Fuzzy Lop rabbit. It is a breed of Holland Lops rabbit, there are 19 accepted colors for them, although many variants of these can be found in the litters, with great sales.
Summary
[ hide ]
- 1 Origin of the rabbit
- 2 Features
- 1Color
- 3 Fuzzy Race Market
- 4Nueva raza (American Fuzzy Lop)
- 5Fuente
origin of the rabbit
The origin of the Fuzzy Lop is related to the history of the Holland Lop. When first introduced, the Holland Lop was only found in solid colors, and some breeders wanted to add spotted patterns to the Holland Lop gene pool. To do this they mixed their Holland Lops with English Spots. They managed to produce rabbits with the desired spots, but they were not able to maintain the characteristic Holland Lop type of hair in the new rabbits, instead they had English Spot hair.
Breeders then mixed Holland Lops with French Angoras, a breed with very soft hair. The result of these manipulations was that the wool gene was introduced into the genetic holly of the Holland Lop and thus a Holland Lop with long and soft wool appeared in some litters , they were bought immediately, by people delighted to have a belier (Lop) long-haired
Features
- The body of a Fuzzy Lop, according to the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) Standard of Perfection, should be compact, with a width equal to its height at back and hip. The spine should not be prominent and the bones should not protrude, the body should be well muscled.
- The head should be rounded and flat on the face, solid and close to the body, it should not have a neck.
- The ears should hang straight, close to the cheeks, they are covered with fur.
- The wool of the adult rabbit should be dense, but not similar to that of the angora.
- The fur of young rabbits is softer and more similar to the angora type, this softness causes it to tangle more easily and requires more care. At about 6 months, rabbits will shed this downy hair and it will be replaced by adult hair. Its maximum body weight is 1.8 kg in adult rabbits.
Color
There are currently nineteen accepted colors for the Fuzzy Lop, although many variants of these can be found in litters. Accepted colors are: blue , chestnut, chinchilla , lynx , opal , squirrel , dotted white, blue-eyed white, chocolate , lilac, ruby – eyed white , dotted sable, sable Siamese, smoke pearl Siamese, tortoise , fawn, black , and orange.
Fuzzy Breed Market
The pioneering breeders of the Fuzzy Lop appreciated the great marketability of this new breed. Patty Greene-Karl realized that the “fuzzy” gene was recessive, so to get a Holland Lop to have long hair, she had to mix two rabbits that had the gene, even though they didn’t have long hair, so one of each 4 kits would be a Fuzzy Lop.
Nueva raza (American Fuzzy Lop)
It was Patty who decided to name those rabbits after a new breed, she called it the American Fuzzy Lop. After working for four years to develop the Fuzzy Lops, she presented them to the ARBA for acceptance as a breed in 1985 at the ARBA convention in Houston, Texas. The Patty Rabbit was accepted as the standard.
In 1987 , at another ARBA convention, the committee did not approve the breed as such, indicating a lack of uniformity from one animal to another. A new functional standard was described by Jeff Hardin at Patty’s request, and was accepted. The revised standard described a woolly Holland Lop .
The year 1988 was decisive to know if it would finally be accepted as a breed, or if they had to start their selection again. The American Fuzzy Lop was finally recognized as a breed.
