I'm going to list the senior rabbits in my herd. You probably know by now that my herd has been strictly culled. So, what is there right now is what I consider to be the best I have produced thus far (we'll not tackle the painful subject of the ones I sold in error!!).
After each rabbit, I'll list their legs, which is some sort of estimate of their success on the table. Please remember that it is not an absolute scale, partly because I have been showing some rabbits longer, partly because most does are retired to breeding after granding (and few can go back to the table after that), and timing, of course, affects all rabbits' careers. Mercedes, for example, was my first grand champion, so I've been showing her longer than any other rabbit - and she is lucky enough to be able to go back to the table between litters.
Also take into consideration that, at first, outcrosses were the only option!
Then I will list whether the rabbit is a product of an outcross, line breeding, inbreeding, or combination line breeding/inbreeding. Here goes. I can't wait to find out!
- Rio - 27 legs - outcross
- Mercedes - 19 legs - outcross
- Jo-Jo - 10 legs - outcross
- Padme - 9 legs - outcross
- Imagination - 8 legs - outcross
- Panache - 8 legs - outcross
- Java - 8 legs - outcross
- May - 7 legs - outcross
- Brook - 7 legs - outcross
- Francesca - 6 legs - outcross
- Gypsy - 6 legs - outcross
- Lexus - 5 legs - outcross
- Boris - 4 legs - outcross
- Hilary - 4 legs - outcross
- Leo - 4 legs - outcross
- Lord - 4 legs - outcross
- Markie - 4 legs - outcross
- Hunnicutt - 3 legs - outcross
- LaForge - 3 legs - outcross
- McCartney - 3 legs - half-sibling inbreeding
- Prince William - 3 legs - outcross
- Purdy - 3 legs - outcross
- Quincy - 3 legs - full-sibling inbreeding
- Quinn - 3 legs - full-sibling inbreeding
- Quinten - 3 legs - half-sibling inbreeding
- Roxie - 3 legs - outcross
- Wizard - 3 legs - outcross
- Arabica - 2 legs - outcross
- Demetrius - 2 legs - outcross
- Millicent - 2 legs - half-sibling inbreeding
- Mistoffelees - 2 legs - half-sibling inbreeding
- Beauty - 1 leg - half-sibling inbreeding
- MLK - 1 leg - outcross (1 great grandparent duplicates)
- Myrddin - 1 leg - outcross
- Zeppo - 1 leg - linebreeding
- April - no legs - outcross
I am astounded. I truly had no idea that so many of my breedings were the products of total outcrosses. I'm much closer to the beginning of establishing my own line than I hoped I would be. Okay, so let's see if I'm making any progress. That is, am I still producing as many herd members from outcrosses as I used to or are the inbreeding results spread evenly throughout my program.
This time, I will list them from the oldest to the youngest to see if the outcrosses tend to be more the rabbits produced earlier. It will correlate somewhat with legs, but not totally.
- Mercedes - 19 legs - outcross
- Brook - 7 legs - outcross
- LaForge - 3 legs - outcross
- Rio - 27 legs - outcross
- Boris - 4 legs - outcross
- May - 7 legs - outcross
- Hilary - 4 legs - outcross
- Purdy - 3 legs - outcross
- Markie - 4 legs - outcross
- Roxie - 3 legs - outcross
- Jo-Jo - 10 legs - outcross
- Lexus - 5 legs - outcross
- Wizard - 3 legs - outcross
- Java - 8 legs - outcross
- Leo - 4 legs - outcross
- Gypsy - 6 legs - outcross
- Lord - 4 legs - outcross
- Panache - 8 legs - outcross
- Padme - 9 legs - outcross
- Quincy - 3 legs - full-sibling inbreeding
- Quinn - 3 legs - full-sibling inbreeding
- Myrddin - 1 leg - outcross
- MLK - 1 leg - outcross (1 great grandparent duplicates)
- Imagination - 8 legs - outcross
- Prince William - 3 legs - outcross
- Francesca - 6 legs - outcross
- Demetrius - 2 legs - outcross
- Hunnicutt - 3 legs - outcross
- McCartney - 3 legs - half-sibling inbreeding
- Zeppo - 1 leg - linebreeding
- Millicent - 2 legs - half-sibling inbreeding
- Mistoffelees - 2 legs - half-sibling inbreeding
- Quinten - 3 legs - half-sibling inbreeding
- Beauty - 1 leg - half-sibling inbreeding
- April - no legs - outcross
- Arabica - 2 legs - outcross
Okay, so if I look at the first half of my herd, age-wise, there were no line breedings and no inbreedings. That makes sense. Step one was to find some outcrosses that worked. Eight of 18 rabbits in the second half were the products of inbreeding or linebreeding (1). Okay, so I do see some progress in the area of consolidating those gene pools. The idea is to not only produce nice bunnies, but to produce them reliably, and without excessive pet production.
