# cross breeding question



## couchhound274 (Aug 9, 2013)

So this may sound silly, but if I crossed say a flemish giant with a nzw buck, could I still breed the Flemish giantwith another Flemish giant buck later and still have those Babies be pure bred? Meaning do rabbits retain DNA like cats for later use?


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## GLENMAR (Aug 9, 2013)

With each new breeding, the offspring will have 50% 
genes from each parent. It does not matter who they were bred to before. 
Cats can not retain genetic material from previous breedings, not sure what you ment by
that.


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## secuono (Aug 9, 2013)

All living things contain DNA and will pass it on. You can claim they are pure 3-4 generations in, but when a breeder finds out, you will have problems. Keep them clean and don't start issues.


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## norseofcourse (Aug 9, 2013)

If I understand your question, yes, the babies from a purebred Flemish female to a purebred Flemish male breeding would be purebred - no matter who the purebred Flemish female (or the purebred Flemish male, for that matter) was bred to in the past.

Rabbits do not 'retain DNA'.  Neither do cats, dogs, people, or the vast majority of animals.  Some female reptiles, birds and insects can store sperm for varying amounts of time, but as far as I know, few mammals do, and not for very long.

The 'purebredness' or future breeding ability of an animal is not ruined by breeding him or her to a different breed.


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## Bunnylady (Aug 9, 2013)

Rabbits can do a bizarre trick called "delayed implantation." With delayed implantation, the sperm and egg join, but the resulting embryo doesn't implant into the uterus wall. The embryo sort of floats around in a state of suspended development, then implants and grows at a later date. The longest time between a known breeding and delivery is something outrageous, in the order of 6 months or more. So while it's most likely that all of the offspring in a litter were sired by the buck that the doe was bred to 31 days before, there's always a chance . . . .


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## norseofcourse (Aug 10, 2013)

Bunnylady - that's interesting, I knew delayed implementation happened in some animals but hadn't read about it in rabbits.  I did some searching and it appears to be extremely rare, and even the research doesn't agree, with some saying it happens in rabbits, others saying it doesn't happen in rabbits.

Couchhound, if you want to read more about it, search 'embryonic diapause' or 'embryonic diapause rabbits'.


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## Bunnylady (Aug 10, 2013)

Obviously, I haven't done any research on the subject myself; I'm merely repeating what I've read (first encountered about 25 years ago in a book written by a group of college professors). I have to admit, though, that I find it easier to believe that rabbits can do embryonic diapause than to believe in 4-week-old bucks that are capable of siring litters. I have seen several threads where people had does that weren't exposed to a buck that gave birth a few weeks after a litter was weaned; or the mysterious 7-week pregnancy that ends with a nice litter of perfectly normal looking kits.


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## norseofcourse (Aug 10, 2013)

Sounds like a good subject for some research - can they do paternity testing on rabbits?  I'm sure there's grant money out there somewhere...


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## ohiogoatgirl (Aug 22, 2013)

Bunnylady said:
			
		

> Rabbits can do a bizarre trick called "delayed implantation." With delayed implantation, the sperm and egg join, but the resulting embryo doesn't implant into the uterus wall. The embryo sort of floats around in a state of suspended development, then implants and grows at a later date. The longest time between a known breeding and delivery is something outrageous, in the order of 6 months or more. So while it's most likely that all of the offspring in a litter were sired by the buck that the doe was bred to 31 days before, there's always a chance . . . .


elsewhere in this forum someone just had this happen. definitely was bred on a certain date and definitely was THAT doe and definitely was not put in with a buck since the one and only ever breeding for that doe. and the only buck is several feet away in another cage. she kindles a healthy litter of 6 (I think it was) one month after her due date.

in the news a while back there was a hubbub after an anteater had a baby. it had been bred once and had a baby (girl I believe) and then after another gestation length it had another baby (boy I think) and had never been near the male since the one time.

it can happen. doesn't mean it happens very much at all. one in several million chance kinda thing.

as to cats, they can have kittens from several different toms. because they will naturally try and breed with as many toms as possible during heat.


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## VickieB (Aug 23, 2013)

The thing with cats is not that unusual. As odd as it sounds, it actually happens with humans too. It's called Heteropaternal Superfecundation. (not to be confused with supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) (I was always a little skeptical of Mary Poppins too...)


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## Bunnylady (Aug 23, 2013)

VickieB said:
			
		

> The thing with cats is not that unusual. As odd as it sounds, it actually happens with humans too. It's called Heteropaternal Superfecundation. (not to be confused with supercalifragilisticexpialidocious) (I was always a little skeptical of Mary Poppins too...)


  The lady was _awfully_ popular, wasn't she?


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## VickieB (Aug 23, 2013)

Only people crazy enough to raise rabbits would find this funny...


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