Rabbit Breed ID?

[Jedwards]

Hi all,

Another rabbit question this time helping with breed ID. I got these bunnies that were all supposed to be litter mates (don't think so..). I just getting back into rabbits and I am not sure which direction I am going in yet. I'm not trying to breed purebreds as I am leaning towards meat rabbits, however I do not want certain breeds like dwarf or lion head. I am thinking that most of these bunnies are mixed but I have a suspicion that the two brownish/grey ones are mixed with dwarf or something. Can anyone tell? Thanks!

 

[Bunnylady]

How old are these rabbits? With mixed breeds, it's hard to know what things like head shape and ear length mean when you don't know ages and weights. For example, all baby bunnies start with tiny ears, and how fast/long they grow is partly a function of weather. Even full sibling purebreds from different litters can wind up with different ears, depending on the time of year when they were born.

I can see that concerns about mature size could be a problem if you are looking at efficiency in meat production, but there are worse things than Netherland Dwarf to have in the mix. Dwarfs are supposed to be meaty for their frames; I knew a guy that raised Dwarfs for show, that ate his culls. If any of these rabbits has Dwarf in it, there is clearly a whole lot of something else.

 

[Jedwards]

Thank you for your reply! I am unsure on exact age but they are beginning to act like they want to breed. The 2 in question seem to be slightly smaller than the rest. I'm not sure if it's due to a difference in breed/age, although they are supposed to be litter mates. The splotches of white coloring is new to me so I wasn't sure if that was a tell tale sign of a specific breed

 

[Bunnylady]

If you have reason to believe that they are over 10 weeks of age, SEPARATE! Mounting behavior can be a dominance thing, but I have had males as young as 8 weeks do nasty things to each other.

The placement of the white splashes is a bit unusual; do you know if it was born like that, or has that developed recently? Breeds that have the Silvering gene start out colored, and develop a lot of white hairs as they mature. Some can go through some pretty awkward patchy stages before they even out. There is a breed that only became recognized by the ARBA a couple of years ago, the Argente Brun, that is chocolate colored with a lot of white hairs mixed throughout the coat. If the white areas continue to spread, that may be what you are dealing with. If the white areas are solid white and don't get any bigger, that may be the Vienna (Blue-eyed White) gene; Vienna isn't a recognized breed here, and there are several breeds that may come in the Blue-eyed White color.

 

[Jedwards]

If you have reason to believe that they are over 10 weeks of age, SEPARATE! Mounting behavior can be a dominance thing, but I have had males as young as 8 weeks do nasty things to each other.

The placement of the white splashes is a bit unusual; do you know if it was born like that, or has that developed recently? Breeds that have the Silvering gene start out colored, and develop a lot of white hairs as they mature. Some can go through some pretty awkward patchy stages before they even out. There is a breed that only became recognized by the ARBA a couple of years ago, the Argente Brun, that is chocolate colored with a lot of white hairs mixed throughout the coat. If the white areas continue to spread, that may be what you are dealing with. If the white areas are solid white and don't get any bigger, that may be the Vienna (Blue-eyed White) gene; Vienna isn't a recognized breed here, and there are several breeds that may come in the Blue-eyed White color.

The silvering is definitely spreading out, especially on the male rabbit. Thank you very much for your help!

 

[Jedwards]

If you have reason to believe that they are over 10 weeks of age, SEPARATE! Mounting behavior can be a dominance thing, but I have had males as young as 8 weeks do nasty things to each other.

The placement of the white splashes is a bit unusual; do you know if it was born like that, or has that developed recently? Breeds that have the Silvering gene start out colored, and develop a lot of white hairs as they mature. Some can go through some pretty awkward patchy stages before they even out. There is a breed that only became recognized by the ARBA a couple of years ago, the Argente Brun, that is chocolate colored with a lot of white hairs mixed throughout the coat. If the white areas continue to spread, that may be what you are dealing with. If the white areas are solid white and don't get any bigger, that may be the Vienna (Blue-eyed White) gene; Vienna isn't a recognized breed here, and there are several breeds that may come in the Blue-eyed White color.

Also I found this, https://bharabbitry.weebly.com/color-transformation.html and the rabbit appeared very similar in terms of marking during the 6 week pic when I got it to now the 8 week pic where it has spread from the cheeks/chest to even back behind the shoulder. Very cool!

 

[Jedwards]

Would this be consistent with the Argente Brun? This is the same rabbit 1 week apart.