High Desert Fiberworks
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Spun Buns Angora Rabbits
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Angora rabbit colors, and what that means in regard to the color of fiber they produce. There are numerous color phenotype (the visual expression) possibilities, with even more variation possible in the genotype (the genetic make-up) of the animal. This means that two black rabbits might have a genetically completely different way of arriving at the color we see with our eyes. A classic example of this is the true black rabbit, and the black self chinchilla, who looks black with usually some blue tint or marbling to the eyes. While they both appear to be black, they have arrived at that color via different methods.
Dominant genes are shown with a capital letter, while recessive genes are shown with a lower case letter. Animals with one dominant and one recessive gene (i.e. Aa, Bb, Cc, Dd, or Ee) will always express the dominant gene in their phenotype (visual expression of their genes) . They can still pass the recessive gene onto their offspring, but don't show it themselves.
Luckily for us there are only five genes responsible for the plethora of colors we see. They are labeled A, B, C, D, and E. It’s easiest to remember what they control if you use the following:
A = Agouti. Agouti is the brown with black ticking color we see in wild rabbits. They have alternating bands of brown and black when you blow into their fiber. They have light eye circles, bellies, and insides of their ears. There are different color shades associated with the agouti patterning, but this gene creates the agouti base upon which varying shades can express themselves. For instance there are chestnut, chocolate, and dilute (also called a lynx) agouti colors in addition to the standard agouti color.
a = Self. When an animal receives an “a” gene from both of it’s parents it expresses self (or solid) coloring. The “a” gene is recessive and does not have the agouti patterning. An animal with two recessives in this loci (an area of the chromosome where genes are located) will be a solid color and it can only pass the recessive “a” onto any off spring. These animals can express themselves as black, blue, lilac, chocolate, and torte colors, dependant upon what the other four loci dictate.
B = Black. Black, blue and torte colored animals have at least one “B” gene. The “B” is dominant to the “b” gene.
b = Brown or Chocolate. An animal with “bb” will be carry the chocolate coloring. It will depend what else they have in the five color slots as to whether they are self (solid) chocolate, chocolate chinchilla, chocolate torte, chocolate agouti, etc.
C = Color. Color is dominant and will always show if the animal has one “C” and one “c”.
c = Absence of Color. Rabbits with two “c” genes are albino. These are frequently called REW; That stands for Ruby-Eyed white. There are also blue-eyed whites, but they are not available in German lines and they are not true albinos. Animals with two "c" genes will always be white. So, if you breed a REW doe to a REW buck, the entire litter will be REW as well. Think of these rabbits as being colored animals dipped in white paint. There are color genes under there, but they are repressed because the two recessive "c" genes remove the expression of any color. Test breeding a REW animal with a colored mate will reveal more about what lies beneath that white exterior.
* There are also chinchilla genes sometimes present in the "C" color loci. Blue/grey tinted eyes, or even blue/brown marbled eyes, on a self colored rabbit is an indication that it carries the chin gene. A rabbit can have a double chin gene so that it can only pass the chin gene onto it's offspring, it can have a color gene and a chin gene, or it can have an "c" albino gene and a chin gene. This gene can get confusing since there are three variations on it as well: Cchl = Light chin coloring, also called Seal or Sable (brown eyes with a ruby cast to them), Cchd = Dark chin, or the standard Chinchilla color (can have brown, blue-gray or marbled eyes), and Cch = Himalayan (white with colored nose, ears, and feet). These genes are difficult for me to get my head around for some reason, so I will not be going into more depth on these.
D = Non-Dilute. A “D” does not affect the color of the rabbit. It keeps the color the same as the other genes dictate.
d = Dilute. It dilutes a color out to form another color. This turns Black to blue, Agouti to lynx (dilute agouti), Chocolate to Lilac, etc.
E = Extension. The black and brown colors extend the entire length of the hair shaft. This is what we see in all colors, except for REW, fawn, torte, pearl, red, and orange.
e = Non-Extension. This causes the black color to not extend the full length of the hair shaft. It is the cause for fawn, torte, pearl, red, and orange shades.
Unknown genes are signified by an underscore. They may appear like this A_, b_, etc. There is a gene there, it's just unknown until that animal is bred. As these genes are figured out they are filled in to more accurately show the genetic makeup of that rabbit.
For the most part, there are only three different color shades of fiber from angoras. Those colors are white (REW, himalayan), varying shades of silver (from blacks, chins, agouti, sables, etc.), and many shades of tan or cream (from torts, red, fawn, lynx, chocolate, etc.). The reason all these different colors only produce three main fiber shades is because each hair contains the same amount of color pigment, regarless of it's mature length. So, another way of saying it is that a short hair on a Netherland Dwarf rabbit has the same amount of color pigment as a 3-4" angora hair. This means the color pigment in angoras dilutes out over the length of the longer fiber.
Most angoras (except the English) have shorter fibers on their faces and/or legs, and that is where the color can really be seen in adult rabbits. In English Angoras you can see their true shade only on their nose, since that is usually the only area where they have shorter hairs.The picture above is of two day old German hybrid babies... it shows how much darker the youngsters are. They start to dilute out a bit once their fiber starts growing...from about 4-8 weeks of age.
Click on the link for the color you wish to view.
Agouti - All color variations (chestnut, chocolate, lynx, opal, and fawn)
Albino - Also called REW (short for Ruby-Eyed white)
Chinchilla - All color variations (black, chocolate, lilac, and blue)
Chocolate Self
Tortoiseshell
Black Self
A Rainbow of Colors