The American Chinchilla has a grey or "salt and pepper" coat that is short and, when stroked against the grain should quickly return to the proper position close to the rabbit. The appearance of the color coat is not just random. If you blow into the coat where the fur is parted will be a "ring" pattern that is responsible for the beautiful color. This actually shows distinct bands of color.
In 1913 the chinchilla coat was introduced and resembled the chinchilla animal. With this color produced on rabbits it was possible to raise the pelts more efficiently. Those original rabbits were more the size of today's standard chinchilla rabbits. America breeders set to produce a larger sized animal, with less bone and a higher percentage of meat. Originally called the heavyweight Chinchilla in 1924 the name was changed to reflect their American development. So dominant and in demand were these rabbits during the Depression for fur and meat over 17,000 were registered in a year.
The American chinchilla is the rarest of any of the rabbit chinchilla breeds and found only in the USA. Today there are fewer than 2,000 remaining.
This is a breed that has excellent meat quality and quickly grows to butcher size. Their soft coats are not just thrown away. Because of the dual purpose nature the pelt can be used as well as the meat. These are fast growing fryers, with typical 7-10 kits per litter and good mothers the normal for the breed. Owing to their functional past they maintain width that produces a frame for muscle which makes them good meat rabbits. The fur market decrease has hit the breed hard and their coloring is penalized by commercial markets that want an all white rabbit.
Mature bucks are 9-11 pounds and a typical doe is 10-12 pounds by the standard of perfection. They should have a distinctive meaty body without the length of a Flemish Giant. The American Chinchilla are typically a fairly easy going rabbit as well. They should be fast growing. By eight months they should meet the minimum weight for adults. This is a six class' breed from a show standpoint due to their size as adults they are shown by age and size as juniors, intermediate and adults for both bucks and does hence six classes.
Most that breed show rabbits find that not only do not all make show rabbits but further sometimes there are those that do not fit the standard. Perhaps they are too long or there are problems with size true to their past these animals fill function as meat and fur rabbits. While their docile nature means they can be good pets, their function feeding a family shouldn't be underestimated. With the economic situation rabbits like the American Chinchilla stand ready to be a dual purpose breed for the future just as they have for 90 years in the past.
