Can you cross breed mice?

You can cross homozygous or heterozygous mice from your F1 generation to continue building your colony. You should genotype all of your F1 mice, as well as progeny from future generations.

How do you pair a mouse for breeding?

Leave pair together continuously, whenever possible, to maximize production. Mating trio- one male, two females; maximizes cage space for breeding and mothers assist in raising each other’s pups. Leave trio together continuously, whenever possible.

Can you breed brother and sister mice?

To produce sufficient mice for experiments, multiple sister-brother breeding pairs or trios (two females and one male) can be established. Most strains produce more progeny per cage if mated as trios because all adult cage mates generally help care for the young.

What is backcross breeding?

Backcross breeding enables breeders to transfer a desired trait such as a transgene from one variety (donor parent, DP) into the favored genetic background of another (recurrent parent, RP). If the trait of interest is produced by a dominant gene, this process involves four rounds of backcrossing within seven seasons.

When can you start breeding mice?

6-8 weeks
ii. Age 1) Mice will usually not breed if they are younger than 4 weeks of age. 2) Younger mice produce smaller litters and therefore are not typically bred until 6-8 weeks.

What is Harem breeding?

Alternative breeding strategy in which three to four adult females are co-housed with one adult male resulting in multiple pregnancies.

Why is backcross done?

Backcrossing is a crossing of a hybrid with one of its parents or an individual genetically similar to its parent, to achieve offspring with a genetic identity closer to that of the parent. It is used in horticulture, animal breeding, and production of gene knockout organisms.

How can I optimize mouse breeding for embryonic or perinatal development?

Research involving mouse embryonic or perinatal development typically requires evaluating mice at defined developmental stages. Evaluating a large number of aged-matched embryos or neonates likely will require setting up timed matings. Below are six steps for optimizing your success: 1) House stud males individually for 1-2 weeks prior to mating.

How to breed mice that don’t breed?

For strains that you are not currently using, a small breeding colony of several cages is sufficient (letting it get down to one cage is living on the edge–don’t do it). Mice that don’t breed are a dead end, so make sure that if you have reduced your holdings of a strain to a minimum, that the mice are fertile and young.

How to check the plugs of a mouse cage?

For checking plugs, and some other observations, a little more control of the mouse is required. Transfer the mouse to the top of the cage with the bars of the cage running left-right.

When is a mouse considered to be inbred?

The International Committee on Standardized Nomenclature for Mice has ruled that a strain of mice can be considered “inbred” at generation F 20 ( Committee on Standardized Genetic Nomenclature for Mice, 1989 ). 13