English Lop The King of the Fancy

English Lop Doe - English Lop Buck - English Lop Main

These rabbits are just wonderful animals! They are like no other breed I know. They love to get out to run and play. Pop there heads and ears out of their cage at feeding time for a loving pet on the head. They also like to look all over for things to get into when allowed. Checking on other rabbits and animals in the barn. They are quiet and love to be held. There amazing show rabbits and great pets. There are not a lot of breeders around making them quite rare. They are the best and oldest known domestic rabbit breed, going back to the 16th century Egypt. I have come to know lots of people don't like the idea of having a big rabbit because of their size and handling them. Or they are worried about there ears in the cold weather. People fear what they do not know. I do keep my English Lop room above freezing during the winter where the temp rarely goes below 50. I only do this because I breed year round. I have had no problem's with the ear's in the winter, as long as they do not get wet and then cold. I move the water crock's up 6" to 8" when it is cold out. There personality sells them every time. They will sit for ever letting you (sometimes almost begging) just for a rub their head. Very docile loving creatures.

Getting started with my first 2 litters of English Lops born on August, 8th 2000. The Doe's were both Ingham's rabbits. Out of that first litter was the Great Tonya Lee! Tonya went to live and show off her stuff up in WI with Sue & Sarah Rascon. She earned 16 legs and a best in show win before producing some very nice offspring! Tonya Lee's 2 brothers BB's Hayl Bop & BB's AJ were my main heard bucks before college. My main line of English today all go back to this foundation Blood. I can not forget the other GREAT doe's that created a turning point in my lines in many ways. Hopalop's Rachel & Hopalop's Sasha from Russ and Janet Scott of MI you know great full I always will be! The same day I met the Scott's about getting Sasha, I also met up with Tony & Crystal Parker, also of MI, and took home with me Parker's Jean & Parkers Tiffany. Jean had to be by far one of my top producing doe's to date!

Below are a few pictures of my foundation stock.

From these first few great rabbits came so many more great things for my English Lop Program.
Quickly they took me to the top ten sweepstakes points for the breed in past several Years! Including 1st Place Open Top Lop!

Color & Variety: While shown in only a Solid & Broken classes, the lops come in quite a wide verity of colors. I am working on bring back the Tri Colored English Lop, into my Cream and Fawn Line. Also the Gold and Silver Ticked Steels have become one of my favorites! Chinchilla and most other agouti seam to appeal to me as well over the tort or self variety. I would love to have one of every color but that would (and does) take up a lot of room.

Tort-Black and Tort-Blue are of the oldest and also most common colors of the English Lop.

Housing: I keep my SR Doe's in 36" x 30" & 48" x 30" cages. The bucks and young ones stay in a 30" x 24" cage. They seem to get along best when given their space. Prefer to not living with another rabbit for to long so I try to get them their own cage as soon as I can.  The cages fill up very fast when these guys have 6 to 12 per litter

Standard of Type

Ears: They are to have at least 21" of length from tip to tip of there ears to show. I don't like to keep much stock with at least a set of 24" or better on a Sr. The width of the ear is to be 1/4 the total length. That's about 6". The ears are to be in proportion to the body. When set back along the spine the ears should reach to the top of the rise on there back. Ears are to be carried low and loose on the head so that there is no crown. The ears should fall down and flow in front of the animal when posed. The ears should be well rounded and not pointed in any way. 

Head: They are to have a big full head with wide set eyes. Cheeks are to be full. They are to have a short neck. Posed with there chin flat on the table. Often have a very large roman nose.

Body: The shoulders should be full, wide, and well developed with a slight slope up to where the rise starts. This is where the spine slowly sweeps up to a high rise over full long loin and hips. This "Mandolin Type" is another rare trait the English Lops have. There tail is usually very long, and should be checked for any breaks, or bumps.

Feet: There feet are to be medium in length and with medium heavy bone. All feet should set parallel to each other and to the hips. Legs are to be wide set. Plenty of fur and thickness to the pads helps keep these big rabbits strong.

Fur: The fur is to "Fly back" into placed when brushed in the opposite direction as the hair grows. To be medium in length. Fine and shiny, almost silky to the touch. Should not be harsh or wooly in any way. 

Size: English Lops are a 6 class show rabbit. There are: Junior, 6/8 (or intermediate) , and Senior classes for both buck and doe, broken and solid. They must be at least 4 pounds before they can be shown in a Junior class.  Junior's can be up to 9 pounds. The 6/8 animal is to be under 8 months of age and over 6 months of age. Not over 11 pounds for doe, and under 10 pounds for a buck before they must be shown as senior. The senior rabbits must be over 8 months of age or  9 pounds for a buck and over 10 pounds for a doe. Kind of tricky but over time this has become second nature.