Breeding considerations
Strain breeding performance (good, exceptional, or challenging) is provided as a baseline for establishing your own colonies or for considering cohorts of mice for your experiments.
Note: Mouse breeding performance can change under different environmental conditions and first litters may not be representative of average pups per litter.
Good breeder
- regularly produces three to seven pups per litter
- reliably productive for seven or more months
- Example: C57BL/6J, Stock No. 000664
Exceptional breeder
- regularly produces eight or more pups per litter
- exhibits good mothering instincts
- possesses a long, productive breeding lifespan
- Example: FVB/NJ, Stock No. 001800
Challenging breeder
- may require special maintenance, exhibit reduced productivity and/or experience some incidence of non-productive matings
- see our Tips for Poor Breeders
- Example: 129P3/J, Stock No. 000690