# breeding rabbits-daughter to father?



## minibarn

i had posted before about 2 bunny litters-1 alive & 1 dead. the doe with the dead litter just kindled this a.m. again and a few hours later when i checked on them 3 dead and 2 barely alive, all partially eaten. the 2 alive had only some skin torn off. i decided the only chance they might have would be to see if the other doe with 6 week old kits would adopt them. it doesn't look like she's too interested and i think the 2 newborns will be dead next time i check. so now i'm wondering if we should get rid of the bad doe and keep a baby out of the good doe's litter for breeding. but the only buck we have is the father. would it be ok to breed the daughter to her father once she's old enough?


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## Springbett Farm

Ï heard this saying with regards to line breeding horses, but I don't have any idea if it applies here. But here goes: Father to daughter, mother to son, but brother to sister should never be done. So if this does indeed apply, then yes, you can breed the sire to his daughter.


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## SDK

too tight. it'd be easier to just keep the doe and a doe of the litter and get a new buck. I breed rabbits yearround and i show a lot, the tightest i'll do is half siblings or grandfather/mother to granddaughter/son


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## 2 lil-does

i have read that it is ok but i agree with SDK, it seems to close & if there are traits that are "weak " you will really find them in such close breeding. 
why you breed so close(mother to son / father to daughter) is to keep a trait that you feel you might be losing, but is beneficial to the breed as a whole. 

i would recommend offing the bad mom, retaining a nice doe kit from the good mom, & looking in to a nice buck. the doe kit wont be ready for 5 to 8 months, depending on breed. so you have time for looking for a new buck also. 
i have satins & NZ crosses they seem to do good on a fast breed back schedule, as long as they are keeping good weight. i try to only keep does that raise kits the first time & will foster others if they have a small litter. 
if your near northern cali i have alot of bucks! most of which are meat rabbit breeds though, if you are interested. 

Good luck with your rabbits!


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## minibarn

thanks for the input! We ended up finding homes for all the kits and also the bad mom. so now we're down to just 1 calm, friendly mini-rex buck & 1 shy lop/mini-rex doe. maybe we'll eventually get another doe. btw, we live in ontario so cali is too far to go for rabbits. thanks.


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## BDial

I was told by a judge 3 weeks ago it was ok. Breed to whoever just be prepared to cull and cull hard. I was worried about linebreeding also. Culling won't be hard for us because we eat rabbit.


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## Coyote Night Acres

IMO I think it would be fine to do. Some of your best show rabbits are bred this way, yes sometimes you can get some bad traits enhanced with the good, so you need to cull out the bad. However that goes with any linebreeding. You will need to get a new buck though if you keep doe's out of the father daughter breeding. I did a couple father daughter breedings when I raised and showed rabbits, they came out really nice. No pinched hocks, bad teeth, extra legs etc.... LOL


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## 2 lil-does

yes culling is really the biggest part of it. 
i dont line breed because the rabbits i stared with had weak traits, IE bad mothering skills, not good body size, bad temperament, & so on. 

i started this herd up maybe 6 months ago, & i learned alot in the last 6 months. 
i did 4 h when i was a kid, now im just raising a herd for meat, & satins for show. 

i am also raising them in a colony, (some people may not agree with me, that's OK : )) but i feel if i choose for social rabbits that raise their kits together & don't ever let them get overcrowded, cull the bad moms. it will work & so far it has. 

for breeding purposes line breeding does help & does wonders to help improve a breed, it can also narrow the genetic pool so much it make them susceptible to more diseases. 
breed for a purpose & cull for that same purpose, & good luck with your bunnies ! they are one of the easier animals to breed & procreate!


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## SDK

if you don't cull, you don't win,and your breeding program will be weak and you'll pretty much be flooding the market with inferior quality animals. there are a lot of people that do this in the rabbit world. a lot of people don't believe in culling because they feel that every rabbit can contribute to a breeding program when in reality that rabbit brings more negatives to a herd than positives. and culling doesn't mean you have to kill them, but you need to remove them from a breeding program/show program. i know my culls go to zoos to feed the predatory birds and such, or to pethomes i pre select and screen.


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