False Netherland Dwarfs

[CookieK93]

I have been breeding rabbits (homesteading) so mostly new Zealand or new Zealand x Flemish... I have done as much research as I can, but there just isn't a lot of info or pictures online, or maybe i am just blind. I am looking for images of a true ND vs a false ND. My two NDs I want to breed don't quite have the flat faces, but meet all the other standards, or maybe the examples I'm seeing are... I don't even know, to be honest.
Here are images of my local county fair "Best of Show" buck, Nugget. What would you consider him? True dwarf? False dwarf? I may need to get a side profile photo, if so, just let me know!

 

[CookieK93]

Here is a side profile of the does... maybe I am just crazy! For some reason, it doesn't look so squishy to me!

 

[Alaska Satin]

I have been breeding rabbits (homesteading) so mostly new Zealand or new Zealand x Flemish... I have done as much research as I can, but there just isn't a lot of info or pictures online, or maybe i am just blind. I am looking for images of a true ND vs a false ND. My two NDs I want to breed don't quite have the flat faces, but meet all the other standards, or maybe the examples I'm seeing are... I don't even know, to be honest.
Here are images of my local county fair "Best of Show" buck, Nugget. What would you consider him? True dwarf? False dwarf? I may need to get a side profile photo, if so, just let me know!

False dwarfs can be obvious, or they can be only identifiable when you breed them repeatedly and never see a peanut. We had a false dwarf Polish that never got very big and won G.CH. legs one after another - but out of 5 or 6 litters of 5-8 kits each, she never had a peanut, only true dwarfs and false dwarf kits from true dwarf bucks.

On the other hand, you can have true dwarf rabbits that are big and rangy. We had several true dwarf Mini Rex does that had longer ears and went over weight by the time they were older juniors. But they always had peanuts in their litters, so we knew they were not actually false dwarfs, just too big.

So, just looking isn't the litmus test.

I do think Nugget has fairly long ears and face for a ND; he's not posed, but my impression is that he's a bit longer in the body as well, all of which suggest false dwarf. Your siamese sable doe has a head and ears that are a lot more like what you're hoping for in a ND. The good news is that if the buck is a false dwarf and the does are true dwarfs, you won't have to deal with any peanuts (which I always found very sad).

If you don't have one, I'd recommend you get a copy of the ARBA Standard of Perfection, then go to an ARBA sanctioned show and listen to the judges' comments when they're assessing the NDs. That will help you refine your eye and judgment.

 

[CookieK93]

False dwarfs can be obvious, or they can be only identifiable when you breed them repeatedly and never see a peanut. We had a false dwarf Polish that never got very big and won G.CH. legs one after another - but out of 5 or 6 litters of 5-8 kits each, she never had a peanut, only true dwarfs and false dwarf kits from true dwarf bucks.

On the other hand, you can have true dwarf rabbits that are big and rangy. We had several true dwarf Mini Rex does that had longer ears and went over weight by the time they were older juniors. But they always had peanuts in their litters, so we knew they were not actually false dwarfs, just too big.

So, just looking isn't the litmus test.

I do think Nugget has fairly long ears and face for a ND; he's not posed, but my impression is that he's a bit longer in the body as well, all of which suggest false dwarf. Your siamese sable doe has a head and ears that are a lot more like what you're hoping for in a ND. The good news is that if the buck is a false dwarf and the does are true dwarfs, you won't have to deal with any peanuts (which I always found very sad).

If you don't have one, I'd recommend you get a copy of the ARBA Standard of Perfection, the go to an ARBA sanctioned show and listen to the judges' comments when they're assessing the NDs. That will help you refine your eye and judgment.

I thought Nugget's ears were a little long, I was thinking he was a false dwarf. Are there any negatives to breeding a false dwarf buck to a true dwarf doe? I've heard the does should be false and buck true. The two does are proven breeders and pedigreed. Can they be pedigreed and be false? I've never really understood the pedigree part. Pedigree is just family history, like a family tree almost?

 

[Alaska Satin]

I thought Nugget's ears were a little long, I was thinking he was a false dwarf. Are there any negatives to breeding a false dwarf buck to a true dwarf doe? I've heard the does should be false and buck true. The two does are proven breeders and pedigreed. Can they be pedigreed and be false? I've never really understood the pedigree part. Pedigree is just family history, like a family tree almost?

Yes, you're right - a pedigree is a family tree, simply a list of ancestors (for rabbits that must include their varieties and adult weights as well as names or tattoo numbers). The ARBA considers a rabbit purebred when it has at least three generations of ancestors that are all the same breed. But those rabbits can be too big, too small, wrong color, etc., without invalidating the pedigree.

