Genetics Explained

Mini Lop and Netherland Dwarf Genetics Explained

Or at least tried to. Please if this helps someone let me know and if you can see a way to make it better or have questions contact me.

First the color genes....

Coat colors are a whole hobby unto them self. You could spend most of your life trying to figure them out and still get surprised now and then. Here is my feeble attempt to portray what I know about colors and hopefully help others that care to know more about them understand them better. This does not cover every gene known to man but covers the basics in Mini Lops and Netherland Dwarfs. It doesn't cover things like fur type such as Satin, Rex, Angora and patterns not recognized in Mini Lops and Netherland Dwarfs. I've been studying this for a few years now and sometimes feel as though I've made little progress so bear with me. Email me if I have my facts messed up. Enjoy.

The Letters of the Alphabet....

Ok so you are interested in genetics and knowing what colors bred together will result in a specific color or what specific colors will result in what possible combinations. Maybe you've had something surprising pop up in a litter and don't have a clue what it is so you start to try to figure out genetics. If you are like me when you start seeing things like A_bbc(chl)_D_ee your brain normally switches to off and you get overwhelmed trying to make sense of it all. It's actually not that complicated once you get a basic understanding of the different letters, what they represent and how they work. By now I'm sure you know the order of the alphabet, especially since you are reading this... so therefore I can answer the first question. Why did they pick A, B, C, D and E for letters? Well simply because they wanted to start at the beginning and make this as easy and as painless a system for figuring out genetics as possible. They just picked the first 5 letters of the alphabet because they were convienent. Don't switch to another page now. Understanding these letters really is quite easy once you look into it. If you don't understand any better after reading this page don't give up just try another page on someone else's site that may be explained better. Let's jump into the alphabet soup and start at the very beginning with none other then the letter A.

The A Series....

The coat pattern

The A genes represent the Agouti coloring of a rabbit. Wild rabbits are all Chestnut Agoutis. Their coat color is completely dominant. If you blow into their fur you will see rings of color. Starting with white, going to orange, then brown and then black. This is what is referred to as agouti. Agouti is banded colors on the hair shaft from the skin to the tip that form rings when the fur is blown on. The dominant genes are represented by capital letters. Therefore the capital "A" represents agouti. A lowercase "a" however represents a self color. Self is where the color is usually just one solid color. There is no banding noticeable.

Now I'm going to add a gene you rarely see in Mini lops but you see often in Netherland dwarfs. It is the tan pattern gene which is denoted by they symbol "at". Rabbits with this gene as dominant result in either a tan, otter or marten colored rabbit. These colors are not showable in Mini Lops but are showable and extremely common in Dwarfs. The "at" gene is dominant to the "a" self gene but it is recessive to the agouti "A" gene.

Of course it's slightly more complicated then just "A", "at" and "a". Genes come in sets of two. One from the father and one from the mother. So every rabbit has a set of two of the A series genes. Here is what they can look like. AA, Aa and aa for Mini Lops and AA, Aat, Aa, atat, ata and aa for the Dwarfs. If you do not know what the gene really is the underscore sign is often used in place of an unknown gene. Therefore most agouti rabbits are represented as A_. We know they are Agouti so therefore they have to have at least one dominant Agouti gene "A" but we do not know beyond that what the second gene is unless we look at their pedigrees and their offspring. They could carry the recessive "a" gene or the "at" gene from one of their parents but you will not know that unless you breed them and get completely recessive babies or if one of the parents was completely recessive. If they did it would look like "Aa". If they had a baby that was one of the tan pattern colors when bred to a self colored rabbit then they are "Aat". If you are raising Mini Lops you don't need to worry about the "at" gene because only a few breeders raise Mini Lops with those colors since they are unshowable.

