Linebreeding I

One of the basics of linebreeding, which we try to do a lot with our Hollands, is to breed a doe back to her father or a buck back to his mother. Although technically this is inbreeding, it's a valuable tool in our linebreeding program.

Right now I have a litter as a result of breeding a young buck back to his mother. The mother is a grand champion but the son has a tight crown although a nice short cobby body. We were curious to see if he'd pass that tight crown on to his offspring - and to see what other traits we'd find in the litter.

A mother/son combination will usually uncover both good and bad traits. It's not unusual to see a bunny with a truckload of bad traits. Although these make nice pets, they also help us to see what may be hidden in the genetics of the parents.

A baby with a low headset or narrow crown or rough hindquarters show us that those traits are hiding in the parents' genes. We then know to be careful in choosing who to breed the parents to next time.

We will continue to monitor this litter to see what traits develop, which will give us fresh information on the genetics of the parents. To limit it further, we will consider breeding a doe from this litter back to her father. We want to see common ancestors in the pedigree rather than 16 different ancestors.

Linebreeding is about narrowing the gene pool to isolate and strength those traits we want to see in our Hollands.

Comics and chores

I found out about a new tax in our state while loading rabbit trays. Timothy keeps up with his favorite comic that way, although it does slow down chores a little.

We use trays under all our rabbit cages and so have to empty and wash them at least once a week. We've discovered that using newspapers to line the bottom of the trays has reduced our bedding costs a bunch. We use shredded newspaper on top of the newspaper sheets.

But that step where the washed trays come to the newspaper station slows us up. As we unfold the old newspapers, we find articles we forgot to read. And so, if Timothy is replacing trays under cages, he comes back to the newspaper/bedding station to find me deeply engrossed in an article. When it's his turn, he reads the funnies.

I've yet to find much exciting in this tray-cleaning chore but catching up on the news at the same time helps make it a little more interesting.

Ups and downs

Last week,Timothy got a taste of the highs and lows of rabbit showing. It's an amazing hobby, isn't it?

I already reported about the Best in Show win but he went on to win a reserve Grand Champion at our county fair with a junior buck (and not the same buck as the BIS buck). He held back his four best animals from the county fair because we were going to an ARBA-sanctioned show the next day.

We didn't figure the show animals would like a long, full day at the county fair and then get toted home for another road trip and another long, full day at the next show.

But his ARBA show in Henderson turned out to be a bit of a dud. There were two youth exhibitors and, although he got several firsts, didn't get a leg. In fact, the Best of Breed bunny didn't earn a leg.

Showing rabbits means subjective judging and you-never-know disappointments like lack of youth exhibitors. That keeps us guessing when we go to shows - but probably keeps the zing in the hobby, too.

You just never know what's going to happen when you load the rabbits in the car and head out. It could be the rush of a BIS or the dull thud of last place. But it's always a surprise.