Culling time. I need some help.

[bunnychild]

Hi, guys! Now that the two litters I have are older, 4 wks and 2 mths, it is now time I believe to evaluate them. Now the culls might not be forever, as Ranon and Mims are still young, but I wanted your opinions on them.
First Litter

First Rascal. She is a Black Otter doe.

Next is Imp. He is a Black Otter buck. I really like how he has grown.

Last of this litter is Hooligan. He is also a Black Otter buck. He has one problem, his eyes are grey not brown. Should he be kept for breeding or completely culled?

Second Litter

Mims. he/she is a black otter.he/she has the same problem as Hooligan so Breed or cull? I really like he/she's head

Ranon. he/she is a chestnut agouti.

Okay so those are the five. I would like to hear everyone's opinions, good or bad. And thank you for the help .

 

[bunnychild]

By cull I do not mean euthanize. I mean remove from shows and my breeding program. Just wanted to make this clear.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

What breed are your rabbits? It looks like maybe Jersey Woolies?

Four weeks is too young to evaluate rabbits. At that age, they're all still in the "cute" stage. They are still growing and maturing, and features like eye and coat color can still change.

I usually do my first round of evaluations around 8 weeks of age. At this time, I look for obvious disqualifications and remove them from my "keepers." The other thing I check is balance. If a rabbit has particularly huge feet or large ears, it typically means they'll mature to be a larger, more broody rabbit. Kits with balanced features have better chances of maturing to correct show proportions.

The next round of evaluations is at 4-6 months. At this time, I take my "keepers" and look at them as compared to the breed standard. Which ones of the litter have the best type? Which ones have features to compliment the rest of my herd? Usually I pick out the best one or two kits to keep for breeding and remove the others from my program.

 

[woahlookitsme]

I was going to say the same. 4 weeks is much too young to evaluate them. I like the bucks head better than the doe (That doesnt mean to cull just yet because sometimes does heads take longer to really pop). Both of their ears are on the longer side. So far nice short body on the doe but at this age they all look like little balls.

I wont even critique on the younger ones but they are cute! And right now those ears look nice, short, and open.

Oh as far as eye color Im not sure. I dont really have to worry about it in my tans but maybe julie has an idea? Im not sure if they will change color or not. I know that my babies when they first open their eyes there is a blue tinge to them that goes away

 

[Bill Jesse]

Thank God you clarified "cull"!

 

[bunnychild]

Yes I know it might be a little early for the younger ones. That's why I said it might not be permanent. Yes they are Jersey Woolies, my heart breed. What do you think of the older ones?

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Even the older ones are too young to evaluate. At 4 weeks, they aren't even weaned yet.

 

[bunnychild]

the older ones are over 2 months old. Which is 8 weeks.

 

[bunnychild]

I apologize if i was not clear. One litter is 9 weeks old, that is the first three rabbits. The second litter is 5 weeks, the last two.

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Oh okay, I see now. I thought you meant the first ones were very young too. Would you be able to get photos of a more natural pose? When Jersey Woolies pose, their front toes should be in line with their eyes and back toes in line with their hips. Their heads should sit up off the table, not as high as a Netherland Dwarf, but a little higher than a Mini Lop. With your hand holding their head up, it throws off their topline a bit. So we could give better advice when they're sitting naturally.

 

[bunnychild]

I tried to do as you say but I'm not really sure I did it right. They really didn't want to stand still today.

Rascal

Imp

Hooligan