To thin or not to thin? (pictures)

[hoodat]

I have a buck problem. I have too darn many but I'm hesitating to thin. Here's the problem. I have a full sized rex buck that is proven and fathers some great litters.

A couple litters ago however I had twin bucks that are completely unlike any young this pair have ever thrown. They grew at close to double the rate of their litter mates and are around 10 pounds at 4 months and still growing like weeds. They are about the color of a jackrabbit, which is a color I never saw from this pair and have very thick footpads and a tail that is black on top like a blacktail jackrabbit. I never saw anything like them. They are very heavy bodied with nice hindquarters and good meat conformation. The trouble is they haven't been proven yet and I want to hang onto the rex that is. If I thin out one of the twins I may be thinning the one that is fertile and leaving one who isn't but I just don't have enough cage space for both big bucks. They will need at least a 2X4 when full grown. Maybe I can ask around locally and find a good breeder who is willing to help me establish a line based on them. Anyone around San Diego intrested?
Just took some pics. In the first picture you can see the heavy footpads. This makes them an ideal rabbit for raising on wire.

 

[Bramble Hedge]

Oh wow they have the loveliest faces.

 

[hoodat]

It doesn't show well in the pics but they have the chubbiest cheeks I ever saw on a rabbit. They look like a chipmunk with a nut in each cheek. :lol: The main reason I want to work them into my line though is that extremely fast growth rate.

 

[ladysown]

do you have two smaller cages you can use for a while? A 10 lb rabbit does best in a bigger cage, but can manage okay in a smaller cage for the short term. I'd keep them both...and if they are at all remotely interested in does, breed both to a doe and then see which of the offspring you like better. For 10 weeks a buck can manage okay in a smaller cage.

What size cage are they in now? are they sharing space? even if you could put one in a smaller cage for a week and then switch them back and forth. Might help with the maturing process as well. Get them breeding faster which helps lessen the time you need to wait and hold. I'd definitely repeat the breeding of Dad to Mom again though and see if breeding this agouti colour works out well again.

 

[Bryana]

I would love to grow one out and use! I am up in the bay area though so that'd be quite a drive...

 

[LilFish_JWQueen(:]

Are they just mixed breeds? ..Sometimes you just have litters that have some smaller some larger babies..I call the bigger ones brood animals because well you would really only keep them to be breeding animals because their too big to me shown. Ive gotten brood animals and what id call a runt in the same litter. Idk why it happens but if i think about it..my sisters are both built alike, curvy and im just a very tiny everywhere kinda girl..so i think its normal.

 

[hoodat]

There are so many differences between these twin bucks and anything the parents have ever thrown that I think they almost have to be sports. It's more than just growth rate and color. I wish I knew more about genetics. There is almost no resemblance to either parent or any other kits the parents have ever produced. I think if I can get the traits set it will be a superior meat rabbit ideally suited to raising in wire bottom cages. Perhaps I'm leting my enthusiasm run away with me but I really think I have something unique here. If you could produce 5 pound fryers in two weeks less time it could mean more production in less cage space.

 

[MaggieJ]

Find a way to keep them both. Even if one cage has to be kind of makeshift, you are clearly interested in pursuing this and I think you may be correct that these rabbits offer a good opportunity to improve your meat production. It's worth a little expense and inconvenience to follow up on it.

 

[sommrluv]

They look a lot like my dutch/NZW mix. My dutch is possibly mixed with some rex (because of his coloring)

My buns are two weeks old and have the thick feet, underside of the tail is white. They are huge as well. Already eating hay and food and hopping around for four days now. I tried to snap some pics yesterday.<br /><br />__________ Thu Dec 22, 2011 10:50 am __________<br /><br />What are they?

 

[hoodat]

Find a way to keep them both. Even if one cage has to be kind of makeshift, you are clearly interested in pursuing this and I think you may be correct that these rabbits offer a good opportunity to improve your meat production. It's worth a little expense and inconvenience to follow up on it.

So far they get along fine in the same cage; figures since they're twins. Do you think I'd have a better chance passing on the traits by breeding back to the mother or to a sister? Perhaps I should find a good unrelated NZ doe and outcross?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Do you think I'd have a better chance passing on the traits by breeding back to the mother or to a sister?

The traits could come from either parent, so I'd try a sister first. Not the ideal option, I know, but once you have a litter on the ground you could breed one of the Twins back to Mom as well and see what you get.

I think to establish the traits you want, there is going to be a lot of inbreeding at first (Horrors!), with a sprinkling of line breeding. Good luck- it sounds like a very exciting project!

 

[Bramble Hedge]

I agree with MamaSheepDog. when trying to cement specific traits into a new line you will need to return to the point of origin.

<br /><br />__________ 23 Dec 2011, 06:30 __________<br /><br />As you can guess from my very basic diagrams the more segments in the color (or trait) you have in one rabbit the better your chances of it appearing in the next generation also.

 

[hoodat]

It will probably take a while. I'll more than likely have to inbreed till the line starts to get set, them outcross and inbreed again. Might be nice to leave a good line behind when I go though.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The highly sought after "Whadat Wabbit"- I can think of no finer legacy!

 

[curlysue]

They look good keep both.i think the heads look a little Dutch.

 

[hoodat]

So far as I know neither parent has any Dutch blood but the buck is a cross rex and the doe a cross NZ so it's possible, but no Dutch traits have shown up in any other litters.