Holland Lops & Hotots

[Frecs]

Well, after 4 Silver Foxes joined our little homestead, my mother has been afflicted with rabbitosis. :roll: She is, in her own words, "totally into this" and has decided that she wants to add Holland Lops and Hotots to the start-up rabbitry. So, since I realize that rabbitosis is completely incurable, I am accepting that mother and I are both total gonners. :up:

I say all that to say this: Mother is demanding that I "get information" on Holland Lops. What information exactly? Everything! :ugeek: She is also, though to a lesser extent, interested in the Blanc de Hotot. I'm more interested in them, myself but they will be a joint project. In fact, Mother and I are excited that we are both excited about the same thing for a change. A Mother/Daughter hobby.

So, I turn to ya'll for help...

 

[siddsaysgimmie]

I have Hollands.. not sure what she's interested in knowing though. Hard to say anything when you don't know where to start, haha.

 

[Frecs]

True enough. Let's see...ummm...

Care: are there any special care requirements that are different than for non-lop eared rabbits? Do they handle cold/heat as well as other (larger) breeds do?
Personality: are they really as sweet as the books say they are?
Colors: there seem to be a huge array of colors, what are the considerations for breeding?
Market(s): what markets are available for Lops? I'm assuming pet and show is pretty much it or are there others?
I'm seeing pedigreed Lops selling for $60 and up...is this about typical?
Are there pointers for selecting good starter stock?

 

[siddsaysgimmie]

I don't find that my Hollands have any special care. I have had other breeds with standard ears and I don't notice a difference.

As a whole, yes they are. Smaller breeds tend to be a bit high strung (of course not all of them!) but most Hollands are a bit more chilled out while still remaining curious. As long as they are handled properly and often, mine are super easy to hold and most run up to the cage to see me every day. I have had a couple nasty does, but there are always rabbits in any breed that are mean.

While there are many colors to choose from, tort is the most common by far. Don't breed shaded to agouti or tort to otter. It's best to stick to basic colors in order to establish a line of rabbits with good type, personalities and health before you mess around with colors. I tried colors first and ended up no where.. I'm now doing tort and black and it's going better.

People like the adorable appearance and smaller size for pets. They are popular show and 4H bunnies as well. You can sell them as breeding stock. And for culls, Hollands are supposed to be pretty bulky looking animals for their size so they can give off a decent amount of meat, after all some meat is better than none.

For good stock, expect to pay more than $60. I have paid $75 MANY times just to get a decent animal.

For pointers, like I all ready said I don't recommend going for color at first. Build your house before you paint it. For your herd buck, buy the absolute BEST you can get. A nice small, but chunky bunny with short bone, massive head, short body and great crown. This doesn't mean you have to necessarily buy the most expensive you can afford but do a lot of shopping and try to chat with a lot of the bigger breeders. Know what to look for before you buy a buck and make sure he is very healthy. After all, he will be the father of a lot of your babies! For does, you don't exactly have to go with a small show animal but you can go with a really massive looking brood doe that has proven her abilities in production and the appearance of her babies. My best babies have come from big ugly does with great backgrounds. You can save some money this way and get more babies out of them usually.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

SSG,

that was a really nice post, with lots of good info, but this has got to be my favorite bit of advice:

Build your house before you paint it.

 

[siddsaysgimmie]

Thanks, I hope it helps.

If you have any other questions I would be happy to help.

 

[skysthelimit]

I love that statement about big ugly does. I've been told that hollands sometimes don't breed true, so there is really no discounting the big does if the background is good and she has some first rate qualities. One thing I have noticed so far, is while most will tell you that most first time does have a hard time kindling, I have not had that problem from my Rexes, but neither of my hollands successfully kindled a litter yet. They should be due in a few days so we shall see. They are considered by most a hard breed to breed, neither of mine's lifts for the buck, I had to hand breed them (hold them up), but they weren't reluctant. If you're looking for instant gratification, they will not do. And they have more things that can be considered show faults, so you have to cull and breed with care. They are well worth the work, and come in so many colors to offer great variety, and they are so sweet.

 

[siddsaysgimmie]

I actually have excellent luck with my first time mothers. I haven't had a maiden doe kindle an unsuccessful litter since October 2010.. but I ended up breeding her a few times, she just wasn't able to kindle anything live. I had bad luck at first but once I got rid of anything that gave me problems and kept does from very successful does, I haven't had a problem. I have had live first litters of 6, 4 (3 times), 2 and just recently a doe kindled 4 but 2 were stillborn. My advice in this situation would be to find does that are successful first time mommies and breed off them. I find that birthing and mothering skills is often genetic and you can save yourself a lot of work and heartache by trying this. I went a year without even one stillborn and I've only had two first time moms fail.. that was a long time ago though and neither were does born here. Not sure if it's good breeding or not, but either way it works well for me.

I used to have an awesome doe.. super nice type. What did she throw? Crap, actually. All of them were huge, long ears, looked nothing like her. However, I have had several does that had huge ears, narrow heads and are 4-5 pounds and throw awesome babies. Just make sure that you are able to see the mother and father and maybe siblings if possible. You want the big ugly does to be false dwarfs so you're not getting any peanuts and they have larger litters.

I agree with the fact that Hollands have a lot of faults to be had. They are a difficult breed in that regard. With dedication and understanding of the breed, they are very rewarding.

 

[curlysue]

We bought several does before we found some that had live babies.avoid small does.They do have very nice temperments,They are expensive.

 

[skysthelimit]

I've got one small doe, and one large doe. I'm thinking the small doe I will put on the table, and the large doe best in the nest box. If the small doe can't have a live litter, she'll go to a pet home.

 

[Frecs]

Great info, I truly appreciate it. Now, what I'm hearing/reading is that Holland Lops are a bit of a challenge in terms of breeding. I'm concerned after reading these responses as to whether my mother (age 68, very tender hearted, not good with losing animals/pets) is a good fit to Holland Lops as her first adventure into rabbit breeding. She is very excited about this new adventure and I don't want to dampen her excitement with a breed that is too challenging for her.

Perhaps folks could make suggestions on a breed of rabbit that would be a better "first breed" for my mom? I'll create a new thread for that discussion to keep things clean.