How far can I take it

[II Arrows]

Hello all, I'm still pretty new at raising rabbits and I can honestly say I'm obsessed with it. I got into rabbits initially for meat purposes and to provide hormone and steroid free meat for my family. I want my children to understand that the meat they do eat doesn't grow on grocery store shelves in plastic wrapped Styrofoam Packages. I mean deer season only lasts so long. Anyway I currently have a NZW buck (Hucklebuck) who has definitely earned his keep. The only problem is he is a little over 2 years old. I also have a 9 month old BNZ doe (Kodo) and she too is a keeper. She had her first litter of 10 kits 3 weeks ago and only lost 1. I have a 9 month old California doe (Lil Big Mama) and she is expected to Kindle on Sunday. She was bred to Hucklebuck. My other doe is a smaller sized cali mix and my other buck is a mini rex I do believe. when I bought him I was told he was a standard rex but Im thinking that was a bunch of BS because he is about 4 to 4.5 pounds at 10 months. He and my cali mix did wind up making a litter of 3 very colorful kits that will be sold as pets.....maybe. Now with all that being said how far can I truly go with my one NZW buck, since he is my only meat breed buck not counting his sired kits. I've read a few times I can breed father to daughter, mother to son, And should never breed brother to sister. What about half brother and sisters, or cousins or aunts uncles ext ext? Now as I sit here writing this someone just texted me about a few California rabbits he is wanting to get rid of Next weekend for 20 dollars. They will be 8 weeks old by then. I think I see a cali buck in the near future. So with my current situation what is the best most sure fire way I can keep my Lil homestead rabbitry sustained with such little stock? With my NZW buck being bred to both my BNZ and cali doe my gene pool is rather non existent For my intended meat purposes right? Any help or better yet i should say any guidence would be awsome......I think I need a beer :x

 

[ottersatin]

You can breed any combination of Nieces, Nephews, Cousins, Aunts and uncles.
Some have even bred brother to sister in an effort to see both the Bad and Good genes.
Sometimes you get lucky and all the best genes pair up, creatin a "Super" Rabbit!
Most often not, but you can always eat your mistakes. I would retain new breeders from within your herd. Always retain the best two Does and best Buck.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[akane]

A buck can breed well beyond 5 years old so you do not have to hurry to replace him. However, many like to keep a backup buck and others like to progress their rabbits towards better and better quality by replacing the current breeding rabbits with their best offspring repeatedly. Just choose the best buck kit from your buck and the best doe and then breed him to the does when needed. Inbreeding works fine so long as you are very strict about what you keep. Generally the only cross not done is full brother and sister but even that is sometimes considered depending on the quality of the rabbits. Cull out anything that has any trouble remaining healthy and reproducing for any reason and no matter how many times you breed together you will still get some of the best possible offspring. If you are not getting a lot of good offspring consider replacing that rabbit. Trouble with inbreeding of any animal or human is generally due to a lack of removing these less healthy individuals from breeding usually because of prioritizing some other characteristic. Many don't even like to bring in completely unrelated lines because the unpredictable of crossing the 2 not at all similar rabbits results in just as many failure offspring as inbreeding. I'm working with a much smaller number of closer related rabbits than I have before and I just plan to bring in some new does occasionally.

 

[II Arrows]

Just choose the best buck kit from your buck and the best doe and then breed him to the does when needed. Inbreeding works fine so long as you are very strict about what you keep. Generally the only cross not done is full brother and sister but even that is sometimes considered depending on the quality

so would that be breeding a son to mother minus the other doe I have? Or am I reading that wrong. I guess I'm seeing your point and at the same time I think I'm over thinking this.