Since we then had some NZW bucks to breed, the pressure was off about trying to find breeding age bucks and I had some time to think over what we would need to start working toward breeding Silver Foxes only.
In purebred Silver Foxes, I had one difficult-to-breed Blue SF doe, Misty Blue, who was turning four years old just before Thanksgiving Day, and one junior Black SF buck, Comet, that would not be ready to breed until the end of January at the earliest and that is being hopeful.
For one, it was questionable that Misty Blue would even be able to get pregnant. She had more than a year off from breeding, which might had worked against her being ready to be bred, and then there was her age...perhaps she is too old to get pregnant? Then there was the common difficulty I had with her in accepting a breeding and this time with the inexperienced young buck Comet, when he was ready.
The odds were not in my favor, but having offspring from Misty Blue would provide the genetic diversity I wanted and would be losing the possibility of having as this is her last breeding season. I was hoping to get two purebred SF kindles from her and choose her replacement plus one or two, but when her first breeding did not take. I realized I may not even have a SF doe for breeding and desperation set in again.
It was obvious to me that I needed another pair of SF for getting started. That is when I found another ad on Craigslist by Hannah at Renaissance Farmstead, a newer rabbitry that was the process of moving. We began conversing by email, because what I really wanted was a Lilac buck. A Lilac doe would have been nice as well, but the doe could be another color and I could work toward a Lilac doe, if I still wanted one. At this time, the only acceptable color for showing Silver Foxes is Black. Although I am not planning to show I have a goal in mind and I explain why a Lilac can be so valuable to Silver Fox breeders at The Valuable Lilac.
In purebred Silver Foxes, I had one difficult-to-breed Blue SF doe, Misty Blue, who was turning four years old just before Thanksgiving Day, and one junior Black SF buck, Comet, that would not be ready to breed until the end of January at the earliest and that is being hopeful.
Not a very good start!
For one, it was questionable that Misty Blue would even be able to get pregnant. She had more than a year off from breeding, which might had worked against her being ready to be bred, and then there was her age...perhaps she is too old to get pregnant? Then there was the common difficulty I had with her in accepting a breeding and this time with the inexperienced young buck Comet, when he was ready.
The odds were not in my favor, but having offspring from Misty Blue would provide the genetic diversity I wanted and would be losing the possibility of having as this is her last breeding season. I was hoping to get two purebred SF kindles from her and choose her replacement plus one or two, but when her first breeding did not take. I realized I may not even have a SF doe for breeding and desperation set in again.
It was obvious to me that I needed another pair of SF for getting started. That is when I found another ad on Craigslist by Hannah at Renaissance Farmstead, a newer rabbitry that was the process of moving. We began conversing by email, because what I really wanted was a Lilac buck. A Lilac doe would have been nice as well, but the doe could be another color and I could work toward a Lilac doe, if I still wanted one. At this time, the only acceptable color for showing Silver Foxes is Black. Although I am not planning to show I have a goal in mind and I explain why a Lilac can be so valuable to Silver Fox breeders at The Valuable Lilac.
The breeder only had siblings available right then and I did not want a brother-sister pairing. She also did not have a Lilac buck availble. However, after emailing back and forth, she realized what I wanted in my breeding program and told me about the recessive genetics of Heterozygous Blacks and how I could get to a Lilac with one. That made me smile as I love the genetic puzzles and I found that Heterozygous Blacks bred together have the greatest of potential of genotype variations in the offspring. Basically, not only could a kindle have all four colors, but this is the only combination that can create all nine of the possible genotypes of the "B" and "D" loci! I have written more about this at The Black Double Heterozygote.
So, while I was very excited about getting a Heterozygous Black buck, I would still need a doe just because I needed one and I was eager to get one from this breeder because she set a very high standard for her rabbits, as she is working on developing a SF/NZW cross that has a fast growth rate, is more heat tolerant, yet has the SF no fly back fur, among other specific traits.
She also had another purebred SF kindle that was too young yet, but the Blue doe would be ready about two or three weeks later. The two are from the same Lilac father, but different mothers. The first two Silver Foxes I had were half-siblings and we had healthy offspring from them, so that was acceptable to me. She was willing to hold on to the buck so we could pick them up together, which we did on the second weekend of December.
So, while I was very excited about getting a Heterozygous Black buck, I would still need a doe just because I needed one and I was eager to get one from this breeder because she set a very high standard for her rabbits, as she is working on developing a SF/NZW cross that has a fast growth rate, is more heat tolerant, yet has the SF no fly back fur, among other specific traits.
She also had another purebred SF kindle that was too young yet, but the Blue doe would be ready about two or three weeks later. The two are from the same Lilac father, but different mothers. The first two Silver Foxes I had were half-siblings and we had healthy offspring from them, so that was acceptable to me. She was willing to hold on to the buck so we could pick them up together, which we did on the second weekend of December.
The doe has amazing fur unlike what I have seen or felt on my Silver Foxes, very thick with an almost angora quality but shorter, or perhaps more like a wool, and I named her Denim. I am pretty it would be a disqualification, but it is so luscious. The Heterozygous Buck was a fine specimen too and my husband decided on Lancelot for his name. So, now in Silver Foxes I had a two unrelated junior bucks, both Black with one being a known Heterozygous Black, and one Blue doe, a half sister to the Heterozygous Black, and one old Blue doe that I was not sure would be able to get pregnant.
I obviously needed another doe still.
I obviously needed another doe still.