Meat Rabbit Breeds

I am planning on starting a free range colony tractor meat rabbit set up (bit of a mouthful) and am thinking about using NZW does and possibly a heritage breed buck, I was thinking that the buck would provide some disease resistance, foraging capabilities and possibly some "hybrid vigour" to the kits. They may not grow as fast but intensive and quantity is less important than it being sustainable. Is this actually going to do anything by using an old breed of buck or would the effects be minimal or nothing. I was looking for silver foxes but they are a bit hard to find now as the only breeder anywhere near us stopped breeding them, so I was going to use a Harlequin buck. I haven't seen any/many people using Harlequins so was wondering if they are good for meat even though they have been bred for pets rather than meat. Any help would be VERY useful!

I know absolutely nothing about Harlequins however I used to raise New Zealands. They grow at a decent rate and provide a good amount of meat depending in how often you plan to eat rabbit. I.e. every day or once a week? Anyway I have just syarted raising a new breed (to me) they are called TAMUK rabbits they are a composite breed. They were selectively bred to produce high meat yields ( I'm talking 10 to 12 lbs of meat per rabbit) and to be heat resistant. They have really long ears which is where a rabbit lets all the heat escape their body. TAMUK stands for Texas A&M University Kingsville. Look up Dr. Lukefarh.And as a bonus since they are a composite breed they already have the hybrid vigor that you're talking about. A friwnd of mine has had very good results with crossing them to A&M New Zealands. Hope this might help you. Have a blessed one!

I have a NZ buck and a - supposed to be NZ doe but I suspect it’s a much smaller  FL White. Can I still breed them?  Thanks.