Hey it's Charlie!

When I breed my Florida White doe to my Mix Rex/Dutch buck, I always get predictable litters. Some albinos, some cottontail browns, various shades of greys and always one broken patterned kit.

   I recently read about the difference between “broken” colored mini Rex and “Charlie” mini Rex, which is when the rabbit is all white, but not albino, with black just around the eyes and possibly on the ears and back. And I wondered to myself will I ever get any Charlies? I had been breeding my rabbits for almost two years and never had any.

"Broken" pattern

"Charlie" pattern

       

Charlie kits from litter P1015

 Two weeks later my best breeder Partulah, a chinchilla grey Florida Mini Rex, started running around with a “haystach” and building a nest. At 28 days she got her nest box, and we waited. And waited. Then on Halloween, October 31^st (day 31) she kindled and wouldn’t you know it, we got 3 Charlies!

"Cleo" from P1015

 I’m very excited about the results of breeding Partulah (Florida Mini Rex) to my Mini Rex/Dutch, Hyperion. This is the first time I’ve bred them together, and to get 3 Charlie kits was very exciting to me! Two kits are all white, with black around the eyes, and one has blue eyes. The third has black around the eyes, on the tips of the ears and down the back.

Charlie kits from litter T1115 at 2 weeks

Then to add to the excitement, two weeks later, my blue eyed brown Dutch, Tabitha had her second litter, just two babies, but both Charlies! They’re all white with black around the eyes and markings on the backs. This was also the first time I bred Tabitha with Hyperion and while I was really hoping for a larger litter than last time, which was 3, I am amused by the fact that I am now being bombarded by Charlie babies.

Kits from P1015 at 2 weeks 

I hope all of these fuzzy little girls (yes, all of them are girls!) will find their forever homes sometime before Christmas. I think they're the most adorable little things, don't you? 

Check out http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-genetics/broken-pattern-en-charlie-solid/ for more information on the genetics of broken, Charlie and solid rabbits.

5 Step BBQ Rabbit

Step 1 – Marinade. What you marinade your rabbits in is your choice. I mixed a half can of beer, 1 cup orange juice, 2 tbsp. Worcestershire sauce, 2 thinly sliced cloves of garlic and about ¼ chopped green onions. I mix it and let it sit in the fridge overnight. The orange juice helps break down the tissue, tenderizing the meat for grilling, while the beer and Worcestershire adds great flavoring so salts can be left out.

Step 2 – Grill. I put my rabbits on the grill whole to begin with. With only 1 out of 2 pilots lit on the grill, I let the rabbits cook on low, turning every 5 minutes or so, for about 40 minutes, until they were nearly cooked all the way through. 

Step 3 – Cut up and section the rabbit. Here is a picture of what it looks like after it’s done. Many people cut up the rabbits before they cook them. I like to let the outside get crispy before I cut it up. The grill also burns off any leftover fur or fuzz, so I don’t bother to remove the skin.

Step 4 – Add sauce and grill until cooked. This takes 10-20 minutes; depending on how well cook the rabbits were when you took them off the grill. Normally I make my own sauce from ketchup, brown sugar, soy sauce and beef broth, but I got a great deal on bottle bbq sauce at the store recently. It was really good. I put the meat on our Yoshi grill mat on the grill before adding the sauce. Make sure you keep a close eye on the rabbit and the grill is on low or the sauce can burn and make your rabbit taste scorched.

Step 5 – Enjoy the fruits of your hard work! Everyone loved the grilled rabbit. It also went great with the grilled squash, onions, tomatoes and peppers that came from our backyard. An entire meal grown and raised on our backyard farm.