Inbreeding Rabbits

Inbreeding is a mating system in which animals more closely related than the average, are mated. Usually the term is reserved for close inbreeding, that is to say brother to sister, or parent to offspring. Inbreeding leads to a greater degree of genetic al purity in the line in which it is carried out,and the animals of that line or family will tend to become more uniform in genetic al constitution.

Rabbit is a burrowing animal that is loved by both young and the old. A mother rabbit is called as ‘dam’ whereas the father is called the ‘sire’. Many enthusiasts find rabbit breeding an exciting activity. They can easily propagate rabbits if they understand the process of breeding and care involved in it.

Normally, several types of rabbit combinations are used for breeding purpose. Knowledge of genetics helps to identify best possible combinations to produce fine varieties of rabbits. Thus, inbreeding rabbits becomes an easy task if an individual has some experience of breeding rabbits.

In general there are various reasons for which rabbit breeding is done. Some people do rabbit breeding for commercial purpose or for personal interest. Besides this, people do rabbit breeding for its meat, an event, to keep as a pet or to get its fur.

Previous knowledge and awareness of pure breeds helps to identify rabbit standards. It assists to understand the best traits of rabbits. Also classification of different varieties supports to get best possible combination of the desired characteristics.

Assistance of other breeders is always beneficial. They provide details about the improved methods and features of rabbits. Various well-established firms like American Rabbit Breeders Association offer assistance for rabbit breeding. Assistance from such organizations can be fully exploited to get maximum support on inbreeding rabbits.

Cross-breed also gives a nice platform to create new species of rabbits. As many varieties of unknown heritage exist, it is somewhat difficult to predict what will be the outcome. Before selecting any particular breed a thorough research has to be conducted. The history of the rabbit family is more important for developing breeds for meat. However, it is always possible to eliminate undesired traits by frequent cross-breeds.

Generally, it is costly to keep purebred rabbits. Instead neutered pets can be utilized occasionally for inbreeding. Then also people prefer to buy a pedigreed thoroughbred that originally comes from high-quality stock. It helps to get an idea about rabbit’s future size, shape, and coat of the rabbit.

Varieties of methods are available for breeding rabbits. ‘Line breeding’ is one of the types of breeding. Most people confuse it with inbreeding; but these two methods of breeding are absolutely dissimilar. Inbreeding is done in between brothers and sister rabbit to set characteristics of sire and dam. This method increases the chances lining up of genes that are both good and bad. On the other hand line- breeding is a form of inbreeding, but it is less concentrated. The aim of line-breeding is to continue the strain related to particular animals, or their direct offspring.

Breeding of rabbits involve too much care and proper handling. Various factors need to be considered with prior emphasis to control rabbit breeding positively. These are:

• Hygiene and sanitation: Bunnies eat a lot and thus excrete a lot. A timely cleanliness is a must while rearing rabbit.

• Destruction of property: During the growing years, rabbits munch a lot. They may munch TV cables, telephone cords, garden, bushes, lawn, carpet, etc.

• Fighting between the group: Rabbit is a social animal and very conscious of pecking order and territory. Too much of rabbits in a close surrounding can cause frequent fights.

• Expensive maintenance: Rabbit food is a costly item. They need rabbit chow every day for overall fine growth.

If (as is almost certain) undesirable genes were present in the stock when inbreeding was commenced, then the characters produced by these genes will quickly appear. There is there-fore a tendency for inbred stock to degenerate. This degeneracy may be overcome after a number of generations,when a strain genetically pure for certain characters would have been established. The number of inbred lines which die out is however large, and because inbreeding leads very quickly to the appearance of undesirable 'characters in the stock, culling must be very severe.

Close, consistent inbreeding may be a valuable breeding system in the hands of the experienced breeder, but in general for commercial purposes its disadvantages to the average breeder outweigh its advantages. True inbreeding is system rarely found in rabbit keeping, although many breeders practising other breeding systems believe that the yare using it.