twice inbred rabbits?!

[JacinLarkwell]

Oh, they'll be fine then. It's mostly the neatherland dwarfs that you need to be careful with because even nominated ones have problems rather often

 

[Chickenlover0810]

Ok, if the kits are deformed or something what would be the fasted and most humane way to cull them?

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I honestly send them to freezer camp. They're usually still new enough that they don't know what's going on. If they're teens or older, we usually use a bullet.

 

[Chickenlover0810]

I honestly send them to freezer camp. They're usually still new enough that they don't know what's going on. If they're teens or older, we usually use a bullet.

We don’t own any guns so if anything does go wrong freezer camp it is

 

[JacinLarkwell]

I wouldn't do that after they open their eyes rhough. Just because then they're more aware. Before they open their eyes it would be more like mom just left them

 

[RiverOtter]

Ok, if the kits are deformed or something what would be the fasted and most humane way to cull them?

In 20 years of rabbit keeping, I've never had a kit born naturally deformed that didn't die on its own or be killed by the mother within a day. The only time I've had to put a tiny kit down is when sometimes a doe will bite one, leaving it with 3 legs or something (gruesome, I know). The fastest and most humane way for them is a hammer. The easiest way for you is to put them in a small container and put it in the freezer.

Please know that I sat on the floor and bawled my eyes out the first time I had to use the hammer. And the second and third. But also know that I have raised a LOT of rabbits for a lot of years and while I can't even count the number of litters I've bred, I can count on my fingers the number of times that's come up.

 

[ilovechickens90]

It won't hurt them at all. Rabbits naturally inbreed in the wild constantly. Most rodents do.

Do you know how they develop laboratory strains? You breed brother to sister for 20 generations and by then they are all genetic clones of each other.

What you have to worry about with rabbits isn't inbreeding, it's stress. Any little thing will set them off and they eat the babies. Literally yesterday I ha a doe give birth in the wire floor of the cage, where the babies were sure to get chilled and die. I put some hay under them (because I know better than to try to move them to a nest box if she didn't want it) but even that was too much and this morning they were gone.

Don't examine them at birth! Its too easy for you to stress her and she'll kill them. Don't get attached or really even look at them until they are fully furred and coming out of the nest box. Just keep Momma's routine intact and everything as stress free as possible.

rabbits are NOT RODENTS just an fyi

 

[JacinLarkwell]

rabbits are NOT RODENTS just an fyi

Yes, thank you for bringing that up. I totally overread that

 

[RiverOtter]

I knew that would come up ... sigh.
Ok, nitpickers, right NOW they are classed as lagomorphs, but unlike true lagomorphs, and like rodents, rabbits are born naked and undeveloped while hares and guinea pigs are born furred and fully developed.

And, again unlike true lagomorphs, but like rodents, they are capable of inbreeding until they are genetic clones, making them valuable laboratory animals.

The scientific back and forth over which factors weigh more in proper classification are fascinating. Right now that classification is based on the set of teeth next to the ever-growin middle pair. Fascinating - but NOTHING to do with how the species responds to inbreeding pressure.

https://www.labome.com/method/Laboratory-Mice-and-Rats.html
An inbred strain is defined as a strain that has been through at least 20 generations of sib-mating (or its equivalent), making animals from the same inbred strain effectively genetically identical.

Go on and read the whole article.

 

[Bunnylady]

Seriously inbred animals frequently show a loss of stamina; their immune systems just don't seem to work as well. They also tend to show reduced fertility, though if you are keeping these rabbits as pets, that isn't something you would be worried about.

But if you want to talk about animals that are inbred to the point of being virtual clones, look at the cheetah. Apparently, somewhere in the not-so-distant past, the population was reduced to the point that the animals of today are all descended from just a few individuals, and have very, very little in the way of genetic variation.
https://animals.howstuffworks.com/m...ones, with,blood to spot genetic similarities.