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bunny breeding

M

missblondebunny

Mama Doe
hi

i was having a chat with another of my mad bunny friends over the weekend...

and she said that you shouldnt breed a larger male bunny with a smaller female...

for example... i have a female lion head / dwarf lop cross, and i also have a male lion head dwarf lop cross, and want to either get a female or male netherland dwarf.

now should i have a male nethie to go with the lion head cross female or would a female nethie be ok, having nethie/lionhead/dwarf lop babies????

i hope ive explained that ok

im not thinking of breeding, but would like to know the answer to settle an arguement, well not really an arguement as im not sure anyway!!!
 
You shouldn't breed from crossbreeds whether the girl is bigger or not because you don't know what their parents are like. For example the grandparents could be a mix of sizes and although the male might be small he could carry genes for a large rabbit.

Other than size there are other genes that might not show in the rabbits your breeding from but they could be carrying such as teeth problems or congenital defects.

The size thing is because if the babies take after their dad in size they'll get stuck when she gives birth. A dwarf lop is 2-3 times the size of a netherland dwarf so could well cause problems for the mum trying to give birth to them.

For bonding neutered bunnies size doesn't really matter.

Tam
 
baby buns

hi tamsin

i know the mother and father of my lionhead / dwarf lop crosses and there history, and there is nothing to worry about there, but you never know whats hidden in the genes - thats very true!!!

so... i guess it does matter then, just depends on those genes that are involved - although i dont think they would be dwarf lop size, as they are crossed with a lion head - i was never good at this genes/biology lark :lol:
 
Bare in mind genes can throw back more than one generation. So it might be great or even great-great grandparents that effect the babies!

Netherland dwarf's are about the smallest breed you can get so any rabbit is going to be bigger. So I wouldn't let a female ND near anything other than a bun of the same breed :D

It certainly is confusing. Thats why most breeders keep carefully records of the family tree and its best to breed from only rabbits with those sort of records.

Tam
 
I have always found cross breeds stronger then pure breeds but then that’s just me and my old mob :lol: I had a few pure breeds and they didn't last fine minutes compared to the cross breeds. Crossbreed do fight of infections better because they can be "hardier". But I am "just and only" talking from my personal experience. I do agree with the history and stuff, I think it does help to know if there are any deadly infections hanging around in the rabbit history. I love crossbreeds they are interesting :D But again Tam does have some valid points there....I was just lucky :lol:
 
Apart from the very valid points that have already been made, may I ask why you want to breed from your rabbits? If it is just for fun and because you want babies, that is not really a good enough reason. Do you have homes already lined up for them? It is not easy to home baby rabbits... And just shove them off to a pet shop if you can't get rid is not the answer!

Please think about this again! There are already thousands of bunnies of all ages and breeds in rescue, please don't add to it! If you really are serious, then pick a breed you like, talk to reputable breeders, find out what is involved, sort homes out before you even start etc!

Vera
 
When I expressed my concern about Zeus and Athena before she was spayed (Zeus had only recently been done and I asked for him to be introduced to spayed rabbits only but they brought out Athena by mistake).

He said that genetically the mother controls the size of the offspring however they would probably be bigger than normal they wouldn't be giant otherwise she wouldn't be able to give birth to them.

I personally wouldn't like to chance it though as if there were complications your doe could die.

Caz
 
breeding

no im not thinking of breeding

it was just an example to explain what i was on about.

ive had rabbits for years and for some reason its never even entered my haed that you shouldnt breed a bigger male with a smaller female.

i def wouldnt breed a giant with a netherland thats for sure! but i was curious of the smaller breeds breeding together.
 
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