# cross of RNZ AND WNZ COLORS?



## tabbytab27 (Aug 8, 2013)

I Bred my WNZ doe with my RNZ BUCK and got 3 what looks like wild rabbit color (chestnut?) and 2 that are black with a red hue to them (what is this color?) What colors does that mean my doe and buck are hiding and what could I get if I bred one back to my doe and buck? Thank you in advance.


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## SilverStarRabbitry (Aug 13, 2013)

Looks like the babies with red tips are steels, they come from crossing whites to reds in new zelands.


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## brentr (Aug 13, 2013)

This doe was the offspring of a NZW doe and NZR buck.  One of the best rabbits I've ever had.  I'm no good with color genetics, but some BYH folks told me she was a "gold-tipped steel" rabbit.


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## Bunnylady (Aug 13, 2013)

New Zealand Whites often carry Steel. Steel is a strange gene; with just the right combination of other genes, you get a Steel, but a lot of other combinations will look like a black self. That you got Chestnuts tells me that your NZW has only one steel gene (and most likely one normal extension gene). 

In order for a rabbit to be a REW (the color of the NZW'S), the rabbit has to have 2 copies of the REW gene. All of the babies of a REW will get one copy of that gene from the REW parent, no matter what they get from the other parent. Breed the colored offspring of a REW to an REW, and some of the babies should be REW's. 

Red is a little more complex than REW when it comes to inheritance. It's an Agouti color, but as Agouti genes are common in New Zealands, that shouldn't be a problem. You need two non-extension genes at the E locus to make a Red; Steel happens at the E locus, too. Evidently, your NZW has one Steel gene, and one normal extension gene. Your Red has two non-extension genes. All of the babies got a non-extension gene from the Red parent; some got the normal extension gene from the NZW and wound up being Chestnuts. Reds need the Wide-band gene to put the red color on the belly; without it, they have white bellies (whether that is a Red or an Orange depends on the breed, but a reddish rabbit with a white belly isn't showable in the New Zealand).

If you breed a doe from this cross back to her father, you should get some that get the non-extension gene from both parents. Whether they are showable Reds will depend on whether they also inherited the Wide Band Gene from both parents as well. As if that weren't complicated enough, getting that deep red color also requires some little "helper genes" called Rufous modifiers. The Rufous modifiers increase the amount of red pigment that is deposited in the hair. Without them, even if you have the Wide Band Gene putting the pigment all through the coat, it will only be a sort of washed-out orange color.

To conclude this rather rambling post, you can create Reds out of this cross, but it may take a bit of work to put a good, deep shade of red on them.


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## tabbytab27 (Aug 13, 2013)

Thank for you for the information. That is a lot to swallow. Im totally new to the gene stuff. Since these were bred for market this time I only have the one of the steels left and it is a doe. Should I breed back to my red buck or is that the wrong direction?


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