Colors of NZs - red, white, black??

[FourRingCircus]

I currently have NZ whites (and one lone Creme d' Argent that my son picked out) - 6 does and one buck... I am talking with someone on CL about some reds (9 babies for $75) with hopes of keeping a buck and maybe a doe out of the bunch. I also might meet up with a RT member about a black sometime in the future. Is there any benefit to one color over another? I know nothing about color genetics (I have read through a few threads about it, but it's still Greek to me)... if I start mixing them, what will some of the offspring options be?

I'm trying to decide if I just want to stick with whites for now to keep it simple, or have fun with the process and mix things up a bit.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Remember that white hides everything, so those whites could have steel, red, black, or white backgrounds. Whites are the ultimate genetic mystery if you don't know their backgrounds. If you cross reds and blacks, you can end up with chestnut agoutis, blacks, or possibly reds. If you cross white and reds, you'll likely end up with both whites and reds.

The reds are the "smaller" of the NZs, bucks are supposed to max out at 11lb and does at 12. The whites are larger, you might want to read Grumpy's posts since he does whites. I don't know about blacks. I hear broken black NZs are the new development.

If you have the time, room, and desire, why not mix it up?? Keep track of what colors you get from each litter for your records!

 

[FourRingCircus]

If you have the time, room, and desire, why not mix it up?? Keep track of what colors you get from each litter for your records!

Twist my arm a little harder :lol:

I currently have 7 does (6 NZW, 1 Creme) and 1 buck... only a couple of the does have had litters for me so I am still in the process of figuring out breeders. I do have 3 hutch spaces open, and 6 empty metal cages... plenty of room, right??

Interesting about the white covering over other colors...

 

[EnglishSpot]

Isn't that interesting about the white?? I never knew till I read it here!! Are your whites red-eyed? Blue eyed? Black eyed? Each of those eye colors has different genetics behind it, which may give you a better indication of what each carries.

RT will make you a rabbit geneticist yet!

 

[FourRingCircus]

They all have pink eyes (which are slightly creepy, in my opinion )

 

[katiebear]

They all have pink eyes (which are slightly creepy, in my opinion )

OH, say it aint so....Not another p.e.w./r.e.w. hater. ....(jk) I love my p.e.w. flemish meat mutts... Now a r.e.w. rat.... there is creeeepppyyy....

 

[Marinea]

One of the things I like best about my colorful NZ buns is looking in the nest box and seeing all the colors. I say, go for it!

 

[Dood]

Crossing reds to whites will likely produce mostly chestnut and/or steel which are not showable colours but for personal use it doesn't really matter

 

[FourRingCircus]

I'm not too concerned about showing at this point, especially since I don't have pedigrees on any of the ones I currently have. Maybe someday... not sure. My son is starting into 4H so that's one avenue we might take with them.

 

[Schipperkesue]

If the carcass appearance is a concern, then white may be your best bet as the hair is less visible if it gets on the meat.

 

[FourRingCircus]

I got pics of the reds from the seller and I started having second thoughts... there was something about them that made me pause. On one of them the eyes looked off, not sure if it was just because of coloring, or illness. I don't know. And the fur on a couple others didn't look so good either. I am probably being paranoid, but I am tired of buying not-so-good rabbits :angry: .

 

[EnglishSpot]

Pictures don't always do justice, either. Is there any way to visit the rabbitry first?

 

[user 4533]

I recently purchased 5 TAMUK rabbits. The colorful mutts not the NZW. LOL REW is creepy :twisted: . But now we have 7 total rabbits, 5 does and 2 bucks. They are all different colored and I can't wait til they can start having kits. Doe colors: black NZ w/brown spots (prior purchase), charcoal, brown, BEW, silver/chinchilla. Buck colors: NZ red (prior) and agouti from TAMUK. Currently the black NZ doe is 28 days along and was bred to the NZ red, what should we expect for colors?

 

[Dood]

You should start another thread and post pictures of the doe and buck

 

[Nika]

I saw some beautiful broken NZ here on rabbittalk and with my lack of colour-knowledge I must ask how do you get them? We have only whites and reds, would I have to import one or can I "make" it myself?

 

[Dood]

You should start a new thread.

The broken gene must be introduced from another breed or imported broken NZ

 

[FourRingCircus]

I recently purchased 5 TAMUK rabbits. The colorful mutts not the NZW. LOL REW is creepy :twisted: . But now we have 7 total rabbits, 5 does and 2 bucks. They are all different colored and I can't wait til they can start having kits. Doe colors: black NZ w/brown spots (prior purchase), charcoal, brown, BEW, silver/chinchilla. Buck colors: NZ red (prior) and agouti from TAMUK. Currently the black NZ doe is 28 days along and was bred to the NZ red, what should we expect for colors?

I just looked those up and that looks really neat! How fun to see the variety of colors in each litter! <br /><br /> __________ Wed Jun 17, 2015 9:14 am __________ <br /><br /> Ah well... moot point anyway. I totally forgot to call the guy and he just sold all of his stock.