Holland Lop


Holland Lop is a breed of domestic rabbit that was recognized by the American Rabbit Breeders Association in 1979 and by the Netherlands' Governing Rabbit Council in 1984. The Holland Lop, with a maximum weight of , is one of the smallest lop-eared breeds.
Holland Lops are one of the most popular rabbit breeds in the United States and the United Kingdom. They were first bred by Adrian de Cock, as a hybrid of the French Lop and the Netherland Dwarf. Holland Lops are miniature rabbits that only weigh from about 2 to 4 pounds. They are muscular, relative to their compact stature, and have a wide variety of coat colours. Their lopped ears are one of their most distinctive features.

History

The history of Holland Lops began with Dutch breeder Adrian de Cock from Tilburg, Netherlands. Holland Lops, or the "Netherlandse Hangoor Dwerg", are acknowledged by American Rabbit Breed Association in 1979 and made known to the public in 1980.
When Adrian de Cock realized that French Lops were over-sized and Netherland Dwarfs were under-sized in 1949, he decided to breed the two with each other in hopes that their off-springs will inherit the optimal size. French Lops weigh anywhere from 10 pounds to 15 pounds while Netherland Dwarfs only weigh around 1.1 pound to 2.5 pounds. Unfortunately, the results were nothing like what de Cock expected. Their off-springs were way too big and died as a result. The mother also died from the breeding process. In 1951, de Cock decided to try the breeding process again. Instead of using a Netherlands Dwarf doe, he used a male Netherland Dwarf buck. He did not think that this was possible at first, because the French Lop was much bigger than the Netherland Dwarf buck. The results exceeded de Cock's expectations. All of the offspring were normal-sized and had standard ear positions. In 1952, de Cock wanted the rabbits' ears to be lopped, so he let a French Lop's and a Netherland Dwarf buck's off-spring breed with the Sooty Fawn, an English Lop with visibly lopped ears. The results were one with lopped ears, 2 with normal ears, and one with semi-lopped ears. At the end of the breeding process in 1955, a Holland Lop weighing less than 6.6 pounds was born. 11 years after this significant event, de Cock announced Holland Lops weighing less than 4.4 pounds. Another goal at the time was to publicize Holland Lops. In 1964, these rabbits were finally recognized by Dutch breeders and authorities, which led to the introduction of Holland Lops across many countries in Europe.
Sometime in 1965-1975, these rabbits made their first appearance in the United Kingdom thanks to George Scott, an English rabbit breeder from Yorkshire county who found these Holland Lops. At this time, the average weight of this breed was only about 3.3 pounds. The history of the well-known Mini Lop is also related to the history of the Holland Lop. When Scott found these Holland Lops, he sought to make them even smaller, so he let the lightest Holland Lop off-springs breed with each other. The result of this breeding process was the Mini Lop, which was acknowledged by the British Rabbit Council in 1994. In 1976, Holland Lops made their way to the United States, where they were acknowledged by the American Rabbit Breeders Association 3 years later. Over the years, Holland Lops have traveled across the globe and their breeders' accepted maximum weight has changed insignificantly with the actual weight of these rabbits. Holland Lops are now one of the most well-known rabbit breeds in the United States and the United Kingdom.

Appearance

Fur

Similar to most rabbits, Holland Lops' fur is very diverse with a wide variety of colors and combinations. The first type of fur color is light orange, which can also be referred to as "fawn". The second type of fur color is a mix between purple and grey. Although there are many shades of grey, Holland Lops' grey is usually luminous. The third type of fur color is dark brown, which is distributed evenly across the Holland Lop's fur. The fourth type of fur color is luminous brown, which makes Holland Lops resemble squirrels. The fifth type of fur color is white. Holland Lops with white skin and red eyes can tend to resemble white rats, due to the fact that they are also very small animals with single-colored eyes. The sixth type of fur color is dark orange, which is very rare among Holland Lops.

Head

The ears are one of Holland Lops' most distinct features. As mentioned in the history of Holland Lops above, they inherit their lopped ears from the French Lop and Sooty Fawns. These almond-shaped ears are about 4.7 inches long. Since Holland Lops are very small, their legs are also short and stubby. They also have claws that are not used very often.
As mentioned above, Holland Lops, unlike humans, have very small sclera. Their eye color is usually black.

Tail

Holland Lop's tails are small but straight, sturdy, and fluffy.

