09/09/2026
Breeding show quality Blue Eyed White Mini Rex (or any breed) takes time, effort, space and planning. Sometimes you have entire litters or generations that never hit the show table. The main reason being that itās not always beneficial breeding BEW to BEW, and you have to breed in superior animals that donāt carry the Vienna gene to improve future generations.
The litter pictured is a perfect example.
Sire: River Roadās Talkinā Smack (BEW)
Dam: Ringerās Starfall (Broken Black)
This litter resulted in 3 does. Starburst, Starfish and Starlight. None of them are showable. The broken does have no nose markings, and the black has blue eyes and a white stripe down her face. This meaning they are all Vienna marks (VM) and outwardly express the Vienna gene. Which is perfectly fine, as this litter was purposefully planned to make VM/VC animals as an outcross to improve my Blue Eyed Whites.
These does will either be bred to a BEW buck or a VC/VM buck with the goal of producing Blue Eyed Whites. I prefer to have a BEW in every cross, so that I know all offspring whether they are BEW or not carry the Vienna gene. However, thatās not always plausible.
Sometimes I breed two Vienna carrier or marks together and cross my fingers that they will produce BEW or Vienna marked offspring. This is because, not all Vienna animals outwardly express the gene. These are Vienna carriers (VC). They look normal. No white marks or marbled or blue eyes, but they still carry the gene.
When two Vienna mark/carrier animals are bred together you have a 50% chance of VC/VM offspring, 25% chance of BEWs and a 25% chance that they donāt carry the Vienna gene at all. One of my best does is out of a VM buck and a VC doe. That being BIS River Roadās Swan. She shows no signs of carrying the Vienna gene and when bred to a BEW she had a litter of 5 with no BEW offspring. That doesnāt mean she absolutely doesnāt carry the Vienna gene, but in my experience itās very unlikely.
I have another litter of solid VC/VM kits that were born last week. They are sired by Noble Furās NF67M (Black) and out of River Roadās Beauty (BEW). Hopefully thereās a couple spectacular bucks in the litter, if so itāll feel like I hit the lottery. Beauty is the oldest rabbit in my barn. She is also in the pedigrees of some of the most influential rabbits that I have produced.
Blue Eyed Whites are striking to look at, and are fun because you can make them using your own recipe by adding in superior animals of other varieties. There are just a couple rules that should be followed. They include not breeding in any shaded or chocolate based animals. This is due to the fact that they can alter the eye color. Tort is okay, as they are not true shaded, they are selfs that carry non extension. I personally choose to not use REW either, as I have bred two BEWs and got REW offspring.
We need more people to come forward and work on some of the less common varieties. They have a place in the breed, and other breeders worked hard to produce them and get the varieties recognized. We donāt want them to fall by the wayside. We have some new varieties coming up that are super exciting, but donāt forget about the uncommon varieties that are already recognized either.
