Winter babies

[Sabine]

I have just had another litter of smoke nNetherland Dwarfs and the weather has drastically changed. It got really cold and there may even be night frosts soon.
I do remember reading that some ND breeders prefer winter babies as they have shorter ears and are maybe more compact? I was wondering is there any truth in it or is it just a myth.
I was also wondering since the non-extension gene is temperature sensitive and breeders of Himalayans get better colour points in winter - does temperature have any effect on the colour distribution in Siamese sables/smokes? I know they don't have ee but are there any other genes or modifiers that are effected by temperature.

 

[BlueGiants]

Breeding Mini Rex, that also call for a smaller ear, we have seen very little difference between "winter ears" and "summer ears". (And we had always been quick to blame the heat if a summerlitter ended up with longer ears!) But as Pam pointed out, ear length is pretty much genetically determined, and any shift in the climate would take many generations to affect a physical attribute. Especially since we "select for breeding" those that stay within our "standard".(Otherwise, how would people from the south US successfully breed Mini Rex or Nethies to the written standard.)

 

[jubidyjub]

For me, yes. My champions and top rabbits were all born in later fall-winter months. Since the ears are a rabbit's cooling mechanism, they grow long when it's hot.

 

[polly]

I have to admit most of my favourites are born through the winter but I don't think it's all about season.

Can't wait to see your pics xx

 

[Sabine]

I've only got one picture of them at about a day old. Will upload it later

 

[SMALL S RABBITRY]

well here in texas most of the mini rex breeders have an air conditioned barns to raise the rabbits in and when you dont have a barn the fall and winter time is the best time to breed for smaller ears and body tipe cause rabbits cool them self off with there ears and the hotter it gets the bigger the ears they need to cool off so yea the best time to breed is fall, winter, or even early spring......Toby

 

[Jashaira]

I know I was told by a few Elop breeders to breed in the summer time that is the best for the bigger ears. All my babies were are 20in by the time they were 13 weeks. The were born in June. and all the comments I got was nice long ears and long body.

 

[Sabine]

This is the three of them. They are a week old today. Right now they look totally identical. I am curious if they turn out different than the litter from the same pair in Summer.

 

[Momto3boys]

OMG look at those precious little faces :heartbeat:

 

[Demismith]

Yes I do believe it's true. People used to keep English Lops in low, hot sheds to encourage ear growth

 

[kwilds]

I have a litter of mini rex that are just over 3 weeks old. For the past week or so I have started to notice that their ears seems REALLY short compared to the litter from the same pair that I had last June! I didn't really think there would be any difference and it was certainly not in my thoughts as I planned the breedings. When I looked at them yesterday I remembered this thread about winter ears vs summer ears and decided to take a look back at some pictures of my summer litter - WAY bigger ears on the summer litter at the same age!

Here are some pictures of each litter for comparison - the kits are approx 3-4 weeks in both pictures. They are all the same doe/buck pairing.

I suspect that if I bred one of the summer babies and one of the winter babies at the same time of year the ears on all their offspring would be the same(ish)(short if born in winter, long in summer)as the genetics are the same for both, however seeing this diffrence in the actual kits has made me wonder if there could be any difference in the show quality of the individual rabbits born summer vs the ones born winter???

Just an FYI - I did keep a buck from the summer litter who at 6 months of age is still a nice little compact bunny with relatively small ears, certainly well within the standard!

 

[Sabine]

Wow, the difference is amazing. All my three boys from the winter litter are spoken for as I have already kept a buck from that same pairing born in Summer. I am beginning to wonder if I should reconsider as my Winter babies seem really much more compact.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

can't wait to see more pictures.

 

[Sabine]

I just took some pictures of my six week old winter litter

In comparison here is a picture of the Summer litter at the same age (same dam/sire)

It looks like the ears on the Winter litter are shorter?

 

[GorbyJobRabbits]

they look the exact same to me.

 

[Sabine]

I just had a bunny for a "sleep over" the other day. He was a buck from my winter litter (born in October) As he is more than 4 months now his ears should have well finished growing. I took pictures of him next to the buck from the summer litter (born June, same dam/sire)
Spot the difference!!!!

Look at those tiny ears. Apologies for not being able to pose him as he is kept as a pet.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

Well, they are all cute.

 

[Sabine]

And this is Dew, who was the pick of the litter and was meant to go to a breeder. He spent most of the winter indoors apart from the occasional time in an outdoor run. The ears appear about twice as long as his brothers who spent all Winter outside

 

[CiaraPatricia]

I think it makes perfect sense, not only because their ears cool them down, but also because an animal would grow less in the winter anyway because they're using their food to keep them warm?

My lionhead born in March does have smaller ears than the one born in June from the same parents

 

[Sabine]

Hugh (outdoor) is also tinier and more compact all over in comparison to Dew (indoor) Their entire body shape looks totally different.
It makes me think that I should really only keep winter babies for show.