Continuous or Cycle breed?

[Petboy15]

Im a cycler, but Im always going through dry spells. I think Im going to switch to continuous breeding, just as pfan said, I dont have the time, space, or money to have rats around that arent producing.

[Ginevive]

I geuss that, being a female, I am more fond of cycle breeding. I believe that females of most any species need a rest between pregnancies. I just put myself into the rat's position; would I want to be continuously bred or nursing without a break? No.
It seems pretty selfish to deny female rats a break, just because we want to pump more babies out of them. Again, this is my opinion. To each their own.
I do have some dry spells, but I am growing up 0.6 right now to supplement this operation.

[J.Vandegrift]

It seems pretty selfish to deny female rats a break, just because we want to pump more babies out of them. Again, this is my opinion. To each their own.
I do have some dry spells, but I am growing up 0.6 right now to supplement this operation.

I don't see how you can call it selfish? Rats in the wild don't get breaks. My rats are fed top quality food and live a normal lifespan for a rat. Probably even a bit longer than normal when compared to wild rats.

[BT41042]

I don't see how you can call it selfish? Rats in the wild don't get breaks. My rats are fed top quality food and live a normal lifespan for a rat. Probably even a bit longer than normal when compared to wild rats.

I'm with you John - I don't think it's selfish at all...My rats have a purpose - To produce feeders...There not pets - There breeders...I don't have a huge operation going on but I produce somewhere around 500 rats a month...I don't have the time, space or the desire to seperate pregos...I need all the pups, weanlings, smalls and mediums I can get...Once my female breeders litters start getting down in the single digits - They get gased they go to the Borneos...
BT

[littleindiangirl]

Well, rats in the wild have a 95% mortality rate before the age of 1 year. Their breeding is almost completely controlled by the population density in the area. (This comes around in the form of different types of breeding practices by males)

I have been unable to find any evidence to support your theory that they are pregnant continuously, and I haven't found any to say that they are not, except for what is stated above.

My point being, if the female rats are visibly suffering from being continously bred, then it can be called selfish. As of right now, I don't have any proof for either stance.

[littleindiangirl]

I have been able to find one article, and I will be following up with the resources that are cited at the end of the article. This article does have citations that a week of rest between litters in beneficial, but more reading is required to make any definite conclusions.

http://www.cavyrescue.co.uk/rat-article26.shtml

[J.Vandegrift]

I have been able to find one article, and I will be following up with the resources that are cited at the end of the article. This article does have citations that a week of rest between litters in beneficial, but more reading is required to make any definite conclusions.

http://www.cavyrescue.co.uk/rat-article26.shtml

I have no doubt that rest probably does prolong their life, but I also don't think continuous breeding makes me selfish or unethical. For me, getting one or two more good litters out of a female before she is fed off is not worth the extra time, money, and space. If my rats were "pets" I would obviously think differently. My rats are kept clean and given the best food on the market. IMO if their bodies were not designed to be able to handle continuous breeding they would not have evolved the ability to do so. I get a normal average lifespan from my rats. If I did not I would not allow them to breed continuously.

[BT41042]

My point being, if the female rats are visibly suffering from being continously bred, then it can be called selfish. As of right now, I don't have any proof for either stance.

If it gets to the point were a female is visibly suffering it's time for her to be replaced...
BT

[littleindiangirl]

I have no doubt that rest probably does prolong their life, but I also don't think continuous breeding makes me selfish or unethical. For me, getting one or two more good litters out of a female before she is fed off is not worth the extra time, money, and space. If my rats were "pets" I would obviously think differently. My rats are kept clean and given the best food on the market. IMO if their bodies were not designed to be able to handle continuous breeding they would not have evolved the ability to do so. I get a normal average lifespan from my rats. If I did not I would not allow them to breed continuously.

Good points. They have been made to breed continuously, I just wonder where the line is between being healthy and raising pups, and running them through till they die from exhaustion or what not.

In the wild, they have a few more things to worry about then just breeding; predators, parasites, maintaining territory/nests... food supplies, and population. I think these things weigh in heavier than them dieing from continuous breeding.

I haven't read anything that says what they die from when the best conditions are met, but I guess it is safe to say it's from continuous breeding. Since in that same article, she states that wild rats get about 5 litters, which matches up with the average from continuous breeding.

So in that respect, they may not be able to handle continuous breeding in the wild all the time, but they have been given the ability to do that to keep their species alive in times of "feast".

Very interesting points pfan, I may have to do some of my own controlled experiments in the future to make a solid conclusion either way.