Meat breeds- when you decide/ cull for show?

[Frosted Rabbits]

Don't forget-- you have to learn your lines!! The one castor you have here-- his coat has changed for the better over the last week-- and I chose him for his shoulder structure-- raising rabbits, there is an advantage-- it is possible to keep a whole litter, take notes, and cull late-- especially since they will be feeding your dogs or yourself. When the mistakes can go to FC or CS, you do not need to concern yourself with making a sale while they are still 'cute babies' Look at that little racehorse-- Seabiscuit-he was a CULL!!! In some part of the game-- you are way ahead-- you have your color genetics well instilled in your head-- but, as you stated, just as in dogs, different lines will develop following a different roadmap-- you need to learn what the genetics in your foundation herd are going to produce-- how the offspring will develop. It will take a generation or two to see the direction your genetics are going, and what you can eliminate early to keep the road headed to where you want it to go. You may need to take a detour through a poor coat at 8 weeks-- but that detour can lead to an early senior weight, and a proper coat!

 

[skysthelimit]

Don't forget-- you have to learn your lines!! The one castor you have here-- his coat has changed for the better over the last week-- and I chose him for his shoulder structure-- raising rabbits, there is an advantage-- it is possible to keep a whole litter, take notes, and cull late-- especially since they will be feeding your dogs or yourself. When the mistakes can go to FC or CS, you do not need to concern yourself with making a sale while they are still 'cute babies' Look at that little racehorse-- Seabiscuit-he was a CULL!!! In some part of the game-- you are way ahead-- you have your color genetics well instilled in your head-- but, as you stated, just as in dogs, different lines will develop following a different roadmap-- you need to learn what the genetics in your foundation herd are going to produce-- how the offspring will develop. It will take a generation or two to see the direction your genetics are going, and what you can eliminate early to keep the road headed to where you want it to go. You may need to take a detour through a poor coat at 8 weeks-- but that detour can lead to an early senior weight, and a proper coat!

The biggest problem is limited space. I just can't keep 23 kits to 4 mos. I don't have the space. At some point, someone who should have stayed will get culled, so the sooner I can learn the better.
The REW's from the first litter--one had better fur, but he was a smaller buck. I kept the larger one, but that coat won't be showable. After I see what he produces I may send him to FC. The brokens have open coats, perhaps too long a guard hair or thinner fur. They will make it at least till 12 weeks or a bit more, unfortunately they are all bucks so they won't make it to junior prime. The castor's litter is a week older and by far has better fur. The blacks will stay, and the REWs The new litter has really nice fur at this age, better than the first group. They are all agouti or blue, all will stay with me until 16 wks (except the charlie) unless one is so poor that they can be identified and culled earlier. I'm pretty set that besides health and temperament, I'm not going to tolerate poor fur on Rexes. All things being equal, this group will be culled on shoulders.<br /><br />__________ Sun Mar 11, 2012 8:18 pm __________<br /><br />You know, i don't remember teenage ugglies. I'll have to watch closer this time. I hadn't really paid much attention to them, never really posed them until I started culling at 14 weeks. and at that time I culled for fur.
I have noticed that the castors from the otter breeding are way better in color than the REW breeding. I thought I was going to have to get another castor to get a good color.

 

[SatinsRule]

Tough to say, really. It all depends upon the rabbits themselves. Some are just never going to develop, while some will show promise and develop late.

I've often used Jericho as an example. The first show I took him to was a triple show when he was exactly 3 months old. He finished dead last in all 3 shows under 3 different judges. He had rock solid flesh on his core, though, and I hung onto him for a while longer. By the time my fall shows were over, he was beating every other rabbit in his litter (including a couple of really nice bucks) and was the first of the bunch to win either a BOB or BOS. He was registered in February, and is now living and breeding in IL. I can promise you that anyone who had seen him when he was 3 months old would not have been at all impressed with him. Moral of the story: Sometimes you just gotta go on gut instinct, and I will never regret giving him that shot.