Pedigrees

[iamdrglass]

Do you pedigree your meat crosses? I am working with what I have so I am starting my 1st gen peds for my own records. I am trying to record as much data as possible on the litters, litter size, weight,breeds used, live butcher weight, age at time of butcher, dress out.
Does anyone else do this? I hope to be able to sell off some breeding stock in the future and I figure this info could create more value.

Thanks
Dan

 

[akane]

Of course. 4 generations later you'll want to know who sired what and how inbred they are. You'll want to know which bucks and does are producing consistently on down the line. You may even have to cull entire lines if they turn out not to be what you want. How will you decide your next herd sire when one dies or you go to retire one if you have no idea who is a sibling to who and who has produced good litters because you have no pedigrees? Doe decisions on keeping and culling are even more common. If all your rabbits are the same color it's also a good idea to tattoo and mark it on a pedigree even if you don't show just in case. A cage mix up could happen or there are those rare cases AR groups or just neighborhood kids turn all the animals loose from a breeder. Then if you catch your rabbits you'll have no idea who is who unless you can identify 20 white (or whatever color) rabbits by sight.

 

[sammysue63]

I agree with akane, we have pedigrees for all our rabbits for exactly those reasons.

 

[Secuono]

I have all different color/breed of rabbits so I can tell them apart by just looking at them. Since my rabbitry is small still. I also know who is who based on who they are next to/in what cage.
No real pedigrees yet for me, but I think it shows buyers you are more serious as to what you are doing than just breeding everything together for $$.

 

[BlackBunny]

I love record keeping, a paper trail as well as a pedigree programs for all my rabbits; breeding, kindling, litter size, cull records, weight at 2 weeks 4 weeks 3 months and 6 month.
Photo's as well ^u^, but I'm crazy like that and my rabbitry is on the small scale, I try and stay under 30 rabbits at any one time.
Beacuse if you never write it down your'll forget, and then you never have the info if you want it for whatever reason.

 

[rockeee]

While organization is not my strong suit in other areas, I keep records similarly to BlackBunny using my phone calendar & google docs and enjoy it. I record day 28 after breeding as a calendar reminder on phone, then record the rest of records in google docs with doe/buck kindle day # as file name (martha/henry day 32) - the doc automatically has a date. I am not vigilant about weighing in a certain timeframe, but find that it generally happens at eye opening then every week or so after, including final weight compared to dressed weight. Also started tattooing at time of sexing or next week. Everybody is tattooed except those that are certain culls.

 

[iamdrglass]

While organization is not my strong suit in other areas, I keep records similarly to BlackBunny using my phone calendar & google docs and enjoy it. I record day 28 after breeding as a calendar reminder on phone, then record the rest of records in google docs with doe/buck kindle day # as file name (martha/henry day 32) - the doc automatically has a date. I am not vigilant about weighing in a certain timeframe, but find that it generally happens at eye opening then every week or so after, including final weight compared to dressed weight. Also started tattooing at time of sexing or next week. Everybody is tattooed except those that are certain culls.

What is your code system for tattooing? What type do you prefer?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I use "O" for One Acre Farm "B" or "D" for buck or doe and then a #, so my first home bred buck is "OB1" and I just use the next number in sequence. I have to look at records to see who came from who, but this is easier for me and will allow me to tell by checking ear if buck or doe.

 

[rockeee]

doe initial, buck initial, their litter letter, odd# for buck, even# for doe so, MHB2 for the first doe in Martha/Henry's 2nd litter
I use a regular tattoo machine (kit was $50 on Amazon). It took one litter to get the process down to under a minute.

 

[seagullplayer]

This may sound like a stupid question, but speaking of tattooing, is there some type of fine point marker out there that would do the job?
I understand the advantage of marking my rabbits for record keeping down the road, but I don't care to invest in a tattoo kit just yet.

Yes I am cheap and yes I am resistant to change...

 

[iamdrglass]

This may sound like a stupid question, but speaking of tattooing, is there some type of fine point marker out there that would do the job?
I understand the advantage of marking my rabbits for record keeping down the road, but I don't care to invest in a tattoo kit just yet.

Yes I am cheap and yes I am resistant to change...

I have been using a Sharpie. But in the summer it only lasts 3-4 days, right now it lasts about 2 weeks. I did a youtube video on this but have not uploded it yet. Watch this post and I will post a link on it.