mini rex rabbits

Question
ive raised rabbits several years, and ive looked over the color guides, but am still unsure what colors i can breed together in mini rex....i have a blue doe. can i breed her to a castor buck and get showable colors?

Answer
Hi Lisa,

It is my personal opinion to breed for type before color but I am in the minority on that aspect.

If your castor carries dilute (blue) you could get opals.  If your castor carries either the tan (otter) gene or the self gene you could get anything from otters to black, blue, chocolate, lilac.  For the most part pretty much anything you get will be showable, however castors that lack rufus tend to have a washed out color.  We have shown them because color is only 15 points but there are a lot of judges out there that will put a poor colored castor at the bottom of the class regardless of how good the type and fur is.  There is a possibility that you could end up with torts and blue torts if both parents carry the non extension gene.  However you should get some showable rabbits the first time around.

If you are talking about the Mini Rex Guide book I would take it with a grain of salt.  There is a lot of wonderful information in there but a lot of it is opinions.  If you get a litter of all castors I would keep the best type and fur and breed it back to the blue because then you would get opals and blues.

When you get a litter if you let me know what colors you have I can help you figure out what your rabbits carry.  You can never disprove a gene it just depends on what the parents throw.

Good luck

Pam