GOLDIESTUD

Below is a photograph of an Australian Plush Lop, as bred by Christine Toyer from Sydney.

'Mississippi' can be found in the foreground of this photograph.

By the time the photograph was taken, Christine had already been in her project for approx. five years.

The Plush Lop is a completely new breed in the U.K. and is therefore a Breed in Development. It will take many years before it finally hits the show table, however, all good things take their time.

I came across the Plush Lop while judging in Australia, back in October 2005. It was shown at the REBS Show in Sydney, in the 'unstandardised' section and I instantly took a shine to these magnificent rabbits.

They are a cross between a Dwarf Lop and a Standard Rex rabbit and it had taken the fanciers in Australia over five years to breed them to an acceptable standard.

I decided there and then, to take on this lovely breed and I applied for a Breed in Development Certificate from the British Rabbit Council. After a BRC meeting that took place with their Breed Standards Committee, this was granted in February 2006, on presentation of a proposed breed standard.

Since then several matings have taken place and I am now into the F2 generation of Plush Lops, which was born in February 2007.

If you wish to join me in this exciting project then I would be very pleased to hear from you. Please be aware that this project will require a lot of your time, commitment, hutch space and dedication!

PLUSH LOP (U.K. version)

The ideal Plush Lop is a slightly heavier, rex furred version of the Dwarf Lop rabbit. It should have the compact cobby type of the dwarf lop and the density and appeal of the plush-like rex coat. To be judged as a Lop breed not a Rex breed.

Ring size: C                                                             Points

1)      General type, weight  and condition          25 points

2)      Head, Ears, Crown and Eyes                      25 points

3)      Coat                                                             30 points

4)      Colour and pattern                                      20 points

Total                                                           100 points                              

1)      Type: Body short, firm and well muscled. Deep broad, chest with wide shoulders, and well-rounded loins create a compact, cobby appearance. Ideally the shoulders and the hindquarters should be roughly the same width. Head set well on the shoulders with little visible neck. The front legs are short strong and straight. The hind legs are short, strong, and carried parallel to the body. The tail is straight, strong and well furred.

A small dewlap in does is permissible but not desirable.

Adult weight: The ideal weight is 2.150 kg (4lb 12 oz)

Maximum weight    2.500 kg         (5lb 6oz)

Minimum weight     1.193 kg         (4lb 4oz)

Condition:

The exhibit should be in a perfect state of health and bodily condition, free from soiling, particularly on the feet, ears and genitals. The coat should reflect the overall good health of the animal, which should appear alert and vigorous.

2)      Head, Crown and Ears and Eyes

Head: Bold and well developed, especially in bucks. Good width between the eyes, full cheeks and a broad muzzle desirable.

Crown: Basal ridge between the ears to form a crown desirable.

Eyes: Bold, round, bright and large. Colour to match body colour.

Ears: Should be broad, thick, well furred and rounded at the ends. They should be carried close to the cheeks and hang down straight behind the eyes and not point forwards or backwards. The inside of the ears should not be visible when carried correctly. The ears are not measured.

The buck, brought in many years ago before I even knew anything about the Plush Lops 'down-under', and who was used to get the Plush Lop underway was Barney, a castor rex.

Barney, who already had lopped ears, which made him the first choice for this project, was mated to a dwarf lop doe called Marmalade.

Thank you to everyone who very kindly gave these two rabbits to me. You all know who you are. 

Barney

Marmalade

Conker was the result of the first blood line that was created, with Barney sen. and Marmalade. Another buck from that litter was Squirrels. Unfortunately, there were no does in that litter (sod's law!!).

After having been mated back to Barney, Holly went on to produce a doe, Micheline and a buck, Barney junior, photos of which can be viewed under the F2 chapter.

Meanwhile, here is another litter mate of Holly, Hopey.

Holly and Hopey were both from the second blood-line that I had created, very kindly supported by Pauline and Eddie Goulding of Bretony Stud. Thank you both for the loan of your doe and looking after the kits in your stud. 

Hopey

Here is Barney junior as an adult - hasn't he grown!!!

Depending on his 'mood', Barney junior would normally keep his ears in the above-shown position, which is the same position as Micheline would keep her ears in.

Well, today, the 23rd of February 2008, was the starting day of the first F3 generation of Plush Lops - so we thought.....

....with Micheline, from the F2 generation.

Only, 'madam' preferred to nibble hay to showing any kind of interest in George. 

First we tried George a few times, who seemed to feel the same as Micheline, i.e. nothing!!! The hutch wall was more interesting than George so that was it!

Out then came George's dad, who too didn't want to know either, so that was it, again.  No lifting or shifting of Micheline made her change her mind....

