a bun with half blue eyes

topside1 · #1 06/27/06, 08:35 PM

wow! what a surprize i got today. i read the post on the Vienna gene a few days ago and i thought how neat it would be to get a BEW. i have a litter of 9 kits around the age of 6 weeks and they are weaned from their mom. i have not paid too much attention to them because they are going strait into the freezer when they reach 5 lbs. but today i was looking at one of the does of the litter and i saw one of her eyes was different. then upon closer investigation out of the cage both eyes where different. she is part white and tan and her eyes are part brown and blue!! the mama doe is tan and white, whose tan is broken with black, while the buck is also tan and white. both parents have brown eyes and are just mixed breeds. i was wondering has this happened to anyone else?? wow gentics is weird and amazing. all for now ashley

james dilley · #2 06/27/06, 09:12 PM

She sounds like A canidate to breed back to her Sire. And A keeper.

Xandras_Zoo · #3 06/27/06, 09:26 PM

Wow! Is that ever cool! Do you have a picture?

TerriA · #4 06/28/06, 11:13 AM

There could be a few reasons OTHER than the vienna gene that could cause mottled/bluish/gray blue eyes. Since you don't know the breed of the bunny it makes it more difficult to figure out.

For instance, a self chinchilla will have blue eyes.. as does dilute colors. (Lilac and blue).

I'd wait a few weeks before getting too excited. I have seen some bunnies in another person's barn whose eyes were blue at 8 weeks and brownish/mottled within 2 more.. (strange but true! LOL!!)

Terri

topside1 · #5 06/28/06, 05:01 PM

thanks you all. i will wait and see what happens to her eyes. if they stay the same i will keep her to replace a doe i had to cull today. hopefully she will be big like her mom. good luck to you all. ashley

Reauxman · #6 06/28/06, 07:27 PM

Honestly, nothing to get exited about or extremely rare. Fact is, both parents are mixed, so you don't know what they are. Many different breeds/varieties carry blueish eyes. Like people, two brown eyed rabbits can produce a blue eyed baby(and do, happens daily)

MaggieJ · #7 06/29/06, 08:29 AM

It may not be "extremly rare" but its still very cool. I hope when she is of breeding age that you will post about her offspring. Breeding her back to her sire would increase the chances of blue-eyed babies, wouldn't it? Is the blue colour recessive in rabbits as it is in people?