Is producing kits a significant issue in chins in general? In approximately what percentage of chins do we find this as an issue?
I think it's more common with any animal than most would think. Nothing in chinchillas itself. I've done a lot of research on sterility because I had some issues with certain animals producing and I wanted to find the best solution. I wouldn't say there is an exact percentage that we can pinpoint on animals being sterile, though I've been told that 1/10 males are sterile and someone else had told me 1/5 - but I really don't think that's accurate. Sterility doesn't just run in lines - it can come from infections, hormone imbalance, ranch management and nutrition.
Does not producing kits tend to run in family lines (does it seem to be genetic)? Do we know contributing factors (i.e. inbreeding, certain mutations or combinations of mutations, etc.)?
Sterility can run in lines, yes. This is one reason why you need to be careful when linebreeding. Even though you're trying to improve an animal, sometimes linebreeding can decrease the number of kits you have. Personally, I have had a really hard time getting some of my animals from a large rancher to produce. I've heard from a lot of people that they're slow producers and a lot of them won't produce at all. This isn't always the case, but it's just a generalization. I have animals with excellent backgrounds that produce just fine, other's that won't produce at all. I think a lot of it has to do with quality, and sometimes the higher quality animals just don't produce as well as if you were breeding lower pet quality animals (at least in my experience, this isn't always the case). Sometimes the larger the size of a male, the less they breed - but this isn't always the case either. I've also been told that animals of the brevi type don't breed as well due to their body build.
From my own personal experience - when I first started breeding, I didn't have show quality or breeding quality chinchillas. My chins would produce like wildfire - we're talking 3 times a year no problem. Now, I'm having fun getting some of my chins to produce once a year. I have two grand show champion males that have never produced. I'm giving it time since I recently switched their location, but if they don't produce for me in a certain time, they're gonna be switched to different females.
Are males or females more likely to not produce?
I think this really depends on your breeding setup and the actually animal itself. With sterility, it's hard to come up with percentages in my opinion because there are so many different factors involved. If you're using runs and you have one male to 8 different females - if you don't produce anything out of them, then you most likely know it's the male. You put in a new male and say you get 3 of the females to produce for you - does that mean that every female that didn't produce can't produce at all? No, not really. Some chinchillas take up to a year sometimes to actually produce. Some can produce automatically. It's just up to the rancher/breeder to keep up with who is producing and who is not and then switch matings or cull.
Is it common for a chin to produce with one mate and, when switched to another mate, not to produce -- or vice versa?
I think so. One female I have produced very well with one male and then when he was sold and I switched her to a higher quality animal, I haven't gotten anything. It all takes time, and when you're switching animals around it can take a lot of time for them to adjust. Changes in their diet can cause changes in production. Changes in the color of a room, or the temperature of a room can change the percentages of production. It's really a lot of work in getting your program adjusted so that you're producing at a steady rate.
Is it common if you have a trio or colony to have one female produce and not the other(s)?
It happens. Even in runs - you're gonna find that a male sometimes favors one female over the others. On the other hand, it really just depends on the animals and your setup, as well as your breeding practices. I'm not saying that if you put a colony together that only certain animals will produce - but it can happen.
