Rabbit A is long in the shoulder

Fuzzy lops Body type for the new breeder
Page 3

Rabbit A is long in the shoulder. A long shoulder is a big fault with the judges.
You could breed this rabbit to a compact animal and get a compact kit. However, this rabbit would have a hard time winning on the show table.

Rabbit B is longer in the body than it is wider in the body but still a nice smooth rabbit. The rabbit's front, middle and hips are closely equal in width. If it where to show against the other five rabbits, it would likely get second place to F.

Rabbit C has a gap. Some babies develop a gap and then grow out of it again.
Rabbits that are long in the body will often have a gap just after the rib cage. Some well muscled/padded rabbits that are long in the body can have a less noticeable gap than a rabbit not in condition.

Rabbit D has a narrow hindquarters and it's feet turn out. Your hand will catch on the hips and once past the hip your hand will feel the rabbit's hindquarter flatten on the sides and the pin bones (butt bones) most likely will stick out. Does with this fault will often have stuck dead kits. When working with chocolate fuzzy lops, I found this a very, very hard trait to breed out of a bloodline. I ended up reducing my chocolate bloodlines to the ones that didn't have this fault. I'd place this rabbit last out of these six rabbits.

Rabbit E is narrow in the chest, rib cage and shoulder. When picking your "pick of litter" always choose a baby with a wide chest and rib cage. A rabbit or kit who's front end is narrower than the hindquarter won't grow out of that fault. When you run your hand over the rabbit you will feel it get wider as you reach the rabbit's loin (midsection). Depending on how sever and how well muscled the rabbit is, you may even catch you hand on it's hips just like the rabbit in D. This type of rabbit (E) will often have a very wide nice round hindquarter unlike the rabbit described in D.

Rabbit F is a nice compact rabbit with it's width equal to it's length.
It has a smooth body with it's front, middle and hips equal in width.

Some rabbits can be short and compact and still have a body longer that it is wider. Some Judges will choose this sort of rabbit or the long bodied rabbit type over the compact type. Therefore many breeders will often bring both types to a show.
However if you're breeding for convention and to be national competitive. the compact rabbit in the drawings above is what you should be breeding for.

< Back to Page2 Next page 4>