Max or Moritz?

[Sabine]

I have one more day to decide which of my two baby bucks to keep. One of them isgoing to his new home tomorrow. When I posted a similar thread a few weeks ago most people favoured Moritz as he appeared to have the better head. A few weeks down the line I am not so sure anymore although I still will more than likely keep Moritz. Bearing in mind that size is an issue with the bucks in my rabbitry which of the two would you keep? They are 12 weeks old. I apologise for the lack of posing and hope the pictures show enough.

Buck 1

Buck 2

 

[mewlingcricket]

I really love the ears on buck #1

 

[lelanatty]

I would say keep the first one. The second one looks very ugly to say the least. Although he has a better head, everything else about him is wrong. The ears have very bad shape and length, and he looks to be long throughut his body. From your picture the length of his front leg is baffling. It definitely should be much shorter.
On the first buck you can't see much with the hindquarters but either way he appears to be smaller, which is what you want. His ears have much better shape and it looks like they are a little shorter as well. I would rather have rabbits with narrow faces thn long bodies because it can be more esily fixed with a better buck for the next generation.

 

[Sabine]

I know the body posture looks very ugly as I had them squished into the bowl to weigh - in particular in buck 2.
I actually forgot to list the weights:
Buck 1 is 715 g
Buck 2 is 649 g

Buck 1 always appears smaller although he is the heavier one and I always thought his shading was prettier.

Can anyone say anything in favour of buck 2?

 

[Shaded Night Rabbitry]

I like.. buck 2 more? LOL!
He has a much better shape to the head, and I like his ears much much more than the other.

Much thicker and more open on the ears. He does appear to be longer. Perhaps if you have some time tonight, you could try to snap a *quick* posed shot? I know it's hard... But without you could very well be sending away the best one.

Buck 1 has a not so good head, and I hate his ears. Especially his ear placement. (Buck 2 is slightly better in placement.) He is much cobbier in the pose up there. He also has a much shorter front limb, another thing to watch out for. As I said, posing can make or break a rabbit. Who knows which ones actually better.... It also depends on what you need in your herd. Nice bodies, or nice heads. It's generally good to work on one thing at a time. XD

 

[Sabine]

I think my main buck actually has a rather nice head but he is a bit on the larger side all over. I am totally confused now:?
By the way buck 1 is Max and buck 2 Moritz (the one that was favoured in my previous thread a few weeks ago)

 

[Sabine]

Bear with me. Sort of posed pictures coming up in a moment

 

[Sabine]

They ended up not as well posed as I thought as I was on the other side and didn't see the position of the feet. Anyhow this may show the body type a bit better
Max

Moritz

Max was a nightmare to pose

 

[lelanatty]

I still like Moritz better. Max's head isn't as good as it looked in the picture on the scale, and Moritz displays the truer Dwarf body type.

 

[Sabine]

Moritz is buck 2 in both sets of pictures. I think the awkward position on the measuring scale didn't do him any justice.
They are just really similar and it often really depends on the angle they are photographed.
Moritz is the one I intended to keep and I have all records for Max ready to go to his new owner by tomorrow night. (But I can still swap last minute:biggrin

 

[lelanatty]

Oh :biggrin: That is interesting. They must be very similar as you say. I got them confused in the second set of pictures. I'm not sure then, the final decision is yours anyway. Best of luck

 

[Sabine]

The seem like twins if there is such a thing with rabbits
I think the ease I could pose Moritz (although he wouldn't sit still) confirmed my initial decision. I had to virtually squash Max to get him sit upright (although he appears to have the shorter body in most pictures)

 

[Sabine]

Max left today and Moritz is staying. I do hope I made the right decision but at least it's done now and I know what I can work with.

 

[TinysMom]

Sabine wrote:

Max left today and Moritz is staying. I do hope I made the right decision but at least it's done now and I know what I can work with.

Well - at least the decision is made (I HATE making decisions).

I'm happy for you - that now you get to move on to other decisions....tee hee...
:big wink:

 

[Sabine]

Yes for example what to do about the name. I only named him Moritz to go with the name Max.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Max_and_Moritz
I actually thought I'd be keeping Max. Nobody in the house is pronouncing it properly so I am dithering between Morris or Morse (as in Inspector Morse- UK detective series)