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So with two related tolbunts..how would you proceed? Or is it a bust?
sharon
As Illia hasn't replied yet on here (maybe a pm). Remember- it is up to you. You can ask 6 differant people & get 6 differant answers. I still stand by my answer- you need to decided what you feel is ok.
With rabbits I always asked people to figure out what their breeding goals were to know what they need to do.
Do you just want to have a litter or 2 a year (in this case hatch a couple batches out) for pets?
Are they truely pets to you?
Are you planning to show and want to breed the best to improve the breed and/or compete well?
If you don't know the standard well- are you willing to learn & show to make correct choices?
Could you decide if you do not think it is worthy of being bred do you have a supply of people you 100% know will not breed it?
Could you eat one?
could you kill it or have it killed?
If you choose the auction/swap route as your culling method- are you ok not knowing what happens to it or if it was eatten?
With rabbits I explained to people- your name is everything for people to want to come to you for good stock. Never sell anything with defects that you are aware of, never lie about the quality of the animal for a sale. People will remember & tell EVERYONE if they feel wronged- but- they will refer people to you and praise your animals if you are upfront with them on the quality and/or sell only good animals. If it is a good brood animal- but would suck at showing- point out it's flaws, don't hide them. Remember EVERY animal you sell has your name on it- and people will judge you by that animal when they see it. What do you want your name to say?
Back to Chickens
For a fast paced hard core improving the breed/variety program (the only way I know to breed)- you will have to breed ALOT of babies- at first, with differant outcrosses to other varieties, to Tolbunts, etc. You HAVE to have a very strict cull program for this way. You can not view them solely as pets if you go this route, some will become pets- but most will be livestock for your program. There will be too many to pet out 100% this way. With rabbits (and manx rats) I had a reptile guy that I sold the "pet only" quality ones to (once in a blue moon one would go as a pet), the breeder & show quality ones were sold to other breeders after I raised them up to pick my keepers. I could also kill & butcher them myself for added food for the table (rabbits only- not the rats
) This is the bonus of chickens & rabbits being show animals you can eat- as long as you can see them as food as well- you can't overt flood a market- people will always need to eat (as do reptiles, birds of prey, and pets fed a raw diet- there are ALOT of ways to cull)
Once your 1st batches of bred keepers grow up and are ready to breed (I would normally still have 3-6 younger batches growing at differant ages) you breed them- get your first true homebred batches going. You must be culling this whole time. When winter comes- you figure out your keepers for next season- make sure you have 4-6 from each line you've bred left for next year.
For just wanting to keep a couple around- just a couple batches a year will do- there is no true goal other than making sure you have at least a few Tolbunt carriers or Tolbunts of each sex.
Plus there is a hundred ways inbetween to do this- you have to decide what what your goal is, what you are comfortable with, and what type of culling can you be ok with.
So with two related tolbunts..how would you proceed? Or is it a bust?
sharon
As Illia hasn't replied yet on here (maybe a pm). Remember- it is up to you. You can ask 6 differant people & get 6 differant answers. I still stand by my answer- you need to decided what you feel is ok.
With rabbits I always asked people to figure out what their breeding goals were to know what they need to do.
Do you just want to have a litter or 2 a year (in this case hatch a couple batches out) for pets?
Are they truely pets to you?
Are you planning to show and want to breed the best to improve the breed and/or compete well?
If you don't know the standard well- are you willing to learn & show to make correct choices?
Could you decide if you do not think it is worthy of being bred do you have a supply of people you 100% know will not breed it?
Could you eat one?
could you kill it or have it killed?
If you choose the auction/swap route as your culling method- are you ok not knowing what happens to it or if it was eatten?
With rabbits I explained to people- your name is everything for people to want to come to you for good stock. Never sell anything with defects that you are aware of, never lie about the quality of the animal for a sale. People will remember & tell EVERYONE if they feel wronged- but- they will refer people to you and praise your animals if you are upfront with them on the quality and/or sell only good animals. If it is a good brood animal- but would suck at showing- point out it's flaws, don't hide them. Remember EVERY animal you sell has your name on it- and people will judge you by that animal when they see it. What do you want your name to say?
Back to Chickens
For a fast paced hard core improving the breed/variety program (the only way I know to breed)- you will have to breed ALOT of babies- at first, with differant outcrosses to other varieties, to Tolbunts, etc. You HAVE to have a very strict cull program for this way. You can not view them solely as pets if you go this route, some will become pets- but most will be livestock for your program. There will be too many to pet out 100% this way. With rabbits (and manx rats) I had a reptile guy that I sold the "pet only" quality ones to (once in a blue moon one would go as a pet), the breeder & show quality ones were sold to other breeders after I raised them up to pick my keepers. I could also kill & butcher them myself for added food for the table (rabbits only- not the rats
Once your 1st batches of bred keepers grow up and are ready to breed (I would normally still have 3-6 younger batches growing at differant ages) you breed them- get your first true homebred batches going. You must be culling this whole time. When winter comes- you figure out your keepers for next season- make sure you have 4-6 from each line you've bred left for next year.
For just wanting to keep a couple around- just a couple batches a year will do- there is no true goal other than making sure you have at least a few Tolbunt carriers or Tolbunts of each sex.
Plus there is a hundred ways inbetween to do this- you have to decide what what your goal is, what you are comfortable with, and what type of culling can you be ok with.
