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.