Interesting Robert Crawford Quote

[OneAcreFarm]

If you did not know, Robert Crawford is THE NZW breeder. His win more BIS and BOB than any other....here is what he had to say about inbreeding in a newspaper article....


"Crawford specializes in New Zealand white rabbits and also raises California rabbits, which are mainly white but have black ears and noses.

A major difference from raising other show animals, he said, is that in-breeding results in the best show rabbits – animals that know how to stay still in a pose for judges and with a soft white coat and other desirable qualities."

County bunny king closes in on 40 years of raising rabbits
December 14, 2009 8:47 AM
http://www.thetimesnews.com/articles/ye ... ounty.html
Mike Wilder / Times-News

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

yup. When i had the whites i had one of his lines.

 

[toastedoat37]

crawfords been raising rabbits for a long time ,and winning in shows for a long time,,and has great rabbits,,,but,,,,,hes also gone to way more shows with his rabbits than any other meat breeder alive. And after 40 years , i would suspect that it is hard for a judge to ignore the Crawford name when judging.I would not call his rabbits "the best " like was said in the other thread. But i think hes a dam good breeder and well worth any meat breeders time to read anything hes written.<br /><br />__________ Fri Jun 15, 2012 9:00 am __________<br /><br />Standing still in a pose for a judge is just not that important for someone that is truely raising rabbits for meat.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

crawfords been raising rabbits for a long time ,and winning in shows for a long time,,and has great rabbits,,,but,,,,,hes also gone to way more shows with his rabbits than any other meat breeder alive. And after 40 years , i would suspect that it is hard for a judge to ignore the Crawford name when judging.I would not call his rabbits "the best " like was said in the other thread. But i think hes a dam good breeder and well worth any meat breeders time to read anything hes written.

__________ Fri Jun 15, 2012 9:00 am __________

Standing still in a pose for a judge is just not that important for someone that is truely raising rabbits for meat.

Pretty sure no one said anything about meat rabbits....just sayin'...

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

Have you seen one of his rabbits?????. HE is ONE OF THE BEST . Meaning one of the top 10 breeders in the new zealand WHITES ONLY. Not the other colors. And you are right . When a judge hear is name.
It is very hard to compete with him when the judge knows his name .People pay big bucks to get some of his stock. But not for me. I like to work on something that is almost no breeder out there. It is very hard to compete with him there. Noing that there is no way ,But a red new zealand breeder like myself is very few around even tho the whites come off the reds. The reds are the first newzealand out there.

 

[toastedoat37]

If you say new zealands, or californians,,,,youve said ,meat rabbits,,,,,,,and crawford himself said he raises meat rabbits.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

If you say new zealands, or californians,,,,youve said ,meat rabbits,,,,,,,and crawford himself said he raises meat rabbits.

Toasted...I am WELL aware since I raise both.... :?

My post was in reference to SHOWING NZW's and Crawford's comment on inbreeding, since most SHOW breeders seem to think that INBREEDING + RABBITS = BAD

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

If you say new zealands, or californians,,,,youve said ,meat rabbits,,,,,,,and crawford himself said he raises meat rabbits.

Yes, And there is two differnt lines of meat rabbits also. there is the commercial meat rabbits which are the white new zealand and the californian and there is the show line of the same breeds. They look a little different and the litters size and breeding age are different also. But they are all still meat rabbits ,THAT YOU CAN EAT.

__________ Fri Jun 15, 2012 11:45 am __________

My post was in reference to SHOWING NZW's and Crawford's comment on inbreeding, since most SHOW breeders seem to think that INBREEDING + RABBITS = BAD

I was getting the other way around. I was getting the regular meat guys taht just want for meat dont want anything related. Then the show people is that is all they want. If they are not in any way line breed in the pedigree they dont want them. You can get good show rabbits unless you take your best stock and work with in that line. Which in line breeding ....and that is what i am doing now..

 

[OneAcreFarm]

If you say new zealands, or californians,,,,youve said ,meat rabbits,,,,,,,and crawford himself said he raises meat rabbits.

Yes, And there is two differnt lines of meat rabbits also. there is the commercial meat rabbits which are the white new zealand and the californian and there is the show line of the same breeds. They look a little different and the litters size and breeding age are different also. But they are all still meat rabbits ,THAT YOU CAN EAT.

__________ Fri Jun 15, 2012 11:45 am __________

My post was in reference to SHOWING NZW's and Crawford's comment on inbreeding, since most SHOW breeders seem to think that INBREEDING + RABBITS = BAD

I was getting the other way around. I was getting the regular meat guys taht just want for meat dont want anything related. Then the show people is that is all they want. If they are not in any way line breed in the pedigree they dont want them. You can get good show rabbits unless you take your best stock and work with in that line. Which in line breeding ....and that is what i am doing know.

Yup...all rabbits are made of MEAT....

 

[skysthelimit]

If there was nothing to back up a name, there would never be a name. I have no problem giving honor to who honor is due, past or present.
I am in noways a people worshiper, nor am I easily impressed, but I do respect a track record that goes a head of a person. I hope one day I have a track record of a life lived that precedes me.

Show rabbits, and most show animals, are not often the same as meat rabbits (or there show counterparts in other animals). Although, if you are raising a meat breed, they should be, because the Standard calls for the show animal to be the perfect representation of a meat animal. And posing for the judge is a sign of temperament, nothing worse than a nervous rabbit that goes flying off the table, cringes or tries to bite the judge.

As far as inbreeding, I use the Brackett line breeding with my rabbits as well as my dogs to fix good traits. The one thing about rabbits is that you can line breed longer and closer than dogs with very litter degradation. I would do a mother/son breeding with a rabbit, which I would never do with dogs. Considering all of my rexes come from the same breeder, and the nearest breeder is two hrs away,and I'm the only one who raises chins, I'll probably have to do a lot of close line breeding here.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

If you say new zealands, or californians,,,,youve said ,meat rabbits,,,,,,,and crawford himself said he raises meat rabbits.

Yes, And there is two differnt lines of meat rabbits also. there is the commercial meat rabbits which are the white new zealand and the californian and there is the show line of the same breeds. They look a little different and the litters size and breeding age are different also. But they are all still meat rabbits ,THAT YOU CAN EAT.

I was getting the other way around. I was getting the regular meat guys taht just want for meat dont want anything related. Then the show people is that is all they want. If they are not in any way line breed in the pedigree they dont want them. You can get good show rabbits unless you take your best stock and work with in that line. Which in line breeding ....and that is what i am doing now..

Around here, MaryAnn, it is the OTHER way....all the folks that breed for meat don't care if something is inbred or not. The show breeders get all crazy if you talk about inbreeding....

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

One of the 10 top breeders show in texas of which i import from him. He is from california and show lots in Texas. And he does line breeding. I dont know a rabbit breeder that shows that does not. I guess if it is only for meat it really dosnt matter

I use to breed simaese and himmies. I never line breed in animals. ONly livestock .

 

[3mina]

Line breeding is how traits are 'fixed' in a line of animals. Good or bad, the tricky part is knowing how to keep the good while discarding the rest

 

[A&amp;BRabbitry]

You've got to make sure your line doesn't get to narrow either. Once you get too inbred the faults will start coming through much stronger. My NZW stock all is from Crawford line's and I'll have to say you can't beat that mans fur. He has spent many years crossing his NZWs to Cals and back to NZWs until he could get his NZW fur closer to Cal fur. Don't get me wrong they both are under the standard for Commercial white fur but the Cals tend to have a softer fur with a little more flyback.