Goal weight: 800g?

[Vyxxin]

SO, I was contacted by a woman looking to purchase a female chinchilla to mate with her current male. She informed me that her male has great color but is ONLY 750g and she needs to bring in a bit of size with the female?

When I questioned who informed her that she needed to bring in size, she told me that SEVERAL breeders advise shooting for 800g? SO, now I'm wondering...is it just me or is that a bit excessive?

I mean, I've bred chins that big...I've had kits born that attained that size...I prefer all breeding animals be in the 650-725g range...but when your animals are 750g and you're intentionally trying to add size to that...

Was wondering what all the thoughts were on this. Am I nuts, is everyone but me breeding for only 800+g mammoths? I like big chins, don't get me wrong, but I consider 750g to be quite large enough. I consider 650g on the small side of a breeding animal but adequate if all else is good. Thoughts, opinions, is this YOUR breeding "goal"?

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

I would have to agree with you. I had an article another breeder sent me long time ago, that was titled "throw away the scale" Wish I knew what I did with it, but anyhow it just went on to explain how a lighter weight chin can appear bigger than one that was heavier weight wise. My brain gets a little foggy from treatment, but believe that's what the article was about.
I like some size, but 750 is more than acceptable to me, and adding on to that. OK, I'd like to know who all these breeders were!

 

[Sycamore Chins]

My biggest problem at shows has been size. My 700-750 gram offspring just cannot compete with the elephants that are on the table, especially at a national show. I used to not breed anything smaller than 600, but I've been bumping up that minimum size over the years unless the animal is spectacular.
So, I'm on the bandwagon trying to breed for mammoths. Granted it is a very slow process because I don't want to give up the clarity and fur my animals have and I've only got like 10 animals in breeding (though none are in breeding right now).

Two years ago I added two huge females, so I'm hoping my offspring will do really well at natl's this year. One of the young girls is 800 grams already at 7 months old and she is GORGEOUS!

 

[Twilight Chinchillas]

Two years ago I added two huge females, so I'm hoping my offspring will do really well at natl's this year. One of the young girls is 800 grams already at 7 months old and she is GORGEOUS!

I want to see pictures! Eye candy would be nice!!! Your competing against the heavy weights over there! Mine have usually done well at show, but the biggest I've ever brought was probably in the 800 range, but certainly not a giant.

 

[starleomach]

I don't use a scale as breeding guidline. I have little looking chinchillas that weigh the same as my beastly girl Sassy. If I told you she weighed 700 you wouldn't belive me she is such a beast. Size and weight are apples and oranges

 

[Vyxxin]

Ditto, I have a few heavy weights...but I don't intentionally buy animals in the 800g range. I like my breeders in the 750g range just fine thank you much and MY animals have always competed. Maybe not on the national level as I've never travelled there...but on the local level they've never been knocked for size and my kits aren't huge. Granted, I have a few kits every now and then out of my average (650-700g) pairs grow up huge...I had one male I sold Kelly (wish I knew who bought him) that matured to a nice 900+ I think she said. But his parents were perfectly average...I mean, they weren't mammoth. I find my hugest girls are the hardest to get pregnant. You have to get them in breeding earlier and wait longer for litters. IDK, why is 750g no longer the large side of chins? I get that when breeding we're working on improvement of the pelt...but these aren't chickens...I get also that larger animal equals larger pelt...IDK, I guess they truly are an agricultural animal.

ETA- size definitely does NOT equate weight...but tell that to the newbie...

 

[Spoof]

In my opinion 750 is pretty good sized for a male, it seems like when they get that large and larger they don't put out as many babies.

What I have found is that the older the females are the larger they get. Sure I can give you a 1,000g chin but she's going to be 3 or 4 years old. My one year olds are never that big, and even at two not so much.

Ebonies have always been slow growing though.

Ronda's got a several at 1200+g still for sale - but they only produce a couple babies a year, and occasionally take a year or two hiatus.

 

[Mandy]

I have a male (not a breeder, but I hope to show him when I go to my first.) who looks just huge.
He's only in the 500 range.
I was shocked when I first weighed him..
Do weights play any part in showing? Other than who looks larger?

 

[mishalaa]

IDK, why is 750g no longer the large side of chins?

