This was so wonderful and exactly where I’m at, a year into raising a rare breed. I have Creme D’Argents and I have my NZW doe and we are going to town.
I outrcorss NZ and Cal into my rex. As you bring your rex characteristics back (color/fur), you will lose your gain and start to digresses to almost zero. You have to bring your F1 back in occassionally to keep those desirable Cal/NZ traits. I have a 4 year old F1 buck that I'm going to be using again this week. He gets used probably every 3rd generation.
Whoop whoop! Rare breeds FTW! Would love to see more videos on breeders who are working hard on the rare buns! And not just the breeds that the ALBC says are rare, but all the rare ARBA breeds! Finding good genetics and working hard to improve type in a breed without a huge gene pool is very hard! Many people outcross to get better type, but then you have to test breed other things out of the lines (like fur type or colors), and it's just a big puzzle. Helping endangered breeds is such a worthy cause though!
Just want to say, in regards to milk... My Pals struggle to feed all their kits, but only because every litter is 10-15 babies. If they're feeding up to 10 kits, they do great. My Hotots have done great with 10 kits. But I also breed other, more popular breeds, and with the huge litters, I foster kits out from those huge litters to any bun that has a smaller litter, so almost every baby is making it to weaning age with awesome growth rates.
Very interesting presentation. One aspect that was not really discussed is that the Sembs have 5 ADULT long-time rabbit breeders ALL reviewing the SAME rabbits. This offers significantly better odds to cull or keep the correct rabbits. It must be tough being an individual rabbit breeder trying to raise/evaluate RARE BREEDs in a small, backyard rabbitry where the next closest keeper of your breed may live many hours or states away and you are only able to attend 2 or 3 shows a year which may not even display other examples of your breed.
This was so wonderful and exactly where I’m at, a year into raising a rare breed. I have Creme D’Argents and I have my NZW doe and we are going to town.
This was excellent and validated some of the thoughts I've been having with my line, thank you!
Glad it was helpful!
Really interesting and thoughtful. Made me consider some of my own breeding practices a little differently.
Love this! My daughter breeds Americans. We are searching for a doe with a full lower hind quarter.
Good luck!
I outrcorss NZ and Cal into my rex. As you bring your rex characteristics back (color/fur), you will lose your gain and start to digresses to almost zero. You have to bring your F1 back in occassionally to keep those desirable Cal/NZ traits. I have a 4 year old F1 buck that I'm going to be using again this week. He gets used probably every 3rd generation.
It’s a giant puzzle!
Whoop whoop! Rare breeds FTW! Would love to see more videos on breeders who are working hard on the rare buns! And not just the breeds that the ALBC says are rare, but all the rare ARBA breeds! Finding good genetics and working hard to improve type in a breed without a huge gene pool is very hard! Many people outcross to get better type, but then you have to test breed other things out of the lines (like fur type or colors), and it's just a big puzzle. Helping endangered breeds is such a worthy cause though!
Just want to say, in regards to milk... My Pals struggle to feed all their kits, but only because every litter is 10-15 babies. If they're feeding up to 10 kits, they do great. My Hotots have done great with 10 kits. But I also breed other, more popular breeds, and with the huge litters, I foster kits out from those huge litters to any bun that has a smaller litter, so almost every baby is making it to weaning age with awesome growth rates.
Great idea!
We want a in depth on conditioning and different methods video
Very interesting presentation. One aspect that was not really discussed is that the Sembs have 5 ADULT long-time rabbit breeders ALL reviewing the SAME rabbits. This offers significantly better odds to cull or keep the correct rabbits. It must be tough being an individual rabbit breeder trying to raise/evaluate RARE BREEDs in a small, backyard rabbitry where the next closest keeper of your breed may live many hours or states away and you are only able to attend 2 or 3 shows a year which may not even display other examples of your breed.