Feet

The feet of the Holland Lop can be categorized into 6 types: ideal, narrow hindquarters, pinched hindquarters, thin bone, thin long bone, pinched and narrow hindquarters.
Ideal Holland Lop feet are parallel and symmetrical. This foot type indicates that the rabbit will have heavy compact bone, and mass. Narrow hindquarters feet are closer, but still parallel. This indicates less width towards the back, but they still maintain a heavy bone and compact type. Pinched hindquarters heels point towards each other, causing the feet to create a V-shape. This may cause the feet to appear at the bottom when posing for a show. Thin boned feet are shorter and thinner than other structures. This indicates that the rabbit will have medium bone and will remain compact, however will have less mass. Thin, long boned foot structure can cause a change throughout other areas of the rabbit's body, making the head pointier, and the ears longer and thinner. In addition, the feet are longer than thin boned feet, and increase the overall size of the rabbit. Pinched and narrow hindquarters is a combination of the pinched hindquarters and narrow hindquarters foot structures. The heels point towards each other and are closer together, which leads to the hindquarters to appear more hollow.

Ideal appearance

According to the Holland Lop show standards, they are expected to be muscular for their short size. "Broad shoulders and deep hindquarters" are expected traits from a high quality Holland Lop, according to a judge from the Holland Lop Specialty Club. They also added that the legs should be "thick, short, and heavily boned." In shows, the body is worth a total of 32 points.
The Holland Lop is typically 60 cm wide when fully stretched, as well as 60 cm tall. The Holland Lop's flesh is known to be muscular and well-toned. This is especially true when applied to high ranking show Holland Lops. They have "short rounded noses," which differentiates them from other lop breeds, such as the mini lop. Holland Lops usually weigh between 2-4 pounds. However, according to ARBA show standards, the Holland Lop at maximum weight, is 4 pounds.

Behavior

Holland Lops as a breed are considered to be very active rabbits. As a result of this, owners can expect to spend time exercising their Lops to "unlock their full potential." In addition to exercise, Holland Lops also require toys to chew on. This is not only important for keeping them occupied, but also for avoiding potential dilemmas. If neglected, this could ensue in the destruction of personal items, or even walls, as reported by some owners.
As a whole, the Holland Lops is considered to be a friendly breed. Although there is individual variation for each rabbit, this is what is reported. Also, Male rabbits, or bucks have been reported to be less nippy than female rabbits, or does, As does tend to experience a stage where they are shyer and nippy. This typically occurs when they would like to be bred. However, the resulting consequence is that females are not as animated.

Health

The Holland Lop is a breed of rabbit that is healthy and simple to care for compared to other rabbits, since the majority requires only basic grooming. There are no hereditary diseases unique to Holland Lops, but they still can suffer from other common rabbit diseases. They are an active breed that require plenty of physical stimulation and playtime to be happy and healthy pets. They live an average of seven to ten years. Holland Lops need weekly brushing in order to prevent intestinal blockages that can be the result of fur ingestion during self-grooming. Additional brushing is needed during the yearly two weeks of molting. Nails should be trimmed monthly.
Checking for overgrown teeth is a must as well, since these can be very painful for the rabbit. A diet consisting of plenty of timothy hay should be enough to prevent this from occurring. In the case that the teeth do become overgrown this can cause their mouth to shift and in turn lead to possible infection and abscesses. The Holland Lop diet should consist of around 70 percent timothy hay along with high quality pellet feed and a variety of fruits and vegetables. In addition, these rabbits need an unlimited supply of fresh water.
To maintain a healthy rabbit the correct housing is another essential element. Cages should be no smaller than 18 inches by 25 inches although it is always better for the cage to be larger than this. Wire bottoms must be avoided too as these are bad for their feet and will cause sore hocks. While they can be kept in a cage, they are very active rabbits that require plenty of physical activity and it is highly recommended to let them have out of cage time to release their energy. The Holland Lop is not at risk for any specific hereditary health issues, but they are still susceptible to the same common health issues as other rabbit breeds are. In younger baby rabbits under eight weeks old they should be watched for enteritis along with gut stasis and bloat. As a lop-eared breed of rabbit they can also suffer from ear infections such as otitis.
Parasites are another common issue to all breeds of rabbit, specifically cheyletiella mites which cause itching and hair loss. Although these can easily be treated by either a spot-on treatment or injection form of anti-mite preparations. Spaying and neutering also decreases the chance of reproductive system related diseases such as uterine cancer that can occur in does.

Works cited