Crash course in dwarf genetics

[user 8990]

My rescue Lionhead doe unexpectedly kindled 5 kits last Saturday and I found them on the wire scattered. They were all small but one was slightly larger. Gave her a nesting box and a heat lamp temporarily to warm them up and it looked like all was well.
Found 3 kits dead yesterday morning and they looked terrible. Thin and weird like they hadn’t grown. Eyes were odd looking too. Didn’t look right to me. The two that are left are doing fine but one is tiny and the other one is slightly larger.
I’m wondering.. Were those peanuts? Is the smaller remaining kit a dwarf and the larger one a false dwarf? There is a BEW dwarf buck in the bunch I rescued. The kits were all BEW as is the doe. Is this the dwarf gene in action?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

If a Kit gets two copies of the Dwarf gene it can become a Peanut, which are much smaller, their legs are small and a little deformed, and their eyes are very big

 

[user 8990]

That’s what they looked like.

If a Kit gets two copies of the Dwarf gene it can become a Peanut, which are much smaller, their legs are small and a little deformed, and their eyes are very big

Sounds about right.

 

[user 8990]

Had I bred this doe I’d have done the research and been aware of this. This is the second rescue to kindle here and I’m glad the window for more has closed. I must have sucker on my forehead.