Tuesday, December 13, 2005
The 80/20 Rule
I recently heard about a rabbitry with 300 Hollands in it. It blows my mind to think about that many rabbits. If I suddenly inherited 300 Hollands, the first thing I would do is cull down to 60. Of course, I wouldn't be able to do it in a day because I'd need to see what the rabbits could do first. But I would definitely cull down to 60.
Why? Because of the 80/20 rule.
You may be familiar with the 80/20 rule from the workplace. It goes something like this: 80% of your productivity comes from 20% of the workforce. The 80/20 rule seems to apply to almost any situation where the numbers are sufficient to have a trend.
If you belong to a large club, for example, you may notice that 80% of the work is done by a precious few members. I believe that in the barn, 80% of the keepers are produced by 20% of your herd.
Well, beliefs will not suffice, in my opinion, if the facts can be had. So I decided to look at my own herd to see if there is any truth to the 80/20 rule in rabbit production.
Here's what I did. First, I listed every doe I've ever bred. There were 79 of them. Then I noted beside each doe how many keepers they produced for me. I considered a rabbit a keeper if it was ever officially part of my herd - either for showing or breeding - and did not include those who went directly from "waiting to be evaluated" status to being sold or donated.
This is not a perfect system because I kept rabbits from my first breedings that would never make it these days. And, I have a lot of nice does whose offspring are looking promising, but are not old enough to have joined the herd. But, on the other hand, it is a snapshot of how things stand at the moment.
Together, they produced 74 rabbits that were keepers (for at least some period of time, though some now have been sold). Eighty percent of 74 is 59. That number fell in the middle of a particular doe who produced both #59 and #60. If I include her, then 23% of my does produced 81% of my keepers. If I eliminate her, then 21% of my does produced 78% percent of my keepers.
It's not exactly 80/20, but it is darn close. I'll not attempt the same thing with bucks because, even though I've used over 50, there are many bucks that were used once and only several that were used dozens of times. I think that more barns keep their herd bucks culled heavily anyway.
We've all heard the standard advice cull, cull, cull. And I believe it. But this particular way of evaluating the principle really lays it out nicely for me. Sure, if I cull down to the 20% that are producing, I'll lose 20% of my keepers, but I'll also eliminate 80% of feeding, cleaning, and poop removal. Sounds like a winner to me.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Holland Lops Of Distinction
Precious Pet Rabbits
Pet Rabbit Care Information, Quality Pet Rabbit Breeders, and Rabbit Fun ¶ 10:29 AM
Why? Because of the 80/20 rule.
You may be familiar with the 80/20 rule from the workplace. It goes something like this: 80% of your productivity comes from 20% of the workforce. The 80/20 rule seems to apply to almost any situation where the numbers are sufficient to have a trend.
If you belong to a large club, for example, you may notice that 80% of the work is done by a precious few members. I believe that in the barn, 80% of the keepers are produced by 20% of your herd.
Well, beliefs will not suffice, in my opinion, if the facts can be had. So I decided to look at my own herd to see if there is any truth to the 80/20 rule in rabbit production.
Here's what I did. First, I listed every doe I've ever bred. There were 79 of them. Then I noted beside each doe how many keepers they produced for me. I considered a rabbit a keeper if it was ever officially part of my herd - either for showing or breeding - and did not include those who went directly from "waiting to be evaluated" status to being sold or donated.
This is not a perfect system because I kept rabbits from my first breedings that would never make it these days. And, I have a lot of nice does whose offspring are looking promising, but are not old enough to have joined the herd. But, on the other hand, it is a snapshot of how things stand at the moment.
Together, they produced 74 rabbits that were keepers (for at least some period of time, though some now have been sold). Eighty percent of 74 is 59. That number fell in the middle of a particular doe who produced both #59 and #60. If I include her, then 23% of my does produced 81% of my keepers. If I eliminate her, then 21% of my does produced 78% percent of my keepers.
It's not exactly 80/20, but it is darn close. I'll not attempt the same thing with bucks because, even though I've used over 50, there are many bucks that were used once and only several that were used dozens of times. I think that more barns keep their herd bucks culled heavily anyway.
We've all heard the standard advice cull, cull, cull. And I believe it. But this particular way of evaluating the principle really lays it out nicely for me. Sure, if I cull down to the 20% that are producing, I'll lose 20% of my keepers, but I'll also eliminate 80% of feeding, cleaning, and poop removal. Sounds like a winner to me.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Holland Lops Of Distinction
Precious Pet Rabbits
Pet Rabbit Care Information, Quality Pet Rabbit Breeders, and Rabbit Fun ¶ 10:29 AM
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Here's an 80/20 project: a group of orphans needs to buy food sources that will keep producing food all year long (chickens, plants, fish, etc.). But what funds come in at such a slow rate, spread out over time, that they're forced to eat them in them in the form of rice (only rice) as the funds trickle in. If they could get funded all at once, it would change their ability to feed themselves.
How much do they need? $1000. Yep, a thousand dollars for the whole project. So, if 20 people sat down and figured out the cost of one night out: dinner/movie/coffee/dessert, and gave that amount this week, the project would be funded immediately, and these kids would be able to learn with full bellies, and keep on producing their own food. We'll never get 100 people to give $10 each. But if we can get 20% of those people (20 people) to give $50 each, they're funded.
Here's the project. I know it well, and have given to it before. Care to join me? www.givemeaning.org/project/newfutures
Oh, and pssst. Pass it on.
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How much do they need? $1000. Yep, a thousand dollars for the whole project. So, if 20 people sat down and figured out the cost of one night out: dinner/movie/coffee/dessert, and gave that amount this week, the project would be funded immediately, and these kids would be able to learn with full bellies, and keep on producing their own food. We'll never get 100 people to give $10 each. But if we can get 20% of those people (20 people) to give $50 each, they're funded.
Here's the project. I know it well, and have given to it before. Care to join me? www.givemeaning.org/project/newfutures
Oh, and pssst. Pass it on.
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