# American Red Rabbit



## rabbitgeek (Sep 5, 2011)

(photo: Red, White, Blue American rabbits, photo by Allen Mesick used by permission)

I saw a picture posted by Alan Messick on Facebook showing a Red, a White, and a Blue American from Chris Hemp displayed at Crescent City CA rabbit show.

The American rabbit breed is one of the rarest in the USA and only is recognized in Blue and White. Some people have been suggesting the development of a Red variety in the breed so the American breed could come in Red, White, Blue which is the colors of the flag of USA! Seeing an actual Red rabbit from the American breed is a surprise and a delight!


Some people think we should practice saving the white and blue and perfecting it before bringing in another variety. They are a very rare breed and we should do everything to help bring their numbers up.

People are breeding more Americans than they were before. The current crop of American breeders are saving the blue and white by driving breeding stock all over the country in the last two years. They have adopted strategies like using blacks as blue carriers to increase the number blues. They have been crossing whites and blues then culling out the unwanted colors. They are working the breed like crazy. If somebody wants to push the envelope and develop a new variety then more power to them. Chris Hemp has been promoting Blues and Whites for about six years. So if anybody knows how to make a Red American it would be Chris. I applaud her efforts! Look how excited people are about a possible new variety of American! That's how to promote a breed.

Well done Chris!

Have a joyful day!


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## Nancy McClelland (Sep 5, 2011)

Great photo.


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## BlueCamasRabbitry (Sep 5, 2011)

Very cool!  Do we know if Chris Hemp holds a COD for the Red American's? 

Emily


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## rabbitgeek (Sep 5, 2011)

I do not believe she has a COD. 

Have a good day!


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## CCWelch (Sep 6, 2011)

Looks like a Red, White, and Black NZ. Cannot see the eyes on the white, if they are pink it is not an American.


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## rabbitgeek (Sep 6, 2011)

It was a Thrianta cross. I got the info from Chris:

"The kits were born red from day one just like the Thrianta that sired the
litter.

This is my project and has nothing to do with Jeremy's tort project. The agouti
gene is already present in the American gene pool. I just tweaked and added
Rufus. Thank you. 

Since Allen and Randy are two judges that I admire, I took the red up to the
show to "show-off". I slipped her onto Allen's table as a joke and he had the
picture on Facebook before I could get the rest of them off the table. I am
quite pleased with how she has turned out at four and a half months with two
intermediates next to her. There is still a lot of work to be done."

So the doe is a 1st generation cross to an American. I know Chris has several "off color" rabbits from crossing whites and blues and she knew that adding a Thrianta to the mix she would get a red rabbit. Putting it on the table was more of a spoof, but the red is off to a rocking start!

Anyone looking for more information on American breed rabbits should join the yahoogroup for breeder contacts and discussions
http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/AmericanRabbits/

Have a good day!


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## rabbitgeek (Sep 6, 2011)

And Allen told me that it was a Blue American, just a poor color pick up on his cellphone camera.

Have a good day!


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## mistyjr (Sep 7, 2011)

cute


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## CCWelch (Oct 4, 2011)

Still all cute!


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## pamnock (Oct 4, 2011)

*CCWelch wrote: *


> Looks like a Red, White, and Black NZ. Cannot see the eyes on the white, if they are pink it is not an American.



I think your are thinking of white Beverens that have the blue eyes. White American eyes are pink.

The body types appear to bedecent examples of the semi-arched Americans. For an F1, the Red doe has nice type. The American blue is a dark slate color, so could feasibly look very dark in the photo.

A lot of the Americans carry the steel gene - I used to have a steel American : )


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## Ivory (Oct 4, 2011)

this made me feel patriotic!


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## DharmaBuns (Oct 4, 2011)

Wow, absolutely beautiful! I love the Red/white/blue theme there! I had actually considered Americans when I was looking at different rabbit breeds. 

Why are they considered so rare? Why don't more people breed/show them?


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## rabbitgeek (Oct 5, 2011)

I don't know why more people haven't raised them in the past. 

I hope by shining the light on them we can get more people to work with them. They have already moved from #1 most rare in 2003 to #5 most rare in 2010.

Keep watching them.

Have a good day!
Franco Rios


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## DharmaBuns (Oct 5, 2011)

*rabbitgeek wrote: *


> I don't know why more people haven't raised them in the past.
> 
> I hope by shining the light on them we can get more people to work with them. They have already moved from #1 most rare in 2003 to #5 most rare in 2010.
> 
> ...


It's good to hear that they are gaining in popularity! I think that they're very pretty. 

Is there a list of the most rare rabbit breeds?


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## rabbitgeek (Oct 5, 2011)

[size="+1"][size="+1"]Here is the short version 
#1 is most rare, #16 is less rare 

2010 Rare Breed Rabbit Rank 
1 Blanc de Hotot 
2 Giant Angora 
3 Cinnamon 
4 Beveren 
5 American 
6 Satin Angora 
7 Giant Chinchilla 
8 Lilac 
9 Silver 
10 American Sable 
11 Belgian Hare 
12 American Chinchilla 
13 Rhinelander 
14 Creme d'Argent 
15 Silver Fox 
16 Palomino 

Note: Standard Chinchilla was #16, is now #17 and is off the list. 
Palomino has joined the Rare Breed List.
(from http://www.rabbitgeek.com/rarelist.html)

Have a good day!
[/size][/size]


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## pamnock (Oct 5, 2011)

I'm lucky to live in a region where I get to see these rare breeds and have actually judged all of them as well as owned some of them (currently have Rhinelanders in the barn and have had Silvers, Beverens, Hares,American, and Silver Fox). Most of these I commonly see, except for the Blanc De Hotots which I believe I've only judged one time.


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## rabbitgeek (Oct 5, 2011)

Pam,

When did you have the Americans with the steel in them? Breeders have been having a fun selecting out some really odd genes. Most all of our Blues can be traced to Indiana, and our Whites can be traced to Indiana or Canada.

In Central Calif, I have not seen Giant Chinchilla, Blanc d'hotot.

The Giant Angora, Palominos, Creme d'argent are very rare around here.

Have a good day!


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## pamnock (Oct 5, 2011)

It was quite a few years ago that someone gave me the steel American. (About 10 years ago). We had Beverens in white, blue, black, and brown about 12 years ago (from the last largest gene pool left in the US).

One of the Giant Angora breeders around here is working on other varieties.


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