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.
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| "Broken" pattern |
 |
| "Charlie" pattern |
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| 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 31st
(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.
