Briony Barnes from El Dorado KS |
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How may years have you raised Dutch? |
Over 15 years |
What recognized varieties do you raise? |
Black, Blue, Tortoise |
What non-recognized varieties do you own? |
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When using other breeds of rabbits in the development of these new colors, it will take many years to get animals that consistently show a good Dutch type. What about the colors we could have just crossing the varieties we already have? Lilac Dutch for example were very popular back in the days of the AOV class. |
Accepting Lilacs would improve the Chocolate variety, because then all four self colors could be crossed together and anything that resulted would be showable. Right now, Chocolate breeders usually prefer to breed in Blacks with no Blue in the pedigree, but these can be hard to find. This would eliminate that need, and no, it would not "mess up" any existing colors.
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If we start adding new colors of Dutch to the Standard will we get carried away with the entire thing? for example, the Netherland Dwarfs and Mini-Rex. Will this benefit our club or the Dutch breed? |
I don't think we'll get carried away. The current Dutch varieties have a limited color gene pool, so crossbreeding would be necessary to achieve many more colors. It takes a long time to get both Dutch type and markings back, and I think few people will have the time and cage space to commit to this. Plus, the Dutch club is obviously conservative about approving new varieties and could vote down anything that wasn't seen as beneficial. Dwarfs and Mini Rex are relatively new breeds and like new varieties. |
Will the Chinchilla Dutch complement the Gray and/or Steel varieties? This would still need to be proven. |
The addition of the Chinchilla gene will allow for a true silver-tipped steel. In my experience judging breeds that recognize both silver- and gold-tipped steels (such as Mini Lops) the silver-tipped steels are usually more even in color. Our Standard has been changed since I started raising Dutch (calling for "off-white" ticking) but still prefers a silver-tipped steel, whereas our gene pool only allows for a gold-tipped steel. Chins and Grays will not help each other much, and should be kept separate to avoid muddying up the Chin color. |
Would the Red Dutch complement any other colors? |
No. They would be genetically incompatible with any other color due to needing a wide-band gene to show an undercut. |
Instead of adding more classes of Dutch to be judged, would it be better to have an agouti class in place of the Gray? |
No, and I don't see the Standards committee ever allowing this!! |
At many shows the number of Steels shown is not very good. Will more colors hurt the Steel numbers even more? Plus will it add to having more varieties with poor showings? |
No, Steel numbers aren't smaller because people don't raise them, they're smaller because they don't breed true. For it being our "smallest" variety, we still show a lot of them! I don't see new colors having an impact on Steels, unless the new color is Blue Steel, which would allow for more rabbits out of steel litters to be shown. If more varieties are accepted that are incompatible with current varieties, I would expect them to have relatively poor showings. |
Having more colors of Dutch may just add interest from people who haven't raised Dutch before. |
I kind of doubt it. It will bring attention to the breed, but I think that breeders who don't have a passion for Dutch to begin with will be easily discouraged anyway. We may see an influx of new Dutch breeders who take up a new variety, but these may be the type of people who just like trying new things and don't always stick around long. |
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