If you get a rabbit that is a recessive self color then it always has two recessive genes. If it had one recessive and one dominant gene the dominant gene would always show. For sake of making it easy to understand, the dominant genes always comes before the recessive genes in the genetic code when written. Therefore their capital and lowercase letters that represent them have the same rule. You will never see an Agouti rabbit that carries the recessive self gene written as "aA". It will always be "Aa". Where the tan pattern gene "at" is dominant to the "a" gene it is also put before that gene if a rabbit has both. You will never have a tan patterned rabbit that has the agouti gene "A" because the agouti pattern is dominant. You could have an agouti "A" however that carries the tan gene "at" or "a" but you wouldn't be able to see it.

Here is a list of what I hopefully have been able to describe with satisfactory results.

A = Agouti (Dominant to all genes)

at = Tan (Dominant to "a" gene, Recessive to "A" gene)

a = Self (Recessive to all genes)

AA = Agouti (Completely dominant agouti)

Aat= Agouti (One dominant agouti gene, One recessive tan gene)

Aa = Agouti (One dominant agouti gene, One recessive self gene)

atat = Tan Pattern (Two tan pattern genes)

ata = Tan Pattern (One tan pattern gene, one recessive self gene)

aa = Self (Totally recessive self)

The following are the only combinations that you can tell from looking at a rabbit, the "hidden" gene demarked by the underscore is only revealed through the ancestors and offspring of the animal in question. Breed is also a telling indication. If you have a Mini Lop you can bet that the tan gene is not a hidden gene. If you have Netherland Dwarfs or another breed that recognized the tan gene then you will have to find out by the pedigree and offspring. A recessive genetic trait has sometimes been known to hide for up to 100 generations so you might never know what can pop up if you don't do test breedings to find out those hidden genes. If you have a self rabbit then you know that there are no hidden genes because all other genes are dominant to the self gene.

at_

Here is a list of what you would get when breeding different combinations of the genes above.

Mini Lops

AA = Full Agouti

Aa = Agouti carrying self

aa = Self

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: AA = All offspring AA

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: Aa = Half of offspring AA and half Aa.

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: aa = All offspring Aa.

Parent 1: Aa X Parent 2: Aa = Quarter offspring AA, half Aa and quarter aa.

Parent 1: Aa X Parent 2: aa = Half offspring Aa, half aa.

Parent 1: aa X Parent 2: aa = All offspring aa.

Netherland Dwarfs

AA = Full Agouti

Aat = Agouti carrying Tan

Aa = Agouti carrying Self

atat = Full Tan

ata = Tan carrying Self

aa = Self

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: AA = All offspring AA

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: Aat = Half of offspring AA and half Aat

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: Aa = Half of offspring AA and half Aa.

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: atat = All Aat.

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: ata = Half Aa and half Aat.

Parent 1: AA X Parent 2: aa = All offspring Aa.

Parent 1: Aat X Parent 2: Aat = Half Aat, quarter AA and quarter atat

Parent 1: Aat X Parent 2: Aa = Quarter offspring AA, quarter Aat, quarter Aa and quarter ata.

Parent 1: Aat X Parent 2: atat = Half Aat, half atat

Parent 1: Aat X Parent 2: ata = Quarter Aat, quarter Aa, quarter atat and quarter ata

Parent 1: Aat X Parent 2: aa = Half Aa, half ata

Parent 1: Aa X Parent 2: Aat =Quarter AA, quarter Aat, quarter Aa, quarter ata

Parent 1: Aa X Parent 2: Aa = Quarter offspring AA, half Aa and quarter aa.

Parent 1: Aa X Parent 2: ata = Quarter Aat, quarter Aa, quarter ata, quarter aa.

Parent 1: Aa X Parent 2: aa = Half offspring Aa, half aa.

Parent 1: aa X Parent 2: aa = All offspring aa.

I think I covered them all. I hope you aren't throughly confused.

On to Punnet Squares to reduce confusion.

Another less confusing way to look at all this is through the use of a tool called "Punnet squares". You may have used these in high school or college if you've had the privalege of taking biology or a similar class. Use them with all of the different genes in the future. Here is an example below of how they work.

In box 1 we first enter parent 1's genes (Highlighted in Red). In this case parent one is "Aa" (One dominant agouti gene and one recessive self gene).

