Mini Rex kits and length of ears

[Typykal]

Wondering if some of you more experienced breeders can enlighten me with your wisdom and experience here.

I've got to pull keepers from a very nicely bred litter of mini rex. I was super lucky to get a very nice black doe off of the 2008 BOSV MR Nationals black buck - and even more lucky to have her bred to last year's 2nd place broken buck at ARBA convention. Both the sire and Dam of this litter are about 3 1/2 lb tiny rabbits with nice short thick ears. I really want to keep these bloodlines to found our stock on.

The kits are a few days over 7 weeks old now - and until recently they all looked pretty good as far as the ears go. But they have started to grow some ears on them and as I'd like to put these guys on the tables next show season it is concerning me a bit. I've got a super nice broken black doe that currently has 2 and 3/4" ears - but she's super deep and I think that she will handle them well. I've got a very nicely colored tort buck that has 3" ears but again - he's super deep and wide so I think he may handle them....if they don't grow anymore and DQ. I would like to keep one of the black does too - one has the densest fur so far in the litter and is the inkiest black I've ever seen, but she seems to lack some depth and has 2 7/8" ears...the other black doe is much deeper but not quite as good fur or color and the ears on that one are over 3", longer than her head.

What is appropriate ear length on kits this age? Is it normal for them to suddenly sprout like this at this age?

The pet shop called for me to bring the "cull" bunnies in tonight so I'm down to the wire on deciding lol.
Any advice you can offer would be appreciated =)

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

The kits are hitting the "uglies" right now and may be out of proportion, but usually if the ears bend past the rabbits' nose then they may be too long. I would at this time just go for the best type and fur. And yes at 7 weeks they do suddenly sprout! It isn't really the best time to cull out and depending on lines they may either mature very quickly or real slow-like... What are the lines? I may know them.

 

[akane]

Mine are usually done with ear growth by 8-10wweks and they do go through an ear growth spurt just after weaning. Their body soon follows and they get in to the awkward teenage stage with big ears and lanky body for a few weeks. Eventually their body matches their ears and they start putting on muscle instead of growing out. Usually by weaning you can get a pretty good idea of how well the ears are going to match the rest. At least with the small breeds I've dealt with who had ear requirements. The MR are a little harder than the netherlands since they are allowed a larger range of size. Now the large breeds which grow slower and don't have ear requirements I generally have no idea what the result will be. The checkered giant crosses are looking quite amusing with ears as long as their bodies right now.

 

[Typykal]

Good to know that they do sprout at this age...making me nervous with the sudden growth spurt like that this week. I ended up keeping the 3 I have been eyeballing from the get go - the broken black doe, the tort buck, and the black doe with shorter ears and better color and fur - she's not going to be as deep of a doe as her sister would have been I don't think - but the type is still very very nice on her. I do like the type on the other two a bit more though.

Devon's Mom Lauren - these guys are off a buck bred by Maple Kelly. The doe I have is mostly off of Maple Kelly's stuff too with a bit of Minnow Lake's through her Dam's side. These guys are staying pretty pure with the Kelly's breeding.

Thanks for the input you two! It's been kind of a crash course for me in selecting my keepers out of our first litter, unfortunately there just isn't a lot of information out there on how to go about it. Can't wait to see how they grow up =)