New babies! Third time's a charm, right?

[mama24]

This is Snowball's final chance at being a good mommy rabbit. Third litter. First litter she peed all over and they froze to death. 2nd litter, she bit off all of their ears, then peed on them. BUT, we were having terrible fox problems at the time and a rabbit breeding friend thought that was the problem Haven't seen the foxes in weeks. Saw her carrying hay and building a nest yesterday, dh saw her pulling fur last night. She had 8. Daddy is an English Spot/NZ (no idea on color) mix, mama is a NZ white. They are fat and have obviously been fed. No missing ears, clean and healthy!

 

[Hens and Roos]

This is Snowball's final chance at being a good mommy rabbit. Third litter. First litter she peed all over and they froze to death. 2nd litter, she bit off all of their ears, then peed on them. BUT, we were having terrible fox problems at the time and a rabbit breeding friend thought that was the problem Haven't seen the foxes in weeks. Saw her carrying hay and building a nest yesterday, dh saw her pulling fur last night. She had 8. Daddy is an English Spot/NZ (no idea on color) mix, mama is a NZ white. They are fat and have obviously been fed. No missing ears, clean and healthy!

https://sphotos-b.xx.fbcdn.net/hphotos-prn1/529376_4332436508711_1778810022_n.jpg

How cute! Congrats on the litter and hope she contiunes to be a good mother!

 

[Sunnyful]

So adorable! Hope it continues to work out. Congratulations!

 

[flemish lops]

Congrats!

 

[Missy]

Hurray! Congrats!!

 

[mama24]

I think the person I bought daddy from had no clue and he is just a mixed breed rabbit, bc these babies are just all sorts of colors! I need to learn a little more about color genetics, but I'm almost afraid after attempting the same with chickens. LOL. 4 are white with spots like daddy, not sure what color yet, but daddy's are dark brown, red, and red agouti (I think that's what that color is called, wild type, but redder?) 3 look either black or dark gray, and 1 is orange with gray ears and nose! I'm really excited about that last one! ! I've always loved that color!

 

[TherapyBunnies]

Great looking litter. Congrats. Can you post pics of the parents? You definitely have brokens & solids.

 

[mama24]

Mom is definitely a purebred NZ white, with red eyes, so she lacks any color genes-- all of the color has to come from him. Here's an older pic of daddy. It looks like all of his spots are the same color in this pic, but they aren't. The one on his nose is red, around his eyes is sort of a chocolately brown, and the ones along his back are the ones I was calling red agouti. I don't really care if he is even more mixed up that I was led to believe, I just hate it when people tell me one thing and I find out it isn't true. I doubt English Spot + any color NZ would give you this much color variation! But I don't know ANYTHING about rabbit color genetics, so I could definitely be wrong about that!

Isn't he the cutest little thing? We let him out to hop around the yard. He's pretty tame and lets us catch him to hold him. We let him out for days or weeks at a time, but he comes back to the barn every day to visit and eat chicken feed. LOL. I had him in a cage planning for it to be permanent starting a couple months ago, though, b/c we were having fox troubles. I ran out of cage room 2 weeks ago b/c my other NZ doe had babies that needed to be weaned, so I moved him to a cage on the ground in the fenced off area in the barn where I store feed, planning on hanging it on the wall asap. One of my kids left the gate open, the goats got in, baby goats destroyed the cage, and he has been out running free the past week. Grr! Haven't seen the fox in a while. I'm just glad he didn't get hurt when the baby goats were jumping on the cage! It was flattened enough to open the door, but not enough to actually hurt him, thankfully.

 

[Bunnylady]

Mom is definitely a purebred NZ white, with red eyes, so she lacks any color genes-- all of the color has to come from him.

I'm sorry, but this isn't the way it works at all. There are at least 8 different places in a rabbit's genetic code where genes that have major roles in determining coat color occur, REW occurs only on one of them. Your doe has color genes in all 7 of the other locations as well, you just can't see what they code for because the REW genes shut down pigment production. I call REW "the light switch" because it's like turning off the light - the rest is still there, you just can't see it.

Your buck is a broken Chestnut, sometimes called a Chestnut Agouti. The color variation you remark on is normal in Chestnuts; their coats are redder on the back than they are on the sides. Do you know for a fact that he has English Spot in him? What he has is the basic broken pattern that is common in at least a dozen rabbit breeds. I only ask because some people assume that any largish Broken patterned rabbit has English Spot in it, while even purebred New Zealands come in Broken, now.

Congrats on the litter, here's hoping that Snowball gets it right this time!

 

[mama24]

Really? I just assumed REW was like being albino in other mammal breeds, recessive and a lack of color genes...

no, I don't know for sure if he has any English Spot at all. The pattern on his other side does look more like an ES than the pictured side, but I agree with you, he might just be a broken colored mixed breed. He's much smaller and lighter than my NZ and CA rabbits. I have no idea what he is, but he's cute and friendly and makes a good pet. My kids love him, and so do I. Even if he does run over to pee on my shoes every time I go outside if he isn't in a cage. LOL