Breeding brother & sister????

[jimmywalt]

I know.............. people don't breed brother & sister, but..................

We have an adorable double mane blue female lionhead and a double mane REW male lionhead. They are siblings and have strong BEW in their background on their father's side. Unfortunately we don't have the father, or access to him, so we are wondering what actually would happen if you were to breed siblings?

Will they have 3 eyes or 5 legs?????

Why or why not.

Thank you.

 

[ilovehome]

People doe occasionally breed siblings. Usually, it is for a specific reason like you have--to test for recessives. Whatever good points they have will be emphasized on some of the young, and whatever bad points will be emphasized on some, too. So the biggest thing is you need to have a plan for those you do not want, otherwise you may be stuck with a few pets for a long time. And any kits from the pairing I would breed to a non-related rabbit because your gene pool will be too tight.

 

[Dood]

If you are hoping to produce blue eyed white or Vienna marks your chances are slim, unless the father of these two was a BEW or the prospective parents have evidence of carrying the Vienna gene.

If their father was Vienna marked or had a BEW parent then you have a 25% chance of his son and daughter getting the gene and only a 12.5% chance their kits will get it.

If he did not have a Vienna mark or a BEW parent then your chances drop to 12.5% and 6.25% respectively.

 

[Zass]

So the biggest thing is you need to have a plan for those you do not want

:yeahthat:

Inbreeding doubles up recessives. Both good and bad. Bad includes recessive genetic disorders.

Your going to see harmful recessives more and faster when you inbreed.

Rabbits have fewer harmful recessive genes than dogs and cats due to breeders actively removing animals who manifest those traits and identified carriers from the gene pool. Inbreeding is a useful tool in this practice and it benefits rabbits greatly when it is done with care.

Pet type rabbits seem to have more genetic problems than larger breeds, and I'm positive it is directly due to less breeders being willing to terminally cull. (max factor and malocclusion come to mind)

If you don't want to see the really ugly stuff your herd is hiding, and deal with the consequences...I'd advise not inbreeding closely.

 

[akane]

Some people actually want max factor. It tends to increase positive traits. Smaller size, better head shape, better coat... I find it really annoying. My first nd litter was 5 max factor.

If you have very good rabbits or uncommon genes you want to increase then breeding that close is fine to attempt but you want to cull heavily for health and then other traits.

 

[3mina]

Like everyone else has said, have a plan for the ones you don't want.
Tight breeding itself isn't a good or bad thing but occasionally the results are more, uh, graphic than a person is prepared for and we as breeders need to be prepared to deal with the results of our breeding choices.

I personally breed tightly a lot but I also keep less than 5% of what I produce for replacements, everything else goes to freezer camp