Tuesday, February 05, 2008
When To Sell Bucks
In a breeding program, there's a balance to be struck between moving forward and keeping your options open for going back. And when it comes to herd bucks, it's extremely important to stay in the right zone. Move forward too quickly, and you could find yourself in a deadend. Move too slowly, and you could find yourself making no real progress.
Herd bucks, I would venture, are the most valuable members of your herd. No, we can't do without our wonderful girls, but if you could save just one rabbit to start your herd with again, I daresay, it's a buck.
Sometimes, we have a lot of money tied up in a buck. For those of us on a budget, we must use him, get the next generation started and then sell him while he's young enough to get us all or most of our money back from the investment. That can put a lot of pressure on a breeding program.
But let's slow down and look at things a moment. Why should we keep a herd buck around and when is it time to sell him?
Generally, we think that we need a replacement son from a herd buck and then it's time to let him go. I don't actually agree with that. I look for a son AND a grandson before I'm totally comfortable in selling a really good herd buck, if I'm actively working his line.
That may seem extra cautious to you, but consider this: I'm not looking for a replacement that just looks and feels good, I'm looking for a replacement who produces as well as or, hopefully, better than his sire. Once I have a successful son who is also a successful producer, then I'm more comfortable letting him go.
One of the toughest rabbits I had to wean myself off of using was Camelot's Merlin. If I continued to use him, then I would continue to be stuck in that same generation, over and over again. Merlin had produced May and her sisters for me. And May is a great producer. May produced Lord, which gave me a male heir. But it wasn't until Lord proved that he could produce, too, that I was convinced I could let Merlin go. Maybe I was too cautious. Who knows.
(I retired LaForge, Lord's father, too, when Lord proved he could produce.)
It can take a long time to get worthy grandsons from a herd buck. It's amazing how long it can take sometimes. I'm looking at Merlin's sons in my barn. First, it took a long time to produce all of the litters to collect the cream of the crop from. Though I let some good ones go (and good producers, too, I'm told), I kept the following sons from Merlin: Crazy Horse, MLK, and Myrddin.
From Crazy Horse, I have no offspring yet. Of course, you have to take out the last six months from the timeline because of the craziness I've had with feed, water, and now from getting few babies. From Myrddin, I've had just six offspring. Mushka was the best, and I sold him. From MLK, I've had just 7 offspring. White Knight was the best. And I sold him, too.
I do have two MLK sons that I've been holding, but I'm going to sell them. They just can't top their dad.
Dani, you should be glad that May came through with descendents, or you would still be waiting for Merlin!! May's son Lord came through with twelve offspring, four of which have already granded.
So, why haven't I gotten busy and gotten some Crazy Horse offspring? Why haven't I bred Myrddin and MLK more? I've been distracted with other combinations, some that worked well and some that didn't. I've bred Rio a lot. Java has quite a few descendents, too.
It's taken me a while to work through my herd bucks to get down to the eight that I have today. It will take even more work for any of these bucks to be replaced.
I have another line that has progressed down pretty well. LL Brendan produced Boris, Boris produced Java, Java produced Lex, all grand champions.
I sold Brendan when Java and his brother Leo proved to be worthy bucks. I sold Boris when Java proved he could produce with Lex. I suppose Java could be the next buck to be replace, but only if Lex can prove himself to be a good producer and an improvement over the generations before him. (Don't get excited; my only Lex offspring are just days old.)
By having an heir and a spare before selling a herd buck, I preserve the ability to back up for a generation if I need to. I also preserve my ability to line breed rabbits. If I sold herd bucks as soon as they produced a promising junior buck, there'd be no linebreeding to speak of.
If I start regularly going to the son to breed, leaving the father on the shelf - and I like the results I get - then it's time to think about selling a buck. Until then, the father is more valuable to me in my herd, doing his job.
As time goes on, it gets harder and harder for a herd buck to be unseated in my barn. At first, it didn't take much of an improvement to go with the next generation or even a new purchase. But as the bucks get better and better, the turnover is slower and slower.
