COLOR GENETICS IN RABBITS

I love color expression in angoras. I always want to know what genes are doing what, and I sporadically apply myself to learning more. I have recently seen blacks in my barn that are not dark, and have been wondering what code they might be, and what to NAME them. They do have black faces and brown eyes, but white hairs in their coats and coats that now, aged 2-3 years, are almost white. But more about black rabbits later...

The Wee Fellow is a tortoiseshell (torte) pattern. This a one of the SELF color patterns that rabbits exhibit. There are many variations in tortes! These variations are lighter/darker/redder/whiter/blonder tinged with brown/tinged with smoky charcoal/tinged with soft brown/tinged with silver and then there is a whole group of almost white rabbits that have the torte pattern as a basis for their color! And then there are many MODIFYING genes that float in around color expression that tweak parts of it. So, a rabbit's color is more than the sum of the genetic code in letters. There is a torte color and then an EXCELLENT torte color.

Basic color genetics works like this.....All rabbits have a full range of 2 colors available to them to use in making up their coat/skin/eye/toenail colors: black and yellow (white is the absence of ALL color). The ABCDE code will arrange the color as it wants:

(Capitals are dominant traits in that group)
A Agouti and a self at marten
B Black and b chocolate
C Color and c no color (white) also chl and chd and ch (some color genes)
D Dark and d dilute
E color Extended fully along color shaft and e no Extension of black and also Es (steel) Ej (harlequin)

Each rabbit gets one set of each letter, but can get combos in lower/uppercase.

AABBCCDDEE.

AaBbCcDdEe

aaBBCCDDEE

aabbccddee

(We can make color combinations up all day....)

many times we do not have a clear understanding of a rabbit's genetic code, but by looking at the rabbit, we can assume a lot. When there are hidden possibilities, the unknown is written as a (-), so a black rabbit that is REALLY
aaBBCCDdEe (but we don't know that)can be written aaB-C-D-E-

The dominant genes express themselves no matter what.
Chl, chd and ch work together. (There are other rules here..will add to this list as time goes on.....please add your comments!)

Tortoiseshell patterns all share one thing....they have 2 "ee" genes. What those "ee" genes do is keep the color BLACK from "extending" itself past the extremities of the rabbit (face/feet/tail/haunches/ears). So you get a rabbit with a dark "mask" who's body is a gold (or creme)color of some sort.

Tortoiseshell code is:
aaB-C-D-ee (Glinda)

Chocolate Tortoiseshell code:
aabbC-D-ee (Belinda)

Lilac Tortoiseshell code:
aabbC-ddee (Wee Fellow.....now named NEO!)

Blue Tortoiseshell code
aaB-Cddee

This gets complicated, but just keep at it.

POWER OUTAGES OR... NO HOT COFFEE

A day without power goes in S-L-O-W motion. Luckily as one of the Northeast USA's power grids locked down, I had JUST watered the bunnies, so they had plenty of water when the lights went out. (Out here in the boonies we need electricity to power the well pump to bring the water up 190 feet to the surface). Once the lights came back on, my beloved Internet was still suffering from spotty service (sob) and I was unable to work on BareHare.

So, I clipped a rabbit while waiting.

Ringo has been here 5 years. He was a rescue rabbit and was subsequently neutered along with his 3 brothers....John, Paul and George. He and his brothers spent 2 years with Sara and BLOSSOMED. When Sara needed the room for her up and coming (human) babies, they all moved back here. One by one, John first, then George, then Paul, they have gone to their Next Life, but Ringo remains. (Omen?) At any rate, taking the fur off a rabbit without harm to the fur OR the rabbit is an art. I have been working at it for 12 years, and in June this old dog learned some new tricks. Leslie Samson Samson Angoras teaches a style of rabbit shearing that is relaxing and flawless, and I treated myself to attendance at a workshop with her.

(I'll upload a picture of the de-furred Ringo shortly.)

THE BELOVED BELINDA

When Belinda was born, she was the second reddest creature in the nest. Unfortunately, I do not have pictures of that litter as this blog was started after her birth, but I do have a picture of her at one month.

...and again at 10 weeks...

