Breeding

[Miss Muffet]

I need some advise please

My daughter wants to breed with bunnies for some extra pocket money. We have the mom and dad and have 2 gorgeous babies who are about 12 weeks old now. Can we actually breed with the two babies as they are actually "brother and sister":shock:

And I also believe you can only start breeding with babies once they are 5 months? Is that the correct age?

Thanks ONCE again for your advise. I really appreciate it!:biggrin2:

 

[fantaysah]

Some breeders are ok with this some are against it. Breeding 2 litter mates gives u 50-50 father/daughter and mother/son give you 75% the the genes of the eldest rabbit since mother is grandmother and father is grand father. You will be intensifying any bad genes or flaws the rabbits have as well as good ones. What are you breeding for? Pets, shows etc because that makes a difference as far as what is acceptable.

 

[Miss Muffet]

fantaysah wrote:

Some breeders are ok with this some are against it. Breeding 2 litter mates gives u 50-50 father/daughter and mother/son give you 75% the the genes of the eldest rabbit since mother is grandmother and father is grand father. You will be intensifying any bad genes or flaws the rabbits have as well as good ones. What are you breeding for? Pets, shows etc because that makes a difference as far as what is acceptable.

All we want to do is breed them as a hobby. My daughter is 9 years old and she is doing this as extra "pocket money". But even though, we still want to do the "right" thing...:big wink:

 

[Miss Muffet]

fantaysah wrote:

Some breeders are ok with this some are against it. Breeding 2 litter mates gives u 50-50 father/daughter and mother/son give you 75% the the genes of the eldest rabbit since mother is grandmother and father is grand father. You will be intensifying any bad genes or flaws the rabbits have as well as good ones. What are you breeding for? Pets, shows etc because that makes a difference as far as what is acceptable.

All we want to do is breed them as a hobby. My daughter is 9 years old and she is doing this as extra "pocket money". But even though, we still want to do the "right" thing...:big wink:

 

[1357rabbitlover]

What if none of them sell? Your daughter will be getting no pocket money, you shouldn't breed for the money, as they might not sell, they you will be left with 4+ rabbits to look after.

 

[Pipp]

Moved this to the Rabbitry. . . Don't think you'll get much support or advice anywhere else.

 

[Pipp]

and its definitely not advised breeding brother and sister.

 

[MyBabyHasPaws]

Dont breed brother and sister. You can breed mother and son, or father and daughter.. but no sister/brother.

You should really think about this. Because your daughter wants "extra pocket money" isnt a good reason to breed rabbits. Like someone said up there, what would you do if none of your rabbits sold? What would you do if you had (heaven forbid) to rush some kits to the vet, would you do it? Would you be able to find responsible owners for all these new bunnies?

Why dont you let her do some chores around the house and give her extra pocket money that way.

 

[wendymac]

:yeahthat: Breeding for some pocket money is a terrible idea. There's no guarantee you can sell the babies. And feeding a nursing doe gets a bit expensive, especially once the kits start eating pellets. And it's almost like teaching your daughter that animals are nothing more than "disposable income." And breeding brother to sister is definitely not recommended. You'll intensify the faults and weaken any strengths in your line. Bad idea all the way around, IMHO.

 

[Miss Muffet]

Thanks for all the feedback, I do appreciate it!!:expressionless I will take all the feedback into account and look at something else and just enjoy our gorgeous babies as our pets :biggrin2:

 

[majorv]

I agree that if you do follow through with this that you breed mother to son or father to daughter but no further. You would need another rabbit from outside to keep the line healthy. I don't know how the pet market is in Australia but it has its ups and downs here. Around here it's down right now. If you don't pre-sale the kits you could endup taking care ofmore rabbits than you planned.