Saturday, November 27, 2010

Giant X notes

I finally got the chance to snap pictures of most of my Giant/cross keepers from this summer's breedings. These babies were all born in the middle of July and are now about 4 1/2 months old:).

This here is BOCA, an FA/GA cross. She weighs in at 7 lbs. so her bone/frame is good, but her wool is typical of what you might see in a crossbreed---lack of balance and a very high maintenance coat as a result. Surprisingly, the FA/GA crosses are proving far harder to keep matt-free than the NZ/FA/GA crosses. I will need to breed toward the easiest care coat possible that still maintains a correct ratio of GH to underwool/awn fluff.



This is DAFFODIL, the Chocolate littermate to Boca. I have said before that I am not wild about the color Chocolate because it has never been very dense in my experience, but since this girl has big bone and has already passed the 8 lb. mark, I am keeping her around. LOL.




These are the two boys out of Marin, DOMINO and OLIVER. They are not as large as the other rabbits, but their weights are still respectable and they have very good type.




And this is the best (cross) baby that was born this year. MARLEY is very large for her age (around 8 lbs.). She is typey and well balanced. Her wool is dense and easy to care for, and she feels like a lead weight when you pick her up *grin*. She is also out of an NZ/FA/GA breeding.







And this last picture is of Soraya, a black FA out of Etienne and Diego who is also 4 1/2 months old. This is a beautiful little girl who should do well on the show table next year:).



These buns only represent the first GA breedings I have done so there will be lots of work to do in the future. Since the real work in breeding is to isolate the best qualities of a herd and make them repeat themselves again and again, it will take many years and many generations to get the animal I want that can be produced the way I want it over and over the same way. Just as it is with French Angoras or any animal anywhere, each person's herd is like a signature that is refined and developed over time. Lots of work, lots of time, and lots of fried brain cells , LOL.


Have a great week:^)

2 comments:

Dustin said...

Your off to a very good start with your Giant lines I really like the looks of them!

Amy said...

Thanks, Dustin! There's always a period of adjustment with a new breed, but I am happy with how this bunch has started off so far:).