New Zealand Rabbit looks steel but has white belly???

[BranchBlossomBunnies]

Hey there, so I'm trying to figure out what color this little doe is. I'm only breeding for meat, not for show so it doesn't really affect anything either way, I'm just really curious. I'm pretty new to rabbit genetics so maybe it's just as simple as "sometimes steels can have white bellies" or " no, she's just a dark chestnut/ her fur will lighten" but everything I've read thus far on steels indicates that they don't have white bellies, and chestnuts should be more brown, help!

Her dad, Oak, is a chestnut (but may be mixed with another breed, no idea) , Mom, Rose, is a REW out of Oak and a Californian. I've gotten chestnuts, steels & REWs so far out of him. One of his steel sons(Rose's littermate) produced super dark steels (nearly black but had just the faint agouti) & blacks when bred with a Californian so maybe there are blacks in Oak's genetics too, idk.

Here she is (I was doing a size comparison here, she was very tiny but is now almost the same size as everyone else)

Here's a comparison with her and her definitely steel brother:

And a comparison with dad

She looks slightly more brown than the definite steels but not nearly as brown as the chestnuts from the previous litter were at the same age. Maybe her coat will just continue to change as she gets older?? Anyway, figured I'd ask on here to see if anyone may have an answer, thanks!

 

[Bunnylady]

Baby colors can be a bit weird; I've had Chestnuts that were 3 different shades as small kits, but were indistinguishable after their junior coats came in. Since she has a light belly, light color in her ears, light eye rings, etc, I'd say she's a Chestnut.

 

[BranchBlossomBunnies]

Baby colors can be a bit weird; I've had Chestnuts that were 3 different shades as small kits, but were indistinguishable after their junior coats came in. Since she has a light belly, light color in her ears, light eye rings, etc, I'd say she's a Chestnut.

Thanks for the reply! I havn't had many chestnut babies yet so maybe I just havn't had enough to compare with. I have had another kit who I thought was black but at around 8 weeks it looks like he has some agouti fur coming through so he's actually just a really dark steel, all of his littermates are solid black still though - maybe just the same sort of issue with her, we shall see!