Reading through Kismet's thread about her darling babies; I wonder if a doe that has a large amount of peanuts is prone to having them again? Can changing the buck help? Is there any definite information on this?

I placed this in showing because it's a breeder/showing type issue, but I'm really curious.

Someone else may have more information about this but...As far as I know, the gene responsible for causing a peanut is the dwarfing gene.

In most Holland Lops...they have one dwarf gene and one normal gene. When you breed two rabbits together that both have the dwarf gene and normal gene they each pass one gene on to the offspring.

They can both pass the normal gene...these are the rabbits that go over show weight, tend to have longer bodies, and longer ears. A lot of breeders will use these to breed. They tend to have less problems kindling and no chance of peanuts.

They can both pass the dwarf gene. This is what makes a peanut. It's always(for the reading anyway) fatal.

If you're really lucky one parent will pass a dwarf gene and one will pass a normal gene. This produces the smaller buns. Still no promises that they'll be showable though.

I dont know if you remember but Stormy had 4 peanuts in a litter of 7. The 5th one passed away from being overfed....the four peanuts left us pretty fast and Stormy was maybe too good of a Mom. It looked like the 5th baby developed a hernia. He passed soon after.

I asked a few other breeders after she had those if the peanuts could result from a bad pairing...or if it was just luck of the draw. I was told that each baby has a chance of being a peanut, and that over time...and subsequent litters, it would even out. She may never have another peanut.

I did wonder the same thing though Bo. I do plan on breeding Stormy back to Jacob at some point. If she has another litter full of peanuts I'm going to really question all I "think" I know.

I have noticed that Jacob and George, when paired with certain lines, tend to produce HUGE kits that are stillborn. Fetal giants? I'm going to have to research that too.

Very interesting information!

I knew the dwarf genes were responsible, but I wondered if it was something certain colors for example might affect, etc.

So the percentages would be about 50% since there is that chance all the time.

Right...Or so I'm told. I remember Pam Nock saying at different times that there a lot of genes responsible for dwarfism in rabbits...but everything I've read says there is only one gene responsible for peanuts.

Although, I think it's pretty obvious that while Ella might not have had the double dwarf gene...she definitely was smaller than a "normal" Holland. I still wonder what'd made her so small...even now her frame is small...she's a little chunky. :innocent: From looking at her...if I had to guess her age...I would guess about a 3 month old...but she's well over 6 months old.

Yipes....waaaay too confusing for me! LOL


Edit: This woman is a breeder and has alllll kinds of info on rabbit genetics on her website....none of which I understand. She has a whole page devoted to the dwarf gene (link below). I almost bought a pet rabbit from her before we got Ellie. I was going to meet her at a show, but then she decided not to go. She takes nice pics of her rabbits.

The Nature's Trail Rabbitry

You were meant to get Ellie :)

I think that the amount of peanuts is just random chance. I've bred one doe to the same buck and gotten a litter of only 2 peanuts, then a litter of 3 normal sized babies, then a litter of 2 normals, 1 peanut. I expect at least one peanut in each litter because I don't use non-dwarf brood does. I prefer to use show does for breeding. I was really surprised recently when I had a tiny doe who usually has tiny litters (1-2) with at least one peanut, had 4 big fat babies! Bred to the same buck as usual. So, really, I think it's just random.

:wub: :wub: :wub:

Yes I was!