Rick Stidham <[EMAIL PROTECTED]> wrote
>Was just wondering, is there a connection between the number of pups in
>a litter and their health? It seems logical that smaller litters would
>consist of larger pups who get a larger share of parental attention.
>
>Rick
Not necessarily. Maternal behaviour and milk production can be dependant
on nursing so that smaller litters are not fed properly or are
abandoned. Litter sizes of one and two often do not survive more than a
few days and even litters of three can be affected.
The litter size thing has some truth for larger litters. Litters over
seven seem to suffer in mortality probably due to the lack of milk etc.
Thankfully these large litters are rare.
Things like the presence of the father have more effect on the health of
the pups than anything else.
BTW, there are very strong beliefs held by many mouse breeders about
litter size. Litters will often be drastically culled to encourage the
other mice to be larger. This is particularly true with whiter mice
where size is an important feature in shows and litter sizes can be up
to 20.
--
Julian
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* Jackie and Julian *
* [EMAIL PROTECTED] *
* National Gerbil Society *
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