Colors

[AShelBunny]

So I breed for meat. But I thought for fun I could experiment with colors.

Also book suggestions on color genetics?

I was going to get two more does if these are my bucks what would you get for fun color options?

I have a black broken doe New Zealand

I'm working with New Zealand or Tamuk breeds

New Zealand black (but looks like a silver Marten)
Tamuk Harlequin (had magpie siblings and harlequin parents)

 

[ladysown]

that colouration means it's not a new zealand. Might be a new zealand mix. All I know about Tamuks is they are heat tolerant and come in a variety of colours. If you want a variety in your colours.... go with the tamuk.

 

[AShelBunny]

that colouration means it's not a new zealand. Might be a new zealand mix. All I know about Tamuks is they are heat tolerant and come in a variety of colours. If you want a variety in your colours.... go with the tamuk.

The black one?

Do you think with these bucks I could get a white with lots of white kits?

 

[Alaska Satin]

So I breed for meat. But I thought for fun I could experiment with colors.

Also book suggestions on color genetics?

I was going to get two more does if these are my bucks what would you get for fun color options?

I have a black broken doe New Zealand

I'm working with New Zealand or Tamuk breeds

New Zealand black (but looks like a silver Marten)
Tamuk Harlequin (had magpie siblings and harlequin parents)

The best book I know for starting to understand coat color genetics is the outstanding book ABC - About Bunny Colors by Ellyn Eddy:
https://rabbitsmarties.com/product/rabbit-color-genetics-bookhttps://www.allthingsbunnies.com/ABC-About-Bunny-Colors-p/bks107.htm
In common English, not "science-ese," it takes you from the basics of how Mendelian inheritance works, through the five major gene series that produce rabbit coats colors, plus several additional series (Dutch, Vienna, Silver, etc.). It has color charts that I still refer to after years and years of studying this topic. It also has a handy color translation chart, helping you understand, for instance, that chestnut, copper and castor are all the same color genetically, but called something different in different breeds. It's really a great start, and will make all the other resources, especially some great ones on the internet, comprehensible.

@ladysown is right, that silver marten coloration means the buck is probably not a full New Zealand (although I've had very interesting colors pop out of NZ Whites when I bred them with Blacks, Blues or Reds; I've found NZWs often carry steel or chinchilla).

As far as fun colors, harlequin might all you need. That e(j) allele can mix things up and keep life pretty interesting! Breed him to your broken doe for possible tricolors. Agouti does (chestnut and chinchilla) can give you more harlequins, and also harlequinized agoutis.

The silver marten colored buck - which has a tan allele a(t) plus a chinchilla allele c(chd) - can be crossed with an otter or a chestnut. If the otter carries chinchilla, you'll get otters and martens; if the chestnut carries chinchilla, you'll get chestnuts and chinchillas. Either way, all his bunnies may inherit the tan and/or the chin. He may also be hiding a self a behind his tan a(t), which means you might get selfs if you bred him with a black, blue, chocolate or lilac. And there are any of three other possibilities (shaded c(chl), himalayan c(h) or REW c) behind his chin c(chd). Breed him with a REW to see which it is.

The black one?

Do you think with these bucks I could get a white with lots of white kits?

If either of the bucks carries a REW c behind his dominant allele (which is full-color C in the harlie and c(chd) in the silver marten), breeding him with a REW will probably give you some white bunnies.

 

[AShelBunny]

The best book I know for starting to understand coat color genetics is the outstanding book ABC - About Bunny Colors by Ellyn Eddy:
https://rabbitsmarties.com/product/rabbit-color-genetics-bookhttps://www.allthingsbunnies.com/ABC-About-Bunny-Colors-p/bks107.htm
In common English, not "science-ese," it takes you from the basics of how Mendelian inheritance works, through the five major gene series that produce rabbit coats colors, plus several additional series (Dutch, Vienna, Silver, etc.). It has color charts that I still refer to after years and years of studying this topic. It also has a handy color translation chart, helping you understand, for instance, that chestnut, copper and castor are all the same color genetically, but called something different in different breeds. It's really a great start, and will make all the other resources, especially some great ones on the internet, comprehensible.

@ladysown is right, that silver marten coloration means the buck is probably not a full New Zealand (although I've had very interesting colors pop out of NZ Whites when I bred them with Blacks, Blues or Reds; I've found NZWs often carry steel or chinchilla).

As far as fun colors, harlequin might all you need. That e(j) allele can mix things up and keep life pretty interesting! Breed him to your broken doe for possible tricolors. Agouti does (chestnut and chinchilla) can give you more harlequins, and also harlequinized agoutis.

The silver marten colored buck - which has a tan allele a(t) plus a chinchilla allele c(chd) - can be crossed with an otter or a chestnut. If the otter carries chinchilla, you'll get otters and martens; if the chestnut carries chinchilla, you'll get chestnuts and chinchillas. Either way, all his bunnies may inherit the tan and/or the chin. He may also be hiding a self a behind his tan a(t), which means yu might get selfs if you bred him with a black, blue, chocolate or lilac. And there are any of three other possibilities (shaded c(chl), himalayan c(h) or REW c) behind his chin c(chd). Breed him with a REW to see what they are.


If either of the bucks carries a REW c behind his dominant allele (which is full-color C in the harlie and c(chd) in the silver marten), breeding him with a REW will probably give you some white bunnies.

I love it when you reply to my posts you're full of information!