I want to take a moment and talk about my process when it comes to evaluating my juniors and deciding what to keep/show and to sell/cull. I start evaluating the kits when they turn 4 months old as anytime sooner you may cull to early and not see how your line develops. *FYI: Cull does NOT mean to kill. The correct definition is "remove from one's herd, example: selling to a pet home or using for food". Now back to Margarita.
This doe is out of LHR's Olivia and my registered buck Kareha's Casper. This is a total out-crossing meaning the parents come from unrelated lines. The only reason I did this is that Casper could correct some of Olivia's faults as in her head and bone. I decided to let this doe grow out because at 8 weeks old she was looking like she had promise but in the back of my mind I knew things can change so getting advice from a fellow friend who told me to let her grow out till 4 months old and then start going through them and that's exactly what I did. Every juniors that is produce in this barn will be evaluated at 4 months unless there are major things that shouldn't be bred for example: pinched hindquarters or genetic disqualifications then those juniors will either be culled or sold as pets. Let's talk about the Margarita's weaknesses/faults: The two main things I would fault her on is the substance of ear (ear thickness) and she needs more width in her muzzle. If you take a look at her father's Casper face, that's the ideal face you want in mini lops but please understand that a doe's head is going to be a little smaller but you still want a nice width head. I can definitely correct both of this faults by line-breeding her back to her father or her half-brother. Margarita definitely has more strengths than weaknesses in my opinion. She has a a nice and balanced body. She's got nice full hindquarters. Her balance between width and length is wonderful and I definitely am going to be incorporating that with future juniors that may be lacking the width and the length of the body. She has a good crown and crown width as well as good bone. These are some of things you need to look for in your mini lop herd and also refer back to the Standard Of Perfection if you aren't too sure. Always breed rabbits that compliment each and never breed two rabbits who have the exact same faults as that will only make things worse and you may have a much harder time improving the breed. This may turn into a series on evaluating my juniors and what I look for. If you ever have doubt on juniors, take them to a show and see what the judges think and talk to fellow breeders or mentors and go from there. You can learn a lot from talking to other breeders and having a mentor! Stay tuned for another post like this!!
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AuthorI've created this blog section because I would love to give any newcomers who are thinking about having rabbits as pets, starting to raise rabbits, care, and product reviews. Please enjoy. Archives
March 2018
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