How I pick my keeper mutts....

[Sinnfox]

Ok so I have a litter out of a sweetheart of a mutt doe. They are half silver fox thanks to my accommodating buck and I was told since I want to raise a line of good mutts I should keep some does out of this litter. So out of a litter of ten there are a whopping 2 bucks The guys here teased me about how I'd pick so one day as a joke I sat down in front of the cage door and had a marker in my lap...I opened the cage and put my hand in and cheerfully said "ok who doesn't want to be cat food?" I marked the three that came up and started licking my fingers(well the three does ...both bucks came over )..the others stayed in the back of the cage..maybe they misheard me? >.> Anyway its two weeks later and the marked ones are still the friendliest..not that the others were actually gonna be cat food but it got a laugh out of the guys and showed me who my keepers were Just thought I'd share

 

[ColdBrook]

That's one way to do it! Personality is important too! It's far better than the way I agonize over it and second guess myself constantly!

 

[Miss M]

:lol: That'll work!

 

[Secuono]

Most of mine are friendly when they learn I bring food, but after a period of loving me, they grow up further and start realizing they are getting into their teenage years and I suck....so, that doesn't work great for me. lol.

 

[Britz86]

Lol I'm going to try it this way.. My first litter is 5 days old and was thinking its going to be hard what ones I would keep back

 

[annie]

I have been weighing them and keeping the biggest, but if someone was way more friendly that would factor in too.

 

[coffeenutdesigns]

I can understand that. I've only kept back 2 Calis, a doe and buck. When I was deciding I also stood in front of the cages (also with a marker) and just stared at them trying to get a "feel" for which ones I liked best. I'm a big fan of "gut feelings." I looked at size first and temperament 2nd, and factored in "prettiness" a little. I kept back the biggest ones who were the friendliest. I don't want crazy rabbits.

I then got some replacement Calis in case these didn't work out, but I like mine better. Thinking of growing out 2 lines to see which produce better before making any final decision.