Growing the herd?

[mytdogs]

Hi all,

I want to see what y'all think I should do to expand my bunny herd. I currently have Florida Whites-2 does (Eighteen & Six) and 1 buck (Ricky)- all unrelated. The does were both bred to the same buck- NOT Ricky. Eighteen has kindled & so far the 5 kits are okay (knock on wood). Six is due any day now (Day 30 tomorrow!!). I tried palpating her tonight but I couldn't feel anything (she is very nervous about me handling her). So I don't know if the breeding took.

So my question is- should I plan on keeping a nice fast grower Doe from Eighteen's litter? I originally thought I'd have 3 does & 1 buck- what kind of volume can I produce with a quad?

Ricky still has a bad attitude-lunging & boxing when I bring him greens...though he seemed a little better tonight. The breeder I got him from suggested I not keep him around if he keeps it up. I would like to breed him at least once to see if it will calm him down. Should I consider keeping the monster buck from eighteen's litter if I have to replace Ricky? Won't this be a problem for future breeding if the buck is related to the doe? as in Mother/son breeding? If it is just for meat then I suppose it wouldn't matter but would I need to worry about buying replacements then?

Should I consider another breed or Mutt instead of another FW-to ad hybrid vigor?

Thanks!!

 

[ladysown]

mother son is okay and shouldn't cause you any problem.

yeah, nasty rabbits...you don't want to keep them.

You could keep a buck back from a breeding by Ricky to whichever doe is better. With lots of handling hopefully the new boy would be better behaved, I've never had a nasty buck which makes me wonder if he's a 'one-off' or something.

Is it just you eating the buns or are you feeding a dog as well?
Are you keeping up with what you are producing? ... well..hold on, you are just starting right so you can't really answer that one.

I'd hold one back from 18 ... the sweetest and meatiest one. (that doesn't always work out to the biggest one I've learned). It will take her at least six months to grow out and mature to being breedable and that will give you time to decide if you can keep up with what two does produce or if three will be a boon to you or not.

 

[Anntann]

I'd keep either a buck or a doe, too. maybe both. Or just wait to see what 6 produces for you. That would bring you a nice diversity for future offspring.

something about linebreeding tho...we humans tend to think about inbreeding as bad...but when you consider that rabbits in the wild (and chickens) survived for eons basically linebreeding...any bad genes get tossed out quickly as they show up. Biologically speaking, it's a survival mechanism.