Chocolate rabbits

[Rilly10]

I was wondering about the chocolate color in rabbits...if you breed choc x choc will you get all chocolates? Say I had a chocolate buck but couldn't get a doe...what other colors cross well with chocolate? Is it recessive?

 

[therealsilkiechick]

i have solid and broken choc mini rexes. i can answer part of that from what info i have read or from my first breeding.

Chocolate and Lilac can be bred together as Lilac is the dilute of Chocolate. Chocolate may also be bred to Black or to Blue. If they must be bred into the agouti group, then Lynx would be the only choice. Breeding to Castors will result in Castors with incorrect ear lacing and top color.

Chocolate: Best bred to black, blue, chocolate, lilac. Use caution when breeding to lynx (can result in poor lynx and the unshowable chocolate castor, but both chocolate and chocolate castor can be useful in a lynx breeding program, if that is your aim), opals (can again result in poor lynx and chocolate castors), and red (can result in poor reds and unshowable chocolate castors, but some breeders breed chocolate into red in order to hide the undesirable smut...the chocolate coloured smut hides easier in the red coat than black coloured smut would). Avoid breeding to californian, chinchilla, sable, and seal as it can result in unshowable colours.

choc x choc should produce all choc i think or at least most of the litter if the parents are not hiding unwanted genes. i'm still learning the genetic part not sure if reccesive or dominant on that color never checked on it.

we don't have choc bucks so before i found info above this is what we did- we bred a castor to a broken choc her litter came out broken choc, broken castor and solids of both also. we bred a choc to a tort and had brokens and solids of different colors but we lost the babies from being cold on wire. most of hers were broken and solid brown and black colors and one or 2 white ones when born.

hopefully someone else with better genetic knowledge can come along and help u more but maybe this info will at least help u to try to answer ur questions till someone else comes along to help ya.

 

[Rilly10]

Thanks so much that was VERY helpful! I am on a waiting list for hopefully a chocolate pair, but if I can only get the buck, or get him well before a doe is ready I was wondering what other colors might work with him!

One more question...if you breed to a lilac or black would you get each in the litter, or could you get other colors also?

I get chicken colors but rabbits confuse me still!

 

[dmiravalle]

there is a book floating around out there on Netherland Dwarf color genetics (Which applies to all colors) it will help a lot.

But generally, breeding Choc to Choc, you can weaken you color as well as your type. You should look to type first. I usually breed choc to black if the color is weaking or nice deep blue.

 

[Rilly10]

there is a book floating around out there on Netherland Dwarf color genetics (Which applies to all colors) it will help a lot.

But generally, breeding Choc to Choc, you can weaken you color as well as your type. You should look to type first. I usually breed choc to black if the color is weaking or nice deep blue.

What color possibilities will you get from chocolate to blue?

 

[tortoise]

I was wondering about the chocolate color in rabbits...if you breed choc x choc will you get all chocolates? Say I had a chocolate buck but couldn't get a doe...what other colors cross well with chocolate? Is it recessive?

Black versus Chocolate is the "B" gene.

Chocolate is the recessive (bb) When bred to another chocolate, you will get only chocolate.

If you breed chocolate (always homozygous) to a heterzygous black (Bb) you can get chocolate, but if bred to homozygous black (BB) you will only get only black.

The "D" gene (diluation) can change the appearance of black to blue and chocolate to lilac. Dilution is also recessive (dd).

 

[Bossroo]

I love chocolate rabbits. On Easter Sunday, I always eat the ears first.

 

[tortoise]

I love chocolate rabbits. On Easter Sunday, I always eat the ears first.

 

[tortoise]

there is a book floating around out there on Netherland Dwarf color genetics (Which applies to all colors) it will help a lot.

But generally, breeding Choc to Choc, you can weaken you color as well as your type. You should look to type first. I usually breed choc to black if the color is weaking or nice deep blue.

What color possibilities will you get from chocolate to blue?

Chocolate would be

A_,bb,C_,D_,E_,enen

Blue would be

A_,B_,C_,dd,E_,enen

If your blue is homozygous for black (BB) you would only get black /blue, but all would carry the gene for brown/lilac

If your blue is heterozygous for black (Bb) you could get black/blue or brown/lilac.

If your chocolate is homozygous for dilution (DD) you would not get blue or lilac, but all would carry the gene for dilution (blue/lilac)

If your chocolate is heterozygous for dilution (Dd), you could get both undiluted (black, brown) and diluted (blue/lilac)

The only way to really know what you would get is by breeding. A few test breedings will tell you what your rabbit's genotype is.

But generally, breeding Choc to Choc, you can weaken you color as well as your type.

That does that mean?! Breeding chocolate to chocolate (the recessive gene is always homozygous) means that you will only get chocolate or lilac out of the offspring until you breed black back into it. Color and type are inherited separately (fundamental law of genetics).

By breeding to blue you are adding in the black gene and introducing the dilution if it was not there already. Of course it will produce a greater variety of color. (It WILL produce black, and MIGHT produce dilutes (blue, lilac).

 

[terri9630]

I love chocolate rabbits. On Easter Sunday, I always eat the ears first.

That was my first thought when I saw the title to the thread.