John Graybeal from Annville PA |
|
How may years have you raised Dutch? |
Over 15 years |
What recognized varieties do you raise? |
Black, Blue, Gray, Steel, Tortoise |
What non-recognized varieties do you own? |
|
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. |
The argument that Lilac would help us improve our chocolates does not seem to hold true in other breeds. Several other breeds that do have lilac and chocolate (Rex, Mini Rex, Neth Dwarfs, etc) the chocolate and lilac varieties just do not have the same quality as the blacks and blues. I just don't see that adding lilac would "help" our chocolates. In fact, I wonder if just the opposite would happen. The more colors we add, the less attention by breeders that would be given to the colors we have. I think we really need to focus efforts on the varieties that we have. |
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 think it would detract from our breed greatly. In our area we see strong interest in our breed and one of the things that seems to draw people to our breed is the limited number of varieties and the resultant depth of competetion that provides in the show room classes.
|
Will the Chinchilla Dutch complement the Gray and/or Steel varieties? This would still need to be proven. |
This is unknown at this point. But even if it does, that does not mean we have to add that variety to our show room classes. |
Would the Red Dutch complement any other colors? |
No, the standard we have for our Gray's does not call for the rufus red band that would come from crossing Reds into them. |
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! for the obvious reasons. Our Grays have recently acheived a good level of quality (thanks to the hard work of many breeders). Why would you want to detract from them by adding other varieties to that class. Let only, I doubt the ARBA would permit such a thing. |
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? |
I think more varieties will hurt the numbers of steels and chocolates. It might even hurt the numbers of all 6 varieties. |
Having more colors of Dutch may just add interest from people who haven't raised Dutch before. |
I doubt it. What attracted us to the breed years ago was the challenge of breeding this marked breed. This is what brings people to our breed. It is also what sends them away. No matter how many colors, the real challenge is to breed the quality markings and type and accepting the fact that only a small percentage of what is actually born will ever have the right combination. this is unlike almost any other breed of rabbits (save for English and Harlies). |
| Back to Top | Back to Survey Replies | Back to Non-Recognized Varieties | Back to Home |