Mini Rex breeding question

[floridabelle]

Ive searched high and low for an answer but haven't found one. My question is- if I breed a mini rex to another breed or to a mix, will I be able to breed the offspring to a rex and get rex kits? I know the original offspring will not have the rex fur.

 

[Bunnylady]

Short answer - yes.

The Rex coat is recessive; an animal needs to inherit the gene for it from both parents in order to have the Rex coat. Any animal that has the Rex coat will give that gene to its offspring. When you cross a Rex to a rabbit with a normal coat, all of the babies will get a copy of the Rex gene from the Rex parent, and a copy of the gene for the normal length coat from the other parent. These babies will have normal coats, but they will have one copy of the Rex gene. When you breed them, they will give the Rex gene to some of their offspring, and the normal coat gene to the others. If the rabbit you are breeding the Rex cross with has a Rex coat, some of the babies will have Rex coats, and some will have normal coats.

Some people will tell you that half will have Rex coats, and half will have normal coats, but the math isn't that simple. Each baby has a 50% chance of getting the Rex gene from the crossbred parent, and a 50% chance of getting the normal coat gene. If you could breed the two rabbits together enough times to get 1000 offspring, roughly 500 would have Rex coats, and roughly 500 would have normal coats. In a sample group as small as a single litter, you could get all Rex, or all normal coats, or any combination of the two - it would be exactly like flipping a coin that many times.

 

[floridabelle]

Thank you SO much Bunnylady! Best answer I could have asked for.

 

[Bunnylady]

You're welcome. Thank you for asking a clear, specific question - it makes answering so much easier!