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Originally Posted by Slap Maxwell  Things like bladder stones and cataracts aren't always passed down genetically. They can occur in any animal. If something has come up genetically, it is not "bred out" - the line is ceased to stop pigs from being produced with those issues. |
They are not always genetic, correct. But bladder stones especially have a huge genetic component. Hence, why rescues can get in 8 year old pigs who've eaten nothing but spinach and mustard greens their whole lives and be hearty and hale, while other pigs can sometimes develop bladder stones quite young.
When you "cease production" on the line of a 3 year old pig, assuming that all of it's descendants had one litter at 6 months of age, with 3 babies each, that means that you have to find approximately 250 pigs, and assure that they're not breeding. And that's only if the first pig was the ONLY pig in that litter. A litter of 5 guinea pigs who had one of the siblings produce a bladder stone would require finding thousands of pigs.
You go further trying to track down every home, every person that had dumped a pig, every breeder that had then traded "stock" to another breeder, and it's virtually impossible to "stop" that line.
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Originally Posted by Slap Maxwell Satins are a mutation that generally have weak bones. There are different classes for satins. Shiny coats on a non-satin animal is one sign of health, as with dogs and horses. |
Satins are a shiny pig that have an accompanying genetic disorder known as osteodystrophy. It is also speculated that teddies and possibly texels may carry this genetic problem. (I may be remembering wrong, it was either one or both of them, so I'm putting both to be safe). Again, this doesn't show up until later on in the pig's age. So you cannot breed this out of their coat type. Furthermore, why would ANYONE breed a coat type that had such a genetic deformity associated with it?
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Originally Posted by Slap Maxwell Yes, you can't breed a 5 or 12 year old pig, those animals aren't kept for that purpose. They are there to asses the lines longevity after many years. There are pigs on GL living 8-10 years, but there are pigs living in 10 gallon aquariums eating no veggies that live that long too. Difference is the quality of life for them. I am sure very few of those pigs on GL have had absolutely no major health issues, genetic or otherwise. |
The GL pigs haven't produced 3 litters either, what's your point?
The breeder only has the old pigs left. How many of their siblings died at the age of 2-3? I can guarantee you that I can pick a random pool of 50 guinea pigs, and in 8-10 years, have some 8-10 year old pigs. It's physically impossible for a breeder to house all the pigs they've ever produced, so they have no idea what the mean age of the guinea pigs they're breeding are. They just know that they've managed to get some that live between 8-10 years of age.
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Originally Posted by Slap Maxwell I also agree a breeder isn't going to be paying a vet hundreds to do genetic testing on every animal. |
Why not? "Responsible" dog and horse breeders do it. (And I say "responsible" in quotes as code for "as responsible as one can be while you're breeding an overpopulated animal".
If you're not willing to pay, then don't breed. Pets aren't cheap. Breeding animals shouldn't be cheaper than owning a pet.