The Does

GBF's Carman

PROVEN Self Black G.T. Steel Sr. Doe. Her daughter, Trip-Wire below, will replace her.

Genotype: aaB_C_D_E(s)e

RoseArt's Blue Pearl

Hartman's Diesel x RoseArt's Pretty Tatum

PROVEN Opal Sr. Doe. I originally bought Pearl because I liked her tight shoulder. However, she has been very useful to put with my self-steel buck to pull my steel youngsters that I now have.

The Juniors

GBF's un-named

White River's Dusty x RoseArt's Blue Pearl

Black GT Steel Jrs A GT Steel buck, 2 GT Steel does and a Self-steel doe in this litter.

GBF's Hope & GBF's Hedley

White River's Dusty x RoseArt's Blue Pearl

Black GT Steel Jr. Does. Two nice does to work with.

GBF's Banff

White River's Dusty x GBF's Stella

Black GT Steel Jr. Doe.

GBF's Trip-Wire

Laymon's "Downer" x GBF's Carman

Self Steel Jr. Doe. A wide-set, solid chunkster out of GBF's Carman. Trip-Wire will replace Carman in our breeding program. Genotype: aaB_C_D_E(s)e.

Steel Project

Well, this was by no means a 'planned' project. I have always steered clear of the Steel gene because of it's "complexities".

I purchased two rabbits that were supposed to be certain colors but they never produced those colors. After almost 2-years of hair pulling, and some help from a friend of mine who had access to other color genetics, she figured it out. Steel. They were Self Steels!! Now that we know what they are genetically, we're gonna have a bit of fun with them!

The steel gene certainly is a FUSSY one. You thought the C-series alleles were complicated?! The steel gene is INCOMPLETELY dominant, which complicates matters. Here is what I have learned so far:

It MUST be Agouti. A properly marked Steel, MUST also be E(s)E.

aaB_C_D_E(s)E(s), aaB_C_D_E(s)E and aaB_C_D_E(s)e. All these are selfs of the color. Basically, the steel gene darkens the intermediate lighter band of the agouti only leaving the lighter band at the tip – giving that “ticking” look. When they are selfs, you don’t have any top lighter band to leave unmasked, so therefore you just don’t see the steel at all. The steel gene still functions, it just doesn’t change the appearance of the rabbit at all since the whole hair shaft is already dark.

A_B_C_D_E(s)E(s): The double steel gene (have seen it referred to as 'super steel') usually manifests as a poor steel or the self version of the color. Steel is a modifying type gene for full extension. However, this one really does seem to depend on various modifiers that aren't understood yet.

A_B_C_D_E(s)E: This is a correct Black G.T. Steel. An a(t)-E(s)E animal can look steel but it is usually not as good of coloring.

A_B_C_D_E(s)e:: Because the steel is a modifying type gene that works on an agouti base (requiring E – full extension) this again does not work and will appear as the self (in this case, black). There may well be with this one, some signs of ticking that give you a hint as to the true genotype. But there may not be as well.

All info above provided to me by Amy Hinkle.

Other Little Projects

My Chocolate Project can be seen here.

My REW Project can be seen here.

The Does

GBF's Carman

RoseArt's Blue Pearl

Hartman's Diesel x RoseArt's Pretty Tatum

The Juniors

GBF's un-named

White River's Dusty x RoseArt's Blue Pearl

GBF's Hope & GBF's Hedley

White River's Dusty x RoseArt's Blue Pearl

GBF's Banff

White River's Dusty x GBF's Stella

GBF's Trip-Wire

Laymon's "Downer" x GBF's Carman

Steel Project

Other Little Projects

Last Modified: September 21st, 2011.