Did a little experiment of my own...take the results with a grain of salt....

[Kitty0911]

Little one would not cooperate at my ultrasound. I have my 20 week one in a month so hopefully I'll find out then

[atomic sagebrush]

AAA really Kitty!!

[MrsECullen]

Wow! Thanks for sharing this! I can't wait to hear the stats for the next batch

[maidentomother]

Awesome! Could you share exactly what the LE and HE diets are made up of and their macronutrient breakdown?

One interesting point is that even when effectively FORCED to do the LE 'properly', there are still some opposites. That should help reassure some 'failed' pink swayers that they did all they could.

At some point you might want to consider breeding the same females repeatedly but alternate HE/LE (with a break on a normal diet in between), up to 6 litters.

[Kitty0911]

The HE dieters get their usual pellets but I put in a ton of sunflower and safflower seeds for fat and I added in a high protein dog food as well. The LE dieters I gave them their usual pellets as well but I add in a ton of puffed rice and wheat (full of carbs but no fortified nutrients). What I did notice was the HE dieters would pig out on the seeds and dog food and leave quite a few pellets, and the LE dieters would eat mostly the puffed grains and eat very little of their pellets as well. So it really does depend on how much each rat ate of what they were given. I didn't really look at how much fat, carbs, protein they were given since I didn't really think it would work anyway (when I first started out). I just made sure the HE diets were fattier and more protein rich and that the LE diets were less nutritious and no added fats or proteins.

[maidentomother]

Thanks! I bet you would see an increase in the HE success if you used different fats, more blue friendly ones (safflower & sunflower are pretty pink). Can you give the butter, high fat cheese, and fatty red meat? Maybe coconut too? Though that makes for a more expensive experiment...I would also consider supplemental vitD for the HE females.

Still super interesting that even on neutral fats at best, you get a high rate of success. The LE diet, just adding puffed grains, seems great!

One more thought, you might at some point try having females eat the exact same diet, maybe just pellets, but do 2x a day limited vs all the time feeding. That would separate out the low cal vs actual diet aspect of swaying.

[Kitty0911]

I just wanted to come on here and apologize for how long it has been since I did another update. I have not done any breeding for awhile since I was on bedrest for the end of my pregnancy and then was in and out of the hospital when my little one was in the NICU. I'm starting another rat on the LE diet for the next few weeks and will update again when she has her babies and I can tell their gender. Once the LE mom has her babies I'll start the HE mom on her diet and update you guys on how that plays out as well. I will also try to give the HE mom more "boy friendly" fats like cheeses and other animal fats. Maybe that will help get the HE moms to produce more boys.

[trifecta]

Lucky HE rat!

I hope your daughter is doing well.

[Throwaway_panther]

Awesome! Could you share exactly what the LE and HE diets are made up of and their macronutrient breakdown?

One interesting point is that even when effectively FORCED to do the LE 'properly', there are still some opposites. That should help reassure some 'failed' pink swayers that they did all they could.

At some point you might want to consider breeding the same females repeatedly but alternate HE/LE (with a break on a normal diet in between), up to 6 litters.

Mte -- I think one of the best protocols that could be done here is to alternate the diets of female rats who had already bred when following the opposite diets!

Thank you so much for this thread Kitty, and congrats on your little one!

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[LinzNicuRN]

I love this thread!! I am a NICU nurse, sorry your little one had to spend time there! So tough on the family! Hope she is doing better now!!


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