Thinking About Starting Rex

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

So, I have had a standard Rex buck for several months, because I wanted to show and sell him. Well, I haven't been able to take him to a show and my mom is attached to him, so I am going to try and find a doe to breed him with.

He is a Castor, so what color should I get to breed to him?

I want to breed them for all purpose, meat, show, pet, pelt, the whole enchilada (pun intended :lol.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I would stick with castor- you could get a broken doe so you will have some fun patterns to look forward to.

From http://mr-colors.tripod.com/

**CASTOR- is our 1st color in Group 1- there are many variations of castor color, some too gray, some too light, and some too dark. The castors that are doing so well on the show table today should not be crossed with other colors- it will only do harm. Breeding a red in one time to intensify the red band is fine if your castors are gray, but you should only breed Castor to Castor after that. Any reds produced from a Castor/red cross should probably be culled as they may carry heavy ear lacing and blue under color. Breeding to Opal will cause the Castor offspring to carry too much black on the surface color, and be very gray around the lower hind quarters.

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

If I bred castor to castor, would I get only castor? Or could I get other colors too?

 

[Miss M]

The adult Rex I have are all castor, and the litter I got from breeding two castors has one REW in it. I was told that they carried white, and she thought they also carried black and maybe dilute.

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

So..... I'll only get castors?

 

[Miss M]

It all depends on what is in their ancestry. I bred castors and got castors -- and a REW. This is only my first litter, so I'm really hoping that I'll also get some blacks and maybe blues and fawns or whatever they're called in Rex lingo. <br /><br /> __________ Wed May 27, 2015 12:00 am __________ <br /><br /> But I'd stick with MSD's advice and get him a castor or broken castor doe. That doesn't mean you won't get other colors in the nestbox, but she says it's the best way to keep the castor color good.

Maybe you can get stock from her. :mrgreen:

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

He has opals, seals, and a few other colors. I'll post a picture of his pedigree in the morning.

 

[Miss M]

Maybe MSD will be able to help you with all that, then. She is one of our RT Rexperts.

I don't even pretend to know anything about Rex. We just started with them.

 

[caroline]

I am one of those Rex rabbit people who LOVES variety and so I don't follow the "only breed castor to castor" advice.
This castor buck is from a REW doe bred to a lilac buck


and his genotype is:

Aa Bb Cc Dd E_

It may even be
Aa Bb Cc Dd Ee :lol:

So far he has sired: Amber, Black, Black Otter, Blue, Blue Otter, Castor, Chocolate, Chocolate Otter, Lilac Agouti, Opal & REW. [He even sired a Surprise chinchilla out of a black otter doe that I didn't know was carrying chin ]
Like I said, I LOVE variety!

 

[Dood]

By mixing colours with Rex you often loose show quality and/or fur quality and the market for "pet" Rex that are interesting colours but 8+ pounds is practically zero

It is EXTREMELY difficult to have the "whole enchilada" with a small herd and many colours which is why so many meat and fur breeds can only be shown in ONE or 2 colours - ie : American Chinchillas, Palominos, Cinnamons, Hotots, Champagne D'argents, Silver Fox, Beveren, Americans, ect...

If you want to show I recommend you pick one colour OR forget about being comptative in the show ring and just breed for meat and pelts for yourself

 

[caroline]

By mixing colours with Rex you often loose show quality and/or fur quality and the market for "pet" Rex that are interesting colours but 8+ pounds is practically zero...If you want to show I recommend you pick one colour OR forget about being comptative in the show ring and just breed for meat and pelts for yourself

I admit that I am not in this for the show wins. And my experience is that there are a lot of people who are interested in what standard Rex rabbits offer. Since they are not as available as the minis, I have had a number people who have come from out of state just to get a trio to start their herd. I work on herd improvement by only keeping the kits with best the conformation in any litter, regardless of color. And I love that there are so many possibilities! Eight litters due today and I can’t wait to see what the universe provides for my enjoyment!

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

I'm not in it to win necessarily, but I do want to show, and I'll be keeping a couple mini Rex does out of my litter to show, and I am going to show my Rex buck.

Also, like caroline, I want lots of colors, which is why I'm looking outside of castors.

I know somebody who has Mini Rex's, and her two does are out of my Rabbitry and she bred a red to a chocolate otter and she got castors.

 

[3mina]

I breed for the whole enchilada and my stock is doing better and better. Admittedly, showing is my last priority but I'm happy with the comments I get from the judges. Colour can be sorted out, structure, fur density, and type is harder so start there. Yes, weird things will show up in the nestbox but that's why we have freezers.

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

I don't even think I'll be able to go to shows that often anyway. I do want a rainbow in my Rex litters. Could I get an otter? Maybe chocolate? <br /><br /> __________ Wed May 27, 2015 10:40 am __________ <br /><br /> I found this article on http://www.oaktreerabbitry.com/home/breeding

CASTOR/COPPER/CHESTNUT
****************

CASTOR is an Agouti with multiple colors on the hair shaft. The castor will be a rich mahogany color over the body head and legs, intermediate ring color of rufus red with a slate blue undercolor. Color on the belly will be white to a creamy tan with a slate blue undercolor. Brown eyecolor. The Castor is faulted for having too much black tipping, graying along the sides rather than brown, bars on the front legs. The belly is faulted for having a lack of blue undercolor.

Some comments about the Castor would be that some lines are slower to develop the belly color. If your animal reaches the age of Sr and still lacks the proper color, I would consider culling this animal.

Castor is an Agouti and care should be taken when breeding this animal. Color that compliment one another would be: Opal, Red, Lynx or Otter.

Reds can be used to improve the rufus red, but be careful of bringing smut into your Red lines.

 

[3mina]

Otter is recessive to castor but dominant to self. I prefer otter myself so that's what I breed. I have two castor bucks I use in my tri program. (Still not sure how those showed up here :? castor isn't my favourite colour) I'll use them with all my does since they have the shoulders I need though and they'll improve the coats in my tris too.

When I first started with my Rex I was breeding only for meat and I was happy with just that for a couple of years. Then I joined the local rabbit club and along with new friends I found a new interest and direction for my herd. I've been working on improving pretty much every trait I see in them, as well as recreating a couple of *gasp* scientific experiments.

Hmm, that reminds me, I'd better do some updating and some note taking.... wanders off scribbling

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

I honestly don't like the otter color in Standard Rex. I'm breeding them in the minis, but I don't like them in the standards for some reason. I think I'll probably get a chinchilla with lots of colors (or another one I like when I go to either the county fair I'm going to in a couple of weeks or when I go to the show in July) in her pedigree.