09/23/2026
Genetic Transfer.
How to reinvent the wheel on something that has been discussed many times. Well we go back down to the basics and we break it down. Before going into any rabbit color genetics we need to learn how genes transfer from parent to kit. It is important to note the different terms we use when explaining the gene pairs. Let’s begin!
Homozygous= means having two identical versions of a gene from each parent.
Heterozygous = means inheriting two different copies of the gene from each parent.(what we consider our carriers to be).
Homozygous recessive= two copies of the recessive gene in a loci.
Genotype = the genetic composition of an organism.
Phenotype = the visible surface color we see on the rabbit.
Rabbits can only have two copies in each loci of the color gene, it does not matter how many are in the series. In rabbits (as well as most mammals) gene transfer is vertical, meaning each embryo gets a 50/50 chance of receiving a parent's gene. For this example I would be using our B series:
Sire Dam
-BB- -bb-
All kits: -Bb-
The best method to use is a punnette square. On one end you write in dam’s (mom) genetic makeup on the other end you will be adding the sire’s (dad).
D:
b b
B Bb Bb
S:
B Bb Bb
This is simple by using homozygous pairs the outcome will be consistent. Producing black’s chocolate carriers 100% of the time.
On consecutive breedings using this siblings in a processed called linebreeding/inbreeding we will have a much different result:
D
B b
B BB Bb
S
b Bb bb
By using consecutive generations of Black chocolate carries as our example we can see on average 25% of the time you will welcome a clean Black kit (homozygous -BB- black) 50% of the time you will create more Blacks Chocolate carriers (heterozygous -Bb-) and 25% would show that recessive gene making it (homozygous recessive -bb-). It is important to note that a chocolate carrier can only be determined if one parent is homozygous for chocolate -bb-, in the case of two carriers for the gene the kits that don’t show the trait must be labeled potential carrier instead of carrier as future test breeding would have to be done in order to know for certain. Some carriers will produce a Ruby cast to the eye but not all do so it is not a reliable way of determining chocolate in the genotype.
The more sequences there are in the alleles the more pairs you will see, but the rule is consistent, only two copies of this allele can be in position at the same time. Which allele you decide to focus your barn would decide what genes mix you will have present in your rabbitry. It is important to note that not all color combinations should be bred to each other. Even though not causing any health issues to the rabbit, these colors should be kept separate in an individual line to prevent unwanted colors from popping up. A great example of these are vienna and chocolate. These two genes can hide in a line for a very long time as recessive and both create unwanted traits in other rabbits. Like the Ruby cast in the case of the chocolate, or random VM marks in the case of vienna.
There are over 22 pairs that govern that color you see in your beautiful varieties here in the United States with more pairs being worked on like the P_(lutino gene) worked primarily in the UK. It is present here in the United States in our Netherland Dwarf breed, which were reintroduced in 2014 by Allen Messick & Randy Shumaker from UK stock.
A_B_C_D_E_enenVVSiSiDuDuRWW. Is the sequence we most are familiar with, I will break it down by pair, explaining what it does and its effect to the coat color/pattern in the following weeks.
PS: This is a reupload of some of my previous work. Hope it helps!
