another lionhead question

[zoecat6]

At what age as a baby do their manes come in. Also I just received a netherland/lionhead mix and am wondering what his chances are of keeping his mane. I am assuming that there is much less chance than with a purebred.

 

[TinysMom]

zoecat6 wrote:

At what age as a baby do their manes come in. Also I just received a netherland/lionhead mix and am wondering what his chances are of keeping his mane. I am assuming that there is much less chance than with a purebred.

I have four week old babies that have a hint of their manes blossoming...so it can start fairly early.

Your baby could be a no mane - or it could be a single mane lionhead. I have seen some single manes keep their mane - but not many. Do you have a pedigree on the baby? If so- could you PM me with some of the names on the lionhead side? Depending upon who is in the pedigree (some were known to keep their manes as adults) - your baby might keep a mane if it get sone.

BTW - don't forget to share a picture or two!



Peg

 

[zoecat6]

He's 5 weeks old and has a small mane already, thats why I was wondering if he would keep it.

 

[huntress]

Your baby more than likely will not keep it's mane. I did not have any that retained manes when I did the first cross to Netherland. Even if the lionhead parent had massive mane the F1babies did not keep theirs. You can expect maybe some little tufts between the ears or maybe a fewstrands around the head but I wouldn't expect anymore than that. They will normally start to loose it around 5 or 6 months old.

 

[TinysMom]

zoecat6 wrote:

He's 5 weeks old and has a small mane already, thats why I was wondering if he would keep it.

It would help if you could post a picture and I'll ask Huntress to check this thread. I know she's done a lot of breeding and she might be able to tell you.

Peg

 

[TinysMom]

Well - it figures that Huntress saw this before my post....oh well!

Thanks Huntress - I was wondering about this too.

Peg

 

[lionheadmomma]

Hi! The babies usually start sprouting a hint of mane at about 4-5 wks. SM's usually have a BEAUTIFUL mane by 4-5 mos.but after that it's usually all downhill. Not many SM's keep their manes into adulthood. This cross is usually made by Lionhead breeders to bring down the size of their Lionheads...ears included. Lionheads started out as huge specimens but many breeders are preferring the smaller size now. This cross is just a stepping stone to get to a smaller purebred Lionhead on down the line. They are EXCELLENT for breeding if the cross turned out nice. Even though it loses it's mane,it still carries the gene to pass on to it's offspring. SM's are excellent for showing while jr.'s also. They are so eye catching because their manes are usually longer than a DM but not as dense. Hopethis was helpful.

 

[huntress]

Not many SM's keep their manes into adulthood. This cross is usually made by Lionhead breeders to bring down the size of their Lionheads...ears included.

There are even a lot of double manes that do not retain their mane.This is what is so challenging about the lionheads. Mane retention is getting better but there is no guarantee how much mane they will retainas an adult.

The crosses to other breeds are also done to help correct body type that the working standard calls for. A lot of the imports tended to be large, with narrow faces and flat across the back. They also tended to have genetic defects such as epilepsy, cow hocks, and malocclusion just to name a few.