mini rex/standard rex mix Can I up-size?

[Legacy]

The rabbits genetics is all greek to me. I have read and read and still it seems to be just words that mean nothing in my head.

I have a standard blue rex. (from my understanding all blues in her pedigree too-the breeder was breeding for show and always bred in pairs of the same colors)

I want some harlequin or tri colored standard rexes but they are so hard to find in any color much less those 2. Mini rexes are easy to find in lots of colors.

My question is what would I get if I bred a harlequin or tri mini rex buck to my standard doe? Would I get the colors? Would I get the size of a standard? would it take many generations?

 

[akane]

Blue from all blues will likely be EE and it takes ej to make harli and tri so none the first generation. The offspring will be Eej and look like full colors such as blues or blacks. If you bred the offspring back to the mini rex side or each other you'd get some but you'll cut the size back down again. Your blue doe would be only marginally useful because every time you breed back to her to try to recover the larger size you'll lose the harli/tri for another generation. You also won't suddenly get or keep getting standard size rex. Most will be somewhere in between with some small like mini rex. Every time you cross to the mini rex you get more small ones again because you add the dwarf genes back in. The size difference is not an on/off gene pair. There are many dwarf genes that stack together to make various sizes. You would have to breed them all out to get up to standard rex size which would require breeding away from the mini rex side and away from the color you want.

Most likely you'd need more standard rex does and use the mini rex just to introduce and test the offspring for the ej gene. Then cross the offspring to each other and the standard rex rabbits trying to keep the ej gene there long enough to get rid of the dwarf genes and produce harli/tris. On top of that when you cross out of the tricolor group you risk messing up the pattern and colors. It's suggested to only breed them to each other so you will have to fix the color even after you get it set in the correct size rabbits.

Easier to drive a few states and find some standard rex of the color you want. You'll end up spending less time and money.

 

[Legacy]

Thank you. :? I was afraid of that.

 

[ladysown]

Now if you got some brood sized mini rex the issue wouldn't be as bad, particularly if you kept the biggest ALL the time. Brood sized mini rex can hit 6 lbs....and standard rex are supposed to be what... 9???

so continually breed back and forth. For the short term it would serve you well and you can eat mini rex...they have a good meat body. Then as you had time you could go find standard MR in alternative colours and work up from there.

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

Yes if you can find Mini Rex that don't have the dwarf gene to begin with its not that hard to do. Funnily enough you will probably be able to find Harlequin/tri's that are defiantly brood easier than other more established colours.

 

[Legacy]

That sounds promising. I love those colors. I do have a hard time finding any rabbits around here though. I guess because of the brutal Texas heat. Maybe as we start getting into the spring, I will find more.<br /><br />__________ Thu Dec 29, 2011 2:51 am __________<br /><br />Oh, I just had a thought. My blue rex is blue otter, would that make a difference? or is it still the same answer?

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

"Harlequinized Otters" both those genes seem to blend with each other on the same rabbit.. but if you choose the self kits in the next generation it won't matter!

 

[TF3]

Reviving an old thread here... *zombie*

But this has me curious as I am finding so few standard breeders and so many mini breeders!
If you hit standard size (after a gen or two) -- it is ok to use a large MR die with a standard buck?
Better than MR buck to standard doe?)

 

[skysthelimit]

Reviving an old thread here... *zombie*

But this has me curious as I am finding so few standard breeders and so many mini breeders!
If you hit standard size (after a gen or two) -- it is ok to use a large MR die with a standard buck?
Better than MR buck to standard doe?)

From experience, haveing Rex that don't reach SR weight, it might be more than a generation or two.

Many Rex are having a hard enough time on their own reaching weight adding a dwarf gene or even smaller rabbit gene might make it pretty darn hard to get back to weight.

Eventually, instead of breeding up my Rex, I culled them and got new stock, because two and a half years into it, they actually get smaller, that seems to be how it works, genetics leans towards the middle.

__________ Sun Jun 28, 2015 5:34 pm __________

Also consider Rex does can be quite a bit bigger than Rex bucks. The Standard calls for 7.5# for bucks, and up to 10.5# for does.

If I could not get Rex in a color I wanted, I would rather sacrifice fur and use a meat breed than sacrifice size and use a MR.

They are not actually the same body type either.

