new Zealand rabbit genetic question

[Syl in Tucson]

Bred same buck to another REW NZ and she had her babies last night. All the babies are white this time. (Well, they're pink) Didn't count on that! Also another HUGE litter. Not sure what it is about the number 13, but it keeps coming up. I hope this momma is better able to feed her brood than the other momma.

 

[TKJohnson]

We have a Cali buck that we have bred to our two NZ does.....one broken blk/wht and one red. The Cali genes must be strong because, out of the 8 kits that our broken doe had, 2 were broken blk/wht like her and the other 6 all turned out to look like Calis. Our red NZ doe just had her kits last week......looks like she has all black or cali-looking babes. We haven't bothered them, so I don't know how many of each she has yet.

 

[Bunnylady]

We have a Cali buck that we have bred to our two NZ does.....one broken blk/wht and one red. The Cali genes must be strong because, out of the 8 kits that our broken doe had, 2 were broken blk/wht like her and the other 6 all turned out to look like Calis. Our red NZ doe just had her kits last week......looks like she has all black or cali-looking babes. We haven't bothered them, so I don't know how many of each she has yet.

Sorry about that, but I feel better, having gotten that out of my system.

It's just that I have heard people say that sooooooo many times, and that just isn't the way it works at all.

If this buck is a purebred Cali, he has two copies of the Cali/Himi/pointed gene at the C locus. All of his babies will get a copy of the pointed gene from him, because that's the only thing he has to give in that place. In the C series, there are 3 or 4 genes that are dominant to the pointed gene, and one (REW) that is recessive to it. Since your does aren't pointed in color, what they have determines what the babies look like.

You say that your does are New Zealands; one broken, one red. For simplicity's sake, I will assume that they are purebreds, and are just carrying genes that are typically found in New Zealands.

Since these does aren't NZW's, they clearly have at least one copy of the full-color gene. Full color is dominant to both pointed and REW, and just looking at them, you can't know if they have one copy of full color and one of REW, or two copies of full color.

Any baby that gets the full color gene from its mother will be full colored - that means that they have the ability to produce both black and yellow pigments, in whatever places on their bodies that the rest of their genetics allow them to.

If a doe produces a white baby (either REW or pointed) that means that the doe has a REW gene. A doe with one full-color gene and one REW gene has an equal chance of giving either gene to any particular baby. Put another way, every baby has a 50% chance of getting the full color gene,and a 50% chance of getting the REW gene.

For each baby, it's like flipping a coin. With your buck, you know what he's going to give - the pointed gene, since that's the only thing he has. If the doe gives the baby the full-color gene, you get a full-color baby. If the doe gives the baby a REW gene, well, REW is recessive to pointed, so you get a Cali colored baby. In any given litter, you could get all Calis, no Calis, any combination of Cali and full colored babies, and it's still just like flipping a coin that many times. Genes don't overpower each other to get inherited, it's only in getting expressed that dominance comes into the picture.

 

[Kenneth F]

Sorry to he jack this thread but I have a question on the cali rabbits is it possible to cross them and keep the colored points on a different color than white?

Thanks
Kenneth

 

[Bunnylady]

Sorry to he jack this thread but I have a question on the cali rabbits is it possible to cross them and keep the colored points on a different color than white?

Thanks
Kenneth

Simple answer - no. If you get colored points on a colored rabbit (for example, Sable Point), that is because the rabbit has fun things like the shading gene and/or the non-extension gene, not because of the Himi (Cali) gene. It is possible to see colors like that in rabbits that have one Cali parent, but it would be because of dominant genes inherited from the other parent, not the Himi gene.

 

[Kenneth F]

Ok thanks are there any meat breeds that have the shading genes?

Simple answer - no. If you get colored points on a colored rabbit (for example, Sable Point), that is because the rabbit has fun things like the shading gene and/or the non-extension gene, not because of the Himi (Cali) gene. It is possible to see colors like that in rabbits that have one Cali parent, but it would be because of dominant genes inherited from the other parent, not the Himi gene.

 

[Bunnylady]

The American Sable:


At 7 to 10 lbs, the Sable is a medium- sized rabbit with commercial type.

 

[Molly Sunshine]

While we are on the subject of nzw genetics. I am new to rabbits, and am hoping someone can help me out. We had our first litter last week, we also have some babies from the same pair that we got when we bought the parents. The dame is NZW and the sire is broken but his markings are grey/faded, I'm not sure what his coloring is considered.
The babies that we bought with the parents are: REW, grey (agouti? White belly and such), black, and the same as the sire. The babies that are just a little over a week now are:4 REW, 1 grey (again agouti? ) and 2 that are either like the sire or just broken black, I can't quite tell yet. Can anyone tell me what genes the parents possibly carry?

 

[bentley-tude]

I bred my new zealand white to my brown/gray and got a red new zealand. the colors in the white ones genes are still there, they are just supressed. I didn't get one single albino in the group of 4.

 

[CavalierCrazy]

This is all very interesting to me! I am just getting into breeding New Zealands and have no idea what I am going to get. I am really excited to hear that not all the babies out of my REW are necessarily going to be REW. Rabbit color genetics are way more complicated than I expected. I have Cavalier King Charles Spaniels and they have only 4 genes for color, so it is very easy to keep track of.

My buck is a very handsome guy and is black. He is actually very nice as far as type. His mother was a blue and his dad was a black. My doe is an REW. I know that bot of her parents and all of her siblings were also REWs. Is it possible that she could have some black or blue babies? Would love to have something other than just all white babies. I plan to keep several of the does from her first litter.

Also, I was told that if a doe has more than 8 babies in a litter that you should cull any extras. It seems like I have heard people talk about does raising bigger litters than that. Opinions? I don't want to cull more than I need to. I am raising rabbits for meat, so I want to butcher them later, but I don't want to cull little babies if their mothers could have raised them. On the other hand, I wouldn't want to risk an entire litter by overwhelming the doe.