Sometimes breeders use rabbits with breed disqualifications (DQs) for brood stock because they have another characteristic that will improve the herd. A good example of that is using false dwarf brood stock. If they are otherwise good examples of their breed, they can make very nice babies, with the bonus, IMO, of never producing peanuts.

The main negative someone might be concerned with breeding a false dwarf buck to a true dwarf doe would be that the smaller doe might have difficulty delivering larger kits. In my experience, that has never happened. A more common cause I've seen for trouble kindling is that the doe has pinched hindquarters, which is even more risky in breeds that have large, square heads like NDs. So keep an eye on that in your does, no matter which buck you use.

Of course false dwarf x false dwarf will only give you more false dwarfs, so that's out. But I like using a true dwarf buck with false dwarf does because a false dwarf doe is bigger, and can often carry more kits, kindle easier, and feed a larger litter just because she's bigger, as well as eliminating the risk of peanuts. But genetically there is nothing I am aware of that would preclude a false dwarf buck x true dwarf doe combination. If your does are already proven, then you have less worry about kindling trouble.

 

[CookieK93]

Yes, you're right - a pedigree is a family tree, simply a list of ancestors (for rabbits that must include their varieties and adult weights as well as names or tattoo numbers). The ARBA considers a rabbit purebred when it has at least three generations of ancestors that are all the same breed. But those rabbits can be too big, too small, wrong color, etc., without invalidating the pedigree.

Sometimes breeders use rabbits with breed disqualifications (DQs) for brood stock because they have another characteristic that will improve the herd. A good example of that is using false dwarf brood stock. If they are otherwise good examples of their breed, they can make very nice babies, with the bonus, IMO, of never producing peanuts.

The main negative someone might be concerned with breeding a false dwarf buck to a true dwarf doe would be that the smaller doe might have difficulty delivering larger kits. In my experience, that has never happened. A more common cause I've seen for trouble kindling is that the doe has pinched hindquarters, which is even more risky in breeds that have large, square heads like NDs. So keep an eye on that in your does, no matter which buck you use.

Of course false dwarf x false dwarf will only give you more false dwarfs, so that's out. But I like using a true dwarf buck with false dwarf does because a false dwarf doe is bigger, and can often carry more kits, kindle easier, and feed a larger litter just because she's bigger, as well as eliminating the risk of peanuts. But genetically there is nothing I am aware of that would preclude a false dwarf buck x true dwarf doe combination. If your does are already proven, then you have less worry about kindling trouble.

Ironically, Nugget is smaller than the does. Maybe it is age, as he is about 8 months old? I know bucks are usually smaller than does as it is, right? Plus, I know he can be a false dwarf based on 1 characteristic even if he appears to be a true dwarf otherwise.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Ironically, Nugget is smaller than the does. Maybe it is age, as he is about 8 months old? I know bucks are usually smaller than does as it is, right? Plus, I know he can be a false dwarf based on 1 characteristic even if he appears to be a true dwarf otherwise.

In many breeds, bucks are smaller than does, but in most of the dwarf breeds, including NDs, they're often about the same size. What are your rabbits' weights? NDs are supposed to be 2-1/2 pounds or less. A significant deviation from that suggests - though it is not a guarantee - that a rabbit is a false dwarf. At 8 months, your buck should be pretty much full-grown, though even dwarfs can keep growing a little after that, especially if they get fat!

A rabbit is a false dwarf based on one thing only: his genetic makeup. No matter what he looks like, if he does not carry a dwarf allele, he is a false dwarf. Maybe you already know the genetics of the dwarf gene, but in case not, here is a quick summary of why ND breeders deal with false dwarfs (and usually, also peanuts).

The allele (allele = one form of a gene) that makes a rabbit a "dwarf" is what's called a lethal recessive. That means that if a kit inherits two copies of it, one from each parent - it's called a peanut - it cannot live much past birth, though many peanuts die before birth and are re-absorbed, so you never see them. A peanut is badly misshapen, and its guts don't work right, so it starves. We call the allele for normal size <Dw> and the dwarf allele <dw>. Some genes have a bunch of different alleles, but as far as I know there are only two options at the Dw locus (locus = a particular place on the genome) - normal and dwarf.

So, most NDs have one copy of each allele: <Dwdw>, called true dwarf. But when you breed two true dwarfs, you'll get a mix of false dwarfs, true dwarfs, and peanuts in the litter, generally in ratio of 25% - 50% - 25% over time. This is a statistical prediction, so it doesn't mean you see exactly that ratio in each litter - in any given litter you could have no peanuts at all, or 100% false dwarfs, or any variation of the numbers, but over time, if you breed the animals enough, you'll eventually see all of them.

