By Erin Roberts
Americans can come in any rabbit color allele, just like any other breed. For the purposes of this writing, we are going to discuss self, solid varieties.
First, there’s two basic or base colors that rabbits come in – black or brown. This is the foundation/ the cornerstone and they come in pairs Black is noted as B and Brown is noted as b. A capital B trumps a little b.
BB – black rabbit Bb- black rabbit that carries a brown gene bb-is a brown (chocolate) rabbit.
Black is the base color- and dominant in phenotype (what we see),
Then there are other genes that affect the base. The dilution gene will affect the base. D – means there is no dilution. d means there is dilution.
DD – no dilution, Dd- no dilution seen but carries a dilution gene and dd is a diluted colored rabbit – so let’s add that to our foundation color.
BB DD – a black rabbit Bb DD – a black rabbit but carries a brown gene BB Dd – a black rabbit that carries a dilute (blue) gene BB dd – a blue rabbit
Albino/white is the most recessive gene and removes all color expression in the coat. CC is a rabbit that shows color
Cc is a rabbit that shows color but carries white/albino
cc is a white rabbit. Let’s add that to our rabbits
BB DD CC – a black rabbit Bb DD CC – a black rabbit carries brown BB Dd CC – a black rabbit that carries dilute (blue) BB DD Cc – a black rabbit that carries white BB dd Cc – a blue that carries white BB dd cc – a white rabbit that carries blue BB DD cc – a white rabbit that carries black BB Dd cc – a white rabbit that carries Black and when paired with the right mate – can also produce blue. BB dd cc – a white rabbit that carries blue