Double Dwarf Gene

[MaryannT]

One of our does has a large broken black kit in each litter that dies within a week no matter if we leave it with the doe or we try to take care of it. These are purebred Holland Lops. I was told this is probably due to a double dwarf gene. Has anyone had experience with this?

 

[OakRidgeRabbits]

Kits who get double dwarfing genes are called peanuts. They do happen in Holland Lops, but if the kit was large, it wasn't a peanut. Peanuts are very, very tiny with bulging foreheads and pinched, thin hindquarters. They pass away within a few days usually. They can be any color.

 

[Bonsai]

Its pretty easy to tell a peanut from a normal kit. Here's a comparison picture that I think illustrates very well all the differences.

I'm sorry you lost the kit, it happens a lot, it seems. :c

I do not personally have experience with this but I have looked deeply into another dwarf breed, Netherland Dwarf, and have read up a lot on this subject.

I second OakRidgeRabbits, it sounds like it was a peanut. It is merely coincidental that the kit was black, so don't fret if you see other black kits.

 

[akane]

Personally I don't think there is one dwarf gene. I think there are several and only when the wrong ones line up do you get peanuts but that's another topic because peanuts are extra small underdeveloped kits. Oversized kits are a different problem with small breeds and every now and then with large breeds. They can cause the loss of a litter by getting stuck so the doe has to pull them out, sometimes in pieces, and all the kits behind remaining in the mother too long. It's common in a first litter but if it's happening repeatedly there's something genetic going on that you want to breed away from.