# Breeding Color Questions



## BunnyTree (Apr 12, 2019)

Hi! I had a couple of questions regarding rabbit breeding colors (specifically with mini lops) Rabbit genetics have been (and probably will always be) a mystery to me, so whenever _I need to know what _the offspring will be I just come here and ask  So, I have a broken black buck, If I breed him with a solid chocolate doe what will I get? I would like lilacs but idk how that works. Next, if I breed by black broken buck with a Harlequin colored doe, what would I get here? 

Thanks in advance for answers


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## AmberLops (Apr 13, 2019)

Hello!
I have Holland Lops, not Minis but colors are pretty much the same.
Figuring out genetics seems hard and I was sure I could never do it but once you figure it out, it's really not that hard!
I would recommend getting a book on rabbit genetics or talking to another breeder who specializes in it and talk to them to help you better understand it 
Rabbits have 5 basic coat color genes:

A- Agouti
B- Black (or Chocolate)
C- Complete Color (or shaded, or albino)
D- Dense (or dilute) color
E- Extension of color (or it's limitation/elimination)

It all depends on the genetics of your rabbits but this should give you a general idea I hope!
With the breeding between the broken black and the chocolate, you could actually get lilacs, chocolates, blacks, blues etc. And when you breed to a broken you have a 50% chance of getting brokens.
You have a pretty good chance of getting dilute colors (chocolate, lilacs, blues) when breeding a black to a dilute.
I bred my black buck to my broken black doe and she had 2 solid blues...I thought that was strange! But it's because my doe comes from a long line of chocolates and blues. If you have pedigrees on your rabbits it will help you understand what colors your rabbits carry and give you a better idea what colors you can get!
As for your Harlequin breeding....I have no clue as I've never had harlequins!


Here's a link that might be helpful
https://www.raising-rabbits.com/rabbit-genetics.html


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## BunnyTree (Apr 13, 2019)

Thank you so much! That was really helpful


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## AmberLops (Apr 13, 2019)

BunnyTree said:


> Thank you so much! That was really helpful


You're welcome!


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## GypsyG (Apr 13, 2019)

In order to get chocolates your broken black must carry a chocolate gene.  To get lilacs your broken black must carry both chocolate and dilute and your chocolate must also carry dilute.  

Do you know the colors of either of these rabbits parents?


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## GypsyG (Apr 13, 2019)

I'm not 100% sure about harlequin, but I think that it takes two coppies of the harlequin gene or a harlequin gene paired with a red gene (harlequin is dominate to red)... I'm thinking that agouti might be a requirement too, so I don't think that you will get harlequin from a harlequin/black cross since the black obviously does not carry agouti.


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## promiseacres (Apr 13, 2019)

https://www.backyardherds.com/threads/rabbit-coat-color-101.38256/   this is an excellent explanation on coat genetics


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## Bunnylady (Apr 13, 2019)

BunnyTree said:


> So, I have a broken black buck, If I breed him with a solid chocolate doe what will I get?



Highest probability is black and broken black. As @GypsyG said, in order to get Chocolate, both parents must have at least one gene for Chocolate. The same applies to dilutes; both parents have to be carrying the gene in order for a baby to be born a dilute.

There are a lot of recessives that could potentially be hiding behind Black and Chocolate, so depending on what the parents are carrying, you could get just about anything that isn't an agouti or tan pattern.



BunnyTree said:


> I breed by black broken buck with a Harlequin colored doe, what would I get here?



If the buck is carrying the gene for Tort, you could get Harlequins and/or Oranges or Torts. Maybe, maybe, maybe, a Tricolor, but be warned; the thing you want most is often the last thing you see, or the one that gets pulled out of the nest and dies, or whatever.


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