“A Rhapsody in Blue” is how one enthusiast describes the elegant BLUE REX. The best way to start up in any breed of rabbit is to join the national specialist club of your chosen variety. The Blue is catered for by the National Blue Rex Club. We are a friendly bunch, not particularly large in numbers, but I think that is to our advantage because it means we all know each other. After a couple of Blue Rex shows you feel like an old hand - I know I did. Now onto stock. The best way to start is with a mated doe from a reliable breeder who keeps their name in the cards at shows. I have known exceptional cases where someone has picked up a Blue from an ‘unknown’ and taken every prize it was entered for, but this is the exception and not the rule. The first litter is the most exciting - the average litter size for Blue rex is five or six. If you want to show these youngsters as under five months exhibits I would not leave more than five with the doe - more would be all right but they take longer to finish. In the early litters especially, you will probably find a few ‘Snowballs’. These are very pale, almost white, Blue rex babies. If you do find some you are lucky, as invariably these make the best exhibition stock although sometimes they have paler toe-nails which judges will consider undesirable. On the subject of toe-nails, a lot has been said in the Blue rex fraternity. The only way to remove white toe-nails is to breed from rabbits without them. Incidentally, one last point on the subject: horn colour is brown, not off-white! Leave the young rabbits with their mother until about seven weeks of age, then remove the mother to another hutch. When the young are about eight weeks old separate them according to sex - bucks in one hutch, does in another. A few weeks later put each rabbit in its own hutch. By ten weeks I think you can tell what they will be like as far as colour and coat goes. Choose the lighter coloured specimens for exhibition, darker ones for breeding. As with most Rex the does are often the best specimens as far as coat qualities go. Watch out for dark blue heads and ears appearing, they will ruin the look of your rabbits and should not be kept. SHOWING Learn the standard and you will be able to tell a good Blue rex at a glance. As with all Rex avoid the rabbits with chopped rumps and curly napes, but on the whole you won’t find much trouble with type in Blues. If you study your own stock and that of other Blue rex fanciers you will learn a lot. If you are not sure about sorting out your stock get a reliable breeder to come and assess them for you. If you intend showing, then they must be handled daily. A rabbit with average qualities that shows them off by sitting quietly on the judging table will do as well as one with outstanding features but which bites and leaps around. Remember to keep exhibition stock out of the direct rays of the sun or their coats will take on autumnal tints of brown on the flanks and back. Awnings work well if you are keeping your hutches outside. GROOMING Grooming is one of the most important aspects of showing any Rex rabbit. A moulty rabbit will clear a lot quicker if groomed daily. For everyday grooming you cannot beat rubbing over the coat with moistened hands. Complete the grooming by polishing the coat with the soft side of a chamois leather. On the day of show make quite sure the exhibits have clean hocks. They should be similar to the body colour, blue not yellow! Give the rabbits lots of bedding and there should be no problems with this. If there are stubborn stains try a little witch hazel to remove them. Always keep the rabbit’s toe-nails short and tidy - long nails are dangerous to you and the rabbit, especially if it is a doe with a litter. MATING When you come to mating your own stock, take the type from the buck and the coat and colour from the doe and remember to watch those toe-nails. To the beginner, I would say that Blue Rex is the ideal breed for you. Their most outstanding feature is their docility. The does make excellent mothers and rarely lose any of their young. The bucks are placid and have few vices, young or old. So if you fancy a self rex rabbit, choose the Blue - I’m sure you will not be disappointed. STANDARD General standard for all smooth coated rex: FUR: To be approximately half an inch in length. Fine silky texture free from harshness and woolliness, intensely dense, smooth and level over the whole body, of a lustrous sheen, firm and plush-like character, devoid of projecting guard hairs. 40 points TYPE: Well proportioned and graceful carriage, the body sloping gently up to well-rounded quarters set on strong hind legs, medium bone. Head bold and broad, ears erect and to be in proportion to body, dewlap should not be excessive, eyes and toe-nails should preferably match the body colour. 20 points WEIGHT: For adults 6 to 8 lb COLOUR - As below 40 FAULTS - Narrow wedge head, drooping ears, bare pads (patches on feet being devoid of fur, but skin unbroken), thin or curly triangle, white hairs on coloured coats (not to be confused with ticking on ticked varieties), lack of density, harsh, wavy, woolly or curly coats; adults over or under weight. Black hairs in blues. DISQUALIFICATIONS - Ill health, putty nose, white patches, crooked legs, excessive dewlap, sore pads (where skin is broken or scabbed), specked, wall or odd coloured eyes. BLUE REX COLOUR - Clear, bright, medium shade of blue (not lavender) throughout, from tip of fur to skin, extending to, but not including toe-nails, brown tinge a fault. Toe-nails to be horn colour, white toe-nails to be treated as a minor fault. |
