Breeding New Zealand Rabbits

[newchck]

Hi Y'all! We have a broken black NZ doe and are going to be getting a chestnut NZ buck. What are the possible colors that could come out if they were to be bred? Thanks!

 

[SpotTheCat]

Hi Y'all! We have a broken black NZ doe and are going to be getting a chestnut NZ buck. What are the possible colors that could come out if they were to be bred? Thanks!

Depends what they carry but you will probably get chestnuts, blacks and both those colours in broken

 

[newchck]

Depends what they carry but you will probably get chestnuts, blacks and both those colours in broken

Thanks!

 

[LizzzyJo]

I agree - solid of both and 1/2 will be broken.

You may also see blue from the black.

 

[SpotTheCat]

I agree - solid of both and 1/2 will be broken.

You may also see blue from the black.

50% chance for each rabbit to be broken not the entire litter will be half broken half not.
There are a lot of things they could get including blue and chocolate with out knowing what the parents carry it is hard to say what you will get with that pairing.

 

[LizzzyJo]

50% chance for each rabbit to be broken not the entire litter will be half broken half not.
There are a lot of things they could get including blue and chocolate with out knowing what the parents carry it is hard to say what you will get with that pairing.

Good catch! Yes - I mean each kit has 50% chance. It generally goes down that throughout the year you have ABOUT 50% broken kits from 1 broken parent, but not always!

 

[Bunnylady]

Since Chestnut isn't a showable color in NZ's, it appears to me that someone hasn't been trying to keep color lines separate (at least in the case of the buck). That being the case, you could get virtually any color in the NZ rainbow. As has been previously said, your best chance is for Black, Chestnut, and broken versions of those two. Chocolate would be unlikely (it's not associated with any NZ color), but REW would be highly probable, as would even Steel be (Steel is a very common color in NZ's; though a Chestnut couldn't be carrying it, a Black could be). You probably wouldn't get a good Red, but you might get an Orange, or a Tort, or an Opal . . . . Since outcrossing to other breeds is so common in the meat rabbits, there's almost no color that could be completely ruled out with as little information as we have been given.