Rabbits
I have bred and shown rabbits since the age of 12 years old. I took a two year break out of keeping them at the end of 1999 but came back into it in late 2001. I have always kept Lops, in 1998 I took my best honour ever when I won Best of Breed Dwarf Lop at the Bradford Championship show with a Sooty Fawn Dwarf Lop buck named "King Steady Edward III". One of my favourite bucks who died in January 2001.
Now I am back with avegance, and breeding and showing some quality Cashmere & Miniature Lops. The Cashmere Lops all originate back to my original line which I founded in 1997 with help from breeders such as Jane Williams, Alyson Hunt, Jean Wolstenholme. Today the majority of my stock runs back to that line with a little assistance from my old mucker Marion Chamberlain and Sally Murphy who gave me some of my old stock back and a few outcrosses which had some distant relation to the original line. An excellent start and the results are shown below.
Cashmeres in the shed today:-
So from Left to Right we have: "Abel" (REW Cashmere Buck) bred by myself. ; "Alpha" (REW Cashmere Doe) bred by myself only just 4 months in the picture shown ; "Bluegirl" bred by myself from Squirrel and REW is now 8 months old in photo ; finally one of our up and coming stars "Chunky", (Agouti Cashmere buck) so named because he has chunky stocky body, chunky front legs and a chunky head. This rabbit has never been groomed since the day he was born which is a miracle for a Cashmere.
One of our old boys, who I originally bred in 1998 and was shown for sometime by Sally Murphy's daughter (Sam Lloyd) when I gave up was "Lago's Tatanka" he has a number of Best in Shows to his belt and too many Best of Breeds to count, he is now an old man retiring in my shed and still siring, he is the sire of Abel and Bluegirl above and has relation to Chunky. His father and grandfather Ice Diamond and Double Diamond where both also Double Gold Star Champions of their time and won Best in Shows anonymous. Tatanka is pictured below in his better days.
Pictured Below is his son "Josh" who is currently retired with a friend of mine (April Bowman), "Josh" is a blue buck and has a great personality.
One of my other successes has been in establishing the Miniature Lops. My line consists of Pat Todd, Peter Faint, Marion Chamberlain and one doe we had from Jill Jervis (via Sally Murphy). The success has been tremendous and I think in 2003 and the future we have now got the rabbits just got to get them to the table. Weight does not seem to be a problem with my Mini's touch wood and I am grateful for some good starts in life. See the Mini Success below:-
From Left to Right (Top): "APOLLO" Agouti Mini Buck bred by myself only 4 months in pic above, ; "HAROLD" Butterfly Mini Buck bred by myself only 9 months in pic above and very well marked ; "JAN DEKKER" Sooty Mini Buck imported from holland, he is 8 months old in the picture above and well worth every point of importing him ; "SIMBA" Agouti buck, brother of APOLLO. "SNOWY" Red Eyed White (REW) Mini Lop Buck bred by myself only just 4 months old in pic above. Finally "WILLY WONKA" Bred by myself a cracking typey Sooty Fawn Mini Lop Buck.
In relation to advice on any of these breeds, I am the Southern Secretary for the National Cashmere Lop Club and always willing to help do not hesitate to email me or call the General Secretary Marina Shelly on 01977 643358.
In relation to the Miniature Lop Breed contact the Secretary of the National Miniature Lop Club, Jane Duffy on 01242 695192.