What's your definition of a "Brood" female??

[Hare Chaser]

Curious to know what most of you classify a brood female to be?

[likeemfast]

A hound that normally comes from a well known bloodline gets a title as brood female. Normally they can't chase their own tail if they could find it, let alone a rabbit, that some guy wants to sell to someone for $500-$800 bucks that probably has not produced much either let alone have any value as a gun/trial dog. That's a brood female IMO.

[Newt]

At my house its one that makes me proud in the field and can successfully produce pups without problems. If the pups can't do it she loses her status as "brood bitch".

[likeemfast]

Newt
Obviously your "brood" bitch ad would stand out over most of these guys selling culls with a known bloodline for hundreds of dollars.

In all actuality most of them are not worth the price of a shell to dispose of them.

A "fool" and their money are soon parted is a saying my dad always use to say.

[Hare Chaser]

At my house its one that makes me proud in the field and can successfully produce pups without problems. If the pups can't do it she loses her status as "brood bitch".

I like that definition! Unfortunately, I cringe most of the time when I see the term "Brood Bitch" used cause it seems more often than not Likeemfast's definition is the more accurate one. Like most things I guess, you're best off knowing the individual you are purchasing from.

In my book no true hound man would ever breed an unproven bitch and offer the puppies for sale for anything more than pets. Why is it that so many think it only matters that the male of the mated pair be proven in the field? I'll take a top bitch over a top male any day. My options are exponentially better with a proven bitch and even at that it is always a gamble raising a litter. Obviously the successful breeders research their crosses well and have some knowledge about the ancestry behind the mated pair.

[BCBeagles]

Proven in the FIELD first...then proven with reproducing qualities they have second....IMO....A true "brood" female is the rarest of them all.

You can find a stud dog that produces decent dogs...but a female that is high quality that throws higher quality is a treasure....

[Shady Grove Beagles]

As Hare Chaser and likeemfast mentioned,the term "brood bitch" is quite often used in a disparaging way to describe a female hound that has no talents other than possibly her pedigree and as an incubator for a stud's puppies. We all cringe when we think along those lines !
But we shouldn't automatically relegate all "brood bitches" to worthless status as Hare Chaser also mentioned" we need to know the individuals we are purchasing from".
I have a very good friend who is a dyed-in-the-wool houndsmen and has a top performing AND reproducing stud dog.He also owns two very well bred 'brood bitches". He will tell you straight out that the only reason he owns these two females is to breed them to his stud.
He made the crosses that resulted in these females with an eye towards his kennel's future and what he wanted to breed his stud with.These females were started as young dogs,gunned over for two seasons to prove their abilities and worthiness and then put up in the brood pen and started producing pups.
Neither of these females were hunted at all for the next several years until the stud was injured and couldn't be gun hunted that season.They were both re-introduced to the field and without missing a beat accounted for a bunch of rabbits.
They then went back to the brood pen and back to raising the stud's pups. I asked my friend why he didn't hunt these two females and he said"I don't need them as rabbit dogs,I've got several rabbit dogs to gun over.These two are for producing the pups I want".Brood Bitches !
The A.K.C. show dog people usually campaign their dogs from 1-3 years of age and once the females obtain their championship degrees they are most often retired from competition to become " brood bitches" and produce the next crop of hopefuls.Brood bitches yes,but champion brood bitches.
Just something to think about------- what about those studs that once they get their Field Champion degree are never hunted,trialed or shown in the field [ too valuable ] again.Is that the male hound equivalent to a "brood bitch"?
My old saying-----If you want to breed and you've got the itch,just remember it starts with the bitch !

[Rabbit/Hareman123]

Shady Grove,good point ant very well said,

[likeemfast]

Although I agree with what all have described what they think a "brood" female should be....... if you read most brood female ads on this board they describe a female that isn't guaranteed to run, hasn't been out since it was a pup due to job so selling as brood female only, good brood female because it has big litters, and brood female with such and such blood behind it, all adds up to a cull that can have pups. Although the rare few state a definition we all would want in a brood female, it's not the rare few who are selling such brood females, it's the majority of sellers selling culls. Fact is the desired definition of a brood female is not "for sale".

Hang tight tho, I'm sure the usual $300-$500 brood female sellers haven't read this thread yet and will be chiming in soon to prove me wrong.

[rabbitearl]

I wish they would come out with a brood female rabbit. One that within two years you are hunting at a place with lots of rabbits and then someone comes up and beside they running you off. They beg you to come at there house and get them rabbits. Like the old days. Now your RABBIT HUNTING.

