Predicting if a doe will be a good breeder.

[a7736100]

Anogenital distance as a predictor of attractiveness, litter size and sex ratio of rabbit does​

https://pubmed.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/22251966/
Does any breeder use this method to choose does? It would be pretty hard to measure the anogenital distance considering the rabbit isn't going to sit still for measurements.

 

[golden rabbitry]

For choosing does, I look back on the mom. If she has high fertility, is a good brood, good mom, carries pregnancies well, ect. chances are her daughters will carry the same traits. I don't get all sciency with it cuz we tend to be wrong when we look too far in lol. A good brood doe also has the basic physical features like non pinched hips and (if you breed dwarfs) is a size up from the average to have larger litters.

 

[hotzcatz]

Another amazing tidbit from the Rabbit Talk web forum!

Well, I've tried determining gender by using the 'anogenital distance' although I'd not known it had a name. It's hard enough to tell genders let alone be able to tell much differences between any specific females, IMHO. Do they mention if this is on adult rabbits or babies?

Instead of measurements, I'll usually turn the bun upside down and take a few pictures. If you had a ruler in the picture along with the bunny butt, there could be a comparative measurement possible, perhaps.

Lately I've been selecting prospective breeding buns by if they come from a large litter that all survived along with whatever other selection criteria are happening that day.

 

[a7736100]

Another amazing tidbit from the Rabbit Talk web forum!

Well, I've tried determining gender by using the 'anogenital distance' although I'd not known it had a name. It's hard enough to tell genders let alone be able to tell much differences between any specific females, IMHO. Do they mention if this is on adult rabbits or babies?

They tested adult does.

 

[hotzcatz]

Hmm, how did they get them to hold still for it? I suppose the rabbit & towel 'burrito' might be an option, but they'd still wiggle a lot.

It was interesting that the size difference in the litters seemed to be by there being less females, not just a decrease in overall litter size. I wonder how large of a group they used to measure their findings? Was it one specific breed? Possibly meat buns, getting more and female meat buns is usually more important for folks who want to multiply buns.

 

[a7736100]

I don't remember the number but I think they were wild caught both male and female. I don't remember if they mentioned the procedure for measuring.