How many pairing for a male per season?

[Auntie_Moe]

Hopefully this is the right place for this post. I am not a breeder, BPs have just been pets for me.

Recently my daughter began researching morphs and breeding and in 2-3 years she wants to start breeding. Currently I have 5 BPs the last one I bought a male is going to be her foundation male. Before I get into a pissing match with my daughter over him and how often he can be paired I would like some input from breeders.

How many times can a healthy male be paired per season with breaks between pairings?

Thanks

[nikkubus]

I would say 3-4 females is ideal because it gives you more room to repeat pairings with females that he didn't lock with, but you can push it to 6 without issues if you are doing 2 days on 3 days off rotation and aiming for one lock per female per month. I pull males if they haven't locked in 24 hrs because it's a waste of time, better to give him his break and try again later in the month.

The most important thing it that you discontinue pairing if he loses too much weight. It's to be expected that he could fast and lose some weight, but you don't want it going too far. They will breed themselves to death if you let them.

First time male is better with no more than 3 for best fertility because it's going to take more attempts to get successful locks.