Another Polish kindling and 2 Californians

[wendymac]

It's baby bunny explosion here at West Wind's Rabbitry. We had a litter of Californians born early this evening, then a litter of Polish around 10 pm. And around 11 pm another litter of Californians. We still have 2 Frenchies to go, then everyone will be done.

Here are the Polish babies. They're by our broken chocolate doe, Sunday, and solid chocolate buck, Nestle. Unfortunately it looks like we have 1 solid chocolate and 2 broken lilacs. At least I have people bugging me for pets, so all is well there.

Here are Twila's babies. This was her first breeding back to her son, so hopefully they'll be super nice. The picture is a little blurry.

And this is Marie's litter. Marie is out of Twila by Jack, and she was bred back to Jack.

 

[Azerane]

They are awfully tiny and cute, in the cute pink-ish blob kind of way

And this is Marie's litter. Marie is out of Twila by Jack, and she was bred back to Jack.

I don't know much about rabbit breeding, but I can't say I agree with the practice of breeding family members together. Please correct me if I'm wrong, just worried about the health of the little ones is all.

 

[DharmaBuns]

Baby explosion! The best kind of explosion!

Now, could we possibly get a picture of a size comparison between babies?? I've only ever had Tan babies so I don't know all the differences in size!

 

[wendymac]

In rabbit breeding it's fine. You're basically just cementing your traits in...I haven't done brother/sister yet, though, but we're going to do it with Abby and Gibbs. Both have done well on the table and have gotten nothing but wonderful comments. We'll see how that goes.

I'm planning that already! I'm going to put a Polish, a French, and a Cal baby side by side. LOL The only problem is the Polish are in the house and the rest are in the barn, so I'll have to bring 2 up to the house real quick.

 

[woahlookitsme]

I am so jealous!!!!

Agree with Wendy. Breeding family members is known as line breeding and it has created some of the best rabbits. Line breeding is seriously used in rabbits and is not something to take lightly. It can bring out the best and worst in your lines. I have always been nervous about brother to sister as it is doubling the chances for either good or bad. The more line breeding in your rabbitry the more consistent your offspring becomes. Outside rabbits are then brought in to usually bring in a new trait or to just bring in some outside blood.

 

[whitelop]

They're all so cute! I agree, thats the best kind of explosion!

I agree with Sarah, I would be nervous about brother sister line breeding too! I know that in chickens(which is the only thing I have experience breeding) brother sister isn't good. Usually just father daughter or mother son are done. I think its like, whatever flaws(underlying or not) you have in the parents are amplified in the offspring and then if you pair two offspring with those flaws then you get...well something not great. lol.
I guess its all up to what you're comfortable with.

I'm not sure how long line breeding rabbits is okay for. I'll be line breeding my chickens later this year, so we're all in the same weird-parent on child-breeding boat. LOL

 

[Hyatt101]

I thought breeding brother sister was very bad...? I've heard of all other combinations, but had always been told against breeding a brother and a sister.

 

[wendymac]

There was an excellent article in the DR magazine about line breeding. Basically it's going to "cement" the good traits into her lines. Or it'll magnify any undesirable traits that may not be evident but are lurking in the background. Once you know the hidden undesirable traits your line has in it the better your herd will be. But you also have to be VERY diligent about removing everything but excellent rabbits when making your decision on which ones to keep. Provided you remove from your herd anything that isn't excellent you'll have nice, solid lines. Then it's recommended, if you want, to bring in an outside rabbit. But not until you have solidified your own line first.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

I'm in love!

 

[Chrisdoc]

Babies, babies and more babies.....it is so fascinating on here and I am learning so much about breeds and breeding and just want to know more. It´s amazing what they look like now and how they´ll look in such a short time....the wonders of nature. Look forward to updates on all of them. Congratulations :great: