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Neena

Bunny Obsessed
Joined
May 17, 2014
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How do you guys find out more about bloodlines specific to your breed? I used to breed horses, so I'm used to pedigree information and show records being pretty easy to research, but rabbit breeding and showing is very different. I want to breed Silvers in the future; I'm in no position to start up now, but I'd like to be doing some research myself. I'm in a group of Silver breeders on FB, but when I asked this question nobody answered ^^;. TIA
 
Rabbit pedigrees are a bit less... useful than horse pedigrees. They're all written by the owner and the vast majority of the rabbits are never registered (even so, they need to be at least 6 months old to be registered.) Because of this the pedigree is only as good as the honesty and record keeping skills of the breeder. Because they reproduce quickly most the big breeders pretty much have their own lines, and the smaller breeders and people starting out are a cross between a few. It's perfectly normal to ask "what lines is it out of?" when inquiring about a rabbit for sale.
Ask around and you should be able to find some information about silver lines. They're a quite rare breed though, which might make it harder to find answers. You should try joining some all breed groups if you want to research on FB too (such as the unofficial ARBA group or the topline discussion group, which has a lot of well known breeders.) Another place I like to look at to find breeders to ask about is from the results from nationals (link to silver results here, though it is a bit behind)
Looking through that right now I can tell you a few breeders whose names I recognize: Chase Austin, Wade Burkhalter, Travis Finkle, Carrie Thompson, Jann Hall, Laurie Adams. I've bought rabbits from Wade Burkhalter, Jann Hall and Laurie Adams before and they were nice to deal with, but other breeds, not silvers.
Two things about silvers - in many lines they try to avoid crossing the different colors together. Personally I think that's a good practice. Also, in some lines florida whites were bred in for their body type and you sometimes get white sports popping up, that's also to be avoided.
There's big debate on the proper silver body type - traditionally they've always had a longer, sleeker type than all the other compact breeds, but because their standard explains the type the same as a florida white there is a push towards either breeding towards/into florida white type or trying to change the standard to reflect the type they have. Because that there's some inconsistencies with type you sometimes see between lines
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Some great advice here, thank you! I've definitely heard of some of those names, especially Jann Hall, in some of my research. I've noticed the debate you mention, because it is a heritage breed, and the push to perhaps have them shown running the table, but I hadn't heard about Florida Whites being included. Interesting! I'll try some of the bigger groups as well. Is it useful to join ARBA for their magazine, in your opinion?
 
It is definitely useful to join ARBA
Not only for their magazine, but it's also if required to you register any rabbits/rabbitry or show at nationals, and they send you a copy of the official guidebook. You should also join your national breed specialty club if you've made up your mind about your breed, they usually have guidebooks/newletters as well
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the above advice is good. I never bred Silvers, but both Wade and Travis are well known ARBA judges and both are known to have good quality rabbits. It takes time and getting to know other Silver breeders, going to shows and doing some research to know which breeders' lines have different characteristics.

When starting out you would typically start with a couple of different lines and then you develop your own line from them. It takes time, and trial and error, to find complimentary lines (lines that work well together when breeding). For example, we had a Tan buck from a very well known breeder with top lines, but we kept getting just so-so offspring from him using various does from two different lines. After almost giving up, we finally found a breeder line he worked with perfectly and we got awesome offspring who went on to win a Best In Show and Reserve BIS.
 

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