Baby Bunny question

[flgardengirl]

One of my rabbits had babies. The mother is a black netherland dwarf (short hair). The father is a blue lionhead with long hair. The babies are still pretty bald and just wondering genetically, what the babies will be colorwise and fur-length wise. Will it be 50% black and 50% blue like with chickens? Do you think one could be black with long fur?

Here is a pic of the father bunny when he was little.

 

[Bunnylady]

The Lionhead gene appears to be dominant, so you certainly could have some babies with the Lionhead coat (unlike the Angora gene, which is recessive; a rabbit must inherit it from both parents in order to be a longhair). A Lionhead with so much long hair on its body might have gotten the Lionhead gene from both of its parents, so the entire litter may be Lionheads. Full color (black) is dominant over dilute (blue); the only way you will see dilute colored babies is if the mother carries the dilution gene too. The are several other recessives that are common in those breeds that both parents might be carrying, without knowing what is in the parents' background, there's no knowing what colors might turn up in their litters. Assuming that there aren't any hidden recessives lurking in this pair, a very likely outcome for this pairing would be an entire litter of black Lionheads.

 

[flgardengirl]

Thank you for your reply. I have no experience in breeding rabbits this is my first time. I am trying not to handle them much and just let the momma take care of them. I just peeked at them once when the were born to make sure there were no dead ones and I looked again today. It looks like they have grown and are healthy and fat. There are 7 of them and it is the momma's first litter. Right now they look either dark grey or very light black skinned but they don't really have any fur yet. I thought it would be neat if one came out black with long hair. I would love it if they all had long hair too