Who has Velveteen Lops?

[WhWRabbitry]

Some may have seen a couple of my posts recently about just acquiring a couple Velveteen Lops to add to our rabbitry. We mainly raise Mini Lops.
I'm just curious who else on here owns Velveteen Lops, how many you have, anything you've learned the hard way about the breed etc.

Thanks!

 

[Zass]

*takes a deep breath*

I've had about a 1/2 dozen healthy ones. Mostly bucks that I bought, test bred and sold.
I only have two now that I'm not breeding. Mucky and her son, Sushi.

I euthanized most of the kits I produced, due to some seriously bad genetics that I think my doe carries.

Indoor housing during cold temps is an absolute necessity, as they can damage their own ears in weather that is well above freezing. If they start to tingle from from cold , the rabbit may start to nibble at them trying to relieve their irritation. I was lucky and caught that before it turned out really bad.

Sore hocks are a huge problem that really needs worked on. The ones with the best hocks here were always the the ones with coarser denser coats...not the uber soft ones.

You don't want pinched hips or wry tail, but apparently there are some big name breeders willing to sell rabbits like that as brood stock... :evil:

Some breeders are also promoting a gene that causes temporary kit balding. Claiming it produces softer/better adult coats. Velveteens do not need to be any softer, and I personally feel that gene is highly undesirable.. It's often associated with kits who grow slower and have higher mortality rates.

Oh yeah, and they are the sweetest rabbits on the planet.

 

[WhWRabbitry]

Thanks so much for the feedback Zass! I remembered that you had some.

I can already see the sweetness of temperament, especially with the buckling we got.
He is SO calm, sweet, and affectionate! That is one of the things that draws me to them. The does is sweet too just a little more shy than him.

I was aware of the sore hocks being a concern. I am keeping resting mats in the cages and am going to be checking the hocks often. I'd read that nu skin can be a good thing to use if they do get sore, while they heal. I've also read of toddler socks (that might have been on here). If you have any other suggestions I welcome them.

I guess I need to look up what pinched hips look like. I read about wry tail.

I plan to breed them in October when the doe is 6 months old. We'll see how it goes.

They will be in our indoor rabbitry, not outside so the temperatures should not be an issue.