The case of the incredibly floofy kits...

alforddm · Dec 18, 2015

These are the fluffiest kits I've had yet. They are just so extremely cute! They are 1/2 standard rex and 1/2 who knows what. Their mom has longer thicker fur than the normal meat rabbit but she was not this fluffy when she was a kit. I'm guessing it's a combination of mom's longer fur and dad's rex density.

They will be 4 weeks old on Monday.

There are 7 in this litter and they are all about the same about of fluffy. Just showed up better in these images.

MaggieJ · Dec 18, 2015

I wonder if there may be some French Angora in their background. I had some "incredibly floofy kits" popping from time to time in my meat mutts. Two I grew out to about six months and they looked almost the same as French Angoras. But alas! I'm not into regular grooming sessions with rabbits, so they ended up going to freezer camp after all. But they were nice rabbits and very fast growing compared to their litter-mates.

alforddm · Dec 18, 2015

MaggieJ":ub6id5q1 said:
I wonder if there may be some French Angora in their background. I had some "incredibly floofy kits" popping from time to time in my meat mutts. Two I grew out to about six months and they looked almost the same as French Angoras. But alas! I'm not into regular grooming sessions with rabbits, so they ended up going to freezer camp after all. But they were nice rabbits and very fast growing compared to their litter-mates.

I suppose it's possible the dam carries something. Her sire was my first buck and he always had fur that was a bit softer and longer than a normal meat rabbit. I always thought maybe it was a bit of silverfox or something. It would be bad if any of them actually ended up with angora fur because that would mean my rex buck carries a wool gene :x .

Maybe I should keep a male kit and breed him back to his dam...

Zinnia · Dec 18, 2015

I must say those look just like my fluffy angoras at 4 weeks. My French and Satin angoras grow our well enough for meat.

alforddm · Dec 18, 2015

Y'all have me worried now. My intention was to show off my cute floofy kits. Now I'm worried I have something in the woodpile. I guess If they turn out with angora fur I'll have something to play with. It will seriously screw up my rex program though....

These kits are the sweetest I've had yet in my year of rabbits. The broken chestnut in the pictures is the first to the cage door to get petted every time.

Why is it that with rabbits there seems to ALWAYS be something to worry about?

Zinnia · Dec 18, 2015

I am always up for some fun and mystery in the rabbitry. They look like candy to me. :cheer2: I would just have fun with it.

Zass · Dec 19, 2015

They ARE floofy, but it may not be angora. Some of my SF crosses almost looked like angora crosses as kits too, but by 8 weeks, not so much.

michaels4gardens · Dec 19, 2015

alforddm":1pmny8yo said:
Y'all have me worried now. My intention was to show off my cute floofy kits. Now I'm worried I have something in the woodpile. I guess If they turn out with angora fur I'll have something to play with. It will seriously screw up my rex program though....

These kits are the sweetest I've had yet in my year of rabbits. The broken chestnut in the pictures is the first to the cage door to get petted every time.

Why is it that with rabbits there seems to ALWAYS be something to worry about?

the more you actually see, = the more you understand= the more you worry, = ignorance is bliss.

alforddm · Dec 25, 2015

Well, it's been a week and if anything they are even fluffier. The image shows how long the fur is on one of the kits.

MamaSheepdog · Dec 26, 2015

Are pics one and two of the same kit? From the front it looks like it has normal textured fur (but long), whereas from the side it looks more like wool or primarily undercoat, as seen in Rex.

I believe it is your duty to get to the bottom of this genetic mystery, so you MUST keep at least one of them.

alforddm · Jan 16, 2016

The first and second pictures in the primary post are the same kit. I do intend to keep at least one. I'm waiting to see how the fur turns out to decide. I may have to keep two. I'm going to have to add more cages. :lol:

So, by eight weeks I should be able to tell for sure if any have angora fur? <br /><br /> __________ Sat Jan 16, 2016 4:42 pm __________ <br /><br /> Well, They are almost 8 weeks old and it's pretty obvious that this point that they do not have angora fur. However, they are incredibly soft. I'm going to keep one of the bucks and breed him back to his dam and see what I get.

Here are some pics of one of the kits with the super soft fur. It's almost as if they have no guard hairs. I don't have much experience with different fur types but this doesn't fly back or roll back when you rub it. It just stays there. I tried to get a picture of it.

Bad Habit · Jan 16, 2016

isn't that a silver fox trait(the staying how you rub it hair)?

The case of the incredibly floofy kits...

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