Flemish Rabbit Genetics

[Animal Mom]

Hi all. New to posting, but am always reading BYC for advice on our chickens, pheasants and quail. However, this question is about my giant flemish.

Was hoping someone here could tell me what the color is of my male flemish? I think it's steel gray but am not sure with that pretty white belly. He did get in with my REW flemish female and had lots of kits (11 in total).

Any thoughts?

I also want to keep one of the female kits with the hope of getting some REW babies in the future, but I don't really understand genetics very well (half of the babies were solid black, with a few dark gray and one very pretty light gray).

Thanks in advance!!

 

[Bunnylady]

Welcome to BYC!

You are correct about your buck's color - Steel Gray Flemish Giants have white bellies. He looks like a sweet fella!

Quote: Did you mean to say this, or were you thinking about keeping a male to breed back to the doe? REW is fully recessive; a rabbit has to get the gene for it from both parents in order to be a REW. If your doe is a REW, you know that she has two copies of the REW gene (c) at the C locus. Since a rabbit always has two genes (and only two) at any specific location in their genetic code (one from the mother, one from the father), and you know that both of your doe's C genes are for REW, you know that all of her kits will inherit a REW gene from her. Since your buck is not a REW, you know that at least one of his C genes is not the one for REW (in his case, it's the one for Chinchilla,cchd ). It is possible that he might have a REW gene, though with a litter as large as 11 from a REW doe, you'd expect at least one kit to be a REW, if that were the case (congrats on the litter, BTW). On the other hand, 11 isn't a very large sample group, statistically speaking, so the fact that there weren't any REW's in one litter isn't conclusive proof that he doesn't have a REW gene.

On the other hand, it is possible that this buck may have two copies of the Chinchilla gene, and no copies of the REW gene. In that case, you could breed him to REW does until the cows come home, and never get a REW baby. Every baby in this particular litter got a REW gene from the mother, but if the rabbit they eventually get bred to doesn't happen to have a REW gene, then you won't get REW babies from them.

If you have a REW buck that you don't want to breed the REW doe to for some reason, then yes, breeding her daughters to a REW should result in some REW kits. I should warn you, though, that it's my belief that the rabbits know what colors you are looking for, so they are often the last ones that you'll see . . . .

It is also possible to have two colored rabbits that are both carrying REW, that when bred together, produce some REW babies. I had some Harlequins that did that, though not every litter had REW babies in it. Statistically, the chances of getting REW from a breeding like that are 1 in 4, but like I said, that doesn't mean that you will get a white baby for every 3 colored babies in a litter.

 

[Animal Mom]

Yes, I meant to say "want to keep a male"..... I personally think REWs are adorable!

We originally found the kits outside (mom had gotten out and made herself a nest in the chicken coop), so brought her and the babies inside for the safety and warmth. So, since she was outside after the first litter was born, you can guess what happened with the male! Yep, we now have another litter of 8 kits, all black or gray. She is getting a nice long break after this surprise.

Thanks for the information!