Hmm..bunny opinions?

[IcarusSomnio]

I went on a mission today to get some nice 'set up' pics of my buns to post up on here, since most of the time it's more along the lines of "bunny eating...bunny eating...bunny completely ignoring the camera and investigating something else"

Well, I failed miserably! BUT! I did get some of my broken blue doe, Toe Socks. I was reviewing the pics I got and realized how much I really like her conformation. I'm seriously considering putting her in my BEW breeding program. Opinions? She's not set up really well, I was trying to get pictures as fast as possible before she went off investigating.

 

[dbunni]

What breed are we evaluating?

 

[IcarusSomnio]

Quote:
Chinchilla x Flemish. She's a really nice, heavy doe, my biggest currently.

 

[dbunni]

Which chin breed? I only ask because of the chin breeds you have 2 different body style requirements. (Semi arch vs commercial)

 

[IcarusSomnio]

Quote:
I'm going a bit out on a limb here, but I'd have to say the American Chinchilla (commercial type). I honestly don't think that the Giant Chinchillas are 'around' in my area. Theres only one purebred Flemish breeder thats really producing as of this year, the rest are crosses and meat breeders. The American Chinchillas are pretty popular just because they make for nice little meat bunnies and they have a cute color.

My bet is that her sire was a Chinchilla and her dam a Flemish, though

 

[Bunnylady]

I'm thinking that at least one of her parents couldn't have been purebred, because neither Flemish nor any type of Chin is allowed to have any white on them (though Flemish do come in REW). The Chin would have to not be purebred, because this doe is Self, not Agouti, and a purebred Chin would have two Agouti alleles. She does seem to have the Flemish body type.

What is your goal with this BEW breeding program? If all you want to do is produce BEW colored rabbits, any animal will do, type is irrelevant. But since there are several very different body types, if you cross rabbits with different types, you could get wildly different types in the same litter (some combinations could look really dreadful!).

 

[NewHopePoultry]

How old is she?
Looks like an American Chinchilla cross.
If you were closer, theres always free & cheap giants on my local craigslist

 

[IcarusSomnio]

Quote:
My ultimate goal is thus:
5-6.5lb rabbit, semi-arch type (honestly, I just prefer it over other types), exclusively BEW. Eyes should be clear, china blue, with a bright white coat. Accepted into the ARBA and shown.
My personal rabbitry goal is to produce a BEW rabbit that meets the Standard of Perfection (or as close as humanely possible) with five generations solid BEW.

I really do enjoy the BEW color but honestly, I haven't found a rabbit with BEW as an accepted color that I like. I'm not fond of the small breeds (other then the Dutches, which I have a small side project going with) I really don't like the heads.
I find the giant/large breeds to be, well, too large. And the medium breeds are generally all Commercial type. Which is lovely, but I don't find it as attractive as the semi-arch.

It's definately a long term goal. I'll have to introduce Flemish and Flemish crosses (like Toe Socks) into the lines for the type. I'm kind of hoping to find a doe with nice type and small size

My Vienna herdsire is really just perfect. Commercial type, if I recall, but BRIGHT, crystal clear blue eyes. Solid blue with no brown, just stunning. I have two of his kits who share the same eye color out of a self-black Havana doe (she has a few stray white hairs, but otherwise is a lovely color). Expecting another litter in about a month. Pretty stoked about it

It's a long term goal thats going to take a lot of fancy breeding. I'm hoping to find some nice Flemish and Flemish cross does to introduce into the program, I want to avoid line breeding until I'm well into purebred BEW with the looks I'm after.