I recently came across this tool that could be useful for you. Feel free to use the state map below to locate rabbit breeders. Find rabbits for sale using our rabbit breeders directory today. Color is to be as even as possible over the entire body, including the belly. Lisa is president of the national jersey wolly rabbit club. The intermediate band should be equal in width to the undercolor. We have some tough competition against the brokens. Jul 23, 2019 breeders have gained great enjoyment in breeding many different color types of rex, and today rexs come in.
I also suggest reading the book about bunny colors to learn the color genetics before breeding the bunnies. Mini rex rabbits comes in a rainbow of colors and markings, far too many to mention here, but well try. This has been a brief introduction to the rex rabbit. I raise my rabbits to the american rabbit breeders association standard of perfection arba sop, and enjoy raising and showing my dutch rabbits. These days you can find this small, velvety bunny in a wide variety of colors thanks to. Rex rabbits are not recommended for children under 8 to 9 years as they need to be lifted correctly, using the two handed method described above. The mini rex sprang from the dwarf rex along with input from the netherland dwarf. Rabbit colors the range of bunny colors and have they. The surface of the coat should be pearl white intermixed with black.
No one can raise all varieties and be completely fair to each and every variety all at the same time. Rabbit coat color genetics guide book with images rabbit. Rabbit genetics tutorial cutesy chart for easy learning. A book focused on the subject matter instead of including nonessential text. Although competing against all the same rabbits in each show, she placed 7th, 8th and 4th. The exhibition of rabbits and the keeping of rabbits as pets was popularized in the 1800s. Understanding how genetics works and the gene sets within rabbits will assist you in obtaining the colors and patterns you desire. A torted harlequin is eej, and usually has poor color than a true breeding harlequin ejej. Today the king of the rabbits can be shown in 16 color varieties that showcase that plush and unforgettable fur. However, since tort appears as a shaded color, it is often grouped with the shaded color groups in breeds like lops. A basic understanding of rabbit coat color genetics would be an asset if considering breeding and raising tricolored mini lops. It is usually best to mate rabbits having the same color to start off with until you know more about how the colors.
Rabbit colors the range of bunny colors and have they are. We have a small herd of holland lop rabbits and focus on raising colorful bunnies with the best type and temperament possible. This is a series of posts on raising angora rabbits organically, for their soft, luxurious fiber and for their babies, for woolers and for homestead meat. I especially like the section about breeding colors and show groups vs genetics groups. They are available in various marking styles including, castor, californian, broken, chinchilla and black otter. A breeding programme was quickly established to fix this genetic mutation and develop a line of rabbits that had this wonderfully soft and thick coat.
The soft coat of the rex was developed as a valuable pelt breed in the early 1900s. The completed 4h record book should tell the complete story of the 4h project from the time it was born. Read more about breeding french angora rabbits for color, what. Color is to be a rich, red buff, deep in tone, but without smudge. The rex was first shown in public in paris in 1924 and has been recognised as a standard breed since 1925 in many parts of europe.
Today the rex remains the number one breed used in fur production due to this unique coat quality. In 1929 the arba recognized the rex breed, which is about 9 pounds. I have included a link to a few rabbit genetic sites in the links section. Its origin was a litter of wild gray rabbits and has been developed over the years by fanciers and the fur industry. And you were right in that even though i knew a lot of the things, it has definitely rounded things out, and good to have in one place. The plush coated mini rex became a recognized breed in 1988 and have been dominating the show tables ever since.
Ive discovered its pretty helpful to be able to count the days of your rabbits gestation. Curiously cute facts about the rex rabbit breed pet ponder. They are mediumlarge, commercial type rabbits with soft, velvety fur coats. Raising rabbits, breeding rabbits, rabbit hutch, raising meat rabbits duration. The british rabbit council maintains the standards for domestic rabbits in the uk, including rex rabbits. Mini rex is known to be a very popular breed of domestic bunnies that was created in the year 1984. If youd like more information about rabbit coat color, check out a book about bunny colors, the practical breeders guide to rabbit coat color. Two does and one buck should produce 180 pounds of meat per year. I also have found that it is best to maintain excellent black color by breeding black and golden orange tris bgo to bgo only or bgo to blue golden fawn tris together only. These include sable, castor, blue, himalayan, lilac, lynx, opal, broken any accepted variety with white, tricolour white with colors such as black and orange, chocolate and orange, blue and fawn, etc. When wild rabbits displaying a luxuriant, dense coat were bred with domestic animals to take advantage of the mutated gene that caused the unusually plush fur, the rex breed. The chocolate gene dilutes to a pinkishdovegray, known as lilac.
