Banning linebreeding in Oregon??? H$U$!!!

[RabbitMage]

The last time we did a big outcross was by getting some rabbits that had been imported from England.

Took us about a year to get rid of all the undescended testes/split penises/bad teeth from that.

 

[Bunnylady]

One of my great outcrosses gave my Netherland Dwarfs the "Max factor." For those unfamiliar, it's a real heartbreaker that causes babies that may be just a little odd (or not) at birth, to become blind and crippled by the time they are of weaning age. Because it's a recessive, I wound up having to dump the whole lot and start again, and I can't be sure it isn't lurking there in the new lines!

I'm afraid I just can't buy this "mutts are healthier" line of thought. My question is, by whose standards? I have never bought a dog or cat; every animal of those species that I have ever owned (and they have been numerous) have been out-of-the-blue rescues. Several of them have had long standing health issues, most often flea allergies. I have one Lab mix that has strange reactions to flea control products - I have to deal with fleas entirely in her environment, because I can't treat them on her. I have another dog, also a Lab mix, that has hip issues. He's young enough that they don't bother him very often yet, but the outcross clearly didn't prevent the problem in his case. Many rescue organizations will tell you, whatever problem the breed may have, the hybrids of that breed are likely to have, as well. Any breeding is only as good as the animals selected, whether they are related or not.

 

[Cara]

Quote:
That is not strictly true. There are many breed/type specific disorders, cross with a different breed and they are far less likely to occur. Any large breed is going to be more prone to hip disorders, and rescues in many cases will come with health problems as a result of their background. A puppy mill rescue ('purebred') will typically have more health issues than the average stray mutt.

 

[mekasmom]

It would be impossible to completely enforce this anyway unless the dogs were registered and each pedigree checked on each litter. Too much Big Brother interference. It's a pity these people don't have better things to do with their time.

 

[Bebop]

I'm just going to say this: indiscriminate breeding is the problem. Puppy mill puppies are a result of that. Mutts can be a result of indiscriminate breeding as well.
As far as outcrossing goes, there is only so much you can gain from it until you need to start linebreeding to bring out desirable traits. This also happens with "mutts", if you like a certain trait, you're going to need to find another with similar traits without bringing out "x" traits, best way, find another with similar genetics, after several generations, you'll have a new breed which is a result of hard work from breeders.

 

[chinbunny]

Quote:
That is not strictly true. There are many breed/type specific disorders, cross with a different breed and they are far less likely to occur. Any large breed is going to be more prone to hip disorders, and rescues in many cases will come with health problems as a result of their background. A puppy mill rescue ('purebred') will typically have more health issues than the average stray mutt.

Not entirely true. One of my mixed breed dogs had back problems. Purebred breeders breed for specific traits, and one of them is health. That includes family dog breeders, and those who show. Not commercial facilities.

 

[chinbunny]

Quote:
tell that to all the rabbits I have to cull for being the wrong color for the breed, producing babies that don't fully developed skulls, and those with malcluded teeth and other deformities. All of that came from outcrossing. I breed standard chinchillas. They are not supposed to produce white babies. Yet I still get them now and then. Most of them end up underdeveloped.

 

[Cara]

Nobody said mutts are immortal or invincible.

Examine the incidence of Von Willebrand's disease in purebred Dobermans as opposed to mutts.
How frequently does PRA occur in mutts compared to collie breeds?
What percentage of mutts suffer from sebaceous adenitis in comparison to Standard Poodles?
How many Dachshunds have invertebral disc disease, and how many mutts do?

 

[rebelcowboysnb]

Quote:
tell that to all the rabbits I have to cull for being the wrong color for the breed, producing babies that don't fully developed skulls, and those with malcluded teeth and other deformities. All of that came from outcrossing. I breed standard chinchillas. They are not supposed to produce white babies. Yet I still get them now and then. Most of them end up underdeveloped.

If you are having issues from outcrossing its not because you outcrossed its because the genetics of the line you outcrossed to had those issues.

 

[Chickerdoodle13]

I think people get all up in arms over line/in breeding because they don't have a full understanding of what it actually is.

If you have two animals that have little to no flaws in their genes, you can breed mother to son, father to daughter, or brother to sister over and over and over again and unless you get a random mutation to pop up, you should theoretically never have any issues.

Problems arise in line breeding when a genetic defect/disease pops up. If you line breed in this case, you increase the chances of the offspring having that disease. It's long and complicated to write all that's behind it here, but I'm sure most of you have learned about punnett squares in middle and high school. However, line breeding can actually help you rid a line of those genetic defects because it often makes it easier to detect an offspring's genotype. Just because one or both parents might carry a trait does not mean the offspring will carry it, show it, or ever pass it along to their children.

Linebreeding or even inbreeding does not cause mutations or problems to arise in itself, it just increases the chances of them showing up in offspring. However, the point at which this actually becomes an issue is after multiple (and I mean quite a few) inbred generations.

So, in my opinion, this law is a very, very silly one. Line breeding should not cause any issues in an adequate breeding program, and it's benefits go way beyond cost effectiveness. (And if you think about it, almost everyone in the world is a porduct of line/inbreeding of some form or another, whether you believe in Adam and Eve or evolution!)