Mini Lop vs. French Lop

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Schipperkesue

Schipperkesue

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I have an ulterior motive here. I have recommended a friend join this forum. I would love to get this discussion started to lure her in!

She is very interested in the Lop breeds. Her priorities would be first and foremost the enjoyment of the rabbits as pets, but also breeding and showing, selling live rabbits, and eating her culled rabbits.

I (we) would love to hear your experiences with these two breeds. Please include information about personalities, temperament, showing, breeding, cage size, availability, popularity, etc.

Looking forward to hearing your comments!
 
I raised Mini Lops myself and I absolutely love them. They are pretty common around us, much more so than French, but the Mini Lop community is awesome. It is full of kind and supportive people. We eat our culls and they still dress out fairly well at 3 months (Figure a pound per month old live weight.). Bunches of pretty colors and simply to show with only two varieties, solid and broken.
 
I have Mini Lops.

They are bred for easy going temperaments and, generally speaking and enjoy having a lot of attention.

They are round, fluffy critters.

They don't eat a huge amount (I give my buns unlimited hay and about half a cup of pellets every day - they don't always finish off the pellets).

On the down side, Mini Lops are prone to certain health issues, such as not having their teeth line up properly, since they are bred to have short, broad faces and heads.
All lops are prone to bacterial ear infections because their ears hang down, preventing good air flow.

I keep my Minis in a 30x36 (or larger) cage. This is probably considered 'generous' to most folks, but watching them move around, I believe it is the smallest cage they can be comfortable in for long periods of time.

I'm not sure what else to say about them... I really do like Mini Lops :)
 
I have mini lops and my local friend has French Lops - I'd say they're about even when it comes to personality - very similar in their attitude. I've found both to be generally mellow and overall easy to deal with... French are just BIG! And with big comes a bigger environment ;) French and Mini share pretty much all the same colors as well.

It may be my area but it's not hard to find 'pet quality' rabbits in both breeds - now good show stock? Mini's have been a bit easier to find in my area.
 
Schipperkesue":39p0yf9q said:
Thanks for your replies! Do we have any French Lop people on the forum?
Click to expand...
We do and I'd be one of them. ;) Sorry I didn't notice this post before.

Wheels pretty much covered it. They're pretty much just big laid back bunnies. Very friendly and love attention for the most part. All mine are 14# and up. They get all the hey they want and eat everything I give them for pellets...about a cup and a half a day! :p (feed doesn't last long around here) :shock:

They make very good meat rabbits when it's time to cull. By the time I can tell one isn't show worthy it's 8-9 pounds. (about 12-13 weeks)

As with most any breed you do get an occasional one that slips a cog. It's only happened once in three years but... I recently had an eight month old buck I was keeping decide he wanted to eat my finger, right to the bone in one bite! As it's just the wife and I we got three meals out of him. :evil:
 
Both breeds sound lovely! It looks like the main difference is the choice between large and small, then? What about demand for pets or show quality animals?
 
Schipperkesue":2rgl61cq said:
Both breeds sound lovely! It looks like the main difference is the choice between large and small, then? What about demand for pets or show quality animals?
Click to expand...

The demand varies depending on where you live.
Mini Lops probably sell better as pets simply because they are smaller, just as Holland Lops tend to sell better than Minis. As for show stock, that will depend on what the interest level in your area is and, of course, the quality of your stock.
 
I do not have experience with the mini's other than that some of my 4H kids have them. They seem like sweet buns. I absolutely fell for French's the first time that I was around them at a show. They are great big rabbits that love attention. They are quite easy to deal with, although they do require a larger cage than a mini and certainly eat more. As Homer stated they definitely grow out bigger than a mini by the time that you might cull them. They're also the largest of the commercial breeds; which is kind of cool. It largely depends on the scale that your friend is looking at and how much she is willing to feed (and of course there is always the other end of the feed spectrum that must be dealt with). If she has only a small area then mini's may be best for her. If she has the space the French's are great. Cost wise they seem pretty comparable if that is a consideration.
 
Well, we know there's both breeds in this area so finding stock won't be much of a problem. Having only seen both breeds at shows, my preference would probably be the French.
 
I don't think either is a bad choice, but I'd go with mini lops hands down, personally.

Both have upsides. Mini lops tend to be a little easier to handle in terms of girth and temperament, won't require as much space and won't eat quite as much. French lops have the benefit of a good national specialty club, which is the one area where the mini lops suffer right now, mainly due to a bunch of overzealous adults who won't find a way to get along.
 
Schipperkesue":t20y5rgc said:
Both breeds sound lovely! It looks like the main difference is the choice between large and small, then? What about demand for pets or show quality animals?
Click to expand...
I'd say the difference is between "large" and "LARGER". :lol: As far as Demand, in my area we have a hard time selling but I don't do pet sales. "California has nothing on us, we grow the best NUTS right here in Colorado". In other areas I know people that have waiting list 12-15 deep to get their hands on a French. :shock:

Forgot to mention cage space. My smallest is 4 foot long and 32" deep. I use a mostly solid floors in my home built hutches because of their weight. The breeders are in a 6 or 8 foot hutch so space should be a consideration for your friend...That "friend" wouldn't be you would it? :p

Bottom line, if you want a BIG lovable Teddy Bear get a French. If you want an easier to handle loveable bun, get a Mini.
 
Many thanks for all the thoughtful answers! I have two further questions...

My friend is having trouble getting on this site. I am not sure what the issue is, but to whom may I refer her for help?

The other question is price. She is leaning towards a French Lop and wants to show first and foremost. What would be a ballpark price for a FL kit from a show background? She has had a quote, and I suggested to wait for mature stock if she can find them, and afford them...thinking kits are a gamble but you can see what you have in a mature rabbit. <br /><br /> __________ Thu May 21, 2015 8:32 am __________ <br /><br /> 3Mina, I have not been to a show in our area for a while. How do the FL do around here? Are they competitive?
 
As far as SHOWING goes, and again this depends heavily on your area, but I would think that (in general) there is going to be a lot more competition with Mini Lops, since they seem to be more common. Of course, her area might be flooded with Frenchies, so that would be something to consider. If there are LOTS of rabbits to compete with, your chances of doing very well in a show decrease. Just my .02 :)
 
Schipperkesue":aco0rfor said:
Many thanks for all the thoughtful answers! I have two further questions...

My friend is having trouble getting on this site. I am not sure what the issue is, but to whom may I refer her for help?

The other question is price. She is leaning towards a French Lop and wants to show first and foremost. What would be a ballpark price for a FL kit from a show background? She has had a quote, and I suggested to wait for mature stock if she can find them, and afford them...thinking kits are a gamble but you can see what you have in a mature rabbit.

__________ Thu May 21, 2015 8:32 am __________

3Mina, I have not been to a show in our area for a while. How do the FL do around here? Are they competitive?
Click to expand...
It depends on how serious you are willing to get. You can find a good quality show bun for about $75 but really serious quality can run in the 100s. At least by me anyways.
 
Schipperkesue":2ewoo0c0 said:
Well, my friend has solved her own problem and decided on..........

....both!
Click to expand...

:lol:

And... so it begins... :roll:

Tell her to start saving up for extra cages now. Srsly.
 

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