1
A
a

In box two we entered Parent 2's genes (Now highlighted in red). For sake of demonstration this parent will also be "Aa" (One dominant agouti gene and one recessive self gene).

2	A	a
A
a

In box three we now take parent 1's genes and copy them to the right to show the first set of genes the offspring will have.

3	A	a
A	A	A
a	a	a

Now we move on to box 4 to get our final results and add the second parents genes. (And remember to keep those dominant capital letters in front of those recessive lowercase ones.)

4	A	a
A	AA	Aa
a	Aa	aa

The final outcome is a quarter of the offspring will be AA (completely dominant agouti genes), half will be Aa (One dominant agouti and one recessive self gene) and a quarter will be aa (Completely recessive self).

5	A	a
A	AA	Aa
a	Aa	aa

Use this Punnet Square technique with all the genetics. It works with them.

Here is an example of all the A gene genetics you can get other then tan coat patterns. You can use this with any color gene as well as most other genes including dwarf genes, fur type genes. etc.

1	A	A
A	AA	AA
A	AA	AA

2	A	A
A	AA	AA
a	Aa	Aa

3	A	A
a	Aa	Aa
a	Aa	Aa

4	A	a
A	AA	Aa
A	AA	Aa

5	A	a
A	AA	Aa
a	Aa	aa

100% AA

(All Agouti)

50% AA
50% Aa

(All Agouti)

100% Aa

(All Agouti)

50% AA
50% Aa

(All Agouti)

50% Aa
25% AA
25% aa

(75% Agouti 25% Self)

6	A	a
a	Aa	aa
a	Aa	aa

7	a	a
A	Aa	Aa
A	Aa	Aa

8	a	a
A	Aa	Aa
a	aa	aa

9	a	a
a	aa	aa
a	aa	aa

50 % Aa

50% aa

(50% Agouti 50% Self)

100% Aa

(100% Agouti)

50% Aa

50% aa

(50% Agouti 50 % Self)

100% aa

(100% Self)

Those Bothersome B's...
Base Color

The B series is extremely easy to understand. Are you ready for it? Here goes.

There are only 2 colors in rabbits. Yes I know that there are lilac torts, chestnut agoutis, oranges, chinchillas, frosted pearls, sables and the list goes on. But there are only 2 colors. Here's how.

The B gene is responsible for two colors. Black and Chocolate. The dominant wild rabbit's genetic code is AABBCCDDEE and is a black chestnut agouti. But wait, a chestnut agouti is a brown rabbit you may say. True but look closely at the tips of the fur on a wild rabbit and you will see they are black. Also look at the base color. It is black as well. The dominant "B" gene is therefore responsible for the color black. The Recessive "b" gene is responsible for brown, otherwise refferred to as chocolate. If you get a Chocolate Chestnut Agouti (A_bbC_D_E_) the tips of the fur will be brown and the rabbit will also have a brown base coat. You get the same thing with chocolate chinchillas and all other agoutis. Selfs will also have a brown based fur coat without the dominant B (black) gene.

If you have a non agouti rabbit with the Dominant gene "B_" you will have a black based rabbit or some genetic variant of this color. If you have a completely recessive "bb" you will have a chocolate rabbit or some genetic variant of this particular color. If the rabbits are Agouti then you will have both of the same things apply but the fur will have a banded hair shaft and can appear to be a number of different colors. Just remember that all the other genes will take these two colors and distort them into what appears to be some other color but there are only 2 true colors.

BB = Black (Completely dominant)

B_ = Black (One dominant gene, one unknown gene)

Bb = Black (One dominant black gene, one recessive chocolate gene)

bb = Chocolate (Completely recessive)

The same way the genes are passed on with the "A" genes (One from each parent) are also applied here. If the rabbit has a completely recessive parent then it obviously carries a recessive gene. If it has two completely dominant parents then it is always dominant. If it ever produces a rabbit which is recessive in color then it is either completely recessive or carries a recessive gene. The rabbit which it was bred to also must carry a recessive gene to have a completely recessive baby.

