Thuringian (rabbit breed)
The Thuringian rabbit is a medium-sized rabbit breed (weight 3.5 to 4.25 kg) with a characteristic color.
Appearance of the Thuringian
The body color of the animals is yellow-brown to yellow-red. Over this body color is a soot-like veil, the head and ears as well as a stripe that runs along the belly and encompasses the outside of the legs and the flower. Genetically, the Thuringian is a monochrome yellow animal, the genetic formula is:
AbCDg (German symbolism) or aBCDe (English symbolism).
History of the Thuringian
The Thuringian rabbit arose from attempts by the teacher David Gärtner (1841-1927) from Waltershausen in Thuringia , who pursued the goal of breeding an enlarged Russian and black and silver rabbit by crossing Russian rabbits , silver rabbits and Belgian giants . He also presented these animals at shows, but was rejected by the corresponding clubs. Coincidentally, an animal of the current color of the Thuringians fell during these experiments; by mating back to the mother he received other animals of this color. Because of their color, reminiscent of chamois , he called them chamois, after the French name for chamois. (Sometimes this name was also given phonetically as Shamoa in older literature). Gärtner advertised the new breed through specialist articles, but was bitter by rejecting his Great Russians and Great Silver and no longer exhibited rabbits himself. The breeder Emil Piegsa founded a special club for Thuringians in 1905, but without the participation of gardeners. Together with Max Fischer, Piegsa drafted a breed description and showed Thuringians for the first time at an exhibition in 1906. However, the breed was felt to be too big; only after the weight had been reduced a little, was it recognized in Hanover in 1908 as a "Gems-colored Thuringian". Joppich mentions that the Thuringians in the early days distinguished themselves from other breeds by having ears that were particularly wide apart and expresses the suspicion that ram rabbits , which already existed in yellow and Madagascar colors at that time, were also involved in the development of the breed. Incidentally, it is also mentioned that Gärtner's Great Russians and Great Black and Silver are said to have had ears protruding horizontally from the head. The breeder Karl Maul from Diemitz soon began to breed a heavier type of Thuringian as an economic breed by crossing rabbits and giant rabbits , the so-called "Diemitzer chamois", which are said to have been characterized by extremely dense skins, as Joppich writes. Both lofts were combined in the realm evaluation regulations for the breed "Thuringian" and a medium weight was required. Today Thuringians are a regularly shown, if not very common breed.
Similar races
The Thuringian color is also recognized as a color variation in other breeds. Sometimes the color is also called "madagascar" or "tortoiseshell" (English tortoise or tortoiseshell).
The Sallander is a Dutch breed that was bred by DJ Kuiper from the Salland area . Genetically, it is a combination of the Thuringian with the chinchilla factor . Sallanders are white, brown-eyed animals (the Dutch standard speaks of "off-white"), the black awns are the typical markings of the Thuringian.
The separator rabbit shows similar markings as the Thuringian with an overall significantly lighter (sand-colored) basic color.
literature
- Thüringerkaninchen , in: Der Kleintierzüchter - Rabbit 20/2006 ISSN 1613-6357
- Friedrich Karl Dorn and Günther March: Breed rabbit breeding. A manual for rabbit keepers and breeders , 7th edition Augsburg 1989 ISBN 3-8944-0569-4
- Friedrich Joppich: The rabbit , Berlin, VEB Deutscher Landwirtschaftsverlag, 1967
- Wolfgang Schlolaut: The big book of the rabbit , 2nd edition, DLG-Verlag, Frankfurt 1998 ISBN 3-7690-0554-6
Web links
- Stefan Ackermann: Thuringian (PDF; 1.1 MB), Entente Européenne d'Aviculture et de Cuniculture judges course, March 2011