Breeding rabbits is a complex topic, when and at what age do you breed them. It the rabbits red is a little smutty i would breed it with another red as long as it will improve the body type of the doe. The fur of the mini rex rabbit is very smooth, soft and gorgeous. Breeders have gained great enjoyment in breeding many different color types of rex, and today rexs come in. Harlequin colored rex discussion in rabbits started by pheasant283, apr. The body should have a slate blue undercolor next to the skin followed by a crisp clean pearl white intermediate band. Note that the names of different colors vary a little from breed to breed, so feel. Breeding tricolors on a personal note, do not get discouraged when showing tricolors. White rabbits color book by alan backer tells the story of white rabbit who finds three buckets of paint. Theres a lot of information out there about color genetics, but unfortunately, a lot of it is hard to comprehend. A black tort should have a clean, rich, deep redorange body with clean dark smokey gray to black shading on the nose, around the eyes, on the ears, feet and tail. Harlequin colored rex welcome to the homesteading today.
The salisbury rabbit house is a beautifully shaped, arching, rabbit haven with a run integrated into its design. The 5 gene locations act upon the two basic colors in a rabbits coat black, and yellow changing how those two pigments get expressed in the rabbits fur additionally, these 5 genes are acted upon by other modifying genes, rufus factors, and plusandminus modifiers from all the interactions and modifiers, it is possible to obtain literally hundreds of different rabbit colors. A male rabbit is called a buck when referring to the parents of a rabbit, the mother is called the dam, and the father is called the sire when you mate two rabbits together, this is called breeding when you check to see if the doe is pregnant or when you breed her again before she is due to give birth, this is called testing. I have experimented with every variety of rex at some time or other and eventually weeded out colors that i was not so fond of. Added this book to our rabbit book library and recommend anyone into rabbits to purchase it. Breeding of rabbits in captivity first began in the middle ages, when they were first considered farm animals. The rex is a large rabbit, weighing between 3 and 4. Today i want to continue talking about angora rabbit genetics, focusing on the agouti gene, which is the dominant gene. The mini rex, polish, rex, netherland dwarf, havana, and french angora.
In long hair the pigment granules are spread further apart from each other, giving a pastel color. A mate for a tri color mini rex backyardherds goats. Mini rex rabbit breed information the nature trail. For example, at a triple show, i showed the same tricolor doe 3 times with three different judges. In the late 1980s, the breed started to gain recognition. A standard rex generally weighs between seven and eleven pounds and comes in a wide range of colors.
If not, now you know the castor carries one d dilute gene, and you can work to eliminate the recessive gene from the breeding program. Even if you are breeding meat for your own table, the better quality the rabbit, the more meat and better it will. But having a black in the barn is always a safe bet for newbies cause they are pretty neutral. The head, outside of ears, back, hindquarters, sides of body, upperside of tail. Jan 24, 2015 raising rabbits, breeding rabbits, rabbit hutch, raising meat rabbits duration. Tri color is a combination of blackorange, chocolateorange, bluefawn and lilacfawn with white. The recessive gene that causes this variation in fur causes the hairstrands to stand straight up, rather than lying flat against the body, as other breeds. Color crossing rules for mini rex rabbits a joint venture by patty kovell of cottonwood farms and jamie obrien of kokopelli acre. You can use our directory to find local rabbit breeders in your state. The first rex rabbits were castor coloured, but a wide variety of colours have been developed through crossbreeding. A standard rex that weighs about 8 to 12 pounds has a lovely velvety fur. The dos and don ts for breeding self chins varies by the breed, because different.
Do not breed to lynx, this harms both colors, causing too heavy of a blue surface on the lynx and very poor ring. Color genetics is a very important subject in breeding rabbits. Rabbit genetics discussing the e locus in mini rex rabbits tri colors torts and reds duration. The rex rabbit was first shown publicly at the paris international rabbit show in 1924 and has been recognized. It will also assist you in avoiding such things as charlies in holland lops. If i wanted to create a line of tricolor rex showbunnies i would start with all registered rabbits and go by the book. They have straight ears and the coat doesnt require too much grooming. Plans for building rabbit nestboxes mini rex rabbit, dwarf rabbit, rabbit hutch. Some of the offspring may have colors that are not recognized by arba. The rex is a variety of rabbit that exhibits plush fur that is often described as having a velvety texture. European breeders used netherland dwarfs to create a dwarf rex.
The mini rex rabbits are slowly becoming one of the most popular pet choices for people around the world. Rabbit coat color genetics guide book rabbit colors, dwarf. This is one of the most unique features of the animal. The first rex rabbits were castor coloured, but a wide variety of colours have been developed through cross breeding.
The rabbit begins to hop from bucket to bucket discovering that mixing two primary colors makes new colors like purple, orange and green. Kss rabbitry color crossing rules for mini rex rabbits. An illustrated guide to rabbit coat color genetics mink hollow. Unlike many rabbit breeds, the origins of the rex are certain. Keep in mind, though, that there are many combinations of possibilities when mixing colors. By the 1500s selective breeding resulted in several distinct breeds. Looking to find rabbits for sale in your area or state. Understanding where rabbit color comes from is critical to a successful breeding program. Rex were the first rabbit breed to have the gene that causes rex fur. By starting with my book knowledge and actually trying it out on my own breeding stock i. Note that the names of different colors vary a little from breed to breed, so feel free to ask us if you have a question about a color. Soon people were breeding for smaller rabbits with the wonderful rex fur.
