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| ~ GETTING STARTED ~ One of the first, most important things to remember when planning to establish your own Holland Lop bloodline is ... PATIENCE...and more PATIENCE! If you are breeding for show, don't be disappointed if you should not develop the Holland Lop you desire in the beginning. In most cases, it takes about 5 years to develop your own quality show line, but the final result will be something you can take pride in!! There are occasions however, which take more or less time, with a major factor being how intensive your breeding program is. However long it takes, once you have reached a minimum of 3 generations of selective breedings with your foundation stock...you've achieved your goal....you've developed your own line of Holland Lops!! To save time in developing a show quality line, always give special attention when selecting a herd buck....BUY ONLY THE BEST!! If your search for an outstanding buck leads you to a local rabbit show, and you're not sure what to look for, you can always have your potential purchase evaluated by the registrar assigned to that show. Your goal when choosing your breeding stock should always be to purchase bunnies which will eliminate the undesirable traits and intensify the desirable ones. If selective breedings are planned with this in mind, you should get litters that are well balanced Holland Lops with wonderful temperaments. For the pet owner who wants to enjoy the experience of a litter of bunnies, you need not be as selective, but try to make sure you have people interested in giving them homes. Your bucks need to be at least 6 months of age if they will be used for breeding. Even if the buck is willing to breed at an earlier age, (and they always are!!), until he is 6 months old he will most likely be sterile. Even if he were to produced a litter, there is a chance the doe could have deformed or premature babies. Does should also be 6 months of age before breeding them, or you may encounter complications before, during or after a doe gives birth. Also very important, is to make sure your doe comes from a mother who had good nurturing instincts, was a good milk producer and never tried to harm her babies. The good traits, as well as the bad are hereditary, and if you choose a doe with this in mind, you can avoid the frustration of losing litters later on if you had planned on breeding her. Gentle temperament is a major priority to me, so when culling does, I eliminate any that are aggressive, biters, won't conceive, that consistently lose litters, that harm their newborn babies, have health problems or that are hyperactive. |
| Breeding |
| START INTRO BUNNY LANGUAGE TEMPERAMENTS LINKS HOLLANDS BLUE EYED WHITE SPORTS POINTED WHITE RED EYED WHITE CHOCOLATE OTTER MARTEN |
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