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Spring Creek Color Breeding Program

This only deals with the varieties I work with, and shows how I use each. These are things I've learned from experience, and input from other breeders. This is only intended as a guide. Some breeders may disagree in their breeding programs. I especially credit the many knowledgable breeders at BEWorld Yahoo Group and BrknNDs Yahoo Group for in-depth discussions on the genetics and challenges of these varieties, and Rabbit Genetics Yahoo Group for invaluable general genetic knowledge. The chart is arranged in order of each group as they would be shown. Mates are listed according to my preference, best mates being first. More suitable matches are possible. I only list the ones I work with. The bunnies pictured are all mine, either current or from the past. Below the chart, you'll find a list of common color faults and disqualifications in Netherland Dwarfs.

VARIETY	MATES	COMMENTS
GROUP 1 - Self Ruby-eyed White (REW)	Siamese Sable Seal Ruby-eyed White (REW)	REW is not a favored variety, but I occasionally keep one for their type and usefulness in keeping sable shading correct. I usually cull these unless they are exceptional, or from a line I want to preserve. REW is the true albino, and it's important to know what is hiding under the white sheet to be used effectively. REW can hide any color or pattern except chinchilla, shaded, or himi. Breeding is the only sure way to determine this. The albino gene is recessive, and can hide for many generations. When 2 rabbits that carry REW come together, REWs will appear in litters. It's rather common in shaded litters due to REWs being used to correct color. REW x REW = All REW. Kits are pink at birth.
GROUP 1 - Self Blue-Eyed White (BEW) Vienna-marked (VM) Vienna-marked (VM)	Blue-Eyed White (BEW) Vienna-Marked (VM) Vienna-Carrier (VC)	The Vienna gene is completely different from all others. It should never be bred to another variety as it will cause serious havoc by putting white marks or hairs, and mis-colored eyes where they are not supposed to be. It can haunt a herd for many generations. The exception to this is if BEW type needs improvement. That's often a needful thing as the gene pool for BEW in a barn or region can be very small. Genetic weakness in BEWs is also something that may need to be addressed. Out-crossing to a strong variety such as otter or chestnut can help. Out-crossing produces unshowable Vienna-Marked (VM) and/or showable Vienna-Carrier (VC). VM is also called Sport, Parti-colored, Mismarked, or Dutch-marked. The white markings often resemble Dutch rabbits, but the markings vary widely. There may just be a blaze or snip on face, splashes on shoulders or toes, heavy scattered white hairs. The eyes are sometimes partially or totally blue. These are NOT Broken, and cannot be shown or bred as such. VC may be a perfectly showable variety, but the breeder needs to be aware of the presence of the Vienna gene. These outcrossed offspring should only be used in a BEW program. BEW x BEW = All BEW. BEW x VM/VC = BEW and VM. VM/VC x VM/VC can produce BEW but the odds are smaller. BEW x any other variety = all VM/VC. The shaded or Choc gene should be avoided in out-crosses. These varieties have a ruby glow in the eye that can translate in BEW as violet. The Standard states the eye is to be brilliant blue. REW should be avoided as well. It can mask the Vienna gene, and even trump it by producing more REWs than BEWs. "BEW" REWs, while showable, are mostly useless, except in a BEW program, with the possible exception of a pure REW program. Broken should be avoided to prevent confusion in the markings, and mis-colored eyes on Broken. Kits are pink at birth. Can be told from REW by darkness behind the eyelids. VMs' markings are evident at birth. VC will look like whatever variety it is.
GROUP 1 - Self Black	Black Chocolate Blue Lilac Himalayan Sable Point Broken	Black is a very useful variety. It can be used with any other variety. Black x Choc or Blue will produce either if both parents carry dilute or choc. It should be used with Blue to keep nails correct. Black x Himi will produce Black Himis or Black. Black x Sable Pt will produce Sable Pt or Tort if both parents carry the ee non-extension gene. Kits are deep black at birth.
GROUP 1 - Self Chocolate	Black Chocolate Blue Lilac Himalayan Broken	Chocolate is the recessive of Black. Both parents must be or carry Choc to produce it. It can be used with any variety except shaded, Sable Pt, or Tort. Choc x Black will produce either if both parents carry Choc. Choc x Blue will produce Lilac if both parents carry dilute and Choc. Choc x Himi will produce Choc Himis or Choc. *NOTE. Care should be taken when breeding Choc into Himi. If the Himis are used with shaded, shaded choc could result in future generations, and this is undesirable. Kits are uniform brown at birth. Deepness of color varies.
GROUP 1 - Self Blue	Black Chocolate Siamese Sable Himalayan Broken	Blue is the dilute of Black. Both parents must carry the dilute gene to produce it. It can be used with any variety except Sable Pt and Tort*. Blue x Black will produce either if both carry the dilute gene. Blue x Choc will produce Lilac if both parents carry Choc and dilute. Blue x Blue should be only be bred if nails are dark and matched. Blue x Sia Sable will produce Sia Smoke Pearl if both parents carry dilute. Blue x Himi will produce Blue Himis or Blue. * Note: Blue Tort may be accepted in the next 2 years. Until then, it's unshowable. Kits are uniform light gray at birth. Deeper blue color develops in a week or so.
GROUP 1 - Self Lilac	Black Chocolate Broken	Lilac is the dilute of Chocolate. It is often lighter than Blue with a soft choc cast, sometimes described as dove gray or pink. Both parents must carry dilute and Choc to produce it. It can be used with any variety except shaded, Sable Pt and Tort. Lilac x Choc will produce either if both carry the dilute gene. As with all dilutes, care should be taken to keep nail color correct. I avoid Lilac in Himis as they will be too light for my taste. Kits are uniform light gray at birth. Color usually remains lighter than blue and develops the choc cast in a week or so.
GROUP 2 - Shaded Siamese Sable	Siamese Smoke Pearl Blue Himalayan REW Broken	Sable x Smoke Pearl can help keep the dilutes' nails well colored. Sia Sable x Himi or REW keep the Sable shading correct. Sable x Himi makes densely colored pts and nails on the Himis. I rarely breed Sable x Sable as this can make Seals which are unshowable. However, if the type is needed, I will risk it. Kits are varied shades of brown at birth. They will have silvery ticking until they get their jr coat. Light Sables sometimes look like Smoke Pearl until about a week of age.
