Silver Rabbit Photo

[pamnock]

I was out in the barn tonight taking a bunch of photos and wanted to show everyone "Hans", our brown Silver buck. It's not a very good quality photo and doesn't show off the silvering in his coat though Silvers are rather uncommon in the US.

 

[Carolyn]

Beautiful Rabbit, Hans is!

Never expect him to be called a silver. Is it ticked throughout his coat as black is on Cali's coat as a Sandy Flemish?

He looks big. How much does he way and is he the only one you have of his kind?

-Carolyn

 

[Stephanie]

What a beautiful rabbit! I just want to pet that fur.

 

[pamnock]

The Silvers are actually rather small -- 4-7pounds. Hans probably weighs less than 5 pounds.He's getting up in years, so his coat is not in prime condition. Silvers actually have one of the most beautiful coats of all rabbits. It lies very close to the body (snappy flyback), has a lustrous brilliance with brightly contrasting silver hairs throughout the coat.Theirstunningcoat is an extremely important feature of the breed.

The color is genetically the same as Chestnut with the addition of there cessive silvering gene. It doesn't have the wideband or roufus of the Sandy Flemish coats so doesn't appear as red, is darker and has more black ticking.

Silvers also come in black and fawn. We used to have a fawn in the barn for a while (but it belonged to a friend).

Pam

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

So, just to put this in a context that I can better understand....would a silver be kind of like a Roan in a horse?

Raspberry

 

[Fergi]

Wow! He looks like a beautiful bun I wish I could see him in person, I bet his color is stunning. Thanks for sharing such a rare breed with us Pamnock.

Fergi's mom

 

[pamnock]

Yes, the roan horse has a similar appearance, but is more like the D'Argent rabbits than the Silver and Silver Fox. The appearance of the two different types of silvering is very unique. I suspect there are either at least 2different silvering genes on the same loci or simply a quantitative effect bred into D'Argents that gives them so much more silvering that gives their coats a creamy appearance like a roan horse.Attached is a photo of a real Silver Fox. The Silver Fox rabbit has an identical coat (I got to pet someone's real Silver Fox once and also own a Silver Fox rabbit). The silvering on the Silver rabbits is similar to the Silver Fox rabbits, but the texture of the coat is very different. The Silver Fox rabbit is the only breed with a "standing" coat that stays upright in position when stroked from front to back -- just like the real Silver Fox"fox". The Silver's coat returns very rapidly to position.

Sadly, the Silver and the Silver Fox rabbits are rather rare, and it's difficult to find good photos of them on the internet.

 

[pamnock]

Silver Fox rabbit bred by Greg Rogers . . .

 

[Carolyn]

Wow, the silver certainly doesn't get lost on a black coat! I can only imagine how beautiful Hans is in person. Is he the only one you have in the barn?

-Carolyn

 

[pamnock]

Yes, Hans is the only Silver we have and I also have one black Silver Fox.

Pam

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

That's really interesting! Thanks for explaining all of that! I love to learn that kind of stuff!

Raspberry

 

[pamnock]

Here's a photo of the UK Argente (same breed as the US Champange D'Argent). Their coats continue to silver out throughout their lives, giving the coat more of a look of cream mixed into coffee rather than the distinct silvering of the Silver and Silver Fox.

 

[RaspberrySwirl]

Happens to the best of us! The hair continuing to silver throughout our lives I mean!

Thanks for the new photo!

Raspberry