The Confusing C's...
Hair shaft color

I'll be the first to admit the "C" series is a bit confusing and intimidating. There are a lot of little "subgenes" as I like to call them that affect this particular gene. To start out with the "C" gene is the dominant full color gene. The "c" gene is the completely recessive "no color" gene. The "c" gene acts as a white blanket on a rabbit and covers up it's real color while the dominant "C" gene allows the full color to show. There are other genes in this series that do some other strange things to color as well. Each is in order below by their dominance. Each gene is only recessive to the genes above it and dominant to the genes below it in this list.

C = Completely dominant full color gene

c(chd) = Dark Chinchilla gene. Turns all yellow pigment in fur completely white.

c(chl) = Sable gene or Light Chinchilla gene. Responsible for the shading on a rabbit. Eliminates yellow and turns black to brown.

c(ch) = Pointed gene. Limits color to only the nose, eyes, ears, feet and tail. Heat sensative gene.

c = Completely recessive no color (or albino) gene

Now remember each combination above acts as a single gene because in all reality it is. The rabbit gets one set from each parent. There for it is possible to have any combination of any two of the above genes. Which one you will be able to see will be the one that is the most dominant. If you get a Ruby Eyed White rabbit (REW or incorrectly Albino) then you know both the genes are "cc". It got one "c" gene from each parent. If you get a pointed rabbit then you know it got the c(ch) gene from at least one parent and the other parent either gave a "c(ch)" or a "c" gene. Any other gene would be dominant to this combination and you would therefore not have a pointed rabbit. The rest of the genes in this category work in this order.

The Decisive D's...
Amount of color

You remember how I said their were only two colors? Well this gene takes those two colors and turns them into four. It's very simple to explain. The dominant "D" means undiluted color. The rabbit will be either a black base or a chocolate based rabbit depending on whether it has the dominant or recessive "B" genes. The recessive "d" gene when doubled up with another "d" gene will dilute those two colors to blue and lilac respectively. It's really simple.

Dominant "D_" combination

Black is Black

Chocolate is Chocolate

Recessive "dd" combination

Black is turned to Blue

Chocolate is turned to Lilac

And last but certainly not least...

The Enraging E's...
The "Extention" gene

The only other gene that gave me more problems was the "C series" genes. These genes are fairly simple except they do break the rules in a couple spots where a dominant gene sometimes acts as a recessive and a recessive acts partly dominant at times. This is again another gene with more then one variation. Below they are shown in order of dominance. As you hopefully know very well by now, any rabbits can have any two of these genes but the dominant one will show through all the time except........ this is the part that makes this confusing at first.... the ej gene can alter the appearance of a more dominant gene and the most dominant Es gene can sometimes not show at all. This gene series breaks all the laws that the previous genes set into existence. Isn't this fun. :)

Es = Steel gene. Responsible for color of tipping on ends of fur. There are two colors which this will create on the ends of the fur as well. One is gold and the other is silver. The gold is created when you have the dominant Agouti "A" gene. The silver is created by some of the chinchilla genes in the "C" series. This is the only dominant gene that can be "hidden". A rabbit can have it and not show it. This one gene is slightly more complicated then what I've just told you but for sake of not going into to much detail it controls the "tipping" on the fur.

E = Normal extension gene. Allows fur to have color banding at a set distance apart in Agouti rabbits and allows all the color to be on a hair. It is the most common gene.

ej = Responsible for the Japenese or Harlequin gene which causes the "B" gene colors (Black and Chocolate) to bunch together in patches on the body. In a broken rabbit this results into a Tri colored rabbit. In a solid rabbit it results in a Harlequin. Possible color combinations for a tri are orange/black/white, orange/chocolate/white, fawn/blue/white, and fawn/lilac/white. A magpie is a result of the ej gene in combination with the c(chd) and c(chl) genes. These "C" series genes will then turn the orange fur to white. This will result in a silver/white rabbit with black patches.

e = Extended extension gene. Broadens the color bands in the fur so that they extend beyond the length of the fur. Thereby turning a chestnut agouti red, orange or fawn. Sooting in these colors is a result of the "ee" combination not having it's modifiers extended enough so some of the brown from the fur tips the ends. Also the color of the fur depends on how close together the rufus modifiers are. If they are closer then the rabbit will appear darker. For instance a red instead of an orange. Genetically they are the same thing and have the same alphabetical makeup but the modifiers are the determining factor in the color difference. In other breeds this particular gene varies a little. Red, Orange and fawn are not the same genetically in some other breeds but for Mini Lops they are.

