I decided to write a series of blog posts regarding starting up a new rattery through the first couple of years. I am including much of the information, strategy, techniques and answers that I really wish I had had access to when I started breeding in 1994! Hopefully, new breeders will find it and it can help them out.
I call it The Virtual Mentor because it’s catchy and is the sort of information one should get from a mentor. However one should very clearly note that these blogs are not a sustitute for an actual, real live mentor. A mentor is a very important, personal part of starting a rattery and a generic blog post can never replace that.
I also decided to write a series of blogs on this topic because it’s really far too much information to put into one of my RFL articles, but I do hope that these things will compliment one another. It is important to note that The Virtual Mentor is an ideal; even though it is my experiences, opinions and what I have learned is “best” when running a rattery, that does not mean that I have followed it in every instance. Many of these recommendations are written in hindsight, after harming my own breeding program in some way. Also, not every rattery will do all these things all of the time. There are lots of circumstances that will interfere with doing things in the “ideal” way; though we always strive to improve and do better, we will always, as humans, fall short.
Part Three: Planning Your Bloodline
Part Six: Population & Selection
Part Seven: Inbreeding & Outcrossing
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