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I have a question to all the breeders out there. I'm not trying to be judgemental, I'm honestly curious: what happens to the mice you breed? I've heard people say they have 50+ mice, and they breed five or six litters at a time. That can be upwards of 50-60 pups! Even if you cull early due to size/color, that still leaves a lot of mice, on top of all the ones they already have. So what happens to them? Do you keep them, cull all but the ones you keep for breeding, send them to pet stores, give them to friends, release them in the field across the street, what?
Maybe it's different for those of you who are established breeders, you can keep huge number of mice without strain, but I breed about a litter every 2-3 weeks (spread out among 7 does), and so I know how fast the mouse population can grow. I do have trouble with space, but as I am a feeder breeder, I had my established breeders, and most of the babies go to feeding, so I control my population that way.
What do other people do?
Maybe it's different for those of you who are established breeders, you can keep huge number of mice without strain, but I breed about a litter every 2-3 weeks (spread out among 7 does), and so I know how fast the mouse population can grow. I do have trouble with space, but as I am a feeder breeder, I had my established breeders, and most of the babies go to feeding, so I control my population that way.
What do other people do?