British Giant Rabbit: An Underrated Giant Rabbit Breed

Last Updated on May 30, 2023 by

The British Giant Rabbit is one of the largest rabbit breeds in the world. However, this is an exceedingly rare bunny breed. In fact, you can only really find it in one country.

Let’s take a little look at this breed in more depth, shall we?

The Origins of the British Giant Rabbit

As the name suggests; this is a rabbit that originates in the United Kingdom… sort of.

The British Giant Rabbit was bred from the Flemish Giant Rabbit. In fact, these rabbits look virtually the same, although the Flemish Giant is a little bit better.

It is this reason why many people do not regard the British Giant as a separate breed of rabbit. Instead, they feel it is just an off-shoot of the Flemish Giant.

This is why the United Kingdom is the only country to have officially recognized it as a breed.

That being said, there is a purpose to the British Giant bunny. This is the reason why you can only really find Flemish Giant for sale in a few colors. The British Giant was specifically bred to create a rabbit breed that had more colors available.

You will struggle to find a British Giant outside of the United Kingdom. If you live outside of the UK and want a rabbit similar to this one, then the Flemish Giant is the closest you are going to get.

The Look of the British Giant Rabbit

As we said before; this is a large, wide rabbit. Although, it is smaller than the Flemish, with the largest versions of the British Giant coming in at a maximum of 15.5 lb (7kg). Although, this is still a rather substantial size for a rabbit, with most other breeds weighing under half of this.

The British Giant is available in a few different colors:

  • Black
  • Grey
  • Blue
  • White
  • Opal
  • Sable

When the rabbit is available in Grey, it is virtually indistinguishable from the Flemish Giant Rabbit.

The rabbit’s fur is medium-length and very dense. It is soft to the touch.

As a Show Rabbit

If you live outside of the United Kingdom, you have absolutely no chance of being able to see this rabbit in a show environment.

In fact, even in the UK, it is not shown all that often. There are a few small breeding clubs around, but this is a rare breed. You will likely find that many other giant rabbits are shown more.

British Giant Rabbit
British Giant Rabbit (photo source)

Perhaps the main reason as to why the British Giant rabbit doesn’t even have that many shows in the UK is down to the fact that it doesn’t really have any stand-out features.

There are similar breeds out there, and many of those breeds are a lot more useful than the British Giant could ever be.

The Uses for the British Giant Rabbit

In the past, the main use of this rabbit was as a fur rabbit. It is a larger breed, and that means that it can provide a lot of furs. It was often regarded a bit better than other large rabbit breeds, even though it was smaller, due to the larger number of colors it is available in.

Of course, the fur is also desirable as rabbit fur. It is soft, medium length, and very dense. Although we cannot find much evidence of this rabbit being raised commercially for that purpose, it was certainly raised for this purpose by homesteaders.

The British Giant Rabbit has also been raised for meat in the past.

This probably won’t come as much of a surprise to you. It is a heavy breed, after all.

However, do bear in mind that it does not produce the greatest meat. You get a lot of it, but if you are raising rabbits for the sole purpose of eating them, then there are far, far better meat rabbit breeds out there.

The British Giant Rabbit as a Pet

Nowadays, the main reason why the British Giant bunny is still around is that it makes a great pet.

In fact, with a bit of basic knowledge, it could make a great starter pet for families.

Most pet stores in the United Kingdom will sell the British Giant, although you may struggle to find it outside of this country.

However, a few breeders in the United States have started to introduce the British Giant into their breeding stock, and it may be available as a pet like that.

This is a very friendly breed, and it always displays a huge amount of affection.

It can even live with other animals without too many issues. Although, if you have cats or dogs, then you will probably not want to leave them alone with the rabbit.

You never know what they are going to do. That being said, it is unlikely that there will be that many issues if you introduce the British Giant into your family at a young age.

Due to the size of this rabbit, it is going to need to have a lot of space available. The rabbit hutch will need to be huge. For this reason, a lot of people will raise the rabbit outdoors.

This is because a hutch in your home will take up a decent chunk of it. Luckily, the medium-length fur of this rabbit breed means that it should be fine outdoors, even when it starts to get a bit colder.

It is worth noting that this is not an active rabbit. It will spend most of its time lazing about. This may actually pose a bit of a problem. Because this rabbit is large, it eats a lot of food. However, it will barely be burning off any calories.

This means that you will need to keep an eye on the rabbit’s weight.

Other than this, your only real concern will be brushing the rabbit regularly. if you do not brush your British Giant rabbit at least once or twice per week, then the fur will quickly become matted. Once that happens, it is tricky to deal with.

Meet another large rabbit breed – the Thurungre rabbit.