GROUP 2 - Shaded Siamese Smoke Pearl	Siamese Sable Seal Himalayan Broken	Smoke Pearl is the dilute of Sia Sable. Both parents must carry the dilute gene to produce it. I avoid dilute x dilute because of the risk of mismatched/white nails. If the nails are dark and matched, I will risk it. Smoke x Himi will produce either. Kits are varied shades of gray at birth. May turn brown in a week or so if Sable. Silvery ticking until they get their jr coat.
GROUP 2 - Shaded Sable Point	Himalayan Sable Point Siamese Sable Black Broken	Sable Point is the result of the "ee" non-extension gene. It is essentially a Sia Sable with most of the color removed from the body by the ee gene. Both parents must carry ee to produce Sable Pt. The ee gene can hide for generations, and be expressed when 2 rabbits carrying it come together. Clean body color is desired. Excess smut is a fault. Sable Pt x Sable Pt, Siamese Sable or Tort can cause smut (works the same as sable x sable in producing seals). Himi can clean up the body color. Sable Pt x Himi produces "ee" himi or Sable Pt Himi. These may have patchy light brown points. They are useful with Sable Pt. The ee gene is also responsible for Tort, Orange, Fawn, and unshowable Fox (tort otter). Sable Pt x dilute (blue) should be avoided. This can produce Blue Points or Blue Torts which are unshowable. Kits are pink at birth, and develop color and shading within a week. Can look like Himi until the eyes open. Himi eyelids will be pink, Sable Pt eyelids will be dark. Double-shaded Sable Pts (Seal Pt) can look like Tort in having orangey body color and Tort shading on lower body. They will be extremely smutty when mature.
GROUP 2 - Shaded Tort (Black)	Tort Sable Pt Black Broken Sable Pt Broken Black	The "ee" non-extension gene is also responsible for Tort. Torts are shown in the Shaded Group, but are actually Self (black, etc). The ee gene has removed much of the self color from the body to produce the appearance of shading. At this time, Tort is only showable in Black. Blue Tort may be accepted in the next 2 years. * Note: Chocolate or Lilac Torts can look like orange or fawn. They will lack the white agouti trim on belly, head, and tail. Fox (tort otter) can also look like orange/fawn, but will lack the agouti banded hair shaft (ring pattern). Kits are light at birth, with dark shading on the lower half of the body, head, ears, and tail. The orange appears in a couple days. Sable Pt kits can display this same lower body shading, but will remain a grayish-beige color.
GROUP 2 - Shaded Seal	Himalayan REW Siamese Smoke Pearl Broken	Seals are unshowable, and the result of shaded x shaded. They received a double dose of the shaded gene. They can be so dark as to appear black. The pedigree will usually tell if Seal or Black. Another way to tell is to examine the groin and footpads. Black will have a slate blue undercolor and grey footpads. Seal will have buffy undercolor and footpads. Seals are useful with Himi and REW to produce good color on himi and shaded. Very dark Sia Sables are often referred to as Seals. They can be shown if shading is visible, but they will be faulted for being too dark. Kits are uniform dark brown at birth. * Note: Blue Seals can also happen in a dilute shaded x shaded litter. These can be difficult to tell from Blue when mature. The kits will have silvery ticking until they develop their jr coats. Blue will be a deeper more uniform color.
GROUP 5 - AOV Himalayan	Siamese Sable Himalayan Seal Black Chocolate Blue	Himi x Himi is considered the best match for producing Himi. Himi x shaded to correct shading. I avoid breeding the dilute Himis together. Himi x Black, Choc, or Blue for point color. I avoid Lilac as the points will be too light for my taste. Himi is a pseudo-albino, having ruby eyes. The Himi gene is temperature-sensitive and allows color to express on the extremeties. The point color will become more intense during cold weather. The best time to raise and show Himis is during the cooler months. "Cold Himis" are Himi kits that have excess color on the body and head due to being chilled in the first few days of life. It looks like ticking, and they can be mistaken for Sable Pt or even Sia Sable until the eyes open. It recedes to the points as they mature and makes very nicely colored Himis. Kits are pink at birth. Point color develops on tail, nose, and ears first. Color development varies, and may be difficult to determine if black or blue until later. Black or Blue Himi may appear to be Choc/Lilac even when mature, but unless the Choc gene is present, they are not Choc. Himi can carry REW, and these kits won't develop any color.
GROUP 5 - AOV Broken - Blanket Pattern Broken - Spot Pattern Broken - False Charlie Broken - Hotot-Marked	Black Chocolate Blue Lilac Shaded	Broken can be any recognized color. They can be used with any variety except BEW. REW and Himalayan are not recommended. REW will hide the Broken gene, and Broken Himis are unshowable. Broken Himis are proven by the lack of color on feet. Broken should be bred according to other rules covering color breeding. White nails and other color faults should not be bred into Broken as the solid (non-Broken) offspring will carry these faults, too. Only a Broken rabbit can pass on the gene. If it's not Broken, it doesn't carry it. Any solid offspring won't pass it on, and can be shown and bred as their normal variety. Broken x solid gives a 50% chance for either Broken or solid. Broken x Broken may produce Charlies. So named for their Charlie Chaplin moustaches. These may be very lacking in color, often limited to sparce head markings. Charlies are useful with solid to produce more Brokens per litter. False Charlies (charlie-marked) are rabbits with the same sparce markings that have occurred in a broken x solid litter. They are true broken, but will be too lacking in color for show, and may pass on the same poor pattern. False Charlie x solid will produce the same percentage of Broken as any other Broken x solid pair. While the solid offspring from a Broken litter cannot produce Broken, they can carry desired Broken pattern. Breeding these solid offspring to Broken should set the pattern desired. A poor pattern will be passed on as well. The Standard states that Broken must have at least 10% color, and no more than 50% color. Markings required include nose, eyes, and ears, and there must be color on the body. The Blanket pattern will have more color on body and head. The Spot pattern will resemble the English Spot breed with a spinal stripe and side spots. The nose spot is called a butterfly and even color on both sides of muzzle is desired. A half-butterfly would be a fault, and breeding stock should be selected for balanced markings as this can be passed on. * NOTE: Vienna-marked (VM) from BEW is NOT BROKEN! The markings are quite different. They cannot be shown or bred as Broken. See Blue-Eyed White. Be wary of a pedigree that includes a Broken from 2 solid parents. It can't happen. It may be a mis-identified VM, or a solid with genetic white spots. Kits' markings are evident at birth, but it may be a few days before dilute color can be determined.

