Specific "unhealthy" breeds?

[rotdogz]

Hello!

I was wondering if there were any breeds that, in particular, are considered especially unhealthy? Mostly wondering about any with genes/appearance (like shortened snouts, ect) inherent to the breed that have negative side effects, less just congenital issues common in their bloodlines.

I could just google "unhealthy rabbit breeds," but I'm well aware that all purebred animals will have specific issues, so that's not really a help to me I'd rather get opinions from people who actually breed/know a lot about this stuff, haha

 

[tambayo]

Lop ears are more prone to infection. Short/spoon ears skull deformities? And due to ears needed for regulating bodytemperature even more trouble with heat.
Otherwise dwarfism brings problems (like 2 dwarf genes giving peanuts, max. life expectancy 11 days from what i saw). Gigantism brings problems on the other end. So look mainly at the ears and the size in relation to a wild rabbit. If there are breeds with problems you are likely looking at inbreeding or not putting health and ability to thrive under the care of that breeder above a breed standard problem.

My smallest buck was soso digestion wise, although both daughters (from different does) are very healthy. Rest is to big for dwarf problems and close enough to wild rabbit size to not run into other problems on that side, add normal ears and not related does and bucks. I have seen no health issues in my small herd so far.

I am so far not aware of the kinds of health problems from breed standard or inbreeding problems in rabbits that plague certain cat, dog and horse breeds or even the dwarf goat that here is now an anorexic weaner that doesn't produce enough milk to raise its own kids.
But the breeding registry for rabbits basically is an open registry, if the rabbit looks like breed X it can be registerd as such regardless of the paper/not papers state of the parents. Most if not all cat, dog and horse breedregistries/studbooks are closed, if the parents aren't in the books, neither will the offspring be welcome. Some proof of working as the breed exeptions like isds border collie, but mostly just no and in some a eugenics still normal attitude.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Hello!

I was wondering if there were any breeds that, in particular, are considered especially unhealthy? Mostly wondering about any with genes/appearance (like shortened snouts, ect) inherent to the breed that have negative side effects, less just congenital issues common in their bloodlines.

I could just google "unhealthy rabbit breeds," but I'm well aware that all purebred animals will have specific issues, so that's not really a help to me I'd rather get opinions from people who actually breed/know a lot about this stuff, haha

I've not had any issues with infections in lopped ears; in fact I've never had a rabbit get an ear infection, other than ear mites, which are equal-opportunity parasites.

However, I've found that the small breeds with broad and/or massive heads - Holland Lops and Netherland Dwarfs in particular, but possibly also American Fuzzy Lop, Jersey Wooly and Dwarf Papillon - sometimes have trouble kindling. Especially a doe with even a slight tendency to pinched hips can really struggle to birth live kits.

The same breeds can tend toward malocclusion, which may result from the relative widening and shortening of their heads and muzzles. In fact as the pendulum swings toward Polish breeders and judges preferring wider, more blocky heads, we are seeing in problems with malocclusion in that breed as well.

In addition to producing peanuts, dwarf breeds seem to have a tendency to have GI issues, possibly as a result of that single dwarf gene <dw>. In the homozygous state, <dw> makes peanuts, which have, among other problems, insufficiently developed guts. It is my suspicion that rabbits heterozygous for <dw>, called true dwarfs, may suffer from a similar though reduced impact of the gene on their gut development. One of the reasons I think this, is that in our Mini Rex, we had issues with mucoid enteritis in true dwarfs, but never saw a case in a false dwarf. We've also had a little trouble with mucoid enteritis in our true dwarf Hollands.

All rabbits are subject to back injuries, but very large rabbits, especially those with longer bodies (Flemish Giant, Rhinelander, Checkered Giant, Giant Chinchilla, English Lop) can be more prone to spinal issues. Not only does their skeleton have more weight to support, but due to their size they can be more challenging to handle safely, further increasing the risk of back injuries.

Breeds that are spotted, especially those that are recognized only in a broken pattern (Dwarf Papillon, English Spot, Checkered Giant, Rhinelander) will often produce "charlies" (Blanc de Hotots and Dwarf Hotots are extreme cases as they are charlies by design). These rabbits are homozygous for the broken colored allele <En>, and they have much less color than a normal heterozygous broken, and also have a tendency to develop an intestinal condition called megacolon. Not only is this uncomfortable for the rabbit and difficult for an owner to manage, but it can show up later in the rabbit's life to become an unhappy surprise to someone who bought what they thought was a healthy rabbit. Charlies can be avoided if the breeder of the above-named breeds uses only broken x solid sport crosses, but some breeders do not have the patience or space to keep many solid sports as they cannot be shown. (A "sport" is a variety/color/pattern that is not representative of the breed.)

@tambayo said:
But the breeding registry for rabbits basically is an open registry, if the rabbit looks like breed X it can be registerd as such regardless of the paper/not papers state of the parents.

Not exactly. If a rabbit looks like breed X, it can be shown as such at an ARBA show. However it cannot be registered in the ARBA studbook unless it has a pedigree showing at least three generations of purebred ancestors, as well as meeting the minimum standards of its breed, including minimum senior weight; reaching at least 6 months of age; and having an owner that is a current member of the ARBA. So in a way, ARBA registration is more restrictive than the cat and dog registries, in which entire litters of substandard animals can be registered.