XV
SELECTION OF BREEDING STOCK
SELECTION OF BREEDING STOCK
We can only touch upon the matter of breeding in a very casual way. It is a subject which has filled many books larger than this one. But in the main the laws of breeding applying to one form of plant life will be found to apply to another. It is certainly true that rabbits are subject to much the same laws as to breeding as are other kinds of live stock.
In the selection of the breeding stock depends all of the chances for future success, for the worth of the parent stock will determine more than anything else the worth of the offspring. Once in a while a litter will be so badly neglected that they will develop into nothing but scrubs, but that is not a fair comparison of the value of good breeding stock.
A pure bred rabbit will eat no more than a scrub. In fact, the scrub is often the best eater of the two. He certainly is the most expensive. The breeder can generally afford one pure-bred doe, pedigreed if not registered, and there is no reason for maintaining a herd of run-down scrubs which return little or no income on the investment.
As in other forms of live stock, the most important element in selecting the breeding stock is health and constitutional vigor. Without vigor an animal is not a good breeder. That should be self evident to all who know anything about breeding at all.
Pure bred animals generally have health and vigor. That is due to the fact that their blood lines have been carefully preserved and they have had the sort of care and attention which fosters good constitutional vigor and stamina. Do not breed runts. You might as well try to breed mules to eagles and succeed in getting something worth while.
Constitutional vigor is apparent in many ways. The individual animal will have a strong, robust, upstanding appearance. His eye will be clear and bright. He will seem to be in the very strength of his being. He will be active and full of that quality known as "pep." He is not sluggish and stupid in his movements.
Where you are raising your own young stock, this quality of constitutional vigor is apparent in the animals from birth. There is always one or two in every litter that are larger and better developed than the rest.
They will grow faster, mature faster than those other rabbits born on the same day and having the same care and attention from the start. These are the fellows to set aside for breeding purpose, if you are looking for strong constitutional vigor and want good breeders, regardless of quality.
Of course, these rapid growers often will not make show rabbits, because they are not that kind, but this is no reason why they should be sacrificed in the frying pan. They are worth too much for another purpose, and when you stop to consider that hardly a utility doe or buck will bring less than $5 each, you can understand why it pays to keep the best of each litter for breeding purposes, either for your own use, or to sell.
Where you are breeding stock for shows or for breeders and are handling pedigreed or registered stock, some attention may be paid to blood lines, but do not make the mistake so many new breeders do. Blood lines are valuable in giving you an index to the individual's possible performance as a breeder, but unless the individual itself is right, forget all about the blood lines. It will save you grief in the long run.
Of course, where your animal is registered with your breed club or with the National Association you have a pretty good guarantee that the individual is all right, but this is not always certain. Some splendid specimens that command the best prizes in the show room and which are ideals of their breed are very poor when it comes to reproducing their own species. Sometimes a second-rate animal in the show room is the best sire or dam in the whole field.
Why? Largely because the ability to reproduce its own kind is lodged in different degree in different individuals. All live stock breeders recognize this truth and can cite instances from their own experience to prove it. The point is that the individual cannot always be judged correctly in advance or from his show record.
Rather than pay so much attention to show records it is better to find an animal which has a record to producing a number of prizewinners. This animal may not be a winner himself, but he is the kind of a fellow to use in breeding, just the same.
The breeding age of rabbits varies somewhat according to the breed. New Zealand Reds can be bred at seven to eight months. The same applies to Belgian hares and also to Flemish Giants. The Giants, however, had better not be bred until eight months or older. Some people make the mistake of breeding their stock when too young. This cuts down on the constitutional vigor of the offspring and also has a bad effect upon the breeding value of the parent stock itself. There is nothing to be gained by trying to hurry things in this fashion and much to be lost.
It is not a good plan to stick to your own bucks too much in selecting the stock that is to be used in breeding. If there happens to be a good stud buck within shipping distance of your rabbitry, it is money well spent to ship your does to this buck, pay a service fee, and get the benefit of the better blood which such an animal will introduce into your stock.
In England and other European countries stud bucks are patronized a great deal more than they have been in this country, for the reason that breeders across the water are wider awake to the possibilities of their use. If you hear of a good buck in your breed which has produced some exceptional stock, leave no stone unturned until he have had your best does bred to him.
In buying breeding stock, always demand that they be registered and that their grees be sent you. In this way you know that the animal is free from disqualifications under the Standard for his breed, his age, his ancestry for at least three generations, his weight and other important considerations.
Old stock should not be kept too long as they lose their breeding value after about three years of age. It is better to use them a year or so and then sell them or exchange them for younger stock.
Do not under any consideration use stock for breeding purposes having disqualifications under the Standard for the breed to which they belong.
Disqualifications vary according to the different breeds, and a complete list of them will be found in the Standard for that breed. Such things as drooping ears, wiry or crooked tails, crooked feet, back, etc., are indicative generally of a constitutional defect which would be transmitted to the offspring. The same holds true as to animals which are not true to the color of their breed. While the color plays no important part in the matter of producing meat animals, it is best to stick as close to the Standard as possible, especially if you start out with registered stock.
Under the chapter on Breeding there is a discussion as to the value of line-breeding and if one starts out with registered stock and practices line-breeding intelligently, there is no reason why the value of the stock should grow less with each generation. But a constant selection of the breeding stock must be kept up in order to make progress all the time.
One can generally get a pretty good idea as to the value of an animal by following these exterior characteristics, but they are by no means a final criterion. It is wise to keep a careful record of the offspring of the respective matings and when you find a doe and buck that seem to produce better offspring than they do when bred to other animals, by all means do not stop breeding them, but get all you can out of the combination. Breeding records as well as intelligent selection of the breeders is necessary to success in picking the breeding stock.