....that was until Flynn arrived 

At first, the all too familiar rejection but then, with a little help, Micheline decided on 'last-minute-dot-com' and suddenly raised her rear.   As Flynn was more than just keen we carried out a further two successful matings which, hopefully, will lead to the first F3 generation. Time will tell, "only" 31 days to go.....

Thank you Jan from Willowtreestud for the loan of three bucks and the helping hand(s)!!!!   

*** CURRENT SITUATION ***

Very sadly, matings in 2008 for the next generation, i.e. the F3, have so far failed to materialise. This has been the most frustrating time with regard to the Plush Lop project. "Micheline" is currently on a strict diet in order for her to lose some weight and to encourage her to breed. She will shortly go to Willowtreestud, who have very kindly offered to put up Micheline and carry out matings on days when the doe is most receptive.

Well, that was then! On Saturday, 7th June Micheline was taken on by Willowtreestud, in order to carry out some matings. Personally, I did not hold any high hopes until I received a very exciting email from Jan on the following day, which said the following:

"Micheline has settled in fine and my plan was to let her settle in for a couple of days and try the first mating on Monday but it didn't exactly work out as planned.

Well, she was like a thing possessed and flattened him to the floor!  My poor lad wondered what had been going on. Anyway, after a few laps around the hutch he mounted her and had another two very successful matings, and another two in the evening. She has never been so willing and I am hoping that we have success this time.

Looks like very good news now, as I was told by Willowtreestud that movements on Micheline's belly can be clearly seen now, at 18 days into pregnancy.  The once soppy Micheline has become very grumpy and territorial and does not like to be touched anymore, very much out of character for her. She will be coming home again this Saturday (27th June) to help her settle back into her own hutch again. Micheline is due on the 9th or 10th of July.

Today, I brought Micheline home again and boy, has she changed! She is definitely pregnant, with movements of the kits being clearly visible. Her hormones seem to have gone up the creek, with her being either very friendly or very grumpy. This is completely out of character for her and points even more to a definite pregnancy.  She has settled back into her home hutch well and has already tucked into a 'hearty' dinner. Nothing seems to have destroyed her huge appetite for all the tasty things in life. It is lovely to have her back home again and being able to monitor her final stages of pregnancy.

 

 

9th of July 2008 16:00 hours

 

After a very long wait I am very happy to announce the arrival of the first F3 generation of Plush Lops today.  

Mother and kits are all well, the nest is very full, warm and covered with tons of fur. I have no idea how many kits there are, as I didn't want to disturb the nest unnecessarily. To say that I am very happy is an understatement!!!  

 

14th of July 2008

 

Great 'news from the nest', which has expanded to nearly 2' in size into the 'living room' , probably because of the lovely, warm weather we have had today. The kits were all on top of the nest, which revealed five orange-coloured and three dark-coloured kits, all of which looked very chubby, i.e. very well fed. Micheline herself has been eating me out of house and home and has returned to her lovely, soppy self. She has been a very good first-time mum but looks pretty bare on her chest and belly now, from having plucked herself silly in order to keep her kits warm at night. It never ceases to amaze me though just how rabbits seem to know what to do without having been told anything prior to having kits.

 

16th of July 2008

 

Well, so far, the kits have been thriving.   Micheline seems to enjoy looking after her first litter, keeping them all warm and very well fed. All kits are of the same size, which is really good news. I was lucky enough to have been able to watch her feed them yesterday, with Micheline holding up her belly so that all the kits could fit underneath her. The sound of suckling was lovely to hear. Of the five orange-coloured kits one may be a fawn-coloured kit, as that one is much paler than the other orange-coloured ones. They are 8 days old today and very lively. Two more days and they should start to open their eyes, all going well that is.

 

31st July 2008

 

I thought that I would give you all a glimpse of the kits but, by the time I returned with the camera, some kits had done a runner and I was only able to take photos of the orange-coloured kits. They already show some good type coming on with regard to their heads and they are lopping on and off.  It is hoped that they will all lop completely in the end.

 

There are four orange-coloured kits, one fawn-coloured and three agouti-coloured kits, which are just over three weeks old.

 

 

 

 

25th August 2008

The kits have finally started to lop their second ear. The lopping of their first ear started when they were just about 3/4 weeks old. They will be seven weeks old in two days' time and all eight of them are doing extremely well, touch wood, with Micheline being a fantastic first-time mum.

I took some photos of three of them. Unfortunately, none of the kits was sitting still enough for me to take a decent photo or two!! Never mind, that's kits for you.

Here is a photo of the only fawn kit:



Here is a photo of one of the three agouti kits:



And here is one of the four orange kits:

Watch this space for further updates.