# Dan26552's Rabbit journal.



## Dan26552 (May 11, 2017)

Hi, my name is Dan, I live in lower Alabama and have been breeding and raising rabbits for meat for about a year and a half now. All my rabbits are in tractors on pasture except Angie, Hamada, Jacquelynne and Joyce who are in a colony system. I have 36 rabbits currently, 26 grow outs, 8 breeders and 2 will be breeders come fall. Most of my rabbits are mixes. I have three breeding bucks, five breeding age does and two does who will be breeding age in the fall. One of my Does had a litter of seven last night, she's our best and favorite doe and is an amazing mom so we will be keeping a doe from that litter. 

These are Jacquelynne and Joyce, they're half Flemish half Rex. They are both expecting in a week or two. 

 

This is Granny, she just had the litter of seven. She's pure New Zealand. 
 

Her kits. There are three blacks and four whites, two of the blacks are brokens. 
 

This is Hamada, he's also half Flemish half Rex. He's the dad of Granny's litter and will be the dad of Jacquelynne, Joyce and Angelica's kits. 
 

This is Barrel Rider, he's half New Zealand and half Californian. He's also Granny's son. 
 

This is Sandy, we think she's mostly New Zealand, she's currently nursing a litter of 10. 
 

This is Angelica, AKA Angie. She's mostly Flemish. 
 

This is Bernard, we're not sure what he is. He's on the smaller side. He's father of Sandy's kits. 
 

 

I will post pics of the older kits in another post.


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## HeavensHens88 (May 11, 2017)

Nice Dan!!!


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## Dan26552 (May 11, 2017)

These are Angelica's last kits, there are six, three blacks and three orange(ish) Barrel Rider is their dad. 
      

These are Petra (left) and Ninja (right) they will be bred in the fall. 
 

These are Sandy and Bernard's kits.


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## Latestarter (May 12, 2017)

You are almost to Dr. Doolittle qualification. How do you find time for anything but your animals?


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## Dan26552 (May 12, 2017)

Lol!  Well between the animals and the garden I am quite busy. I don't know how I do it.


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## TheKindaFarmGal (May 12, 2017)

Following!



Dan26552 said:


> Lol!  Well between the animals and the garden I am quite busy. I don't know how I do it.



Plus BYC/BYH and school.


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## Dan26552 (May 12, 2017)

TheKindaFarmGal said:


> Following!
> 
> 
> 
> Plus BYC/BYH and school.




Yeah.


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## Dan26552 (May 12, 2017)

Petra is going to be big, she's only 14 weeks old and already as big as her mom.


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## Bunnylady (May 12, 2017)

Wow, Dan, that's quite a herd you have there. Looks like you have some really interesting mixes!

I've noticed something that may be helpful to you - or not. This is something that we have kicked around a lot in the last few weeks in the rabbit sub-forum; you may or may not know about this.

I notice that several of your breeders are brokens. I love brokens myself - it's always fun to throw that in the mix and see what appears in the nest box. As I am sure you know, if you breed two broken-patterned animals together, some of the babies will turn out solid colored, some will be brokens like their parents, and some will inherit the gene for the broken pattern from _both _the mother and the father and be what rabbit people call "Charlies." A Charlie typically has color on the ears, color around the eyes, a smallish area of color near the nose, and very little color on the body. For a meat breeder, what they look like doesn't matter - they all taste the same, right?(lol) But the problem with Charlies is that the broken pattern gene doesn't only affect coat color, it has a major effect on the rabbit's digestive system too. A Charlie's digestive system runs a_ lot_ slower than that of a non-spotted rabbit, making them much more prone to the potentially fatal condition known as GI stasis.  In addition, most Charlies (some sources say _all_ Charlies) have a condition called megacolon - a situation where at least part of the large intestine looks like a blown-up balloon. These animals have a hard time absorbing the nutrients from their food. The degree to which a Charlie is affected varies - some may only grow a bit slower than their non-spotted littermates, but some may not even survive long enough to crawl out of the nest box. Megacolon can be progressive, so an animal that wasn't affected much as a baby may develop problems later.

What you do with your rabbits is entirely your business, of course, but I'd think a persistently unthrifty animal or one that dies before it makes slaughter weight would be seen as a waste of your resources. The way to avoid Charlies is to only breed broken patterned rabbits to solid colored rabbits. That way, you get some solids and some brokens, but you guarantee that none of the brokens can be Charlies, so the digestive problems of the Charlies can be avoided.

Just something I thought you might find useful to know when planning future breedings.


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## Dan26552 (May 12, 2017)

Bunnylady said:


> Wow, Dan, that's quite a herd you have there. Looks like you have some really interesting mixes!
> 
> I've noticed something that may be helpful to you - or not. This is something that we have kicked around a lot in the last few weeks in the rabbit sub-forum; you may or may not know about this.
> 
> ...



