Breeding quality?

[Rabbitready]

Yet another question from a newbie

I recently adopted a black female mini Rex. They tell me she is approximately 2 years old. She is pretty cage aggressive and is not very comfortable with being held. I am not sure if its because she is new to us or if the old owners didn't do much with her.
I was wondering if she would still be a good doe to breed? Is it too old to start breeding her and also will her anti social attitude be passed on.
I was told does can be like that and so I made the lid of her cage open and she doesn't mind it AS much as reaching in from the front opening.

 

[EnglishSpot]

How long have you had her? That can have a lot to do with her being aggressive, since she may be scared still and not use to the new routine. Rabbits are not as flexible in their habits as dogs or cats, and have a longer adjustment period.

A NZR doe I had was cage aggressive (but not necessarily to me once I had a hold of her). After a month she calmed down quite a bit from becoming familiar to me, but I also changed her door from opening inward towards her (she hated that) to outward. I also modified her cage like you did, and made an opening at the top.

My NZ/Himi doe was bred for the first time as a two year old, and honestly, it did her good. She went from a cat-attitude "don't touch me unless I might let you" to much nicer and very friendly. All her babies have been just the most curious and human friendly rabbits I've seen. I don't think their mom was handled a lot or had a lot of socialization. Also, if a rabbit gets ignored for a long time, they can regain the fear of being handled. Bribery helps. Raisins were the downfall of the aforementioned NZR. Take your time, take her time, you've got years of rabbits ahead of you.

 

[Zass]

Some of temper is nature, and some is nurture. It's up to you to figure out which is which.

Your breeding goals will definitely be a factor. Some do not mind aggression in their meat rabbit lines, finding those rabbits easier to eat.
Pets should definitely be nice tempered.

Aggression has a lot of triggers, many of which can be sorted out, so I tend to find it less useful in determining genetic temperament.

It's definitely worth a shot to try to find what my be setting her off. I personally do not suggest breeding as a way to attempt to settle down a biter (especially a pet type), as there is a chance it can make things a lot worse instead of better.


I suggest monitoring how nervous and high strung she is after she has been with you for a while even if you can mellow the aggression. A very high anxiety and fearful animal would not be a good choice for breeding with the intent to sell the offspring as pets, as they have a high chance of becoming like the doe...but only after you sell them, when they go through puberty.

 

[akane]

The aggressive mini rex I tried breeding produced aggressive offspring for generations until I ended the line. The bucks were better but my does didn't want to breed with the bucks descended from that doe. Now I'm finding the netherlands are a bit different. The aggressive ones do produce offspring with more tendency toward aggression but well handled especially as kits overcomes the genetics. I think it's a difference in energy level and alertness to surroundings. Mini rex are generally laid back and it takes messed up hormones or something genetic to bring out aggression in many cases. Not all, some are just badly handled growing up, but most take something more. Netherlands are bouncy little cottonballs and more sensitive to their surroundings so lines do not run aggressive vs not aggressive they are sensitive and less sensitive which determines how much handling you have to put in to them to avoid them turning to aggressive behavior. They also take a lot longer to settle in and show their true behavior. Mini rex and the larger commercial breeds will show their standard behavior within weeks or maybe a month or 2. Netherlands may take 4-6 months to settle in to a long term behavior pattern. By the time I culled the "aggressive" does they were settling in to be less defensive toward people and bucks for breeding. This may apply to other breeds so writing them off as aggressive or not may not fully fit every situation.

 

[Susie570]

On the opposite side of that, I wonder how much the lovey-dovey traits are genetic.

Both the buck and doe from my 'oops' litter are very sweet natured, but the buck gives kisses, which I think is especially cute (the doe will do that every so often, but not as enthusiastically as the buck). The one kit I'm trying to keep (Sprinkles) is not only a pretty tri-color, but she's a kisser like her daddy. She's the only one from the litter who does the at she started from an early age.

I'm super tempted to 'see what I get' if I breed her back to her dad, both in personality and colors.

So, even if the cage aggression is genetic, you may have certain kits from the litter who are sweeter than others and who would be better to keep as breeders.

 

[Dood]

I have a 1/2 Mini Lop doe like that - I had no intention of keeping a doe without proper lop ears but even as a 4 week old kit she would seek me out and snuggle and give kisses, I've NEVER had a doe do that, and she totally stole my heart

So far most of her kits are just as people oriented but no matter how much I rave and applaud their loving temperament I have a hard time selling her 3/4 Mini Lop kits even when their ears do lop properly

Buyers still purchase based on looks and prefer the purebred Mini Lops with rounder heads and pefectly lopped ears and while they are not terrible temperament wise they certainly are not as outgoing, interactive and inquisitive

 

[Susie570]

I have a 1/2 Mini Lop doe like that - I had no intention of keeping a doe without proper lop ears but even as a 4 week old kit she would seek me out and snuggle and give kisses, I've NEVER had a doe do that, and she totally stole my heart

So far most of her kits are just as people oriented but no matter how much I rave and applaud their loving temperament I have a hard time selling her 3/4 Mini Lop kits even when their ears do lop properly

Buyers still purchase based on looks and prefer the purebred Mini Lops with rounder heads and pefectly lopped ears and while they are not terrible temperament wise they certainly are not as outgoing, interactive and inquisitive

I just wanted to say, Dood, that I've taken your advice on promoting my rabbit business. I'm selling 'superior pet quality 'Designer' rabbits, bred especially for personality, color and health!' as well as, eventually, a line of 'show quality' purebred mini lops. People seem very interested in the page I've put together, of course the proof will, as they say, be in the pudding and in how well the litters actually sell. I've been pleased, overall, with my sales from this litter so far. I would love to see the remaining kits sold and people are still showing sincere interest in them, so I'm waiting to see.

 

[Dood]

That's terrific

People around here are still hung up on "purebred means better" Even with my AmChins - I tell people who just wanna breed meat rabbits that my meat mutt bloodline is superior IMHO but the still want purebred pedigreed AmChins and I have a waiting list for female kits :shrug:

"Designer dogs" are not big sellers here either (thank goodness) and typically go for 1/3 less than purebreds