I have been raising tri color rex for a few years and have come to. Rabbit coat color genetics guide book rabbit colors. Check out the whole series under angora rabbits 101. The dos and donts for breeding self chins varies by the breed, because different. The rabbits pictured above are otter rex rabbit siblings. You can find a more extensive list in a book about bunny colors but this list. Due date calculator easy peasy rabbit breeding scheduleeasy peasy rabbit breeding schedule rabbit breeding schedule. Breeding to black, black tort, and red very limited breeding should give you the best. Formally called madagascar in the satin breed aabcdeebasic black tortblack tort is a non extensionee of black general description. All breeds that recognize broken disqualify for complete absence of color around. Arba colors of the breed bungalow of bunnies dutch. The breed made its first appearance in france in the early part of the 20th century 1919 to be precise. Mini rex rabbits are a small, compact breed that has a very plush undercoat and extremely soft, velvety feeling fur, which comes in a wide variety of colors. Not because you want cute babies though this is a plus.
The guide to raising and breeding rabbits for meat. Popular and available in may different colors, the mini rex appeals to both new and seasoned breeders. These days you can find this small, velvety bunny in a wide variety of colors thanks to the input from the crossbreeding that helped start the breed. Author adds some humor to the book without making it silly. After reading it i feel at ease about breeding rabbits. Perfect to keep your rabbits, guinea pigs and small pets safe and sound, as well as adding a lovely piece of architecture to your garden. Blue, black, amber, chocolate, lilac, sable, opal, red, and white. Netherland dwarf and holland lop breeders call their animals chestnut agoutis. The dos and donts for breeding self chins varies by the breed, because different breeds recognize different colors. Since rabbits do not have a heat cycle, they can be breed at any time of the year. The gene that causes the rex fur type was first discovered in france around 1900. Having a good understanding of color genetics can open up a whole new world of breeding for you.
You will find out the most pieces of the genetic puzzle when breeding your pair and observing the colors of the offspring. They come in a large variety of colors, all in the luxurious plush fur, which is short, thick, and stands upright. However, in most breeds you dont want the chinchilla gene mixed with nonextension such as tort or orange, ever. In rex rabbits, this genetic code would result in a castor rex rabbit pictured. The popularity of the rex is largely due to the mutation that produces a short, dense velvetlike quality to the fur. Mini rex rabbit pet rabbit show rabbits bunny rabbits rabbit names animal doctor raising rabbits bunny care holland lop. Soon rex rabbits were being bred all over the world. I dont own every color, but all of the colors shown are either being developed by other breeders or are standard colors. Developed in 1984 in texas by the lategreat monna berryhill. If you are a fancy breeder, you should strive to breed your rabbits according the to arba standard of perfection book. The topic is way too important to be understood only by science majors, so we at rabbit smarties are proud to offer you a book about bunny colors.
Blue, black, amber, chocolate, lilac, sable, opal, red, and white solid colors, and in the following marking styles, broken, californian, castor, chinchilla, black otter. In all the other information pages, i took the time to translate them into pages that would be compatible with our site colors. The guide to raising and breeding rabbits for meat mother. This video is great for children and toddlers who want to learn more about rabbits. Breeding french angora rabbits for color, what you need to. The ideal red rex should have as little shading as possible, giving the appearance of being solid or self color. Thanks again, michelle of forrest gait rabbitry your book is the best in genetics for rabbitsvery good workcongratulationsmanuel s. You must bring the doe to the bucks cage, does are territorial and will do anything to protect her cage from the intruding buck. Rabbit coat color genetics guide book the nature trail. You can find a more extensive list in a book about bunny colors but this list will cover most of the colors you encounter. This is because, given the same genetic background, the number of pigment granules in the hair is the same. In the days i raised tan rabbits i found it took many, many generations of strict selecting for dark orange modifier genes to accomplish and maintain this.
The difference in their rabbit coat color genetics is this the heterozygous castor rabbit can possibly surprise you with opal rabbits in the nest box. Have you ever heard of a rabbit color called self chinchilla. Rabbit coat color genetics guide book by glenna huffmon. You find out the most about a rabbits genotype when you breed them and see what colors result. Rabbits that have short hair, such as rex, have more intense color expression. Free, printable graph for mapping your matingtokindling dates. Today rex rabbits are primarily kept as companion animals. Very nice bluefawn tri color buck, my sons first, he is producing some phenomenal babies and is a foundation sire for his tri color herd, r, 1 leg, 1 bis, 5924 1 bob, 1 bov.