I'm confused...

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

So, my 10/11 week old buns are all molting for the winter. Most of them seem to be staying the same color they were at birth, but I have a couple that are changing colors. The most recent of these changelings is a broken black doe I have. When she was born she was VERY clearly black and not chestnut (her black ears were solid black with no 'white' on the inside). However, when I was out feeding today I noticed that the black on her body has turned into some sort of dark agouti and the black on her head has stayed the same.

Mom is a broken chestnut mutt and dad was a REW satin. I swear that these rabbits and their changing colors will be the end of me.





For a comparison, before this last week or so, the little broken doe's black spots were as perfectly black as her sister in the picture below (from the same litter... the silver fawn<?> is from a different litter/sire/dam).

 

[Dood]

It could be the silver gene but she should be changing to white and not yellow/brown therefore it is likely the steel gene.

The kits are born looking black, then the gold starts creeping up around the back of the neck and often the head and ears are darker, and almost black, in adults but not always- see pics

Technically she is a "broken gold tipped steel" and your REW must secretly carry it since your chestnut doe would be steel herself if she had one.

 

[skysthelimit]

Or she could just be a broken with excessive scattered white hairs. My previous herd sire Elmo is like that, and all of his broken black kits are like that. That is why he is my previous herd sire.

 

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

It could be the silver gene but she should be changing to white and not yellow/brown therefore it is likely the steel gene.

The kits are born looking black, then the gold starts creeping up around the back of the neck and often the head and ears are darker, and almost black, in adults but not always- see pics

Technically she is a "broken gold tipped steel" and your REW must secretly carry it since your chestnut doe would be steel herself if she had one.

okay, so here are some more pics. Based on what a quick google search pulled up, and you said, my senior doe is a Broken Gold Tipped Steel as well, and the two agoutis are Gold Tipped Steel. I attached some pictures of Mama with her current litter and some other pics of the older kits from her previous litter (if it's orange/fawn it's not hers). Each breeding was to the same buck (REW).

Also, how do you tell the difference between say a chestnut/agouti (are they diff. term for the same color?) and a gold tipped steel?

Mama w/ current litter




Mama's previous litter

 

[Dood]

Agouti is often used to describe chestnuts but it really represents a coat pattern and you can have black agouti=chestnut, blue agouti=opal, lilac agouti=lynx, and chocolate agouti is just chocolate agouti, except in Rex, but lets not go there

Unfortunately steel is a highly variable colour, sometimes it is obvious and the kits look like very dark agouti but sometimes the difference is subtle and a side by comparison, or getting steel kits, is the only way to tell.

Often newborn steel kits are mistaken for blacks or develop a dark or sooty grey belly instead of the cream seen in regular agouti.

 

[Zass]

The easiest way for me to tell a strongly marked steel from an agouti is the eye rings, belly color, and ear lacing. The steels won't have it.

A lightly marked steel and a black can look a lot alike. yep yep, and sometimes it takes a while for all the steel color to come in.

 

[JessiL]

Your broken kit with the weird colors coming in can't be a broken agouti because of the dark insides of the ears - agoutis always have white there. I think it's a broken steel, but not sure if it's gold-tipped or silver-tipped.

One thing that an agouti rabbit has that steel rabbits don't is proper rings to their fur. Blow on the colored patch of your kit and see if there are visible layers. If so, that's an agouti pattern. If not, it's steel or silvering (much less likely).

 

[caroline]

Agouti chocolate agouti, except in Rex, but lets not go there

But I WANT to go there! Amber is one of my favorite colors

 

[Peach]

Looks like a possible steel... Usually ticking ones in right away or over the course of a few months. My charger busted, so I can't add an image cause my computer is dead :< brokens are the hardest to tell when there is a a lot of white. Usually I can tell a steel once it has furred out some if it has color at the base of the ear. You will see the faintest amount of ticking.

You can usually tell an agouti by the inside of the ears at birth. They will be white.

I have gotten steeled chestnut before and those are a bit weird. My friend actually had to tell me because I was stumped.

 

[PSFAngoras]

The easiest way for me to tell a strongly marked steel from an agouti is the eye rings, belly color, and ear lacing. The steels won't have it.

I have a gold tipped blue steel doe, she has the eye circles and ear lacing that agoutis have, though the cream is missing from the inside of her ears. The only other difference between her and and an agouti besides the obvious color band switch up on the hairs is that her belly is grey. It is possible for them to have the agouti markings on the face. It's probably a disqualification in the show ring, but it's possible.

 

[Zass]

The easiest way for me to tell a strongly marked steel from an agouti is the eye rings, belly color, and ear lacing. The steels won't have it.

I have a gold tipped blue steel doe, she has the eye circles and ear lacing that agoutis have, though the cream is missing from the inside of her ears. The only other difference between her and and an agouti besides the obvious color band switch up on the hairs is that her belly is grey. It is possible for them to have the agouti markings on the face. It's probably a disqualification in the show ring, but it's possible.

good to know, thanks! There's so much variation possible with steel

Here's two from my litters last summer. Both are steel,
It took a while for the ticking to show up on that broken too.
I guess you can see some agouti marks on the nose of the more obvious steel there, and dark ear lacing. It's still missing the eye circles though.

 

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

Goodnes... I say it every time, but the colors on these guys are crazy! We have a lot of similar colors with rats, but nowhere NEAR as many variations. I swear that one day I'm going to give up on determining the colors on these guys and just be like... Brown, Orangecicle, Spotty, etc.

 

[Zass]

Goodnes... I say it every time, but the colors on these guys are crazy! We have a lot of similar colors with rats, but nowhere NEAR as many variations. I swear that one day I'm going to give up on determining the colors on these guys and just be like... Brown, Orangecicle, Spotty, etc.

Orangecicle rabbits are good...cause they can't carry steel!

Just remember, amber and orangecicle are very different colors.