Normally, each individual rabbit will have exactly two copies of a gene, and each kit will inherit exactly one copy from each parent. You can use a chart called a Punnett Square to predict what combinations of alleles the kits could inherit. The top row is usually the sire, and the left column is the dam, with all of the possible combinations the kits could get shown in the squares. So if you breed two true dwarfs, you can expect something like this:


If instead you breed a false dwarf with a true dwarf, you get true and false dwarfs but no peanuts. The false dwarf is the doe in this chart, but it would work the same way if the buck was the false dwarf:


You can imagine that if you bred two false dwarfs - both <DwDw> - you would get no peanuts and no true dwarfs, just more false dwarfs. You'd have to add a true dwarf into the mix to get back to breeding dwarfs.

There are other genetic factors that influence adult size in rabbits, so a true dwarf can still be too big, or a false dwarf can be a very small rabbit, a great breeder and even a show winner, like my daughter's chocolate Polish, Cookie.

 

[CookieK93]

In many breeds, bucks are smaller than does, but in most of the dwarf breeds, including NDs, they're often about the same size. What are your rabbits' weights? NDs are supposed to be 2-1/2 pounds or less. A significant deviation from that suggests - though it is not a guarantee - that a rabbit is a false dwarf. At 8 months, your buck should be pretty much full-grown, though even dwarfs can keep growing a little after that, especially if they get fat!

A rabbit is a false dwarf based on one thing only: his genetic makeup. No matter what he looks like, if he does not carry a dwarf allele, he is a false dwarf. Maybe you already know the genetics of the dwarf gene, but in case not, here is a quick summary of why ND breeders deal with false dwarfs (and usually, also peanuts).

The allele (allele = one form of a gene) that makes a rabbit a "dwarf" is what's called a lethal recessive. That means that if a kit inherits two copies of it, one from each parent - called a peanut - it cannot live much past birth, though many peanuts die before birth and some are re-absorbed, so you never see some of them. A peanut is badly misshapen, and its guts don't work right, so it starves. We call the allele for normal size <Dw> and the dwarf allele <dw>. Some genes have a bunch of different alleles, but as far as I know there are only two options at the Dw locus (locus = a particular place on the genome) - normal and dwarf.

So, most NDs have one copy of each allele: <Dwdw>, called true dwarf. But when you breed two true dwarfs, you'll get a mix of false dwarfs, true dwarfs, and peanuts in the litter, generally in ratio of 25% - 50% - 25% over time. This is a statistical prediction, so it doesn't mean you see exactly that ratio in each litter - in any given litter you could have no peanuts at all, or 100% false dwarfs, or any variation of the numbers, but over time, if you breed the animals enough, you'll eventually see all of them.

Normally, each individual rabbit will have exactly two copies of a gene, and each kit will inherit exactly one copy from each parent. You can use a chart called a Punnett Square to predict what combinations of alleles the kits could inherit. The top row is usually the sire, and the left column is the dam, with all of the possible combinations the kits could get shown in the squares. So if you breed two true dwarfs, you can expect something like this:
View attachment 44036

If instead you breed a false dwarf with a true dwarf, you get true and false dwarfs but no peanuts. The false dwarf is the doe in this chart, but it would work the same way if the buck was the false dwarf:
View attachment 44037

You can imagine that if you bred two false dwarfs - both <DwDw> - you would get no peanuts and no true dwarfs, just more false dwarfs. You'd have to add a true dwarf into the mix to get back to breeding dwarfs.

There are other genetic factors that influence adult size in rabbits, so a true dwarf can still be too big, or a false dwarf can be a very small rabbit, a great breeder and even a show winner, like my daughter's chocolate Polish, Cookie.
View attachment 44038 View attachment 44039

I don't know exactly weight, but he's about 2 pounds. The does are 2.5 ish pounds. He may be a little younger than 8 months, I got him as a baby and my timeframe memory sucks, lol. I will have to go back and look at pictures to see when we got him. Yes, I am aware of the dwarf genetics/alleles. I will have to weight them in the morning, as it is dark here now and the scale is outside with our new Zealand and flemishes.

 

[5dognightfarm]

Regardless of how they appear, the only way to truly know is to breed and find out. Being a false dwarf is not necessarily based on phenotype but on genotype. Appearance can range so broadly - an extremely well bred false dwarf potentially could look more dwarf-y than a poorly bred true dwarf just based on whether it's from generations bred to the standard or not.