Because when you go to Nationals and see breeders like Hummel that have a full string of 20 watermelons that push out three sides of the show cage... 750 starts to look small. If your goal as a breeder is to compete at shows, this is what you're competing against and you need to keep it in mind.

That said, I think 650-750 is perfectly average for chins. Much larger than that and you get slow or non-breeders, but good "show bunnies" as Jim says.

 

[Essentia]

I have a male (not a breeder, but I hope to show him when I go to my first.) who looks just huge.
He's only in the 500 range.
I was shocked when I first weighed him..
Do weights play any part in showing? Other than who looks larger?

The size itself plays a role, not the weight. Chins aren't weighed at the show. That said, my 600g violet won color class at his show. Would he win anything on a national level, absolutely not because he would be competing against those watermelons. He's still a stunning chinchilla, but wouldn't be able to hold his own against the others because of how tiny he is.

That said, don't let it stop you from showing. You may not win anything (you never know though!) but it's still really fun and incredibly educational.

 

[Mandy]

Ah, ok. Thanks!
He's a mosaic I recently got.
I would bring him and my standard male who's growing out pretty nice. (His momma is a big girl and his sire was smaller but had decent fur.)
It'd be for the learning experience, so I wouldn't care. [=

 

[Sycamore Chins]

I want to see pictures! Eye candy would be nice!!! Your competing against the heavy weights over there! Mine have usually done well at show, but the biggest I've ever brought was probably in the 800 range, but certainly not a giant.

Yes, we're definitely competing against the heavy weights. I don't put any intentionally "small" chins on the show table, it's the others that are so much bigger!

I will have pictures when I go home the 16th! She will have her own thread I should think! And she'll be exactly a year old at MCBA natl's. Watch she'll be the one that doesn't breed...but her mom is a great breeder so far and 880ish grams.

 

[jags]

One thing to remember is that more often than not the very largest chins at the show are not the very top animal of the show. You must have the clarity, fur quality and finish along with decent size to be at the top of the table. Size is by far the easiest trait to breed for but you can really lose a lot in the fur quality trait by just breeding for size. And it may be just my opinion but the bigger they get the worse production gets, I have scaled back on size as the last few years my production has really gone down hill as the size of my animals has increased. If you can get the monsters to breed great, but if they do not breed what have you gained? The genes they carry mean nothing if they give you no offspring!

 

[Vyxxin]

Yeah, that's about what I told the prospective buyer. I've produced animals that big, but have also had the most issues with females that big. I had one who notoriously (even at a YOUNG age) would take a years break from breeding...her first litter was quick enough...second litter took FOREVER. She was put in breeding around 10mos as she was already acceptable for breeding at that age. The bigger she got...the more issues we had. Less litters, less kits in the litter...and we're talking over her first 3yrs! Anyhow, my best producers are around 700g. I hear what you're all saying about competing...but...I just don't know. When I look to "add size" it's usually to select smallish chins (600g range) that have good traits otherwise and even THEN I only seek animals in the 700-750g range.

 

[designer chins]

I prefer my females in the mid 800's, but they must have the density, color, clarity, flow, production rate (consistent producers of kits and good milk production), texture and bone structure I want. Obviously I like to show, and if my small herd is going to compete I need to have size along with everything else. The 850 girls seem to conceive well overall, its my 1000 gram cows that go either way. I have one 1000 gram standard that breeds like a bunny (I don't allow breed backs, but after weaning kits she has always bred back the very first heat cycle exposed to a male). I have one 1000 gram girl that thinks a litter a year is acceptable, and as long as her kits are champions she gets away with that, LOL! There's so much that goes into good selection and mating practices, relying only on a weight criteria would be a ridiculous oversimplification in my world.

 

[brenda]

I completely agree with Wendy. I do not rely on weights at all. I rarely weigh my chins and when I do it is either out of curiosity, or because a customer requests it. I rely on evaluating many qualities, with size being one, but not necessarily the actual weight of the animal.

 

[Vyxxin]

I'm USUALLY the same weigh...don't usually weigh an animal unless it's for sale. However, if I have a very nice animal...but it appears to be smallish (especially in the case of breeding females) I'll weigh her. Likewise, if I'm purchasing an animal offline I request weight ONLY because I try not to buy overly small (under 600g) animals off the web...and as we've discussed, size can be deceiving.