Pictures! Agouti kit from 2 Self parents? Steel gene

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I've gotten to the point in my own breeding program where I've just stopped trying to see if they were steels, because my lines threw so many masked steels anyway that looking at their visual appearance was kinda futile. They might give themselves away by showing ticking...or they might not bother, and just pretend to be selfs for the rest of their lives.

__________ Mon Feb 02, 2015 12:18 am __________

Hmm, you know what? My lightest blue steels aren't even showing their ticking in the photos I have.
Here's a pelt of one that had a fair amount of ticking:
[album]2236[/album]

I might have some blue steels in a current litter though, I get them all the time, since every doe I'm using right now is Es :roll:
 
Ooooh... Steels make pretty pelts!

Well, I just looked at that Blue Steel again. He's way more tawny over his back now. Surely a Steel.

OK. The two most suspected are litter mates. And there ARE two Steels. A Lilac doe and Chocolate buck siblings.... gotta be them. But, I want to prove it out to be sure. I wish the breeder would be more helpful in telling me what their parents threw... if there was anything fishy there. I'd love to save myself from having to breed those two suspects again.
 
I am finding just that, Zass. Not many people are familiar enough with it. I do know this breeder told me recently that she did have Steels and got rid of them. So, I'm guessing she may not have known that the Selfs could be Steel, too. But, I'm not upset at all that I needed to be Sherlock in this case. Learning is part of the fun and now I know how to see the sneaky ones and not let them slip as breeders (in case one did not want them in their line).

I'm getting a Tort doe back today to borrow. I'm going to try to use her for a couple litters to see if I can get some clean Self rabbits back in my lines. Even if just get a quality Tort out of her to keep, I'll be set up for breeding some of those clean Chestnuts in the future to get some clean lines.

__________ Fri Feb 06, 2015 8:34 pm __________

Zass, do you have experience with how a rabbit with A-------Ese would present itself as opposed to A-------EsE?
 
Ese rabbits seem to be as variable as any other form of steel. I think A_ EsE tend to have "better ticking," but I have no way to back that up.

Frequently A_ Ese rabbits just look like self, so they get confused with super steel EsEs but others have visible steel ticking.
I recently posted this odd confirmed Ese kit on a different thread, you can see our conversation over here: stumped-on-kit-color-lilac-or-sabled-something-t23816.html He's near the bottom of the page.

It actually looks like a steeled tort somehow. :shrug: I have no explanation, but I'm pretty sure that I'm not the only one to have seen these.
 
Thanks for that link. Very bizarre looking coloring!

OK. That's what I thought I read on the Agouti Ese appearance.

Those lovely kits that all look non-Steel that I last posted.... They all have wide band bellies (pure white, no slate under color). I'm really hoping that this doesn't dash my hopes of confirming them non-Steel... What do you think? Oh, and they would have to all carry a recessive e, since mom's a Fawn.
 
Pure white is good. Steel extends the darker colors. I don't believe a wideband steel would abolish that trend. I know it almost seems counter-intuitive at that point...and I've never produced wideband steels, so I don't have any hands on experience. It's just my best guess.
:) I've yet to see a steel have "pure" white anything.
 
Zass":22bxmau3 said:
I probably hold the record....actually. I hope the mods don't ever decide to share just HOW MANY times I edit most of my posts. :oops:
Click to expand...

The posts do show how many times they've been edited. :p ;) :D
 
I know it's alot because your posts keep getting bumped back to the top after I've read them. Until you said you edited, I couldn't figure out what the heck was going on :lol: :lol:

That is what I get for hitting refresh on the unread posts page... :popcorn: :mrgreen:
 
Here's an update!

It was the sibling pair of solid colored rabbits I bought that were Steels. :detective:

The buck was really Aa bb Cc Dd Ese Chocolate Agouti Steel and SOLID Chocolate.

The doe was really _a dd Cc dd Ese I still don't know if she, too is Agouti. But, I am guessing she is a Self Lilac Steel.

It would be really hard for me to cull them if I loved their wool, but I don't. So, they'll be removed from my herd and I now have LOTS of kits to raise for meat. Well, all but one :) The last Steel litter to be born had the most perfect little Chestnut Steel doe. I'm keeping her just for fun! I may run a separate, controlled Steel line. I figured it was such a journey working out the mystery I might as well keep a souvenir!
:cauldron:
What fun Steel colors will I make now....
 

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