On the 5th of this month I bred 3 does, Holly's Fern to Holly's Prince Charming, LCL's Angus to Holly's Tucker, and Holly's Madeline to Holly's Finn. On the 14th I bred M&S Sarah to Holly's Tucker, and yesterday I bred Holly's Clementine to Holly's Tucker.
Fern was bred to Prince a couple months ago but the litter wasn't successful. Since this is her third breeding I have higher hopes this time! These two balance each other's faults pretty well; Prince lacks in bone, and Fern has very thick bone. Prince has a strong h/e/c and Fern desperately needs that! Fern and Prince are both chinchillas, so their litter will be all chinchilla and possibly squirrel.
I bred Angie to Tucker a couple months ago but she didn't take. She's also getting older in age, I think she's almost 3 years old, so if she doesn't take this round or the next I'll sell her as a retired pet. But I'm really hopeful she has a successful litter, since Tucker is her son I've been wanting (and trying) to do this linebreeding for a long time now! These babies should have ridiculously amazing short, fat bone and a great h/e/c like daddy. Colors to be expected are chestnut, opal, chinchilla, squirrel, black, blue, and possibly orange or tort colors.
Weird note: When they were breeding (I know, this might be TMI), Tucker wasn't connecting with Angie right away and she was mounting him (does do this often when they're in the mood or feeling dominant), but, I swear she grunted and fell off like bucks do when they connect. Then, she laid down and Tucker mounted her and then he grunted and fell off right away, making a true connection. Is that just weird to me or what?! I've never seen a doe do that before. I guess she was just teaching him how, as the pro that she is!!
These are pretty old pictures of these both, but, they are all I have right now! These two have excellent bodies and pretty good h/e/c, so I'm excited to see the cross! Maddie lacks in her front legs, she has good bone but they are long. Finn will help her in that respect because his limbs are much shorter (but still thick). This pairing will most likely result in chestnuts and opals, but blacks and blues are a possibility as well.
Sarah and Tucker were bred on the 14th and she was VERY willing and excited about it, so I'm hoping she has a large litter! Both of these bunnies have great thick bone, width abounds, and Tucker has a fantastic h/e/c to balance out Sarah's fairness in those areas. I'm so excited to see what these two produce! I'm hoping for BROKENS!!! For color, the most common is chestnut, but orange, opal, cream, black and blue, as well as their broken counterparts, are possible (can I get broken OPAL please?!).
Yes, I know...Clementine was for sale, but then I thought about it...I am trying to produce more brokens, and her personality is to die for, and I love her bright orange color...so why was I selling her again?! She was bred yesterday on 7/18.
I bred her to Tucker to help her thinner bone and poor h/e/c. They both have that width, and nice bodies so I'm excited about this cross! Like the Tucker and Sarah pairing, they can have chestnuts, opals, oranges, creams, and possibly blues and blacks.
If you guys have been following my Instagram, you may remember that my 11-year-old brother fell in love with Winnie and I gave her to him for his pet bunny. That being said, he decided he wants to breed her and take care of the bunnies. I told him that he definitely can, but since he'll be using one of my bucks I get first pick (or "dibs"), before he decides to keep any for a pet or sell any. I think it'll be fun for him to go down this journey for the first time and it's an exciting experience! I haven' taken Winnie out to pose her or anything for months, and I did so yesterday with my brother to decide on a buck that would compliment her. She's gorgeous!! She has HUGE bone and short front legs. I can see her working with any of my bucks. Yes, she's broody, so she has long ears and a longer body, but I can bet you she won't produce those faults. I think we've decided to breed her to Prince Charming, who has slightly longer bone but tiny ears and a huge round head. I think I will be using Prince a lot for these does being bred next month.
-Holly
Holly's Hollands Rabbitry