Wool + meat linebreeding question

[Cottie]

Rabbit genetics and linebreeding are still kind of mysterious to me. I'm sure it's been discussed already but wasn't sure what to search for. The end goal would be to have discernible meat culls vs wool rabbits that could be culled for meat if they didn't have desirable traits.

Assuming good conformation for all
- French Angora Doe
- Cali Buck

Angora x Cali
Hold back the best buck from that pairing.
Hold back the doe that most resembles the mother.

Angora x Son
Here, I should, theoretically, get one buck that produces wool.
Cali x Daughter
I should, again theoretically, get a doe that carries at least one wool gene.

Then what? How do I know I've achieved my goals? How do I continue breeding from there?

 

[akane]

You need one more rabbit for outcrossing. If you are aiming more to keep the wool it should be an angora. You can make half siblings that way which are considered ok to breed together and cross back to the other angora along with the doe you have listed now as needed to keep the gene and have genetic diversity. You can also test breed your offspring heavier in cali back to the angoras to see if they have the wool gene before choosing one and proceeding with the next generation.

This is a suggested pattern to follow http://www.nockrabbits.com/LineBreedingChart.html

 

[Cottie]

So I would need an Angora buck on hand as well.

We're probably purchasing some Calis - just a buck/doe pair, maybe a trio - tomorrow. I've still got my heart set on someday doing Angoras, but would prefer to have a dual purpose. I've read FA grow much more slowly than meats, so I'd prefer to have culls reach weight in a more reasonable amount of time.

 

[Dood]

Angoras grow slow because instead of building muscle they grow fur so your plan for an angora line of Cali's probably won't grow well either.

Because of this it is also recommened to feed a higher protein pellet which will up the cost of production.

It might be better to locate a breeder who has already bred for meat traits in their angoras, I think there are a couple on the forum.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

dood is right on the angora side of it.. I have angora rabbits that i have to watch there weight on the time.. because when they are producing there wool.. they tend to loose weight.. when they are shedding .. they gain weight.. so it is up and down all the time

 

[Cottie]

Angoras grow slow because instead of building muscle they grow fur so your plan for an angora line of Cali's probably won't grow well either.

Because of this it is also recommened to feed a higher protein pellet which will up the cost of production.

It might be better to locate a breeder who has already bred for meat traits in their angoras, I think there are a couple on the forum.

dood is right on the angora side of it.. I have angora rabbits that i have to watch there weight on the time.. because when they are producing there wool.. they tend to loose weight.. when they are shedding .. they gain weight.. so it is up and down all the time

10-4

Sounds like I'd be better off just keeping a straight Angora line than trying to breed them both with little experience.

 

[dayna]

Are you only looking at french angoras? As far as meat mutts go, I really like the compact-ness of the english angora. Mix that with a cali buck or a nz buck and I bet you'd get some nice compact meat mutts.

 

[Cottie]

Are you only looking at french angoras? As far as meat mutts go, I really like the compact-ness of the english angora. Mix that with a cali buck or a nz buck and I bet you'd get some nice compact meat mutts.

I can only seem to find French Angoras around here. Not much luck on anything else, other than mutts. Also seemed as though the FA size would lend itself more to being bred with a commercial buck.

But, hey. I'll keep my options open. Maybe I'll come across some good EAs. We're getting either Calis or NZs soon (breeder has both, just depends on which ones we like better from his stock). Given our past experience we're just starting with a pair and will work up from there.

 

[akane]

I haven't found mixing sizes to be an issue, my mom caused my 4lb MR doe to get bred by an 8lb american sable buck with no issues, and sometimes the smaller rabbits make better meat crosses. They tend to mature faster and have lighter bone making a better meat to bone ratio. My mini rex crosses were great meat rabbits a little bit bigger than the dutch which was originally a small meat breed. It might take an extra rabbit at the table but pound for pound you are getting more meat and they pretty much grow equally to the minimum 5lb mark. It's only after 4-6lbs that growth slows or stops on the smaller commercial/compact type rabbits. We also did a few ND crosses and used what didn't go for pets as dog food but they don't have the muscle mass a mini rex or dutch has. They eat hardly anything because they are practically a skeleton with fur. It was just a fun genetics experiment that didn't take up much space.

 

[skysthelimit]

English are considerably smaller, and though compact, the meat breed of the Angoras is the French. You will have better success finding a French who should have a commercial body, than an English, which does not, and most breeders breed them only for wool.

My French were a little over 6lbs when I got them at 12 weeks, they were as big as my senior Rex. After that, they slow down a bit, as they reach sr prime with wool. There is a lady in MI who has great lines. Her FAs are larger, produce more wool and grow faster.
But the lines I have tend to grow bigger than most, Ansel was 9.5lbs 7-8 mos. You need to buy from someone with fast growing lines.

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

:yeahthat: