Help picking Netherland colors?

[urchin_grey]

As I said in my intro post, I'm interested in getting a few rabbits, particularly Netherlands and Hollands. I'm a cockatiel breeder already so the animal breeding thing isn't new to me... but I've only had one pet rabbit before (of a different breed) so I'm a little lost as far as genetics go.

I'm going to start with Netherlands simply because the breeder I've chosen has quite a few litters due soon (in fact, one kindled this morning) so she will have a ton of babies to choose from. The litter this morning is all chocolate but she has just about everything in her herd. Chestnut, squirrel, orange, blue, otter, chin, black, silver, broken, REW, VM... you name it, she's probably got it. lol

Anyway, I know cockatiel genetics top to bottom, front to back, but I'm totally lost on rabbit genetics!

What colors would be best to start with if I'm going for type over color? And should they all be the same color or can at least one be a different color (for the sake of variety)?

I know it's recommended to start with a trio but would it be over doing it to start with 4 does/2 bucks? We are moving in the fall and will have a spare bedroom we plan to dedicate entirely to our future rabbits so we'll have the space (our birds will be in the temp controlled garage because they have to be kept at 80+ degrees F and it is my understanding that bunnies have to be cooler). The breeder is 4 hours from me so I don't look forward to having to visit her a second time but I will if I have to. lol

Or if I do start with only a trio, can the babies (from each mother) be bred together even though they'd be half siblings? With birds, even 1st cousins is a no-no so breeding anything remotely related is new to me.

Anyway, since the babies won't be weaned and ready until August, I want to spend that time researching! Any other tips would be greatly appreciated. TIA!

 

[TwoAcreDream]

Hi
I'm no expert on colors, so can't help you with that.
I recently bought some Netherland dwarfs. The seller gave me full disclosure so I knew I was buying 2 with health problems.
Well his price was cheap and it was either I buy them or they go for animal food. Since I been wanting to add the dwarf line,
to my other pet lines, I took my chances.
Maybe you can get someone locally to show you how to check rabbit's for health issues, etc.
I always check their ears, teeth, nose and their private parts. I want to know for sure what sex rabbit I am buying.
So by checking the sex, I can check for other problems at the same time.

Good luck to you with your purchase plans.

 

[urchin_grey]

Good call! These babies will be freshly weaned when I get them so I'll have to learn how to determine sex in such little ones. Being able to tell them apart at all is a bit exciting for me as well though because you can't do that with birds! lol

The breeder I'm going with has a FB page so I've been following her there. She seems very open about quality and will disclose if a bun is "pet quality" and has bad teeth, poor type, etc.

Oh, and maybe someone can answer this... This particular breeder occasionally also has senior does for sale and will sell them bred if desired. That seemed like a good idea to me, because then I'd possibly have kits from a buck other than my own to add to my herd. So, good idea? Or better to go with all babies?

 

[Dood]

i would recommend you not get "freshly weaned" babies. It is recommended, and the law in some states, that rabbits be over 8 weeks old before being sold and it takes time for them to get use to solid food, combined with the stress of moving to a new home it could easily lead to enteritis and possible death.


It depends on why she has decided to remove the doe from her program - if they have an aggressive temperament or produce defective kits (ie Max Factors, hippos, peanuts) or have a lot of still borns or have poor mothering skills etc... then I would pass

If you want to show you should pick one or two compatible colours to avoid producing unshowable colours which tend to be more popular in the pet trade

 

[urchin_grey]

Oh, I didn't mean that fresh! lol These litters are all due this week or so and I won't be getting them until some time in August (at 8+ weeks old).

I've personally passed up sales because I keep my cockatiel babies 2 weeks past weaning (many breeders around here will routinely send their babies home unweaned) because I'm more concerned for the baby's health than someone's feelings. lol So yeah, I'm a huge stickler for waiting until babies are ready for new homes.

I know what you mean though, I always question why anyone is selling any breeding animal unless they're closing up shop altogether. So I'll definitely be careful there.

I think I do want to show eventually, but probably not right away. I'll probably stick with 2 colors though just so that I don't end up with a ton of babies carrying a mess of colors!

 

[fhjmom]

Since you want to be able to show eventually, you need to learn about compatible colors to reduce non-showable offspring. There are a ton of varieties in Netherlands that are showable, but a lot that aren't, too. Even some of the non-showable are useful if you know how to use them, though. There are some combinations to avoid (like chocolates in your shaded lines) because most people who do shaded don't want to take the chance of introducing chocolate carriers. Agouti, selfs, and otters mix well if you want a variety of colors that can be bred together and they also tend to be easier to get in good typed animals. For someone starting out, I would avoid REWs and BEWs/VM until you have a good grasp on genetics behind them as they are white rabbits that mask the color genes behind them.

As far as someone selling a brood doe, that is not at all uncommon if she has produced better than herself. Many breeders will keep a daughter or few and then move the brood doe on to someone else. If you want to move the herd forward, you keep the better offspring and move the moms. It doesn't mean there is anything wrong with the doe they are selling at all. In Netherlands, as with any breed that carries the dwarf genes, peanuts are part of breeding dwarf rabbits. Statistically, 25% of kits born to a true dwarf to true dwarf breeding will have the fatal double dwarf (i.e. peanut) combination. It isn't a defect that you want to avoid because it means that your rabbits carry the desired dwarf gene. Many breeders believe that Max Factor carriers are better typed dwarfs and so a doe that produces MF is desirable as the littler mates to those often do very well on the show table (according to some breeders). I don't have enough experience to speak from yet, but I do have one junior that is almost show age, that is the best we have produced to date, and his litter mate was a MF DOA kit.

If you are serious about raising Netherlands, I cannot recommend enough that you join the ANDRC. They have a wonderful Guidebook that comes with your membership that discussed colors and genetics more, as well as the genetic issues that come along with raising Netherlands. We love this breed and hope you enjoy them, too!

 

[urchin_grey]

Awesome. I'm doing some reading about colors now. I'll definitely just stick to solid, agouti, and otter for a while. Which should work out well anyway because this breeder should have plenty of all 3. She had more litters born today/yesterday... I believe from choc, broken choc, squirrel, and chin does. She's got one blue otter for sale right now though so I'm sure she'll have more of those too.

Thanks, all, for the help! I wasn't even sure exactly what to Google for some of this stuff! lol But now at least I'm pointed in the right direction.