Florida or New Zealand?

Question
Hello Sarah,
Recently, I just adopting two little white bunnies at the age of 2 month old. I am having trouble feeding them. When they came a week ago they were only 1 pound each and now...they are each almost 5 pounds! I wanted to follow the feeding chart on this rabbit care book but they always went crazy just at the sight of the pellets. So now I feed them about half a cup of pellets with unlimited hay. Am I feeding them too much or too less? The previous owner of the rabbits had told me that she thinks the rabbits are New Zealand Whites although she did mention that their adult weight is 5 pounds. We had assumed she had mistaken a Florida White with a New Zealand White. How old exactly is considerated adult for rabbits? And from all the information I've typed, do you think it's a New Zealand White?
Thanks!

Answer
Baby New Zealands can be around 5 pounds at 10 weeks of age. In fact, that is about the ideal for them for meat pen classes (where they are judged on commercial qualities). Florida Whites would definitely rarely be that large at only 9 weeks old, so it would be more likely you have a true New Zealand (large).

At this age, feed them all the food they want. They should not be restricted until they are about 5 to 6 months old. Smaller breeds should not be restricted until around 3 1/2 to 4 months, but larger breeds take longer to mature. Baby rabbits should have access to all the pellets and all the fresh hay they want because they grow VERY quickly.

As far as adulthood for rabbits, it is usually considered to be 6 months for small breeds and 8 months for large breeds. However, very small breeds are usually mature by 5 months and very large breeds can take longer to mature to full size (up to a full year). New Zealands are generally at their mature weight between 8 and 9 months of age.