Linebreeding Rabbits

The majority of breeders who claim to inbreed areprobably line breeding in some form or another, andthis system is usually the most satisfactory. Line breedingitself is a form of inbreeding, but is less intense. The objectof all line breeding is to keep the strain related to particularanimals, or their direct descendants. Usually the animals towhich stock are line bred are bucks, but may just as easily bedoes. In line breeding, animals are mated together whichare both descended from the particular animal, but whichare as distantly related otherwise as possible.

The pedigrees below show two forms of line breeding. Ais mated to B to produce C which is mated to A to produce Dwhich is mated to A to produce E. This is the closest possibleform of line breeding. In the second pedigree F is mated toG to produce H and F is mated to I to produce J. H and Jare mated together to produce K whirls, having F as both itsgrandsires is nearly as closely related to F as to its parents.

Line breeding will therefore increase the purity of the stockin relation to the qualities of a particular animal and itsdescendants. Selection of the right animals, with good cullingis of course of great importance.