what about breeding brother to sister?

[Demamma]

I bought a buck and doe brother and sister from the same litter. I have had a hard time finding nice new Zealand white's. I am thrilled with how nice they are turned out. I bred her just this week to a Californian buck. I would like get a few New Zealand does instead of keeping some mixed does. Would it be bad to keep the does of a brother sister mating for future breeders? Can I then breed back them to the father?
The reason I am wanting to get keep some pure does is last year there where a few kids my daughter included who could not find any rabbits for a meat pen for the fair. I was hoping to be just before fair to have a few pure meat litters for the kids to chose from. The rest of the year I don't mind about mixing with the Californian buck as they will be for our dinner table.
Thank your for any help in this matter

 

[uhurubuns]

Hi Demamma

Like with many things, the answer is "it depends". Do you know much about their ancestry? The freakout about brother-sister matings has mainly to do with concern about inbreeding. I have done littermate breedings and- surprise, surprise- the results depended on the quality of the animals going into it. When I bred the brother to the very superior sister, I got high quality kits that were peas-of-a-pod consistent. When I bred the brother to the inferior sister, the kits were all over the place- big, little, correct, rangy, light, dark, etc etc all in the same litter.

No problem when you eat the offspring; where the problem comes is when you keep doubling back over and over again, then all kinds of weakness can start coming out- what's called 'inbreeding depression'. This is where knowing their ancestry comes in. If you want to make a meat pen for the kids to take to the fair, then if there's already been inbreeding going on, it will be hard to get the good quality for the kids to compete with.

 

[Demamma]

Thank you for your reply. I asked the breeder if they were related in any way and she said no. She said she got the father and mother from different places. The doe is real nice confirmation and the buck is nice. I feel the doe is superior to the buck. I think I will do a trial breeding and see how it goes. Thanks again

 

[3mina]

Sounds like a plan to me