# Would this be inbreeding?



## lifelongcannibal (Dec 23, 2012)

If I have a buck and 2 does, and each doe has his litter, then of the two litters i take a male from one and a female from the other. these would be half siblings. So my question is, if i continue to take half brothers and sisters, will the bloodlines get far enough apart to avoid health problems? i would think so because isn't that how new breeds were started?


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## SarahC (Oct 3, 2008)

yes it will be fine.Select the healthiest as well as the other criteria you want and you will be able to breed many generations without issue.


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## gyri (Nov 20, 2012)

That being said, inbreeding depression is always a risk when mating relatives, even half siblings. It is always possible that a parent has a single copy of a recessive gene that will cause health problems and you will never know which kids the parent passed that gene on to until you start breeding siblings to each other. If two kids get that gene and you breed them together there is a 1/4 chance each of the progeny willl be affected deliterioisly. However, inbreeding like this may also result in cool color traits that none of the original breeders exhibited for the same reasons. Inbreeding is very common in mouse husbandry and has resulted in many cool findings. I never would have known my original male carried an albino gene if I had not bred him to one of his daughters and produced albino offspring.


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## MojoMouse (Apr 20, 2012)

Inbreeding is handy because it allows you to find out if their are any "hidden" health problems in a line.

Inbreeding depression really only occurs from the F2 generation. With good selection, it usually resolves itself by F8 onwards. If you want to work with a specific line and weed out problems, while locking in the good traits, inbreeding is the best way forward. But it's only a technique you'd use if you were looking at breeding well into the future. For immediate health and vigor, outcrossing is safe.

When you pair half siblings, and cousins, it becomes more relaxed, and is not considered close inbreeding. More like line breeding, I'd say. I think you'll be fine with those pairings.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

Whoa, this is completely new information to me. What is inbreeding depression?


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## onionpencil (Jan 6, 2013)

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inbreeding_depression

Inbreeding depression is the reduced fitness in a given population as a result of breeding of related individuals. It is often the result of a population bottleneck. In general, the higher the genetic variation within a breeding population, the less likely it is to suffer from inbreeding depression.


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## Seafolly (Mar 13, 2012)

I'm embarrassed I didn't know this coming from a biology background, haha. Thank you! 

I'm pretty nervous about inbreeding for a F3 but it's that or bring in an inferior feeder buck.


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