Broken and White ear genes together?

[user 8990]

Hi everyone! Another question for those well versed in genetics. Does En and We play well together or should they be kept separate? Thank you!

 

[Alaska Satin]

Hi everyone! Another question for those well versed in genetics. Does En and We play well together or should they be kept separate? Thank you!

I don't have any direct experience with <We> but I can tell you that in all the ARBA breed standards I can think of, brokens require color on both ears. So if it was me, I would not breed brokens with <We> rabbits for that reason.

It also sounds like <WeWe> behaves somewhat like <EnEn> in severely restricting the color on the rabbit, in which case you get a charlie-like rabbit (though I have not heard any connection with megacolon as is the case with a true EnEn charlie). Brokens need a certain amount of color, so reducing that by adding <We> would not be helpful, especially since the color would come off parts of the rabbit that are supposed to be colored.

If you're not concerned with show standards, I've not heard anything health-related that would counsel against breeding En x We but again, I've not worked with the white ear gene.

 

[user 8990]

I don't have any direct experience with <We> but I can tell you that in all the ARBA breed standards I can think of, brokens require color on both ears. So if it was me, I would not breed brokens with <We> rabbits for that reason.

It also sounds like <WeWe> behaves somewhat like <EnEn> in severely restricting the color on the rabbit, in which case you get a charlie-like rabbit (though I have not heard any connection with megacolon as is the case with a true EnEn charlie). Brokens need a certain amount of color, so reducing that by adding <We> would not be helpful, especially since the color would come off parts of the rabbit that are supposed to be colored.

If you're not concerned with show standards, I've not heard anything health-related that would counsel against breeding En x We but again, I've not worked with the white ear gene.

Thanks so much for your response. These were the same concerns that I had. They just seem at odds with one another, two similar yet completely different styles. Think I’ll keep them separate.