Genetics?

[Stephanie]

I have been reading everything I can find in the care and breeding of my buns. I am a firm believer in knowing what I'm doing and not simply following what somebody else has done. After all, if their information is sketchy, so is mine. I want to gain a real understanding of what's going on and not just take my best shot and hope for the best. In the area of genetics, all I've been able to find is information on the genes which control color and coat. However, I'm very aware that there are a lot of other attributes which I'd like to be able to breed for, if I had the knowledge. Things such as milk production, litter size, litter mortality, body build, and growth speed are all controlled by genes. Simply picking what seems to be a worthwhile candidate for breeding is too much a shot in the dark. I'd like to have some information which is more substantial than that. Does anybody know of a reputable source for information concerning the genetics of these other attributes that I could get so I could have a better grasp on what I'm doing?

 

[Dood]

Quantitative genetics is a crap shoot so you breed the best and eat the rest :cheesysmile:

But if you want to understand it a bit - https://www.ndsu.edu/pubweb/~mcclean/pl ... /qgen1.htm

https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Quantitative_genetics

 

[alforddm]

They are just now starting to find the genes related to milk and meat production in animals such as pigs and cattle. Most of this is just locating the loci that are related to these traits and not actual mutations. Even then many of the traits are polygenic meaning more than one gene is involved. To the best of my knowledge they have not been studied in rabbits at all.

They have not started offering genetic testing for these traits yet in any animals although I suspect that we are not far off given all the studies I've seen regarding milk production in cattle and meat in pigs.