 

[TF3]

Thanks!
I think my backup choice will be Argent (also a challenge to find LOL)

 

[caroline]

Come to California on a vacation.
I just had a family from AZ contact me before they made their trip and stop here @ 6am on the day they were driving home to pick up their bunnies
I have Harlequin, Tricolor in both broken and charlie, broken red, and red, all they varieties that you can use for breeding the harlies and the tris.
Some of my bucks [and does] have been 12 lbs. That's plenty big for the size you are looking for

 

[Zinnia]

So, this is all interesting. I just bought two SR and their fur is OK. I have a mini Rex and just picked up another today (lady said she was pretty sure she was a SR, but she's a year and just 4 pounds, so...no).
These two MR have WAY nicer fur than the SR. Is that about normal for Rex? Will I never really find a SR with that awesome wool? I know nothing about the breed. Just learning. I too wanted to try to breed the MR up in size, but there's a LOT I just don't know about those dwarf genes. <br /><br /> __________ Sun Jun 28, 2015 8:39 pm __________ <br /><br /> Oh, Caroline NOT FAIR! Those buns are beautiful! When are you coming to the midwest?

 

[caroline]

Oh, Caroline NOT FAIR! Those buns are beautiful! When are you coming to the midwest?

I went to school in St. Louis for a year from 1967-68. That was enough of being so far from the ocean
But the ARBA convention is in Portland, OR in October. You should make the trip and come by way of CA :lol:

 

[skysthelimit]

So, this is all interesting. I just bought two SR and their fur is OK. I have a mini Rex and just picked up another today (lady said she was pretty sure she was a SR, but she's a year and just 4 pounds, so...no).
These two MR have WAY nicer fur than the SR. Is that about normal for Rex? Will I never really find a SR with that awesome wool? I know nothing about the breed. Just learning. I too wanted to try to breed the MR up in size, but there's a LOT I just don't know about those dwarf genes.

__________ Sun Jun 28, 2015 8:39 pm __________

Oh, Caroline NOT FAIR! Those buns are beautiful! When are you coming to the midwest?

No that is not the normal. But there are so many more MR breeders than Rex, it's the dwarf rabbit thing. The harder to find, the less developed and more likely you will get poorer specimens. It also depends on the colors you got as well.
Rex just take some searching to find, and being a bit more rare, if you want awesome fur, you want to get them from the older (I mean that in the most polite way) long time breeders who know there stuff. I have good fur but... I got my stock from people who had been breeding that line for years, and she/he both got their stock from the serious old time breeders.

I'd sure like something from Caroline. A friend in MI, I think, showed me a ped for a bun she wanted to get that comes from Caroline's stock. When I get back together, I'm going to get some transport from Convention to me

 

[Zinnia]

So, this is all interesting. I just bought two SR and their fur is OK. I have a mini Rex and just picked up another today (lady said she was pretty sure she was a SR, but she's a year and just 4 pounds, so...no).
These two MR have WAY nicer fur than the SR. Is that about normal for Rex? Will I never really find a SR with that awesome wool? I know nothing about the breed. Just learning. I too wanted to try to breed the MR up in size, but there's a LOT I just don't know about those dwarf genes.

__________ Sun Jun 28, 2015 8:39 pm __________

Oh, Caroline NOT FAIR! Those buns are beautiful! When are you coming to the midwest?

No that is not the normal. But there are so many more MR breeders than Rex, it's the dwarf rabbit thing. The harder to find, the less developed and more likely you will get poorer specimens. It also depends on the colors you got as well.
Rex just take some searching to find, and being a bit more rare, if you want awesome fur, you want to get them from the older (I mean that in the most polite way) long time breeders who know there stuff. I have good fur but... I got my stock from people who had been breeding that line for years, and she/he both got their stock from the serious old time breeders.

So.... Anyone ever gets near WI, just let me know... OK? I'd love to get some nice Standard Rex. I love the ears on the SR! I don't want to get in over my head, so I'm thinking of parting with my MR.
I'd sure like something from Caroline. A friend in MI, I think, showed me a ped for a bun she wanted to get that comes from Caroline's stock. When I get back together, I'm going to get some transport from Convention to me

<br /><br /> __________ Mon Jun 29, 2015 4:13 pm __________ <br /><br /> Sheesh. Can anyone tell me how to quote only PART of a post?

 

[skysthelimit]

Sheesh. Can anyone tell me how to quote only PART of a post?

When you see the quote, you have to highlight and delete all the stuff in between where the quote starts

that you don't want. <br /><br /> __________ Mon Jun 29, 2015 5:37 pm __________ <br /><br /> For WI, try Marty Adams.

She raises mostly odd colors like Sable and Cal, but she does have some lilacs and Chocolates.

And someone else in WI, I forget, gotta search FB for the names.

 

[caroline]

For WI, try Marty Adams.

She raises mostly odd colors like Sable and Cal, but she does have some lilacs and Chocolates.

I got a chocolate buck & a lilac buck from her a couple of years ago. I had them brought back to central CA from the convention. So that's a great way to get stock if you plan ahead around convention time and find someone who wants to make gas $$. I think the rate now is about $35 each way, depending on how far the trip is.