I am having trouble learning how I got a red kit out of two apparently "self" rabbits. The sire is black all around. The dam is nearly black, but in the sun she looks a little bit agouti, but only in certain places. Some of her black definitely slips into brown, especially on her dewlap. There are no light underparts at all, her nearly black (almost indistinguishable from black) color is all around. From my research, a red must be agouti, however agouti is dominant and cannot be recessive in a self as her parents are. Can anyone shed some light on this?
Red satin out of two selfs?
- Thread starter Patrick
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I purchased a seal doe from a breeder that had one other rabbit available I can't remember if they were both from the same liter....I just know the breeder were floored by this rabbit showing up in the liter since it isn't a color they work with/have been breeding...can you guess? Orange! I looked back in the pedigree and WAY WAY WAY in the back there was an Orange in the pedigree. It had just been hidden for about 4 or 5 generations. Maybe that could be going on with your rabbit.<br /><br />__________ Sun Apr 01, 2012 6:29 pm __________<br /><br />But I am no expert on genetics.
It's not a red. It's impossible if the parents of the doe are self. Otherwise we could question the doe's color. How old is the kit? Some colors will start out pink including REW, ee, and some of the C locus colors like himi and some will even grow light brown fur at first. If it's reached that stage it's more likely a tort. These are lionheads but they look the same as kits. Scroll down a little less than halfway and you'll find torts. http://www.freewebs.com/northeastlionhe ... deplus.htm Unlike red the points will turn black as they age and they can get swirly grey up the sides which fades away again. Some are really light and look almost red while others get dark points within weeks.
Hi, thanks for your input. I believe I have found the answer. I think my dam is displaying the Es (steel) gene. This is disguising her agouti white underparts and turning her agouti fur almost purely black. Now that I know this, there is some more genotype info to fill in, lol.
Devon's Mom Lauren
Well-known member
I was about to say your doe sounds like a steel! The other thing is now you know that both parents carry non extension as well! Both the steel and wideband genes will mess with agouti making it sometimes hard to tell. Pleasant surprise getting a red though! 
You said the dam was out of 2 self on her pedigree though so the whole thing is messed up. With any other livestock registry they would not let you recognize the dam or the offspring until the grandparents were verified since it's genetically impossible. Only works with rabbits cause no one is there to say otherwise.
