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Fuzzy lops Body type
for the new breeder

When purchasing or breeding fuzzy lops it's difficult for a new breeder to understand what the ARBA standard of perfect means.
In this newsletter I'll focus on the body.

The simplest explanation I can give a new breeder is get a rabbit that feels as close to a cantaloupe or small honeydew melon as possible. You want a short bodied rabbit that is smooth and not boney.

Judges seem to fault small boney rabbits very severely.
The Fuzzy lop standard says the rabbit should be smooth and well muscled.
You should not feel it's spine or pin bones (butt bones).

Poor flesh cover can be caused by, parasites (debatable), old age, a poor feeding program, poor quality feed or more likely genetics.
When buying a fuzzy lop you want to get one with good flesh cover (padding) all over.

Above is a short compact Doe

The above Doe is a good example of show doe. She has a nice arch to her back that peeks at the center of the rabbit. The slope over her hind quarters is smooth and even. There is no sudden drop off or flat area angular area. Her head is not hugging the table nor is it positioned higher than the peek of her back.

Above is a doe that is longer in the body. Her ear length is also too long.
If you compare her to the rabbit above you'll find the below doe's head is small compared to the proportions of her body.
You'll notice that the arch to her back that peeks late.
She is longer in the front than in the back. The angel at the front of the arch is different that the angle at the hind quarter.
The judge would give this rabbit comments like long in the body or long in the shoulder and peeks late.

Here is the same rabbit but now she looks short????

If you draw your attention to the towel she's sitting on you'll notice it's on an angle, so is the rabbit and therefore you're not seeing her full length. I took the photo and it took me awhile to figure out what happened. She is also sitting up better in the second photo and not as stretched out.
Be careful when shopping on-line...... If the seller doesn't have several photos of different angles of the rabbit ask for a side or above shot of the rabbit.
This brood doe was my first attempt at buying fuzzy lops. She was a good brood doe with a lot of good points and a great pedigree, but as a newbie it was just too hard to work with this big doe and know how to get show results out of her kits. I replaced her the following year with smaller stock. It was more her ear length plus her size that discouraged me when I first started out. If I got her size down the kits had very ,very long ears. But really it was only two generations away from show babies.

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