Genetics rules in breeding mini rex rabbits

Question
I am having a hard time finding information on breeding mini-rexes.  I would like to know some of the rules for breeding like which colours are not desirable to breed together, which colours provide the most variety in the litter, which colours throw the least variety in the litter as well as whether or not mating brothers and sisters (half or full) to each other is a problem.  I am not looking to get show quality rabbits just nice pets.
Thank you.

Answer
If your goal is not showing, and your just trying to produce pets, pretty much any colors are okay to breed to each other, however if you have one that is castor or chesnut, you will probably get a large amount of those colors because it is dominate to all other colors.  However I suggest trying to stay close to the color crossing rules (which you can find here http://mr-colors.tripod.com/ ) because you will get better looking rabbits as a result, and you never know the person buying a pet from you may want to get into showing at some point so you need to make sure to learn what is showable (or have a decent idea) so that you can tell potential customers what quality they are.

I have both followed the crossing rules and I have did my own thing a couple of times and found that my babies who are from the approved crossing end up with brighter, more rich colors, than the ones that fall out of the approved crossings.

As for trying to get a variety this is really dependent on the genetic code of the parents, for example if you breed a chocolate buck to a blue doe, and a blue buck to a chocolate doe, while you have pretty much the same genetics in each crossing you may end up with blues, blacks, whites, chocolates, any color of otter etc. just depending on what you have in the parents.

I do not suggest breeding full brother and sister to each-other, while the genetics in domestic rabbits are strong this can cause to many problems down the road, however a breeding of half bro-sis is acceptable as long as you bring in new blood to breed the baby to.  Line-breeding which is mother to son, father to daughter or cousins, uncles etc is acceptable and a widely used practice in show rabbits because you are able to control the genetics of your rabbit a bit better and thus get better show quality.

Check out the NMRRC for more information on colors etc  http://www.nmrrc.com/Index.htm

Also try googling mini rex rabbit breeders and just look at what they have in their nestbox for an idea of what colors get you what.

Good Luck
Amy