Holland lop keeper list?

[joybellfarm]

Ok so my daughter was set on doing tris and Harlequin colored Hl for 4-h. We traded her goat for her rabbit start. We got 3 does and 2 bucks. We decided to not keep them all due to cage space. We have sold one of the does where keeping the other 2. But my daughter and i cant decide which buck to keep lol. Smokey the opal looks very good and he has the thickest rear feet but his crown has slipped but his head looks better then the other. He is the one to greet u at the cage door first. But Courtney and Smokey are related there siblings. There is no close breeding in there pedigree so maybe i could breed them together? But know nothing of the rules abd what would come out. Harlie who we where planing to keep as he is unrelated. He looks good overall but has a small head and big ears. Which makes him look funny. They where born the end of July so around 2 months old. Maybe we should keep them a few months to let them mature a little. But if we do can they share the same cage? For how long can they share? I got a few beginner pics of them i could post more if anyone wants to help me decide. Just tell me what pic u want. I need a list of what to look for and at what age. And what are the things to not keep.

 

[Dood]

Smokey has much better type and breeding brother to sister is not a big deal, especially if they have few relations in the pedigree.

I have a rare breed and my 3 foundation rabbits were full an half siblings, cousins, second cousins and quite inbred in general but there are no noticeable side effects - they still have good litter size with very few stillborns, fantastic mothering ability, practically no weaning enteritis, etc..

If you are still worried you can replace him with a male kit from the other doe, assuming he has better type

Keeping two males togeather is a bad idea, they are going to start fighting and trying to rip each other testicles off - no joke, that is the first place to look for wounds, another sign is chunks of fur lying about the cage. I find my Mini Lops VERY fast maturing and the boys start displaying dominance at 10 weeks and some times earlier.

 

[joybellfarm]

Ok looking at them i would say Smokey is the better of the 2. I will only have 2 cages left to have weaning kids go into witch means no keepers tell i get some cash rounded up for some wire or cage. I think i can scrounge some wire up to make a small 18 by 18 cage and ive got a wire dog create thing i might have floor wire to stick in it. I do have 2 plastic dog cages but dont know how sanitary those would be.