I should probably start at the beginning for anyone reading this not up on the mechanics of breeding himis. From the start, I was told himis are temperature-sensitive. The himi gene forces the color to the extremities (the points) which are most susceptible to cold. When himi kits are chilled in the 1st days of life, they can display a lot of body color (smut) that makes the breeder think they have anything but white. They can look like Sable Pt, Sia Sable, or Smoke Pearl. I remember how excited I was the 1st time I saw one. I had been trying for Sable Pt and was sure I finally had one. Not. The excess color eventually recedes to the points and makes for very nicely colored himis.
This is a litter of himis. An uninformed breeder might think they had Sable Pt or Smoke Pearl. This is out of 2 himis so they can't be anything but himis.
The last year or two, I gave up shadeds and only breed the himis to himi or black. Well ok, sometimes to broken but that's a whole nother thing. My point is that I learned new things about himis and the kit smut. I now believe it is more about genetics than temperature, although temperature is still a factor. I have some new thoughts based on what I know about my himis, and observations of PW breeds.
Some of the smuttiest litters were born when it was warm. My himi does are notorious for pulling a lot of fur and making good nests. Many were good-sized litters of 3 or more so the kits kept each other warm. These "cold himis" did not get cold.
I think the tendency for smut is genetic. I've seen it more from some lines than others. Messenger is a himi who throws smutty kits. He's out of a Sable Pt, and his color is not that great. Not what you usually see when cold himis grow up. I wondered if the smut actually came from the Sable Pt. It's pretty common on SP and is inherited, and the smut on himi kits looks a lot like on SP kits. Makes sense to me.
The recent discussion was joined by someone who emphatically insisted that the PW smut is completely controlled by temperature, and that genetics play no part. Since this person used Himalayans and Californians as examples of proof, I realized the myth was probably propagated by breeders of these breeds. It may not apply to other breeds in quite the same way.
Himalayans and Californians are PW breeds and that's the only variety they come in. They're old breeds and have been bred for the best point color over hundreds of generations. They vex show breeders by displaying smut on other parts of the body when mature. One myth says that if you shave 2 Californians on the back and put one in a cold place and the other in warmth, the cold one will grow dark fur where it was shaved. They even say that does get smut where they've pulled fur. Something I've never seen on my himis or heard of on any others, even up north. Some older himis might get a little smut around the eyes or bleeding out from the nose spot up to the eyes, but not on any other part of the body that's white.
To me, this just proves genetics plays a part. Temperature-sensitivity has been strongly bred into these PW breeds simply because only the PW gene which is sensitive is present. In other breeds, PWs are bred to other varieties which would dilute this sensitivity, and the smut doesn't always come from being chilled.
I also learned how temperature can affect mature himis. It's said it's hard to raise good PWs in a warm climate. I've proven that's not necessarily true. By eliminating the shaded factor, my himis are now "pure himi". Their color is true black or blue and doesn't fade to brown in summer heat. The only fading I saw in an extremely hot summer was that the nose spot receded to just the top of the nose. My himis had white lips. I assume due to their panting hot breath. Once the weather cooled, the color went back into the entire muzzle. However, since the PW breeds are so temperature-sensitive, they would be affected much more.
In the nestbox:
Flashdance x Stoney Brook's Jackson finally kindled. She was 2 days late. She only had the one and it was a large DOA hippo. This is only the 3rd hippo I've seen (that I noticed). As usual, it came from a new rabbit (Jackson).
In the himi x himi litters, most of the kits are himis, but there's a couple I don't see any color yet. These litters are nice and toasty. It's not that cold, the does pulled piles of fur, made a good nest, and had good sized litters. The color will be slow to develop.
Cirocco x Ford's Roc, Nyx x Sugardaddy (fostered), and Dreamcatcher x Roc, their brokens are looking good. As expected, Nyx let her solid black die. She's a good looking doe so I'm glad I finally got something out of her. Her days here are probably numbered since it's such trouble getting anything from her. I'll try her one more time.
But there's a problem with rebreeding Flashdance and Nyx right now. Neither can be trusted to raise their litters, and I have no reliable does open. I'll have to think about about this. I could breed Honeycomb since her litter is about 4 wks. I'm going to put Lady Blaque up for sale real soon when her litter is weaned out, so I don't want to breed her again. All the other litters are too young to rebreed the dams right now. The only others are some young does just or almost sr, but being unproven, I can't count on them. Looks like Honeycomb is my only option.
In the brooders:
I split the chicks out into 3 bins. 5 of them are quite a bit bigger and more feathered. I kind of wanted to move them outside into a cage on the ground in the pen, but it's still getting cool at night. So their bin is in the bunny barn where they are acclimating to the temps out there. The other 2 bins are still in the house, and the youngest are still under a heat lamp.
I was getting really frustrated trying to keep the chicks in water. They were kicking the shavings all over the place, into the water bowl and feeder. It quickly soaked up the water, and I was cleaning and refilling 4 or 5 times a day! I found a way to put a stop to some of that. I cut a piece of floor wire to fit the bin and laid it on top of the shavings. Problem solved. Now their water stays cleaner and they don't run out several times a day.
Weather has been up and down. Typical spring. A few cool nights below 40, but not freezing. Spring storm lines continue to develop in the valley, beat up the deep south, and lose power (luckily) by the time they get up here. This morning, I have the tail end of the latest line and there's wind and rain. Don't need more of either, but what are you gonna do?
tnt
