Limited gene pool breeding plan.

[eco2pia]

Ok, here is the problem--I am having a bear of a time finding quality stock--forget quality, I am having a bear of a time finding ANY stock!! Short of shipping rabbits or driving half way across the country....

I am trying to develop a line of broken NZR.

Here is what I have available:

-Shauna's doe, solid, large and very dark red.
-My doe, solid, lighter (undesirable) shade of red, but nice type.
-My broken red buck, lighter shade, great pattern, but not very typey.

All of them are pedigreed.

I also have a dark broken red and her agouti sister, who are only half NZ--related Shauna's dark doe, both have the full set of rufus modifiers and really typey, in spite of being half mutt. (I credit the possible MR heritage of their dad)

So I am starting with 3 completely unrelated animals, plus the two related half breeds. All the traits I want are there, in the various animals...

My questions:

-I can get some kits from the cross of Shauna's doe and my buck, but do I want to get a doe or a buck? or both? Space is limited.
-And do I phase out the half breed lines completely, or retain them for the genetic diversity and breed them in for the 3 generations to get their pedigrees complete?

 

[rabbitgeek]

Number one - you've got all red! You are halfway home!

Select for body type first. Fur second. Color is third.

Use linebreeding to develop all of your existing does as individual lines that can be crossed later. That includes your halfbreeds, breed them off the pedigree.

Be prepared to cull your breeders every generation. You will be trying to turn over generations. You don't necessarily have to bonk all of them. You may find somebody who would like to take your "retired" breeders for use in their breeding program.

Red is my favorite NZ color. Best wishes for success.
Have a good day!

 

[eco2pia]

Ok, so the thing I don't understand about line breeding is the buck--when does he get replaced? Because he is my weakest link. I need his pattern in there somewhere... But not his color or type. or fur really, it is too long, more rollback. The new buck will be a full sib to one doe line...do I have to cull the whole line?

Also I don't think I will have any problem getting rid of proven does.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

Keep a buck from the first breeding that is better than the buck you have. Use THAT buck to cover his siblings-- it is okay for a generation or two, Then you can use those resulting bucks to cover --
you will need to put things down on paper-- a sort of breeding map, with the goal of each generation as markers... You want to breed away from poor type and fur quality as soon as you can--so your original buck should not hang around very long...

 

[eco2pia]

ok, sounds good! I am thinking I really might just need to invest in some software... or just 3 ring binder...

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

I lIKe three ring binders-- there is something satisfying about shuffling paper around-- and a lot easier to make side by side comparisons-- though a program does have some benefits---

 

[Random Rabbit]

I lIKe three ring binders-- there is something satisfying about shuffling paper around-- and a lot easier to make side by side comparisons-- though a program does have some benefits---

Bless You !!!
I love my notebooks . Pages get written all over with additional notes and thoughts. Kinda difficult to do on a computer screen..... Charts and graphs...that is the way to go. Also the notes are still there when the power goes off......

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

or your computer crashes because of some freak motherboard killing virus when your anti virus software that you paid a lot of money for failed...


Aside from that in regards to keeping a doe or a buck and from what line, I would keep ANY sex that had what you need! That might mean moving on an older generation buck or doe for sure, but I find if you fixate on only keeping a buck from a certain litter then you either only get does or the bucks are not the best of what you need... or vice-versa... lol Just evaluate each litter you produce and keep anything that appeals no matter the sex. :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop:

 

[eco2pia]

You guys have been great, and I was making up pedigrees for the first batch of the half-mutt does' kits and I realized suddenly that these kits offspring will have 3 generation pedigrees already!! Wow. I didn't realize how close I was...I mean, 1,2,3... yep, that is 3 generations....I guess I didn't stop to think really.