chocolate question

[BalloonMountain]

Hello, I have a color question for all you experts. This may sound like a no brainer to you all but trying to figure out what you guys talk about here is like brain surgery to me.
We have been raising rabbits for a long time but mostly meat rabbits and if we crossed anything we also crossed our fingers and hopefully came up with rabbits colored like a bag of skittles. That never really worked out very well.
Anyway, we would like to "paint" some of the rabbits into chocolate coats. We have crossed our purebred chocolate Satin with purebred NZB and Champagne D'Argents. All the litters are fat and happy but every single kit is black. I figured this was normal but I was wondering if I save does from these litters and rebreed them back to Mr.chocolate Satin dad if those offspring would come out chocolate?
Thanks in advance for your help!

 

[DevonW]

Every single one of those kits will carry chocolate so you can expect that breeding them back to a chocolate will result in litters about 50% chocolate and 50% black.

 

[BalloonMountain]

Thanks for the info. Looks like we will try to start a little chocolate factory.

One other question then, I have a broken chocolate buck just weaned from a breeding of our chocolate satin Buck to a broken chestnut agouti mixed doe. If I grow out this little broken chocolate buck and breed him to the black does from the chocolate satin Buck / NZB and Champagne crosses, could I expect some chocolate Selfs, some blacks and some broken chocolates or is there too much other stuff going on there using a crossed broken chocolate Buck?

Wow, I think I just confused myself. I hope this makes sense. Thanks again for your help.

 

[eco2pia]

You could get chocolate selfs, blacks, broken chocolates, and broken blacks. the broken gene is completely independent of the solid colors, so if you breed a broken to a solid you can get any of the colors the mix would produce, plus broken versions of any of those colors. I like brokens it makes looking in the nest box like a surprise party!

I don't think the agouti color can be carried by a chocolate. So it won't show up later, you will be getting just chocolates and blacks, and brokens of each (unless someone carries a dilute gene, or the REW gene, but nothing you have said so far indicates that).

 

[BalloonMountain]

Thanks for the answers. It is amazing to me how well you all know and understand this stuff.

That was a better answer than I was even hoping for. It really gives us some direction to shoot for instead of just blindly breeding and wishing for.

I'm already looking forward to breeding these little guys this fall.
Thanks again, what a great help!

 

[eco2pia]

Lol, I learned it all since I joined RT last June--I just love genetics. I would be casually breeding for meat, and not even on this forum, if it weren't for the giant sudoku puzzle of genetics. I don't actually know much yet, but I sure love it. I would breed something no matter what--plants if there was nothing else.

Now, Devon, up there ^^^, really knows her stuff! :bow:

 

[ottersatin]

The reasoning behind your breeding would be:
That the offspring get one color gene from each parent.
From a Black and Chocolate parent the offspring would get
a from the Black and a from the Chocolate.
Making the kit though it is genetically [Bb] to appear Black
as Black is Dominant over which is Chocolate.
Breeding those Black [Bb] back to a Chocolate will create the chance
of getting either a from the Black or a from the Black which is [Bb]
from the Chocolate which is [bb] the kit can only get a .
This will create both Black and Chocolate offspring.
All of the Chocolate offspring produced will be [bb] while
all of the Black offspring will be [Bb].
Does that help any?
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[BalloonMountain]

Yes, Thanks it is actually starting to make sense a little. I'm still a bit confused when it comes to the whole broken thing and modifiers and such. But a least it sounds like getting chocolates is doable in just a few generations so that is very exciting to me, Thanks again!