Crossbreeding Program?

Annoth

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I'm looking to cross a few breeds to sell & keep some as my own stock. So far the team I'm working with have gotten 4 barns, to produce several lines of this cross (to minimize in breeding) and like the lineage we've come up with. Males are listed on the left, females on the right. Sire/Dam # represent the gender we'll keep to breed the next cross. The purpose of this program is to produce an excellent meat and fur type. Our targets are FFA/4h and commercial meat producers.

Generation 1: Californian, New Zealand = Sire 1
Generation 2: Sire 1, different New Zealand = Dam 1
Generation 3: American Chinchilla, Dam 1 = Dam 2
Generation 4: Different Californian (or Am Chin), Dam 2 = Dam 3
Generation 5: Sire 1, Dam 3 = Final Product

So far the only changes I can think of are adding more NZ for fur quality and maybe cross the Final Product with rexs for color if we arent totally satisfied with Gen 6. (anyone wanna talk about rex genes? I know their fur is reccessive but I am a huge fan of black otter and castor & whould like to see some in my line of this 'breed') Thoughts and opinions will be welcomed! There's not any resources on rabbit crossbreeding like there are cattle or even hogs.
 

SA Farm

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I'm not great with color genetics, perhaps @Bunnylady could help on that front? The rex coat is recessive and they tend to grow out a bit slower, so probably adding them earlier would be better to get the coat and weed out the slow growers?
Sounds like a fun project anyway ;)
 

Hens and Roos

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I know with our kids being in 4-H- pure breed is highly recommended and the market rabbit class must be purebred. You probably want to check your area so you can provide the correct type/breed.

Good Luck!
 

Bunnylady

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I don't mean to be critical, but in a way, what you are doing is reinventing the wheel. When the Californian was developed in the 1920's, the foundation breeds were the Chinchilla, the Himilayan, and the New Zealand White. Cali's got their markings from the Himi's, of course, and the somewhat finer bones, which is why they have the best dress-out ratio of any commercial breed. They are supposed to have superior density of coat. If the Cali's you are working with don't have amazing, dense coats, perhaps you are working with poor-quality Calis.:idunno

These days, a white coat is pretty much a requirement for a really successful commercial breed. Processors frequently pay a little bit more for white rabbits; some don't accept anything else (rabbits with "pointed" markings, like the Cali, qualify as white). People who are serious about breeding rabbits for sale to processors are often working with such tight margins anyway, a few cents per pound less for a rabbit with a colored coat just isn't worth it. Most of the people who breed colored commercial types are either breeding for show, or else breeding for their own consumption/local sale.

But if you like Black Otters, have you considered Silver Martens? The are an approximately 6 to 9 pound, commercial-type breed:
SlvMartenBlkMaleWCR_U65.jpg
 

Annoth

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Hmm, never thought about that BunnyLady. I myself am not familiar with most breed history but that's good to know, the whole color thing.
 
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