Common color faults & DQs in the above varieties: White spots, scattered white hairs. DQ (any colored variety) Cause: Undesirable gene modifiers. Fix: Cull. White Tail. DQ (Self, Sable Point, Tort, Himi) Cause: Undesirable gene modifiers. Defined by white on underside of tail. May not appear until maturity. Fix: Cull or select for full tail color that holds into maturity. White, mismatched, or too light toenails. DQ (most common in dilute) Cause: Undesirable gene modifiers (related to white spots), breeding dilute x dilute, faded due to age. Fix: Cull in the case of mismatched or white. Breed to dark, dense color if too light, and avoid dilute x dilute. In the case of fading, select for darker color that holds well into mature age. Seal / too dark. DQ / FAULT (shaded) Cause: Breeding shaded x shaded. Fix: Lighten by breeding to Himi or REW. Smut. FAULT (Sable Point) Cause: Gene modifiers, breeding to Sable Point, Black, Siamese Sable or Tort. Sable Pts often become darker with age. Fix: Select for clean body color, breed to Black Himi. Himi Marten, Agouti Himi. DQ (Himalayan) Cause: Carrying tan pattern or agouti. Defined by white undertail, white nostril and ear lacing. Agouti will also cause ticking on points. Fix: Cull. Can use Himi Marten with shaded martens. Broken Himi. DQ (Himalayan) Cause: Breeding Himi to Broken. Defined by lack of color on feet and/or tail, broken nose spot. Fix: Can be used to produce Broken, but will produce more broken Himis. Small or light points. FAULT (Himalayan) Cause: Gene modifiers, breeding to REW, warm weather. Fix: Select for good point color, breed to Himi, shaded or self. Broken DQs & Faults. DQ: Less than 10% color, more than 50% color, lack of color on ears, eyes, nose, or body, excessive scattered white hairs in colored areas, unrecognized variety. FAULT: Unbalanced butterfly (nose marking), general color faults. Cause: Gene modifiers. Fix: Select for good color and pattern.

1.15.09

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