Linebreeding

Lately, every magazine we've recieved in the mail seems to have an article about linebreeding.

I'm really trying to do a bunch of linebreeding these days. It is very true that your best stock will come from the linebreeding. Once you get your core stock, don't bring anymore stock in until you are getting too close and need to bring another animal in. Even then they recommend bringing in something that is somewhat related. Maybe a distant relative.

Now if only Cristina and I could follow that rule.

Although honestly I think I am set : ) I am getting 4 really nice animals at VIRBA from Ashley(first time ever buying stock from anyone other then Laura!) so I am really looking forward to these guys. They will put my pointed white program up to speed, and they will also help add those better coats!

We are pretty bad with the Mini lops buying new stock and we need to stop doing that! We are completely set that if we need one thing, we have distant relatives that can help whatever it is we are needing! For instance, I know Cristina has 2 bucks who are super deep but both lack shoulder width. Then she has As You like it who has a gorgeous body but needs a better head, and Cornelius who is an overall very nice buck maybe needing a tad more depth. He is all about width and head. Those 4 bucks alone compliment each other so well that they will be influential in her herd.

I'm still figuring out my Jerseys. I've only had them for coming up 4 months now so I'm still working on that. However, I know linebreeding is the key and I have 11 upcoming litters of which MOST ARE linebred in someway or another.

So my tip for today, not only linebreed(best is father/daughter, mother/son in my opinion, but also cull, cull, cull. How many times have you heard me say that?! We had 70 babies born this fall, and only 16 made the cut :- ) Out of those 16 we are down to the ones we feel will help our breeding program the best. Then out of the latest litters we had 3 litters- one of 7 but unfortunetly she lost all but 2, a litter of 4, and a litter of 5. We are down out of the 11 babies we are keeping 6 babies- all very nice though I might add 2 bucks, 4 does :- )

We never keep something that won't help our herd in one way or another, we rarely keep something because "oh we don't have anything from this doe or buck yet" if it can't beat the mom or dad I'm not letting it stay in our barn!

We got a breeding from a friend back in the summer, the doe had 8 babies. Chestnut is our least favorite variety so we sold a nice doe to a girl starting out in Powell River, we culled the other 2. The other 5 were a blue doe who went to Tamashanter Rabbitry, a blue chin doe going back to the person who gave us the breeding(thanks guys!) and then a black buck we are keeping at least for now, and a steel doe we culled, and an opal doe that went to Ranui Aviary and Farm. Just because we got the breeding doesn't mean we were going to keep more then 1. It was a total outcross though so it was interesting to see how the genetics worked!

Anyway for the most part linebreeding seems to be the key to success. I will write a blog in a few months to confirm if that was true or not. I know in the Hollands it was. I know in the French lops it depended. I know in the Mini rex it definetly was.