Dwarf gene's

Explaining the true vs false dwarf gene's

This buck is a true dwarf, he is much smaller than his sisters. You can see more photo's of them in my photos in the folder - Rabbit's and babies.

Dwarf rabbits are born with one of three different dwarf gene combinations; a true dwarf rabbit (small, typy rabbit that has dwarf characteristics) has a Dwdw gene combination. A rabbit that carries the genes dwdw is said to be a 'brood-type' or false dwarf rabbit, or in other words, is not a dwarf. These are larger than the true dwarf. A rabbit that is born with a double dwarf gene (DwDw) is known as a 'peanut' and is destined to die, usually within 3 weeks, whether or not you intervene - as this doubling of the dwarf gene is always fatal.

Double dwarf gene occurs when both parents are true dwarfs. The baby got the dwarf gene from both parents.

Of course when showing dwarf rabbits, you need to have the true dwarf on the table. But when breeding, it is important to have some false Does for breeding. As they typically have larger litters and are better mom's. And you get no peanuts from breeding a false to a true. You do not keep false bucks, as they are the top gene providers. I will "pet out" my false bucks.

Hope this helps.