BELINDA..CHOCOLATE TORTOISESHELL WITH RUFUS
The new bunny has a sister who was born 11 weeks before him, and she is also a tortoiseshell pattern. She has an added "modifying gene" in her genetics, and it displays itself as a "redder" shade. The rufus, or rufous, modifying gene can be inherited in single or multiple degrees. The more that are present, the redder the animal appears. But, rufus can only be displayed when a torte or fawn pattern already exists on an animal. Neat, huh!

DAY 16

It's hot here in New York. And humid. I think the dew point was 72* this afternoon, and the temp was 88*(F). The bunnies and we endure. But, once the Wee Fellow got in front of the camera he came to life. Very nosy! There's a nice shot of his back end, showing how the tortoiseshell pattern travels around each hind quarter.

Tortoiseshell color patterns mark a rabbit in the following manner....his back, face and chest are a almond/creme/fawn/gold/orange/rust color, while his feet, tail, hindquarters, ears and a "mask" area around his face are the color of his most dominant "B" genes. These rabbits are "two-toned".

DAY 15

This happy PERKY little fellow surprised me today by jumping 8" up and out of his drop nest box to roam the 6 foot long cage he shares with his mom. He immediately found "her" corner and proceeded to pittle there. Good boy.

Rabbits are pretty tidy creatures, and with the right setup will litterbox-train themselves before you can say "Peter Rabbit". Many of the bunnies born here have gone on to blossom as House Rabbits and we hear stories of their tidy habits.

So here he is...at 2 weeks. He came in to visit the knitters at Charity Knitting Monday night in the shop:countrywool He spent a half hour with them and then snoozed for another half hour. But we managed to take his picture on the table.

Most 2 week old bunnies are just peeking out...staying safe in the nest with their siblings while watching the world. This guy is way ahead of the pack!

DAY 13

He is becoming more and more courageous as I enter the barn. As he listens to me when I talk to him, he comes out of his nest and presses his nose against the wire edge to investigate this large aspect of his world. His color is starting to confuse me. His eyes are a clear gray (from what I can see). I will spend some time working on the basic color genetics and definitions of TORTOISESHELL patterns in the weeks to follow. Since there is a whole other litter of siblings to clarify some of my speculations, we can arrive at an educated guess as to his color genetics.
The sun finally came out today (it has been raining or cloudy since he was born) and I got a shot of him in natural light. That is why his coat is so much warmer a gold in the second picture. I hesitated to doctor the beginning photos for color as I wanted as true a comparison of how the color PATTERN emerged as I could.

DAY 10

His eyes opened today! They are wee slits, but they are definitely open. It always amazes me that the ears will stand erect as the eyes open with 10-12 day old bunnies. He still looks like a guy and I check every day. He is starting to recognize my voice when I speak to him. I swear this fellow will be more bonded to me and I to him than most of my bunnies, since I have taken the time to take his picture every day or so.

DAY 7

Well, he has stayed with us for the first week, and he and his mom have worked out a compromise so that his diarrhea is held at bay, even though his belly is huge. My angora buddy in CA, Erin, tells me this is OK and she says to have faith. So, I sit and wait and have faith. This bunny is growing at a PHENOMENAL rate....

WEEK ONE

A bunny's first 4 days of life are crucial and the time when most things, good and bad, will happen. At the end of that time, color is showing through enough that one can make an initial guess at the color PATTERN one will see in the adult rabbit. Some colors evolve past this point, and nuances show up later on, so at this time, it's an educated guess.

This Wee Fellow had no competition in the nest, so the milk supply was ALL his. I expected him to grow quickly. And he did. See the pictures below for the differences in the growth of his belly.

What I was fearful of was the appearance of cheesy diarrhea, which I saw on day 3 and 4. I had lost most of a litter to this years ago, and have since done some investigation. COMPLETELY ANGORA by Kilfoyle and Samson addresses this issue and suggests removing the "overfed" kit from the litter for a 24-48 hour fast. Well, this left mama in tough shape if I did not hand express some milk from her burgeoning supply.

With some friendly advice from folks on the GERMAN ANGORA LIST I reduced the doe's food to hay and water for a day, which seemed to make ALL the difference, and after a 24 hour fast, the Wee Fellow returned to his nest and the doe returned to mother and feed him (groan) some more, but all was now better and he continued to thrive.

A doe can feed many, many bunnies or just one. Her milk supply will adjust itself to what she has to deal with. Sometimes this takes a little time.