I was recounting this story to a friend and wondering out loud how my super-coated Teddy boy could have produced such flat- soft-coated babies. The sow has a pet-quality coat, but it's still obvious she's a Teddy-she just has flat sides and could use kink. I was mentioning how they look almost like my Texel babies, except they have no waves.

That's when the lightbulb went off. I grabbed my Harry Claus book and turned to his article "Attention: Texel Breeders." Texels, one of the newest breeds, were reportedly produced by combining Silkies with Rexes. Rexes are a European breed similar to Teddies -- their coats are similar -- but the similar coat is reportedly controlled by a different gene than the Teddy coat.

Apparently you can also make Silkie x Teddy Texels, for Claus noted people had been wondering what we're showing in the US-- if our Texels came from Rexes, or our own Teddies. A simple cross can give you the answer, he said. Breed a Texel to a Teddy. If your Texel carries the Teddy coat gene, you will get Teddies. If your Texels are based on the Rex gene, the babies will all be Americans.

Well, I breed Texels AND Teddies. Those are the only breeds in my caviary and they are all purebred for at least many generations. I've had the odd Lothario jump cages, so I started to think... Hmmm Texel x Teddy = American babies...

I finally remembered that when the super-coated slightly older Teddy boy was seen jumping the young Teddy sow, he WASN'T the only older boy in the cage. There had been another Teddy and a Texel of approximately the same age. I had held all three back, then sold the one Teddy and the Texel when they didn't mature as well as I'd hoped. My Texels are red and white. Just because I saw the Teddy raping the little sow didn't mean she hadn't just been impregnated by the TEXEL boar!!

Well, it WAS a total mistake and the babies aren't going to be sold with pedigrees or used for breeding anyway, but eureka! Now I solved the mystery of the unexplainable American litter in the Teddy and Texel caviary, AND I know my Texels (most of them anyway!) are based on Rex genes.

THANKS Harry Claus!!