Mini Lops

We have had the pleasure of being around and having many different types of bunnies. We have been breeding bunnies since 2016. We are particularly attracted to the lop ears, because they are just SO CUTE!

We have found that breeds smaller than the mini lop, such as the holland lop, tend to be more skittish and afraid. They are timid in nature. Bunnies that are larger than the mini lop, such as the french lop, tend to be higher maintenance and need more help, health-wise, and they can also be more temperamental. For us, the sweet spot, is mini lops.

Mini lops, if handled often from birth, make the most wonderful family pet. They are generally very laid back and loving. Some love to give kisses, and others enjoy exploring more, but they all, if they are treated well and come from quality lines, make incredible pets.

Mini lops come in so many beautiful colors! They come in variations of blue, gray, white, brown, black, shaded colors, and oranges. So much fun!

They are also great for taking to retirement homes. They can be potty-trained and become therapy animals. Many teachers love them and they make great pets in the classroom. They can be taken to library story time as well. We feel they are one of the most versatile breeds you can work with.

If you are a gardener, their manure is incredible for your garden. It is considered a "cold" manure. This means that you can put their manure directly on your garden without letting it sit for a year or so first. Their manure is high in nitrogen, phosphorous, potassium, and other minerals and micro-nutrients. It also has elements such as magnesium, zinc, and calcium in it. Their manure helps to improve a poor soil structure, as well as drainage and moisture retention issues. Did I mention that worms also love their manure? Worms are very beneficial for the garden as well, so attracting worms is a huge benefit to having mini lops. Their manure is also less smelly to work with than other manures. If you would like to see your garden sing, consider getting a mini lop! Your garden will thank you :)

We have a large family and our children absolutely love having mini lops. They are fun for all ages. From age 3 to adult, they can learn to hold and take care of a mini lop properly. They are a perfect breed for children to learn responsibility and take care of an animal that is their size. Mini lops truly become a loving part of the family. You can potty-train them, give them special treats, they can learn their name and will follow you around the house. Mini Lops can be taught to obey simple commands and to perform basic tricks. They are truly precious pets to have, they are smart as well as loveable, and make a wonderful addition to any family that is considering a bunny.

If interested, please see our other blog pages on how to take care of mini lops, keeping mini lops healthy, etc.

There are so many different kinds of rabbit breeds, take time to research your favorites. We have definitely found ours :)

Blessings,

Verity Farm

Click Here for Available Bunnies

More about Mini Lops:

Books and Resources:

Often when you are just learning about mini lops, it can be difficult to know where to begin. Here are a couple of groups that might be helpful to be part of:

American Mini Lop Rabbit Club: When you join this club, you get a free book that goes over colors, posing, body type, mini lops standards, tips for breeding and showing.
ARBA (American Rabbit Breeders Association): They are a great source also. They also have a book, but you have to purchase it on amazon.
MLRCA (Mini Lop Rabbit Club of America)

Here are a few books we have enjoyed:

Mini Lop Rabbits book
Everything Pet Rabbit book
How to Raise Rabbits book
Beatrix Potter series
Rabbits and Raindrops book

There are probably many other books as well, but these are the ones we have found helpful and fun :) See our Bunny Supplies page for more helpful items for bunnies.

From our family to yours,

Blessings,

Verity Farm

Fun Rabbit Facts:

1 Baby rabbits are referred to as kits.

2 Mini Lops grow to be about 5-6 lbs.

3 Female rabbits are referred to as does

4 A Rabbit’s teeth never stop growing

5 Male rabbits are referred to as bucks

6 In the wild rabbits live in groups called warrens

7 Some rabbits can breed at as early as 3 to 4 months old (mini lops can begin breeding at 6 months)

8 Rabbits are not rodents, Rabbits are classified as lagomorphs

9 Today’s domestic rabbit is descended from the European Rabbit

10 Rabbits do not vomit

11 A rabbit’s gestation period is approximately 31 days

12 The backbone of a rabbit is very fragile and can break easily when handled improperly or dropped on its back

13 Domestic rabbits are born without fur

14 Rabbits are generally the most active during the evening and early morning (nocturnal)

15 Rabbits are nearsighted

16 Rabbit pelts have been used for many years as fur and in the manufacture of felt

17 Rabbits can pick up diseases from their own droppings.

18 A rabbit has five toenails on its front two paws and four toenails on its back feet.

19 Rabbit shows are a good place to see a wide variety of rabbits

20 A small amount of Apple Cider Vinegar added to the rabbits drinking water will increase their appetite and help their immune system

21 Hundreds of years ago rabbits were often released on deserted islands in hopes of giving shipwrecked sailors a reliable food source

22 The more you snuggle a bunny the sweeter he/she will become.

23 There are over 150 recognized rabbit coat colors and varieties

24 The average heart rate of a rabbit ranges between 130-325 beats per minute

25 Rabbit's can be litter box trained

26 Rabbits only sweat on the pads of their feet

27 A rabbit will eat its own cecotropes night droppings and they are a valuable source of protein

Fun Rabbit Fact Continued:

28 A group of kits from the same mother are called a litter29 Domestic rabbit kits are born with their eyes shut and will open when they are about 2 weeks old

