breed rabbits on the list below…
Just How Large is a Large Breed?
Large, of course, is a relative term when discussing rabbits. So just how big is a large breed rabbit, how big are we talking about here?
Depending on who you ask, you’ll get different answers, and even among organizations and agencies that deal with rabbits as pets, livestock, or show animals there is considerable variation in standards.
The wisest and most commonly accepted answer, though, is any breed that typically reaches at least 9 pounds in weight once it is fully grown.
Know that there are a few breeds that can get even bigger and heavier than that, so do keep that in mind!
In the grand scheme of things, that’s still not a big animal but compared to most of its cousins any rabbit in this category is positively a whopper. With that in mind, it’s time to learn about such breeds.
Silver Fox
One of the most striking rabbit breeds around, The Silver Fox is not only large, weighing around 12 pounds, but they all have magnificent foxlike coats of dusky charcoal and lighter gray.
As you might have guessed, this makes them show-stopping bunnies that are popular in competitions the world over, but they can also make wonderful pets because of their calmness, even temper, and hardy constitution.
If you want a pet that has a downright glamorous appearance, the Silver Fox is hard to beat…
French Lop
One of the most popular lop-eared breeds around, and the largest of the lop rabbits generally, the French op is colorful and iconic, and can grow to a positively massive 15 pounds or a little bit more.
Despite their immense size, French lops are known for their patience, gentle demeanor, and sociability toward humans. They have incredibly fluffy fur, and generally don’t mind petting and limited handling, making them a wonderful choice for a pet.
They are certainly one of the most photogenic, and this has made them regular stars at various rabbit shows around the world.
Flemish Giant
Flemish Giants are a large breed that is singularly unique in a couple of regards. They, like the Continental Giant elsewhere on this list, are truly immense, with a couple of record-setting specimens clearing 18 pounds in weight.
But more than that, the Flemish Giant is amazingly long-lived, with an average lifespan of 8 years. And even longer is hardly out of the question or unrecorded!
Accordingly, you must be prepared to spend a small fortune on food over the course of their lives! They also have the distinction of being a genuine heritage breed, first codified in the early 1500s.
Originally an important source of meat and fur around Europe, today they’re sometimes raised for the same, though they are predominantly kept as pets.
New Zealand
Probably the single most important meat breed in the world, the New Zealand is one of the smaller big breeds on our list, rarely weighing more than 12 pounds although the vast majority are over 10 pounds.
They grow quite quickly, as intended from their breeding, as this is desirable for such livestock breeds. They’re sometimes kept as pets, but their most notable use is in research labs.
Hungarian Giant
Hungarian Giants are a large breed that is surprisingly variable in overall size, with adults tipping the scales anywhere from 11 to 15 pounds. They also come in a huge variety of colors, though their fur is always very dense.
For much of its 200-year existence, the Hungarian Giant was raised for fur, meat or both, and only in the 21st century has it found new interest as a noteworthy heritage breed and pet.
And as pets, they are known to be highly energetic and playful, so you should get ready for plenty of playtime if you want them to stay happy and healthy.
Giant Angora
Giant Angoras are instantly recognizable and highly distinctive large breed rabbits. They have pink albino eyes and coats that are so gloriously white that they almost seem to shine with a soft, inner light.
They are striking, that’s for sure, and they are also one of the most popular pet bunnies due to those looks and their large build…
Although good-natured and generally friendly, they are notable for disliking handling and also for their pretty intensive maintenance requirements; their coat requires lots of brushing in order to stay clean and in good shape.
Giant Chinchilla
Another big breed with “giant” right in the name, the Giant Chinchilla is a chinchilla breed, of course: these are varieties of rabbits known for an incredibly plush coat of fur that’s quite similar to fur of the small mammal of the same name.
Interestingly, the giant chinchilla was originally bred specially to create a larger fur-bearing breed to sate high demand. That demand has mostly cooled, but the breed persists as a healthy, adorable, and long-lived pet.
You might not guess from their almost sleepy expression, but the Giant Chinchilla is highly energetic and it demands lots of play and exercise, so be prepared for that.
Spanish Giant
A huge breed that is more known for its prolific reproduction than its gigantic size. Spanish Giant females can regularly crank out more than 14 baby bunnies in a litter, and while that’s not totally unheard of, what is remarkable is the fact that Spanish Giant bunny mortality is shockingly low.
When you consider that it also has an average weight of between 14 and 15 pounds, that is downright amazing! Regrettably, Spanish Giants won’t be with us for a very long time in life; they only live around 4 years on average.
Once driven nearly to extinction due to overproduction and consumption of their meat, they have bounced back in the 2000s and are once again becoming popular rabbits- both as pets and on show circuits.
Altex
The Altex rabbit was developed as a crossbreed through the combined efforts of Alabama A&M University and Texas A&M University.
Intended to be an extremely fast-growing, large, and high-yield meat-producing rabbit, the Altex gets much larger than most other meat breeds, routinely clearing 11 pounds and reaching maximum size in only a couple of months.
Checkered Giant
You’ll find that the largest rabbit breeds have names that are immediately descriptive, names that tell you a lot about them. Obviously, the Checkered Giant falls into this category!
The Checkered Giant, aside from being huge and maxing out at around 12 pounds, typically has a pure white coat with a pattern of black patches or speckles, the eponymous “checkers,” that give it such an interesting appearance.
Although sometimes raised for utility reasons, both for meat and fur, these rabbits are energetic, playful, and curious, and that has made them popular plus-sized pet rabbits.
Giant Papillon
If the name didn’t tip you off, the Giant Papillon hails from France and can be easily mistaken for the Checkered Giant…
That’s because they have a brilliant, bright white coat with dark eyeliner patches and spots of dark fur elsewhere on their body. The telltale is that these patches don’t have the “broken” appearance of the Checkered Giant.
Giant Papillons also have wonderful personalities, being very affectionate and playful, qualities that make them great pets. However, like some other big bunnies on our list, they need plenty of exercise.
You’re most likely to spot one of these beauts at a show or competition because they’re such striking specimens. Fun Fact: this breed perhaps more than any other has extremely strict breed requirements and standards.
California
The California rabbit, sometimes called the Californian, is a dual-purpose breed that is raised for both meat and fur. And like its competitor and relative, the New Zealand, this is a large breed that is quite variable in size and nominally one of the smallest on our list.
Certain lineages will weigh a little under 10 pounds on average, whereas others might max out at around 12 pounds. Whether you want to raise them for fur or you just want a singularly beautiful rabbit for a pet, the California is a fine choice.
Continental Giant
The Continental Giant, just like the name says, is another truly gigantic bunny. They weigh in at, if you can believe it, an astonishing 16 plus pounds regularly!
But more than their overall size, these rabbits are known for their stoutly muscular, athletic build and also for their somewhat coarse and bristly coat which makes them look even bigger than they really are.
This is another dual-purpose breed raised for meat and fur, but they make really excellent pets thanks to their gentle disposition. For rabbit fanciers who want a big breed that can do anything and everything, the Continental Giant is a fine choice.
Tim is a farm boy with vast experience on homesteads, and with survival and prepping. He lives a self-reliant lifestyle along with his aging mother in a quiet and very conservative little town in Ohio. He teaches folks about security, prepping and self-sufficiency not just through his witty writing, but also in person.
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