Well, I guess I'm going to have to look at my juniors to see if I'm progressing any beyond this starting point. There's such a lag of time between implementing a policy or program, and seeing the results.
Since most of my juniors have not been shown, I'll just list the ones that I think at this point might be keepers.
- Isolde - half-sibling inbreeding
- Aziza - outcross (known compatible lines)
- Danica - half-sibling inbreeding
- Havel - outcross (known compatible lines)
- Mushka - half-sibling inbreeding
- Nadia - half-sibling inbreeding
- Nikolai - half-sibling inbreeding
- Pavel - outcross (known compatible lines)
- Tamari - outcross (known compatible lines)
- Leila - half-sibling inbreeding
- Meeko - outcross
- Oktober - line breeding
- Tess - outcross
So, I'm still fishing for something that works with some rabbits. I'm working with inbreeding a whole lot more than line breeding. I am attempting more line breeding now, but dead first litters and my recent history of misses has stumped me there.
By the way, I do not particularly prefer half-sibling inbreeding to full-sibling inbreeding. It's just that there are many more chances to find an otherwise compatible pair when looking at the broader pool of half-siblings. It's seldom that you get two nice rabbits from the same breeding that have complementary strengths and weaknesses.
While I do see some progress in implementing my philosophy and long-term plans for my barn, I find that I haven't made as much progress as I had hoped. Part of that is the delay between making the decision to breed a certain way and actually producing the kits, growing out the kits, and then waiting until they are old enough to make a judgment on the quality. Next year's statistics will tell me more about the effect of the decisions I made early this year and late last year.
But, so far, so good. I think I am on track and I like the results of the plan. I do believe I can look forward to more chances to linebreed now that I have more pieces to play with. I'm getting good results from inbreeding which should make my gene pool even more consistent next time around.
Now, if you still have any interest whatsoever left in my inbreeding/line breeding plans, let's take a peek at my recent breeding decisions and see if I stuck to my philosophies at all:
- Rio x May - that's a repeat that produced Padme - I'm looking for another daughter to breed back to Rio
- Java x Hilary - that's a match based on conformation and the fact that I got a nice litter from May and Java (May is Hilary's sister) - I will look for daughters to breed back to Java
- Boris x Purdy - another match based on conformation and breeding history
- Leo x Lexus - another match based on type - what, did I forget all I learned about inbreeding and line breeding?????????
- Lord x Panache - full-sibling inbreeding - thank goodness - I thought I'd lost the path to genetic consistency
- Leo x Markie - a repeat of a good breeding
- Wizard x Brook - another match based on conformation - I can definitely see breeding a son back to Brook and a daughter back to Wizard
- Quinten x Jo-Jo - here is a line breeding - Quinten is Jo-Jo's son - I've definitely hamstrung myself a bit by making the requirement be that the breeders are all grand champions - balancing off two goals will be a challenge - but here's a situation that set itself up perfectly - this is what I want to do more of in the future
- Camelot's Merlin x Gypsy - this is a match based on conformation and also the knowledge that Merlin has crossed well with LL Brendan offspring in the past
- Lord x Padme - I wanted to breed Padme with Rio, but he was a big butt and said that he'd done his duty that day and wouldn't budge - since I'm trying to get my first live babies from her (that stay live, that is), I decided to go with my second choice, making this a half-sibling inbreeding, but next time - Rio - and I'm not taking any excuses
- Quincy x Quinn - full-sibling inbreeding - this is my tightest breeding ever because their parents are also full siblings - I expect this could be overdoing it, but very instructional
- Boris x Francesca - half-sibling inbreeding - Francesca is my last Brendan baby and Boris was one of my earlier ones
So, I'm still doing some matches based on type, looking for that first success. But I'm definitely moving into inbreeding and getting started on some line breeding.
I once asked Allan Ormond whether you line breed to get good conformation or use rabbits with good conformation to line breed. His answer was "yes." So, whether you have a barn full of rabbits that you love and are trying to reproduce them faithfully or whether you have brood stock and good parts and are looking for your first breakthrough rabbit, try line breeding and inbreeding. Don't be afraid. You have nothing to lose. But I promise, even if you don't end up with a winning rabbit, you will learn a lot about the gene pool you are working with.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry “Home Of Grand Champions”
Precious Pet Rabbits
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