[warddog]

I've often asked myself the very same question when I see these ads on the forums. I agree with what Shady Grove said as I have a female that I started and then didn't hunt for quite some time for whatever reason(s). The thing about mine is that I would NOT sell her be it as a brood female or anything else as I just don't know enough about her to sell and neither do I go through dogs. Normally when I get one I keep it until death do us part, although I have sold some pups over the years. She is breed to the hilt and ALL the other pups (5) in her litter made above average rabbit dogs so I would have NO PROBLEM breeding her to a good stud dog. The truth is that the genes are the genes and her lack of experience/ability is my fault not hers. When ever one buys a pup they most generally do not have a clue of how both the sire and the dam are as rabbit dogs unless they know the seller/ breeder well enough to have hunted with them more than a time or two. I also agree with Ilikeemfast that when I see ads for a brood bitch I have to ask the question of who other than me would feed a female that they didn't hunt. I suspect most would not but some may be like me and have one they didn't hunt as she should have been BUT NOT call her a brood bitch but rather a bitch we intended to keep for stock and linage replacement until other things got in the way.

[Shady Grove Beagles]

Right on warddog.
What a female can pass on to her pups was programmed into her by her parents the day she was conceived ! I quote warddog "genes are genes and her lack of experience/ability is my fault not hers".
Whether a dog is ever hunted or not does not affect plus or minus what she is going to produce. Now don't get me wrong,I don't and wouldn't breed dogs that have not shown their excellence in the field.As hunters the performance has to prove the pedigree not the other way around.
There are so many factors to consider when evaluating a dog. I had a friend that payed good money and ordered a well bred female pup from Branko. For whatever reasons he basically didn't do much with her for two years letting her spend most of that time sitting in the pen.He didn't get her started early,didn't get her broke off trash,didn't handle her much so she was kind of shy,never soloed her and consequently at two years old hadn't made much of a rabbit dog and he sold her for less than he paid Branko for her as a pup.
Next guy that owns her only has one other beagle and he puts in the time on the female giving her all the opportunities that my friend had not. In no time this young female was shinning and looking like the hound her pedigree indicated she might be. She went on to whelp several litters of very nice pups.
My point is,she would have produced the same no mater as to how good of a rabbit shagger she eventually turned out to be.
I own female dogs because that's what I prefer and they all are hunted throughout their lives and are only bred when I want a pup for myself.

[rbinford1]

Brood means there no good ,I would'nt buy or anything like that ,thats crazy..If its not doing it in the field its a pet,I always heard breed good to good ,would'nt breed to a no good ..

[Pine Lakes]

This subject has been pounded to death, but I'll chime in again. What brood means to individuals differs obviously, but let me ask this question. Would any of you prefer a pup from a "good dog" or a proven reproducer? I ask this because they are often not the same. I can't tell you how many times I've seen littermates of different abilities in the field bred and the lesser one reproduce a better dog. I don't advocate breeding the lesser dog as most of us don't keep them, but what genes are passed on to offspring is not determined in the field. If you have a female that you suspect could be a good reproducer then give it a shot. My advice is be prepared to cull regardless of the quality of your female. Being a successful field dog isn't a free pass to be a good reproducer. I find that genetic makeup and the ability to deliver those good genes to offspring is more rare than having field ability. So if you have a female from a known producing line that hasn't proven herself in the field then that doesn't have to be her death sentence. If she doesn't reproduce the type of dog desired then that is another story all together. It makes me chuckle when guys get on here and make degrading comments and probably own dogs with "brood" females in their ancestry.

As a side note, I do agree that some of the prices put on these "brood" females are often more than I would give, but no one is forcing anyone else to pay it. If you don't like it, then simply ignore it.

[Hare Chaser]

Aptly stated Pine Lakes. I agree with you. I always prefer dogs from as many proven reproducers in their up close ancestry (1st 3 generations) as possible. Not every hound that reproduces well is an exceptional performer. If exceptional performers came along frequently what would be exceptional about them right? I do my best to search for the style I prefer and look for them to come from a heritage of solid performers. Both in the field and the reproductive realm. I very rarely raise a litter of puppies. I am not a breeder by any sense of the word and the words "brood bitch" in a for sale add preceding a price reflective of that of a well bred puppy will always be questionable for me unless I know the seller and the dog personally.