Thanks!  

I did not know that about Charlie's, I've seen breeders don't like to breed them but couldn't find why. That is something I will definitely consider in future breedings thank you for explaining that.


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## Dan26552 (May 14, 2017)

Some recent pics of Sandy's litter


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## mustangrooster (May 16, 2017)




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## Dan26552 (May 17, 2017)

Jacquelynne had five kits today!  Pretty sure Joyce did as well but she's hidden them in a barrow.


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## TAH (May 17, 2017)

Love! 

@Kaye you will love this journal!


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## Dan26552 (Jun 1, 2017)

Sandy's litter.


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## Hens and Roos (Jun 1, 2017)

congrats!


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## Dan26552 (Jun 2, 2017)




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## Dan26552 (Jun 3, 2017)

So one of Jacquelynne'a kits has a Rex coat. Hamada the dad is half Rex and half Flemish and Jacq is too so it seems one of the kits got a double Rex gene. 
Regular coat on the left, Rex coat on the right.


Joyce also had five kits and one of those has a Rex coat as well.


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## GrowingHomestead16 (Jun 16, 2017)

Nice rabbits!


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## Dan26552 (Jun 16, 2017)

GrowingHomestead16 said:


> Nice rabbits!


THAnks. 


Those ducks look strangely familiar.


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## GrowingHomestead16 (Jun 16, 2017)

Dan26552 said:


> THAnks.
> 
> 
> Those ducks look strangely familiar.


You might know me


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## Dan26552 (Jun 16, 2017)

GrowingHomestead16 said:


> You might know me


Yep. Daffy and hopscotch.


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## GrowingHomestead16 (Jun 16, 2017)

Dan26552 said:


> Yep. Daffy and hopscotch.


Sure is  Sorry, no ice bucket for me. I ate then went and split wood.


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## Dan26552 (Jun 16, 2017)

GrowingHomestead16 said:


> Sure is  Sorry, no ice bucket for me. I ate then went and split wood.


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## Dan26552 (Jun 16, 2017)

Updated pics of some of my current litters.
Here is Angelica's litter, she has five, one Sandy broken, two solid agouti, one black and a broken agouti. 











Here is Jacqs litter, there is one solid black, three brokens and one Charlie. One of her kits has a Rex coat.




The Rex coat





One of Sandy's kits, it has a lop ear.





The latest litter, it belongs to Joyce, she had ten this morning.


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## Hens and Roos (Jun 16, 2017)

Congrats!!


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## Dan26552 (Jun 16, 2017)

Hens and Roos said:


> Congrats!!


Thanks. If our percentages were right with our other half Flemish half rex bred to half Flemish half Rex, then Joyce's litter should have two Rex coats.


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## Bunnylady (Jun 17, 2017)

Congrats on all the little ones!



Dan26552 said:


> If our percentages were right



Rather than "25% of the babies should have Rex coats," it's more a case of "each baby has a 1-in-4 chance of being a Rex." in a sample group as small as a single litter, the numbers can be widely skewed, and it's perfectly normal.

30-ish years ago, my very first pair of Harlequins threw a few babies like this:





That's not just short, it's curly, too - an Astrex. The first time I saw that, I was like, "what the heck??" Apparently, in Europe, Harlequins show in normal, Rex, and Astrex coats, but are only seen in normal coats here. I don't know if they were sporting "old country" genetics, or if they came out of someone's Astrex breeding program, but there they were. I don't remember just how many babies I got from that pair, but they only produced a few Rex or Astrex during their entire breeding careers - maybe 4 or 5. I remember the first one was a Blue Magpie; both parents were Black Japanese - there were only a handful of Mags, nowhere near 25% of them, too. That pair was a real education, believe me!


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## BunnyBoxHop (Jun 17, 2017)

They are super adorable!!!
@GrowingHomestead16 
Hey! Love the name!


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## GrowingHomestead16 (Jun 17, 2017)

BunnyBoxHop said:


> They are super adorable!!!
> @GrowingHomestead16
> Hey! Love the name!


Thank you so much! Your kitten is so CUTE!


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## BunnyBoxHop (Jun 17, 2017)

GrowingHomestead16 said:


> Thank you so much! Your kitten is so CUTE!


So are your ducklings! They are ADORABLE!!!


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## GrowingHomestead16 (Jun 17, 2017)

BunnyBoxHop said:


> So are your ducklings! They are ADORABLE!!!


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## BunnyBoxHop (Jun 17, 2017)

GrowingHomestead16 said:


>


I have some duckling that look sorta like that!  (Can't... Seem.... To... Hold.... Together...)


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## GrowingHomestead16 (Jun 17, 2017)

BunnyBoxHop said:


> I have some duckling that look sorta like that!  (Can't... Seem.... To... Hold.... Together...)


 And I have a kitten that looks like that! Hello CC!


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