English Lops (argueably) is the oldest breed of rabbit known to man. They started in Africa where temperatures were only 60-90 degrees year around. The heat had a large inpact on their ears, making them get longer and longer to help their bodies cool off.
The English Lop's ears became so long that the cartlige in their ears became weak, so the ears flopped over. After a while England and Germany discovered this magnificant breed, so they used them for showing purposes. The people only cared for the long ears, so they kept the bunnies in heated barns and hot-ironed their ears to make them longer.
Over this time, the English Lop's body was raw-boned, ugly, and out of porportion to his ears. To get the body nice, England began to breed the English Lop to the Flemish Giant. Pretty soon the English Lop became so inbred that it suffered from bone weakness like pigeon breast, bowed legs, snipey noses, and other genetic defects.
It wasn't long before the breed was in top condition again. They were so popular in shows that if another breed took Best In Show...people would have a fit. Thats when the National Pet Stock Association accepted the English Lop as it's 15th breed. (now its called the American Rabbit Breeders Association, which developed in 1926) If an English Lop gets Best Of Breed because it's ears are the longest...THEN THAT JUDGE IS CLUELESS!!!!!!
Without the English Lop, there would be no Holland, French, Mini, Fuzzy or the Velveteen Lop.
The ears are no doubt the favorite part of this breed. The length from tip to tip must be over 21 inches or else it is disqualified from showing. The longer the better! If the English Lop has really long ears..its body MUST be porportionate to them. The width of the ears should be 1/4 of the total length. English Lops are difficult to breed because their bodies are so long. Remember, the body is worth MORE than the ears!!! The average litter size is between 8 and 13!
When they are babies, their ears are not as tough and strong, so they can tear very easily.
MEASURING EARS
When measuring English Lops ears, I suggest using a yardstick for the most accurate size. Tape measures are known to add or take off a few inches. Have the rabbit facing you, then pick up the left ear and place the tip of the yardstick on the tip of the ear. The yardstick should go across the crown on the rabbit and end on the right side. Pick up the right ear underneath the yardstick and stretch the ear to its greatest length with out hurting the animal. Then where ever it comes to (say, 24") then thats how long the ears are.
Now for measturing the width, turn the ear so the opening is facing the ground. Then measure across the ear several times in different places to determine the widest point. Pretty simple!
COLORS
English Lops can come in just about every color possible. Fawn and Tortoise are the most common colors, while Ruby-Eyed White (REW), Chocolate, and Blue-Eyed White (BEW) are rare. Which means they are not a common color to see on the English. But some barns specialize in certain rare colors, so to them it's common!!!!
For the toenails on broken pattern English, you can have mix-matched colors. Its a slight fault but not a DQ. However for solid pattern English, they MUST be all one color.
EARS
Believe it or not, English Lops are known to chew off or bite off their ears. This can be caused by stress, aniexty, or being frightened. Although some people say boredom or hunger can trigger eating ears, (I personally dont believe that one!) Once the ear is chewed on or missing, it doesn't grow back.
Tattooing the ears on these guys is tricky. The best spot for tattooing is the very top of the ear where cartlige is thicker and less blood veins are in the way. You can either tattoo upside down (make sure the letters are upside down too, so then it comes out right side up) or tattoo with the bottom of the ear in between the pliers. Just be cautious that you dont pinch the ear while tattooing. That leading to a P.O. bunny and an accident waiting to happen!