30 All bunnies are unique and have their own distinct personality.

31 Throughout history the rabbit has been seen as a symbol for fertility

33 Not all rabbits will breed like rabbits

34 In ancient Egypt rabbits were used as sport for dog racing

35 The scientific name for the rabbit is Oryctolagus cuniculus

36 Bunnies are great for therapy

37 Rabbits can suffer heat stroke

38 Rabbits have 28 teeth.

40 Rabbits were an important home meat supply during World War II

41 Some rabbits are raised specifically for their fur or fiber, such as Rex or Angora rabbits

42 A place were you keep your rabbits as a business or hobby is commonly called a rabbitry

44 Millions of pounds of rabbit meat are consumed each and every year

46 Rabbit droppings make an excellent garden fertilizer

47 Rabbits can see behind them, but they have blind spot in front of their face

48 A group of rabbits is called a herd

50 Predators can literally scare a rabbit to death

51 The largest rabbit litter ever reported consisted of 24 bunnies!

52 The world's heaviest rabbit is Darius, weighing 50 pounds!

53 There are over 150 recognized rabbit coat colors and varieties

54 The longest rabbit ears ever recorded measured 31.125 inches long!

55 Pet rabbits tend to live much longer than wild rabbits

56 Bunnies can live up to 14 years if they are fed well and taken care of properly.

57 Bunnies can be for show, breeding, pets from Verity Farm.

58 Rabbits are fun to learn about in 4H and FFA

59 A bunny's favorite food is not carrots; they prefer herbs, celery, and greens.

60 Bunnies are vegetarian

Bunny Manure is like Gold for your Garden:

Just in case you needed another reason to have a snuggly friend:

Bunny manure is excellent for your organic garden. It is very high in nitrogen, phosphorus, and potassium. It makes an incredible fertilizer!
- A garden needs these nutrients in order to flourish. Our garden is singing from using this amazing fertilizer, also known as bunny berries. We have more vegetables and fruits than we know what to do with and our herbs are very excited too.
Bunny manure can be applied immediately to the garden, unlike chicken, cow, or other manures, where you have to wait 6 months or longer to put it on the garden.
- It will not burn plants or lawns when applied fresh.
Bunny manure breaks down very quickly into the dirt.
Bunny manure has drastically improved even the worst of soils we have had. (Clay or Sand)
It can be used on its own or you can add it to compost that has been breaking down for added benefit.
If you have outside bunnies, Joel Salatin (Polyface farm) has a great system for bunny manure, where you have chickens below the bunnies (the bunny cages are hung) composting all of their manure and adding their own as well. You can also give both the chickens and the bunnies scraps of food to break down along with their manure.
Bunny manure is even amazing for flower gardens.
You can add lime powder to the bunny manure as an added fertilizer as well....depending on if you need your soil to be more alkaline or acidic.
We can't get enough of the rabbit manure....we don't think it's possible to use too much, it is truly amazing! Just mix it up with whatever is currently in your soil.
If you are trying to improve your soil, cover it first with wood chips or sawdust, and then add a couple of layers of rabbit manure, and then cover it on top with dried grass clippings. This will keep the ground soft, deter weeds, and make gardening more enjoyable.
Bunny manure attracts worms. Worms aerate the soil, and provides space for roots to grow, and plants to get more nutrients, so your fruits and veggies taste even more delicious.
Your garden will be so prolific, that you will also be able to feed your bunnies with some of the extra and they will bless you with more manure for your garden.

When we are in Uganda we love teaching these methods to the people there. This is one method that we use: https://farming-gods-way.org/

History of Mini Lops

Our children just love the Mini Lops because of their sweet disposition and their size. Adults generally do not weigh more than 6 1/2 lbs., so they are great for children and adult alike. Mini Lops are the third smallest of all the lop rabbit breeds and they are the smallest non-dwarfed lop. They are small rabbits with lopped ears. Mini Lops both closely with their family members and do not thrive when they are neglected.

They should have a massive, thick and heavily muscled body. The hips should be well rounded. The size of the head should be balanced with the body. The legs should be straight, short, and thick. The Mini Lops fur should be very thick and dense as well as glossy.

The first Mini Lops were originated from the German Big Lop (about 8 lbs. with large thick ears) and the small Chinchilla. These two breeds were originally the colors: agouti and white.

In 1972, Bob Herschbach discovered the Mini Lop breed at a German National Rabbit Convention in Essen, Germany. He was a Mini Lop promoter and achieved the first procreation of Mini Lops in the United States. The first Mini Lop bunnies were solid colors. Shortly after came a generation with broken colors. Mini Lops began obtaining high standards on quality.

In 1974, Herschbach brought his Mini Lop rabbits to the American Rabbit Breeders' Association (ARBA) Convention, held in Ventura, CA. At this convention, it was decided that the breed needed to be a more compact and attractive in size. In order to reach this goal, Herschbach had the assistance of other breeders and let them breed more of his Mini Lops (then called Klein Widders, but later changed to Mini Lops, because it was more appealing to the public).

In 1977, the Mini Lop breed was being sponsored by someone new, a man named Herb Dyke. Dyke and Herschbach created a club for Mini Lops, where Mini Lop breeders could correspond with one another. Within a year, they had over 500 members who contacted ARBA asking to support the Mini Lop rabbits. 1980 was an exciting year for Mini Lops, in Milwaukee, WI, at the National Rabbit Convention, Mini Lops became recognized as an official rabbit breed by ARBA.

Mini Lops are known for their round thick bodies with long loppy ears, their wide head, and thick bone structure. They have short well-rounded loins, a deep chest, and wide shoulders. The Mini Lops ears should sit close against the cheeks with the ear openings turned in. The folds of the ear should be thick. These are traits to look for if you are showing your bunny. If you are not, and this bunny is just a pet, then these things are nothing to worry about. Mini Lops come in a range of colors and patters, solid or broken. Their lifespan is about 7-10 years.

Mini Lops have their own individuality, but, most often are great with children, the elderly, taking them to retirement homes, they are friendly, playful, and intelligent. Many teachers take mini lops to school to teach their students about taking care of an animal and learning responsibility. They can be litter box trained and taught many tricks. They love to be around other rabbits and people. They are very social and dearly loved by our family!

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