Color Breeding Mini-Rex Rabbits

Question
Hello, I am in the beginning states of started a small scale rabbitry solely focusing on Mini-Rex. I have a Broken Castor buck who was a gift from another breeder who is going out of business.  he has perfect type, and fur but is not showable because he is a "charlie".  However I had planned on purchasing two females both solid colored to breed to him.  One is a very nice typey castor doe and the other that I might be interested in is a red.  My question is -

Is the red going to be a good match for him (color wise) or should I look into another color. I know he has both red and castor in his background but I am waiting on a full pedigree and will be buying the females before I get it as I am taking advantage of a show a couple hours away from me to get stock.

Any suggestions on what the best colors to breed to him would be great.

Answer
I personally wouldn't breed red's into my castor lines for a few reasons.  Although reds have rufus and if your castors are lacking in rufus this could improve the color of the castors but any reds that you get out of the litter are not going to be clean reds and will have major faults.

I do have a few castors and the best results I have had are black and otter.  The otter tends to bring out the tan factor and they tend to do very well on the show table.  Blacks can pretty much be bred to anything.  Opals will work as but occasionally it dulls the rufus factor thus making the castors poor color.

The best combination is of course a good color castor to another castor.

Just remember that type and fur have many more points than color.  There is nothing wrong with breeding red to castor as long as you are willing to cull (pet out, or whatever you do) the smutty reds.

I also like rew's because they tend to have the best fur.  A rew can be bred to anything.   The major thing you want to know about the rew's is if they are genetically broken.  If you already have a charlie and you breed him to your charlie doe each baby has a 75% chance of being a charlie.

Your safest bet on any mini rex variety is black.  Black is generally compatible with any other variety.

I am not sure where you are located but I know breeders all across the country.  I may be able to help you find a compatible rabbit.

I hope this has made sense but if you have anymore questions please feel free to ask.

Sincerely,

Pam