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- Breeding BEW for Show
Breeding Vienna Based Rabbits
What is BEW?
BEW means Blue-Eyed White and it is created by the vienna gene in rabbits. Blue-Eyed White Holland Lops are showable. This is a color that comes and goes as very popular as pets, but there is only a handful of show breeders currently working on them. The reasons for that is because it is a lot of work and absolutely requires a serious breeder to keep unshowable rabbits as breeders, and many people just don't have any interest in doing that, so when considering BEW as a potential new color project, really ask yourself how much cage space you have for rabbits who will not be showable. In order to produce Blue-Eyed White, you must breed 2 rabbits together who carry the vienna gene. Breeding BEW to BEW is always an option, but in order to better type in show rabbits, outcrossing is essential.
What is VM?
VM means Vienna Marked, and this can vary from a white toe to a mostly white mismarked rabbit. Vienna marked rabbits may or may not have blue eyes, but they are always DQ from show. A rabbit who is vienna marked has one copy of the vienna gene, and only having one copy creates sporadic white markings which can even lead to marbled eyes. While VM rabbits cannot be shown, they are vital to a BEW program as brood stock. Vienna Marked can produce showable BEW when bred to BEW, VM or VC.
What is VC?
VC means Vienna Carrier, and in my experience VC is fairly rare, but definitely happens. Vienna carriers are typically showable (depending on if their color is normally showable), since they have no outward signs that they have the vienna gene at all. Some lines are more prone to have no signs of the vienna gene, but I have found that most vienna carriers in general tend to have some sign that they carry it (even if that is only one small white spot- typically on the forehead or a toe). But true vienna carriers exist and you can look at them all day and see no outward sign of the gene. The benefit of working with these guys is that you don't have to skip showing for a generation, but the downside of it is that if you bred VM/VC to VM/VC you cannot be sure if your babies are VC or non-carriers until they are of breeding age and you are able to test breed them.
Why avoid Certain Colors
You may or may not know that colors like Chocolate and Sable varieties will affect the blue eyes of the vienna gene. It is very popular with pet breeders right now to intentionally breed for chocolate based Vienna since they currently sell well as pets. Pet trends are ever changing, and for that reason I would advise against breeding these, even if you don't show. A vienna line with chocolate or sable will not be able to be sold to show breeders or aspiring show breeders since the red cast it produces on the blue eyes of BEW is a DQ in show rabbits. and since both chocolate and sable are recessive, it is best to avoid lines with those in them altogether whenever possible.
Line breeding with Viennas
In my opinion, line breeding with viennas is trickier than with a lot of other colors. It is really easy to line breed yourself into a corner with a color project based around a recessive trait (like Blue-Eye White). Line breeding should not be done with any animal who has or is know to produce major flaws, however in breeding for BEW, it is common practice to breed related VM/VC in order to get more showable BEW. It is really hard to avoid this because you need 2 copies of the gene, so while I generally try to discourage myself from being a buck hoarder, this is the one project where I truly advocate the need to have more bucks than does. Having multiple unrelated bucks allows you to create BEW without needing to linebreed until the project is ready for it.