The only way to get a harlequin and or a tri is to breed a rabbit that carries the ej gene to a rabbit that is a completely recessive ee. You can also use this gene to get magpies which are harliquinized chinchillas. If a rabbit carries this gene it will in some way affect their color most of the time so it is not good to breed it into your main herd. You can however breed oranges into the herd as long as you are absolutely positive they are true oranges and not just harliquins or tris that have very little black. There have been cases of broken oranges really being Tri's because they had no black on them what so ever because the black was in an area that was covered by the white. You can also get harliquinized chestnuts and other colors if you breed this gene into the main herd but they are not showable. Do yourself a favor if you want to breed tris and either do your whole herd that way or keep very careful records of which rabbits are bred with which so you don't accidentally mess up your other colors.

Now on to other genes

The broken / solid genes

The symbols used for this series are the letters "E" and "N". The broken color is dominant to the solid pattern color so if you have a broken gene in an animal it will always show itself and can not be hidden. Therefore you will never get a broken rabbit out of two solids. If you do one of the parents is a very heavily marked broken and there should be a patch of white on it's body somewhere. I've never seen this happen but have heard of it. Here are the possible genetic make ups.

EnEn = Charlie Pattern
Enen = Broken Pattern
enen = Solid Pattern

Charlies are rabbits that received two broken genes. Charlies often are missing facial markings and usually have no more then 10% body color. They are not showable in either the Mini Lop or the Netherland Dwarf though they are very useful in some breeding situations. Almost always when you have a litter with charlies, the charlies have better type. It's just how the dice rolls I guess. They can also be very handy with a tri program because a charlie bred to a solid will give you all brokens.

Brokens must have over 10 % body color and must have facial markings that consist of color on the nose, both eyes and both ears. It is possible to get brokens that have about 10% or less body color. In most cases though this is rare. This is the role of modifiers but I will not go into those genes at this point in time. I've gotten many brokens that were genetically brokens but had the markings of a charlie. I call these False Charlies.

Solids are rabbits that have complete color over all their body with no patches and no spots on their body. Two solids can never produce a broken or a charlie.

Here is a list of rules to keep in mind when breeding brokens, solids and charlies together.

Solid X Solid = 100% of litter is solid
Solid X Broken = 50% solids, 50% brokens
Solid X Charlie = 100% broken
Broken X Broken = 50% broken, 25% solid, 25% charlies
Broken X Charlie = 50% broken, 50% charlie
Charlie X Charlie = 100% Charlie

With that being said I have been lucky and bred a broken to a charlie and had all brokens in the litter but this is the exception, not the rule. Don't allow yourself to get overrun by charlies because they are not showable and once you've got them it's hard to breed solids back into your heard without buying one. A good charlie can be worth it's weight in gold sometimes though so don't be afraid to have a few if they add a wanted feature to your herd.

Trying to figure out how to best rewrite all of this to make sense.
And for you to be able to click on what you are interested in.
Maybe I should write a book on all the rabbit stuff I know. lol.

Coming soon?

The dwarf gene

Max factor gene

The BEW gene - fairly complicated

I have not touched on genes that do not effect the colors of Mini Lops or Netherland Dwarfs. I have not mentioned genes reffering to fur length or type such as satin, rex, angora and normal fur types or those referring to other markings such as dutch or dalmation. There is much more to learn and there are many others that know so much more about this then I do. I may one day write a book if I'm ever really bored. Until that day I'll only focus on genes that effect the breeds that I've chosen to raise. I hope this has helped you in your pursuit of understanding the genetics of these two breeds.

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