rabbit mating question...Brother..sister

[Country Living Farm]

Can you breed a brother to a sister in the rabbit world? I know you can in bird and stuff and sometimes in dogs, but what about rabbits.

 

[Bettacreek]

Yes... Inbreeding can be done in any species. You just have to make sure that you're not going to be doubling up on any dangerous genes.

 

[EweSheep]

We did that and it was horrible. Had more offsprings with genetic faults that all of them ended up being butchered. They look like helicoptered, feet east and west, one ear forward and one ear backward. We didn't do that again. Fortunately they were raised for meat, not pets.

 

[Overeasyplz]

It's better to breed father/daughter, mother/son in rabbits, as long as your traits are good. Let me guess, you don't have the parents? You might have to go out bunny shopping!

 

[EweSheep]

We tried that with father/daughter and son to mother breedings as well as sister to brother matings, all of it was disasterous. Not sure why it happened but once we got a different buck, a Californian, the problems stopped.

 

[chinbunny]

Quote:
I breed father/daughter/, mother/son, cousin/cousin, etc. I don't see too many problems. Wolf teeth every now and then but nothing that can't be bred out of the line. Half brother to half sister is a safe breeding. As long as you breed the offspring to something that is semi related to them. Or not related to them. I wouldn't even try breeding brother to sister. Its a big nono to do, unless you have a lot of experience with genetics. Most rabbits breeders won't even attempt it.

Its possible there was something wrong with your breeding line to begin with. That could be why you saw some probems with them. Best thing to do when they show up like that is to breed them out by breeding down with the healthiest rabbits of the litter. Or outbreeding to another line. then start linebreeding them again.

 

[gypsy2621]

I wouldnt breed brother to sister unless you know genetics of the rabbits you are attempting to breed.
Chances are they are line bred to start with, which will result in some horrific birth defects.
Experienced breeders know which rabbits come from which parents there for making it well known what will turn up in a litter.
They also keep charts and records of who was bred to whom and what the results were. If you dont have these documents you can run into trouble very quickly.
Stick to un related rabbits for breeding until you have a good grasp on genetics and what you are doing.

As Cinnbunny said experienced breeders hesitate to breed un known sibling rabbits.
A beginner should never knowingly attempt it.