I raise American Chinchilla's and have had good success with them. I butcher at ~10 weeks when they reach 4.75-5lbs, and have a market for them. The lines seemed to be really regional (I couldn't get away from basically the same bloodlines until I went and got new bloodlines from 2 states over). Before I added the completely different bloodlines, they had relatively small litters of ~5. Once I was able to branch their family trees, I'm now getting 9 on average per kindle. They have so far all been good mothers, and even the young ones that I have saved back have raised at least 5 out of their first set of kits. It is my understanding that it is almost unheard of to have a doe keep almost all of her kits alive her first kindle.
One of the pros about the Am Chins that I like as well, is that even though they are grey, the individual hairs are almost "see-thru" which means that the occasional stray hair on a carcass doesn't stand out like a sore thumb. That was one of the reasons that the NZ and the Cali's became so popular, was because with the automated processors it was almost impossible to keep some hair off the meat, and the white didn't show up.
Another pro that I like about them is that they don't seem fragile. I've had many many people tell me that I should never move a doe more than 2 weeks after she has been bred. Now, you are welcome to do whatever works for you, but I only have so many cages that I can kindle in, so my does move around on rotation. 90% of the time, a does doesn't get moved to a cage with a nest box until 3 days before she is due to kindle. After I wean the kits that are using the cage, I disinfect it, put a new liner in the wire nest box (feed sacks are SOOO handy), add hay, and dump the doe who is due next in. So far, I've never had a problem, and I've been moving my does on rotation like this for at least a year now and I've got around 160 babies in the growing out process currently. I touch and count kits within hours of kindling, and foster babies all the time with no vanilla or other scent killer. I've never had a doe reject a kit, even if it wasn't hers and she jumped into the next box right after I put it in. I've also been able to dump a whole litter that was 3 weeks old in with a doe whose litter was over a week younger, (The other doe got attacked by a coon thru the bottom of the cage, and I had to euthanize her.) and she never missed a beat. Just acted like her family just got twice as big. Of course, this is the mamma that protected her entire litter from a very hungry snake, but that's a story for another time.
I've seen several other people mention this in these forums as well, but I will also stress it again. RECORDS are KEY!! and you absolutely positively need a good scale if you are going to be continually breeding for your idea of the "ideal" meat rabbit, no matter what breed or mutt you go with. You can make huge strides with your parent stock and the traits you want in just a year, as long as you keep meticulous records and don't get attached to animals that aren't "ideal".
On the mutt front...Mutts are usually a great idea especially for starters. With mutts, they are normally something a neighbor, someone down the road, etc is looking to get rid of, and you can pick up some animals to "learn" on without having the huge overhead of full blood stock. Now, I know that seems harsh, but as with any animal, there is much that is between the lines of even a good rabbitry book, and there will be a certain amount of trial and error with any setup. If it is your first time breeding, butchering, raising, etc....its always a good idea to start with cheap mutts so that your overhead is lower while you are learning. As long as they are relatively good sized mutts (don't get anything miniature, or it will feel like you are butchering and eating rats, not rabbits), you will still get meat out of the deal.
