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- Breeding BEW for Show
So You Think You Want To Start a Vienna Project?
Breeding Blue-Eyed White Holland Lops
Blue-Eyed White Holland Lops are absolutely striking and because of this, there are so many people breeding them. Unfortunately, there are very few breeding them for show quality. This is a very difficult project to get involved in with show rabbits and takes a lot of cage space to do right.
Breeding Holland Lops with the Vienna gene has a lot of challenges. I want to share what I think is important for someone to know before they start a Vienna project of their own.
1.
The biggest reason that I have completely restarted my Vienna project 3 times is because the amount of inbreeding in most Vienna lines is unreal. Line breeding can be a very good thing when done correctly. When you have a very nicely typed rabbit it lets you set type, but it does the same thing for a poorly typed rabbit. Many people breed BEW to BEW because they don't want to keep vienna marked rabbits to breed (because they are not showable), so most BEW has poorly set type with big flaws that are VERY difficult to breed out and that seem to have a way of popping back up after you thought you corrected it in the line.
2.
Finding show quality (or show worthy) Vienna stock is incredibly difficult. The standard for the color states the eyes are to be "brilliant blue." There are colors, such as chocolate and sable based colors that can cause the eyes to get a ruby cast that makes them appear purple. Obviously, this is not ideal, but this is one of the hardest things to avoid when looking for Vienna breeding stock. Many pet breeders use chocolate based colors and right now it seems to be a huge trend to breed to chocolate. It is incredibly hard to find "clean" vienna lines that are free from chocolate and shaded, but it is important to do so because per the standard it is a disqualification for , "eye color other than specified in the color description."
3.
You may be wondering why so few show breeders work with Blue-Eyed White Holland Lops. The best answer is that it takes a lot of cages. In order to bring quality into your BEWs you have to breed to quality show rabbits. The Vienna gene is co-dominant, which means that in order for it to present itself properly it must have 2 copies (like a recessive gene does), but it also creates Vienna marked rabbits when there is only one copy of the gene, which are mismarked and cannot be shown (DQ). Some rabbits can carry the Vienna gene without mismarkings, but these Vienna carries are much less common.
BEW X BEW =100% BEW
BEW X VM/VC = 50% BEW, 50% VM/VC
VM/VC X VM/VC = 25% BEW, 50% VM/VC, 25% non-Vienna
VM/VC X Non-Vienna= 50% VM/VC, 50% non-vienna
4.
If you do not keep immaculate records of your Vienna line you can seriously damage your reputation. Selling a Vienna carrier or possible VC without disclosure can really upset someone not working with the Vienna gene. Word of mouth is big in raising rabbits and despite the fact that there are some amazing people showing bunnies, word spreads very quickly and people will not want to buy from you.
5.
Vienna rabbits are super trendy and there are a lot of non-show breeders working with the color (far more than show breeders, at least tenfold). This means that there is a lot to navigate when looking for stock because good type in this color is few and far between.
So You Still want to Breed Blue-Eyed Whites
Buying Blue-Eyed White Holland Lops
So if you read all of that and still feel like a Vienna project is right for you, your first step is purchasing stock. You will need to find a reputable breeder who shows their Vienna line to purchase your foundation stock from. If someone shows their rabbits, it is a solid sign that they are taking their project seriously. It is so important to start with the best stock possible when starting any color project. Make sure that you have something nice to breed you BEW to that will complement and improve on the line.
It is easiest to buy a BEW rather than a VM/VC to begin your project so that in your first generation breedings you will be able to know without a doubt that all of the offspring bred to your show stock carries the Vienna gene. Always put type before color and you will be successful in the end. For the most part, serious BEW breeders work with quality tort to improve on their type and I would consider it a red flag if someone is only/mostly selling colored vienna marked rabbits. Serious BEW show breeders breed to their best quality animals, and it is rarely anything but tort. I have only ever once bred my tri line into my vienna and it was to correct a very specific feature since the rabbits very much complemented each other. Someone habitually breeding color into their BEW line is very likely not working on improving their show line.
I also recommend breeding to solid pattern rabbits in order to increase the likelihood of being able to tell who is a vienna carrier and worth growing out to possibly use in your program. It will make your program go much smoother if you are able to breed to only solids.
