New On The Scene-EXPERT!

Ditto- some of my parents are getting to be 5-6 yrs of age but I like their babies so much that I don't want to replace them. I need to start going through them soon and start pulling the oldies.

When we first started we got a lot of our herd foundation animals from Larry McGrady who ran 100 female breeders. His quote to me was " I have this real nice animal here that I want to put in but in order to do so someone has to come out". Over the years I purchased hundreds of his old breeders all full Shoots background and some that he had paid $1000 for that he wanted out of the way so he could put new in, and all at a very REASONABLE PRICE. He sold them to me at pelt prices as that's what he would get for them if he pelted them out and that was not what he wanted to do with them when he knew they where still of use to someone like me. Some did not breed for me but those that did gave me some of my best lines.

jags said:

When we first started we got a lot of our herd foundation animals from Larry McGrady who ran 100 female breeders. His quote to me was " I have this real nice animal here that I want to put in but in order to do so someone has to come out". Over the years I purchased hundreds of his old breeders all full Shoots background and some that he had paid $1000 for that he wanted out of the way so he could put new in, and all at a very REASONABLE PRICE. He sold them to me at pelt prices as that's what he would get for them if he pelted them out and that was not what he wanted to do with them when he knew they where still of use to someone like me. Some did not breed for me but those that did gave me some of my best lines.

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Jags I have to say that I have been enjoying seeing you post more again. You and Becky are the closest breeders to me so someday I'll have to visit. Someday as in three years lol.


As for the topic at hand for me when looking for a chin I want someone who knows what they are talking about. I have done tons of research myself while waiting to buy a house to have chin space. I expect any breeder, big or small, to at least have the same knowledge if not more then I do. Location is also a big thing for me as we have kids.

The problem is many people think big name=best quality and that isn't always true. Bigger breeders tend to have more animals so yes, they produce more high quality animals. However, hobby breeders can produce the same quality, just not at the same rate due to space and finances. I have seen plenty of animals from big names sold that are not so great quality-wise...even the best breeding program won't always produce winners, and some big breeders don't necessarily even have the best practices. I have seen many hobby breeders showing and selling top animals because they don't have the space to keep them. I personally prefer hobby breeders because the experience feels more personable, but if I was into breeding and not pets I very well might explore the big names more.

As far as genetics go, just do your best to educate. There is a lot of misinformation out there. My twins were described as homo ebony to me, then coming here I realized "homo" is a genotype descriptor and that they are really extra dark ebony. There is always more to learn!

Its been fun reading through this thread and there are a lot of valid points here! I think folks looking to breed chins will usually endup at the places they learn the most about and hear the best things of. Often times that means they'll initially go to bigger ranchers who have the name. Sometimes though it means they'll go to the smaller local breeder nearby and hopefully ask lots of questions and learn a lot about breeding.

Throughout the years I've picked the brains of numerous breeders and ranchers and wish I'd been able to find some of the wealth of information I've gotten through time even earlier on. Now I often find myself in the position to be relaying information to others and really enjoy teaching those that want to learn and listen. I know that not everyone wants to listen and many think they know everything already. That is their loss!

As far as websites go, I will probably always keep mine as up to date as possible. I work a fulltime job like everyone else but find it hardly takes me any time to keep my website up to date. Now that doesn't mean that if someone emails me asking for something specific that I won't consider pulling an animal that I might have kept otherwise! I'll also usually keep my eye on chins I'm keeping for show, but know I wont have the room to keep, so that I can tell those same individuals something I have is turning out nicely and bring them to the shows for that person to see if they are interested! Likewise when I'm looking for something in specific I will ask the breeders I know and trust what they have and don't depend on their website.

Cheryl

I have gotten some of those McGrady animals from JAGS and LOVES what they produced. In fact one of my favorites, one I always regretted selling is still producing and has produced some champion animals from what I've been told.