The Mini Lop is a breed of

domestic rabbit The domestic rabbit (''Oryctolagus cuniculus domesticus'') is the domestication, domesticated form of the European rabbit, a member of the lagomorph order. A male rabbit is known as a ''buck,'' a female as a ''doe,'' and a young rabbit as a ''k ...

that is recognized by the

American Rabbit Breeders Association The American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) is a national club for domestic rabbits and cavy breeders. The ARBA is headquartered in Knox, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Its membership is composed of rabbit and cavy exhibitors, commer ...

(ARBA). It is different from the ''

Miniature Lop Miniature Lop is a breed of domestic rabbit recognised by the British Rabbit Council (BRC). Confusion arises because, in the UK, the Miniature Lop is often commonly called (for short) the ''Mini Lop''. It is, however, a different breed from the ...

'' breed that is recognized by the

British Rabbit Council The British Rabbit Council (BRC) is an organisation for rabbit enthusiasts in the United Kingdom. Rabbits are the UK's third most popular pet. History The British Rabbit Council was formed in 1934 when the British Rabbit Society and the National ...

(BRC). (In the UK, the Miniature Lop is sometimes called—for short—the "Mini Lop".) The Mini Lop Sand the Miniature Lop Kare different from the '' Dwarf Lop'' breed that is recognized by the BRC (but not ARBA). The Mini Lop is similar to several other small rabbit breeds, such as the

Dwarf rabbit Dwarf rabbit refers either (formally) to a rabbit with the dwarfing gene, or (informally) to any small breed of domestic rabbit or specimen thereof, or (colloquially) to any small rabbit. Dwarfism is a genetic condition that may occur in humans a ...

History

Bob Herschbach discovered the Mini Lop breed at a German National Rabbit Show in

Essen Essen () is the central and, after Dortmund, second-largest city of the Ruhr, the largest urban area in Germany. Its population of makes it the fourth-largest city of North Rhine-Westphalia after Cologne, Düsseldorf and Dortmund, as well as ...

Germany Germany, officially the Federal Republic of Germany, is a country in Central Europe. It lies between the Baltic Sea and the North Sea to the north and the Alps to the south. Its sixteen States of Germany, constituent states have a total popu ...

in 1972, where it was known as a ''Klein Widder''. These first Mini Lops were originated from the German Big Lop and the small

Chinchilla Chinchilla refers to either of two species ('' Chinchilla chinchilla'' and '' Chinchilla lanigera'') of crepuscular rodents of the parvorder Caviomorpha, and are native to the Andes mountains in South America. They live in colonies called "her ...

. These two breeds came originally in

Agouti The agouti (, ) or common agouti is any of several rodent species of the genus ''Dasyprocta''. They are native to Central America, northern and central South America, and the southern Lesser Antilles. Some species have also been introduced else ...

and white colors. German lops were about , slender and large with thick ears. Herschbach, a Mini Lop promoter, achieved the first procreation of Mini Lops in the United States, mainly through breeding an agouti lop pair and a white female lop in 1972. Their first baby lops were solid colors. A second generation came with broken colors. As a result of the breeding process, they began to obtain a high standard of qualities Mini Lop. Mini Lop Grooming

In 1974, Herschbach's Mini Lop rabbits made their debut in an

American Rabbit Breeders' Association The American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA) is a national club for domestic rabbits and cavy breeders. The ARBA is headquartered in Knox, Pennsylvania, in the United States. Its membership is composed of rabbit and cavy exhibitors, commerc ...

(ARBA) convention held in Ventura,

California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...

. The outcome was that the breed needed to be downsized to a more compact, attractive size. In order to achieve this, Herschbach enlisted the assistance of other breeders by letting them breed more of his Mini Lops. One final touch resulted in changing the breed name from ''Klein Widders'' to "Mini Lop" to make it more appealing to the public. In 1977 the Mini Lop breed was under new sponsorship; Herb Dyke was the person in charge of this task. In 1978, Herschbach and Dyke created a correspondence club for the Mini Lops. Within a year, they had over 500 members who had contacted the ARBA with support for the Mini Lop rabbit. In 1980, in

Milwaukee Milwaukee is the List of cities in Wisconsin, most populous city in the U.S. state of Wisconsin. Located on the western shore of Lake Michigan, it is the List of United States cities by population, 31st-most populous city in the United States ...

Wisconsin Wisconsin ( ) is a U.S. state, state in the Great Lakes region, Great Lakes region of the Upper Midwest of the United States. It borders Minnesota to the west, Iowa to the southwest, Illinois to the south, Lake Michigan to the east, Michig ...

at the National Rabbit Convention, this breed marked its success when it was recognized as an official rabbit breed sanctioned by ARBA. Shortly after, the Mini Lop Club of America was founded to promote it.

Showing Mini Lops

The ideal Mini Lop is described as being a "basketball with a head". Judges like to see a nice rounded body with thick depth, long thick ears, a wide head and thick bone. ARBA Accepted Colors When showing Mini Lops the colors are broken down into two categories; Solids and Brokens. There are many colors available in this breed however only certain colors are accepted. Some of these colors are: Chinchilla, Chestnut Agouti, Lynx, Opal, Black, White, Ruby-Eyed White, Blue-Eyed White, Blue, Chocolate, Lilac, Orange, Tri Color Mini Lop Standard of Perfection Schedule of points according to the ARBA Standard of Perfection: General Type 80 *Body 43 *Head 20 *Ears and crown 12 *Feet, Legs & Bone 5 *Fur 10 *Color & Markings 5 *Condition 5 Weight Limits and showroom classes according to ARBA's Standard of Perfection: *Senior Bucks- 6 months of age and older, weight *Senior Does- 6 months of age and older, weight *Junior Bucks and Does- Under 6 months, weight Mini Lop Rabbit on Bed

The Mini Lop rabbit is classified as a medium-sized rabbit. Senior Bucks and Does must be six months of age and older and weigh no more than . Ideal weight is . Junior Bucks and Does must be under six months of age and weigh less than . The various colors within a variety are not judged separately. They are divided for judging into two groups, classifications, solid and broken pattern.

References

Animal-World: Mini Lop RabbitsMini Lop CareMini Lop Rabbit Club of America

External links

{{Commons category, Mini Lop
American Rabbit Breeder's AssociationMini Lop Rabbit Club of AmericaMini Lop Rabbit Breed HistoryRabbit Breeds Listing
Rabbits as pets Lop rabbits Rabbit breeds originating in the United States fr:Nain bélier fi:Kääpiöluppakani

History

Showing Mini Lops

See also

References

Further reading

External links