Question on Rabbit Genetics, Breeding (mixed breeds too, etc)! Need information very soon.

[Yield]

[align=center]I would really appreciate your guy's help for my 20 page research paper, cause I know the best info comes from people who HAVE been breeding and such.

Can you tell me your experiences about two different breeds breeding together? (Small mom and big dad/big mom and small dad)

What about your experiences with peanuts or kits that were too large?

What about charlies? Different colors?

Any experience with breeds that aren't yet accepted by ARBA in America?

ANY information/websites you can supply will be MORE than helpful (be sure to tell me what breed/breeds! )

Thank you so much in advance!

 

[TinysMom]

Yield wrote: [align=center]

I would really appreciate your guy's help for my 20 page research paper, cause I know the best info comes from people who HAVE been breeding and such.

Can you tell me your experiences about two different breeds breeding together? (Small mom and big dad/big mom and small dad)

What about your experiences with peanuts or kits that were too large?

What about charlies? Different colors?

Any experience with breeds that aren't yet accepted by ARBA in America?

ANY information/websites you can supply will be MORE than helpful (be sure to tell me what breed/breeds! )

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Thank you so much in advance!

These are pretty general questions - I mean - I could almost talk for hours on this. I've pretty much experienced all of these things.

For instance - I had a flemish giant buck follow Art into the office one day when girls were playing....(the door was usually closed and he was having his playtine - his nickname is Puppy). Well - sure enough before we realized he was in there - he got one girl pregnant (and he wasn't in there long). She was a medium size rabbit - had six kits. I now have four of them here still - they're half flemish giant. She did great with labor and delivery (in fact she had them a day or so before I knew about it).

One of my flemish giant does literally climbed over the pen to get in with an e-lop while he was having his playtime and she had seven "flee-lops" (flemish giant e-lop) kits last week. She's not feeding them so I'm having to feed them by hand - we lost five but two survived so far...I think they might make it.

Peanuts - had them - they never lived longer than maybe a few weeks. Very sad. I do let them live as long as possible because that's the way I am - many will cull them to keep them from going through pain later on. Most of mine seemed to just go to sleep and die.

Charlies - had those also...that's when you breed two brokens together and you get a rabbit that carries two broken genes so you'll always get brokens out of them.

I've bred brokens and harlequins in lionheads and brokens in holland lops.

I bred lionheads for three or four years...forget exactly how long. They're not accepted by ARBA but I was able to show them here in Texas.

Now...I hope I don't offend with my next statement - please know it isn't meant that way.

Maybe you're just seeking different ideas to work with -= but honestly - you need to narrow down your focus in order for us to really be able to help you. Here are some suggestions...(do you have a thesis statement yet for the paper by the way?).

• Problems breeders face when breeding (health issues)
• Decisions breeders make when breeding (ie - color / temperament, etc)
• The history of a particular breed or breeds (perhaps do a history on all the lop breeds)
• Health issues for rabbits in general

Once you pick a more specific topic like this - we could then help you with the basic outline. Let me give you an example...

• Problems Breeders Face when breeding
  • The Parents
    • Is the buck sterile?
    • Is the doe able to have kits?
    • Are either parent "proven"?
    • Will they actually breed together?
  • Potential problems with delivery
  • Genetic issues
    • Max Factor kits
    • Peanuts
  • Problems that can arise during the first 8 weeks
    • Mucoid Enteritis (M.E.)
    • Failure to thrive

See what I mean? With a specific topic it is so much easier to then give you the information or links that you need.

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[Yield]

[align=center]Thank you for the stuff you have told me. My topic is very VERY basic... the title of my paper is "The Combination of Lagomorph Breeds and How It Affects the Genealogy Research" but I am trying to talk about... um, I'll just post my "Premise".


Inquiry Based Research Premise: How does crossbreeding Oryctolagus cuniculus affect the genealogy of the Leporidae population?
Factor 1, Breeds: There are many different rabbit breeds that are in existence today, some accepted by the ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association) and some not. Most have mixed background, a combination of many other breeds, but are not even “known” as a breed. Why breed rabbits? Why this breed?

