how to breed to get better markings

Question
Ms. Enve,
My sisters and I are in 4H, I am the oldest, that's why I'm writing with my mom's ok. We show mini Rexs and have a broken black otter Buck, he has wonderful fur and conformation but he gets dq'ed bc he is over 50% black. Our goal is to breed him with a Doe to get a improved solid otter or an improved marked broken black otter. We have a broken black Doe that is marked correctly and has very good fur and conformation and wins. My first thought was to breed them but genetics are so confusing that I was hoping for advice from an expert so we wouldn't have a bunch of litters of bunnies that wasn't helping to succeed in getting a better marked broken black otter.
We have two other does, an solid black with fair fur but her ears are long and she is young. We also have a solid black otter Doe with fair fur, she has good conformation.
Any advice you could give us would be helpful. We are excited to hear from you, we love mini Rex's but haven't been able to find anyone with experience that can help us. All the rabbit people we know do other breeds.
Thank you, M. Michelle and sisters

Answer
Hi Michelle,

What part of the country are you located?  

Is your buck booted or does he have a blanket pattern that just has to much color?  Booted rabbits tend to throw more booted rabbits. Heavily blanketed rabbits can produce rabbits with less color.  I personally don't care much about color or patterns when I breed.  When breeding you want to breed for type, then fur, then color.  Obviously your rabbits are not charlies because they do not have to little color so you have the potential to produce a solid otter when breeding broken to broken.  I would suggest breeding the broken doe to the heavily marked buck.  You may end up with charlies and you may end up with more heavily marked rabbits but you also have a 25% probability in producing a solid otter.  Some people will not breed broken to broken because of the possibility of producing charlies but a nicely typed charlie can be very beneficial when your goal is to produce brokens.

Remember that the determination of to much color is the judges opinion.  I have seen rabbits win Best in Show at state conventions that I personally would disqualify.  If your buck is all color except for its feet then it is booted and that is different and they will be disqualified every time unless the judge doesn't know the breed.  Don't be afraid to breed to your black doe.  If she has a strong genetic background you never know what you will get.  Big ugly does(as we call them) often produce the best show rabbits.

If you would like to e-mail me privately you can do so at pb505@yahoo.com.  Depending on where you are located I can most likely find you a breeder that has rabbits that could help you.  Otters have come a long way since they were first developed by Mr. Cabrera.  If you truly want to work on this particular variety your best option would probably be to purchase an otter or broken otter doe with all the qualities you desire.  

If you are not already a member of the ARBA you should consider joining.  Once you are a member of the ARBA you can join the National Mini Rex Club.  When you join you get a Mini Rex guide book that has wonderful articles from breeders of every different variety.  Even though I completely understand genetics I still use this book as a reference from time to time.  It is well worth the membership fee.  You may also be able to purchase the guidebook without joining the club.  You can e-mail the Jen Whaley at minirexsecretary@yahoo.com for more information.

On a final note please make sure you have an outlet for the bunnies that do not fit into your program.  Mini Rex are way to small to be food so it is a good idea to think of what you will do with the bunnies that you can't use ahead of time.

Good luck

Pam