Breeding Red, Blue, and Black New Zealand Rabbits?

[homesteadmama8]

Hello!
I’m getting a trio of new Zealands but can’t decide on color combos. The breeder has Red, Black, and Blue NZs. What should I get??? One of each? What color buck should I pick? (I don’t want to have siblings breed so my doe and buck need to be from different litters)

I know nothing about color combinations and would love to have some blue babies, maybe some broken babies, I don’t know. I don’t understand genetics at all

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

I have never heard of New Zealand’s being a breed, so don’t know about their patterns specifically, so I am assuming they are the usual red Colombian and extended black/blue.

If you want blue babies then I would have a blue rooster. That way, all the chicks would be blue or black (50/50). Non would be red, unless you bred red to red, for the Colombian gene does not affect extended black/blue birds. All the chicks will be blue and black whatever the stag is, since one parent will always be blue or black, the blue cock will just mean more are blue. You would get red again from breeding the offspring from a red bird with each other or a red stag (don’t worry about breeding parent to children). Breeding blue to blue would result in some blue, some black and some splash.

Hope this helps, feel free to ask me to elaborate on anything.

 

[NatJ]

I just noticed this (half a year late), and I want to correct the previous poster:

The "New Zealands" in question are rabbits (see title). The males are bucks, and the females are does (see first post). They are not chickens, roosters, hens, or birds. The genetics work differently.

I’m getting a trio of new Zealands but can’t decide on color combos. The breeder has Red, Black, and Blue NZs. What should I get??? One of each? What color buck should I pick? (I don’t want to have siblings breed so my doe and buck need to be from different litters)

I know nothing about color combinations and would love to have some blue babies, maybe some broken babies, I don’t know. I don’t understand genetics at all

A bit of rabbit genetics:

Brokens only happen if at least one parent is broken. So if the parents are all solid colors, all the bunnies will also have solid colors.

Blue should be a diluted version of black-- genetically identical except for the recessive dilution gene. Breeding them together will give only black bunnies, unless the black parent already carried the dilution gene.

Mixings reds with blacks or blues is going to give some non-standard colors. They might be pretty, but if you want to stick with standard colors, don't mix them. I'd have to look it up to see what you do get; I just remember that the genes don't play nicely when you cross red with the other colors.

 

[BlueTheBrahma]

I just noticed this (half a year late), and I want to correct the previous poster:

The "New Zealands" in question are rabbits (see title). The males are bucks, and the females are does (see first post). They are not chickens, roosters, hens, or birds. The genetics work differently.


A bit of rabbit genetics:

Brokens only happen if at least one parent is broken. So if the parents are all solid colors, all the bunnies will also have solid colors.

Blue should be a diluted version of black-- genetically identical except for the recessive dilution gene. Breeding them together will give only black bunnies, unless the black parent already carried the dilution gene.

Mixings reds with blacks or blues is going to give some non-standard colors. They might be pretty, but if you want to stick with standard colors, don't mix them. I'd have to look it up to see what you do get; I just remember that the genes don't play nicely when you cross red with the other colors.

Oh bloody hell! How did I not notice that! You must have been so confused with what I was saying. I’ve heard people call breeding roosters stags so I must have assumed stag and buck were the same. Not my area of expertise Sorry.