Just a heads-up:
The Oregon State page
Extension.Oregonstate.edu/animals-livestock/poultry-rabbits/understanding-genetics-behind-rabbit-coat-colors-part-2-coat
may be a bit obsolete (there's no publishing or copyright date that I could find), and it doesn't cover many of the known alleles that are commonly encountered in the USA (or Europe). Those include Dutch <
du>, wideband <
ww>, vienna aka Blue-Eyed white BEW <
vv>, and white ear <
WE>. It's also so simplified that it may be confusing to someone with a beginning-intermediate knowledge of the basic workings of rabbit coat colors (e.g. the descriptions of some of the alleles on the C and E loci might confuse).
The Barrow Bunnies site
Barrowbunnies.com/basic-colour-genetics.html
also may be a bit dated (indicates only 5 main loci, copyright 2008, since which time there have been a few important updates). It also uses some common name for colors relating to the C locus that are
not commonly used in the USA (e.g. their description of "Fox" which in the US is usually attached to a non-extension otter, not chinchilla-based; and "Marten" which in the US usually refers to a chinchilla-based tan pattern - in the US "Sable Marten" is the common name for a sable-based marten). This site also suggests that all colors are based on alleles in the homozygous state, which might be pretty confusing for beginners.
One of the best primers I've found is ABC - About Bunny Colors by Ellyn Eddy
View attachment 45465
https://www.allthingsbunnies.com/ABC-About-Bunny-Colors-p/bks107.htm
https://rabbitsmarties.com/product/rabbit-color-genetics-book
Not only does it give a quick overview of basic Mendelian genetics, but it covers the 5 "main" coat color and pattern loci as well as most of the other alleles governing colors and patterns frequently encountered in the US. (I believe it was published before the white ear gene <WE> became common in the US, so it does not include that locus.) It also goes into some basics about how the various alleles interact, which is quite often the source of color identification struggles for beginners.
It's got a lot of reference photos which are very helpful, though they aren't the most ideal since it's self-published, I believe, so the photo quality isn't the best; but in that case, it
is inexpensive! It's a paperback book, which I prefer over websites because I can carry it with me to shows and look at it without staring at a screen (and it won't disappear unexpectedly).
Another website I send people to is
https://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-coat-color-genetics.html
It covers the "main 5" loci but also introduces the idea of modifers, and gives a bit more practically useful information about the interactions among alleles that produce most of the colors that beginners find challenging.
My favorite website for color identification in normal fur is
https://gbfarm.org/rabbit/holland-colors-matrix.shtml It is a photographic matrix
The genetic code appears at the heading of each variety, so you can figure out many interactions using basic logic.
