BC Belgians":1dbs319u said:
I am a rabbit breeding novice, so this might not count.
However, should we differentiate between aggression and being a good mother? Good mother would be a good thing, which would include getting a little protective over the nest site? If you cull too heavily for this kind of "aggression" you may end up with does that don't care enough for or about their babies?
My doe is a challenge. She is very easy going when pregnant, a hormonal mess when open, and she would prefer that I don't mess with her nest when the babies are new (I check the babies when she is out for a run). I would not want her any other way, because she is a awesome mom to her babies.
While making hay last year we exposed a nest of Eastern Cottontail babies. The crows were right on them ... babies were screaming ... and here comes Cottontail momma trying to chase the crows away ... boxing the air at them with her front feet! She did this with the tractor and hay tedder just meters away. Now that is a GREAT mother! (BTW, we saved the babies and reared them with the eye dropper ... which got me started with rabbits)
My very best mothers are my most docile rabbits. They are TAME. They know the difference between me and a predator.
Those same does of mine have always had the fewest losses, don't attack their kits to wean them, will adopt older aged kits, and nurse the longest. No tricks are required to get them to accept fosters. I can safely handle their babies from day one, and every day without worrying about the doe harming or rejecting them, or injuring or trampling one in a fit of aggression. I've never once had one abandon their babies all together or make a nest on the wire and they have all been stellar first time mothers. They just do not see human beings as a threat.
( Interestingly, those does are all from one bloodline.)
There is much to be said for breeding domestic traits into domestic animals. It is arguably even a survival trait to help them live with humans looking after them. Nice rabbits are much easier to find homes for, and I suspect less likely to be neglected, culled, or abandoned into the wild.
All that said, Belgians are rare enough, and notorious for having difficult personalities. There is no sense in culling your best rabbits for something like personalty since chances are every other rabbit of that breed you purchase could have the same difficulties.
Those of us who raise more common rabbits, especially meat rabbit, have a bit more luxury to be choosy.