Factor 2, Genetics: Why is combining some breeds bad? What are the mishaps that could happen with combining some breeds? (Peanuts, Over-sized kits, or deformed kits?) What could be a downfall? What could be good about it? Better fur? Better temperament? Breeds developed for “cute” looks?

Factor 3, Showing: What rabbits are meant for showing? Which meant for pets? Why were they bred to be that shape/color/size? Disqualifications affect the breeding? Culling rabbits?

Factor 4, The Future/New Breeds: Must list some “known” but not accepted breeds, some breeds that took a while to be accepted. How new breeds must be presented to be accepted. How many people need to be active breeders of that breed. How many generations of that breed there must be.

 

[lelanatty]

The web sites for all of these topics are pretty easy to find using google. You have all of the terminology correct, so things should pop up fairly readily. Let us know if there is anything you can't find.

Also one thing I wanted to mention is that peanuts and oversized kits (fetal giants), or other genetic troubles we have are found WITHIN breeds, or with a specific gene, and not as the result of crossing breeds.

 

[Yield]

lelanatty wrote:

The web sites for all of these topics are pretty easy to find using google. You have all of the terminology correct, so things should pop up fairly readily. Let us know if there is anything you can't find.

Also one thing I wanted to mention is that peanuts and oversized kits (fetal giants), or other genetic troubles we have are found WITHIN breeds, or with a specific gene, and not as the result of crossing breeds.

[align=center]Thank you. And yes- I am talking about genetics within breeds as well. Thank you for clarifying fetal giants. I had forgotten what they were called.

 

[TinysMom]

Actually - I agree with Lela on almost everything except one thing....based on lionhead history.

Lionheads in the UK do not have problems with peanuts because they are larger rabbits there. The original lionheads from overseas did not carry the dwarfing gene at all.

When lionheads were brought into the U.S. in the beginning - breeders started breeding them with Netherland dwarfs to get the size down to a standard that they felt ARBA would accept.

It is because the Netherland dwarfs were brought into the breed that lionheads in the US now often carry the dwarfing gene - hence - peanuts.

So the "cross-breeding" of the Nethies did bring about peanuts.

But that is a fact not many breeders might think of - I just was fascinated by lionhead history and spent many hours on the phone w/ Gail Gibbons when I started out and she shared with me how the various bloodlines started and where they came from and what each of the first few breeders did, etc.

It was truly a series of fascinating discussions....and since I had a lionhead from the UK (who weighed about 6 pounds or so) - I can attest to the difference in the lionheads from the UK and the American lionheads.

 

[Blaze_Amita]

I know a bout of breeds, that aren't accepted besides Lion Heads is Velveteen Lops. I raise and breed those beauties and the problem they are facing is fur quality and ear length. Iknow the COD holder of the breed and how she's goign to prepose the new standard this November, so I have a little insight and I'm getting a few rabbits from her for my herd. They need the mandolin body type, rex plush fur, 5 3/4 pound body weight is ideal and 15 inch ears are ideal. The Velveteen is supposed to be a rex furred smaller version of the english lop. I've heard it described as a Mini rex x english lop cross several generations down.

Hope that helps you a little bit.

 

[CiaraPatricia]

TinysMom wrote:

Lionheads in the UK do not have problems with peanuts because they are larger rabbits there. The original lionheads from overseas did not carry the dwarfing gene at all.

When lionheads were brought into the U.S. in the beginning - breeders started breeding them with Netherland dwarfs to get the size down to a standard that they felt ARBA would accept.

Yep I live in Ireland and have 5 Lionheads, two of them are about 3 pounds, one is 3.25 pounds (the dad of the two smallest ones), one is about 4 pounds, and one is about 4.5pounds (the mom of the two smallest ones), she's pretty big, well medium sized.

Oh and most rabbits here are just bred as pets anyway. You see Lionheads in pet shops that are huge sometimes.