Mini rex question

preciousgurl63 · #1 03/18/13, 10:09 AM

I just can't seem to figure out what color doe I should get for my black buck. I've been looking at a few colors but still unsure. My mom likes the torts and my sister in law likes the broken colors. I like all the colors. Can anyone help me figure out what color I should get? I am open to any color besides black since my buck is already that color. Please someone help me before I lose my mind at trying to find the right color for my buck.

Here is a pic of my buck

Wildfire_Jewel · #2 03/18/13, 10:26 AM

He looks a bit on the large size so whatever doe you get for him, I would make sure she is has excellent type and is small. We have bred black to: blue, broken blue, broken black, castor (this can mess up the lacing), tort (again, this can have negatives), REW, chocolate, broken chocolate, lilac & broken lilac (depending on how much chocolate is behind the lilac but black will be dominate). Keep in mind you will still sometimes have crazy things show up - we bred what we thought was a solid blue to a solid black and got black/orange and fawn/blue harlequins

(the blue turned out to be a broken so heavily colored that the ONLY white on her was between a couple back toes!) I would worry more about type than color if you are just starting out and be aware that the solids from a broken breeding can and oftern do have excessive scattered white hairs (fault to a DQ depending on the judge and the amount of hairs). Also, blacks and blues will get "sunburnt" if they are exposed to any sunlight or even too much indirect light.

preciousgurl63 · #3 03/18/13, 12:43 PM

I can post a few more pics of my buck. What color doe would you prefer I start with? I use to breed rexes when I was a young girl but that has been awhile.

jolly rabbit · #4 03/18/13, 01:07 PM

I love blues! But I am biased lol. If you do breed blacks to blues you end up with very nice kits typically.

SilverFlame819 · #5 03/18/13, 02:15 PM

Broken Blue. Why not?

Wildfire_Jewel · #6 03/18/13, 02:31 PM

My favorite is broken blue, my son's is chocolate or blue depending on the rabbit he's looking at LOL

lonelyfarmgirl · #7 03/18/13, 02:52 PM

If black is your herd sire you should stick to the selfs so as not to end up with weird color problems. That is black, blue, chocolate, lilac. The broken of these is also ok. Of course it depends on what colors are in the background. The problem with breeding to whatever color is you end up with things like stray white hairs or white toe nails, or faded color in certain cases.

preciousgurl63 · #8 03/18/13, 03:31 PM

Well I like the broken coats. I'm kind of stuck with either a solid chocolate or a broken lilac or broken chocolate. But I noticed my buck has a few stray white hairs on him. Didn't notice this when I got him. I thought he was all black since his dad was black and mom was blue. Wouldn't of thought I would of had a problem with that since that litter was being sold at the fair. So what should I do?

SilverFlame819 · #9 03/19/13, 01:35 AM

I would say choose one of the brokens... If you breed him to a solid, chances are that the white hairs in the next generation are going to be noticeable, and they are DQ's, so... perhaps if you breed to a broken, if any of the kits have stray white hairs, they won't be as noticeable.

Wildfire_Jewel · #10 03/19/13, 06:04 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by preciousgurl63

. But I noticed my buck has a few stray white hairs on him. Didn't notice this when I got him. I thought he was all black since his dad was black and mom was blue. Wouldn't of thought I would of had a problem with that since that litter was being sold at the fair. So what should I do?

I am assuming you bought him as a 8-12 week old? We have had outstanding blacks win many times as juniors and then develop the white hairs when their adult coat molted in, effectively ending their show carreer. VERY frustrating. Also, if a rabbit gets fur pulled out (like by the buck during breeding) the fur can grow back in white. Ask the breeder if they have a problem with scattered white hairs in their adults - some lines seems to have it more than others. Just because it was sold at fair, doesn't mean it is a good show rabbit. A breeder should be willing to go over the rabbit with you and point out the strong points and the faults - if they are saying it doesn't have any, walk away. ALL rabbits have faults, even the ones that win Best in Show - their faults are just very minor.

preciousgurl63 · #11 03/19/13, 01:33 PM

Here is a pic of him. Don't know if you can notice the few white hairs on his back part.

SilverFlame819 · #12 03/19/13, 01:48 PM

Yep, they're pretty noticeable on black.

Wildfire_Jewel · #13 03/19/13, 03:23 PM

Yep, easy to spot on blacks unfortunately - use him on a broken colored doe and don't keep any solids. You may also get some kits that will develop too many white hairs in the solid parts of their patterns as well. Best you can do is breed it out of the line - and it will take some ruthless culling to do it. And mini rex taste like any other rabbit - we have eaten alot of them since you can only sell so many pets and I have also sold ALOT to raw feeders as well as snake/reptile owners.