Broken New Zealand, how?

[Myke]

If I can't get my Californians to start producing, I am considering switching to New Zealands. I really like the broken black pattern (if I figure out tanning I will make a bunny fur blanket), but how do you get the broken blacks? Is it as simple as breeding a black with a white?
Thanks,
Myke

 

[Bunnylady]

To get broken patterned babies, one of the parents must be carrying the gene for broken (En). Brokens vary quite a bit as to how much is colored and how much is white. If a broken rabbit with a good pattern is bred to a solid colored rabbit that comes from a mainly solid background, the babies may only have white on the feet and face (some call this "booted"). You can also get "broken" rabbits that are almost all white, with color on the ears, around the eyes, maybe one or two spots on the back. Usually, the almost all white rabbit has two copies of the broken gene, and is what is referrred to as a "Charlie." All of the offspring of a true Charlie will inherit the broken gene, and should be brokens of some sort. I say "should," because a Ruby-Eyed White with a broken gene would have a solid white coat - you couldn't tell it was a broken just by looking. If you bred a REW that just happened to be carrying a broken gene to a black, you could get broken blacks, but it isn't generally that simple!

 

[Myke]

Bunnylady,
thanks for the help. It doesn't sound simple at all.
Myke

 

[Ms. Research]

Bunnylady,
thanks for the help. It doesn't sound simple at all.
Myke

Nothing is simple. It's a hit or miss unless you are a genetics scientists. But that's the whole fun of breeding for color. You never know what you will find in the nest box.

Your best bet is keep records, log who you breed, photo them, and then log what you get in the nest box and photo them. Then the next litter, log again, and then you will see a pattern. It's not a 100% affective all this logging, but it's the best thing you have to figure out what you want to achieve without spending thousands and having lots of litters.

K

 

[DKRabbitry]

When we had Satins, we played with the broken pattern a little bit. If you want broken rabbits, I would reccomend just getting at least one parent. Breeding REW to Black won't give you broken unless the REW is covering a broken gene (white covers what color is actually there).

We never got booted rabbits with our Satins like bunnylady mentioned could pop up. If we bred a quality broken to a solid we ended up with solids and quality brokens (when I say *quality* I mean that they had at least 10% and no more than 50% of their body colored for Satins to be able to qualify on the show table). Broken to broken breedings resulted in Charlies (which are not showable for Satins) and some properly marked brokens. I rarely ever did broken to broken breedings because I was trying to get as many kits for the show table as possible and the charlies were a waste of space other than for meat. But it was always a toss up with the pattern. I bred one really nice show quality broken girl to my solid black and one of the best conformed rabbits out of the litter wasn't showable because it didn't have a nose marking.

But if you are just looking for pretty rabbits, and not worried about getting show quality markings, just pick one out you like and go with it. The broken gene is dominant, so if you get a broken buck and breed to solid girls, you should get a mix of broken and solid in almost every litter.