Just like everything else in Hollands, don't be in a hurry. Take your time. You can always sell a rabbit later, but it's often hard (or even impossible) to get one back.
Laurie ¶ 12:14 PM
Herd bucks, I would venture, are the most valuable members of your herd. No, we can't do without our wonderful girls, but if you could save just one rabbit to start your herd with again, I daresay, it's a buck.
Sometimes, we have a lot of money tied up in a buck. For those of us on a budget, we must use him, get the next generation started and then sell him while he's young enough to get us all or most of our money back from the investment. That can put a lot of pressure on a breeding program.
But let's slow down and look at things a moment. Why should we keep a herd buck around and when is it time to sell him?
Generally, we think that we need a replacement son from a herd buck and then it's time to let him go. I don't actually agree with that. I look for a son AND a grandson before I'm totally comfortable in selling a really good herd buck, if I'm actively working his line.
That may seem extra cautious to you, but consider this: I'm not looking for a replacement that just looks and feels good, I'm looking for a replacement who produces as well as or, hopefully, better than his sire. Once I have a successful son who is also a successful producer, then I'm more comfortable letting him go.
One of the toughest rabbits I had to wean myself off of using was Camelot's Merlin. If I continued to use him, then I would continue to be stuck in that same generation, over and over again. Merlin had produced May and her sisters for me. And May is a great producer. May produced Lord, which gave me a male heir. But it wasn't until Lord proved that he could produce, too, that I was convinced I could let Merlin go. Maybe I was too cautious. Who knows.
(I retired LaForge, Lord's father, too, when Lord proved he could produce.)
It can take a long time to get worthy grandsons from a herd buck. It's amazing how long it can take sometimes. I'm looking at Merlin's sons in my barn. First, it took a long time to produce all of the litters to collect the cream of the crop from. Though I let some good ones go (and good producers, too, I'm told), I kept the following sons from Merlin: Crazy Horse, MLK, and Myrddin.
From Crazy Horse, I have no offspring yet. Of course, you have to take out the last six months from the timeline because of the craziness I've had with feed, water, and now from getting few babies. From Myrddin, I've had just six offspring. Mushka was the best, and I sold him. From MLK, I've had just 7 offspring. White Knight was the best. And I sold him, too.
I do have two MLK sons that I've been holding, but I'm going to sell them. They just can't top their dad.
Dani, you should be glad that May came through with descendents, or you would still be waiting for Merlin!! May's son Lord came through with twelve offspring, four of which have already granded.
So, why haven't I gotten busy and gotten some Crazy Horse offspring? Why haven't I bred Myrddin and MLK more? I've been distracted with other combinations, some that worked well and some that didn't. I've bred Rio a lot. Java has quite a few descendents, too.
It's taken me a while to work through my herd bucks to get down to the eight that I have today. It will take even more work for any of these bucks to be replaced.
I have another line that has progressed down pretty well. LL Brendan produced Boris, Boris produced Java, Java produced Lex, all grand champions.
I sold Brendan when Java and his brother Leo proved to be worthy bucks. I sold Boris when Java proved he could produce with Lex. I suppose Java could be the next buck to be replace, but only if Lex can prove himself to be a good producer and an improvement over the generations before him. (Don't get excited; my only Lex offspring are just days old.)
By having an heir and a spare before selling a herd buck, I preserve the ability to back up for a generation if I need to. I also preserve my ability to line breed rabbits. If I sold herd bucks as soon as they produced a promising junior buck, there'd be no linebreeding to speak of.
If I start regularly going to the son to breed, leaving the father on the shelf - and I like the results I get - then it's time to think about selling a buck. Until then, the father is more valuable to me in my herd, doing his job.
As time goes on, it gets harder and harder for a herd buck to be unseated in my barn. At first, it didn't take much of an improvement to go with the next generation or even a new purchase. But as the bucks get better and better, the turnover is slower and slower.
Just like everything else in Hollands, don't be in a hurry. Take your time. You can always sell a rabbit later, but it's often hard (or even impossible) to get one back.
Laurie ¶ 12:14 PM
