Bunny Lane French Lops Specialising in Otters and Steel Free Selfs

A Bit About Me and My Aims 

It is hard to produce Tan Patterned French Lops, with sufficient size, type, pattern and colour. I like a challenge and want to improve the breed but I do not breed for breedings sake, every litter is very carefully planned. I do not breed any of my does more than once a year. 

First and foremost I want to emphasise my rabbits are much loved pets. They are not breeding machines, childrens toys or objects, they are living, breathing, animals who are treated well and given the daily freedom to behave like rabbits. I intentionally focus on only one breed as this makes it possible for me to move forward with my aim whilst keeping the number of rabbits I own to a managable number. I only keep 5 or 6 rabbits at any one time; this is difficult when you breed but possible. I often have to rehome adults (and my much loved pets) but this way I can give all in my care lots of individual attention. The upside for new owners is the adults I do rehome are good quality, well adjusted, healthy, and content French Lops, who make very good pets. I am selective when it comes to rehoming. I prefer my rabbits to go to responsible pet homes or to small scale breeders. My concern with larger breeders is they will not have the time to give my rabbits the freedom they are used to having.

I have been breeding French lop rabbits for 3 years now but have kept rabbits as pets for 35 years. Bubbles, my 'New Zealand White' lived in a stable (when we lived on a farm). He ran free around the yard  every day and he survived to the ripe old age of 14. I don't know how he escaped myxi as the wild rabbits often caught it, and/or being stood on by the horses, who he sometimes followed around the field, but he did, and he lived a very long and happy life :-) 

Self Coloured French lops and The Modified Steel Problem

Warning do not read this if you only want a pet rabbit. It will not be of interest to you!!

Ok so you are thinking of breeding french lops. Here is a little learning outcome that I can pass on to you...

One of the first things I learned on venturing into world of French Lops, is the breed has a problem with modified steels. All is not as it seems.

Modified Steels look like exactly like Self coloured rabbits but genetically they are not Selfs, they are Steels. 

Many of these rabbits were imported into the UK from Holland, so if you are looking to buy a self and you are told it has imported parents, it is worth asking the breeder if they can guarantee it is a true self. If they cannot, it is highly likely the baby bunny is actually a modified steel. 

I have been breeding true selfs from the outset. Partly due to what seemed like some very harsh advice in my early days from Donna at Hampton Stud. I took it and learned as much as I could about steel genetics. This slowed me down with my otter project but my aim is to develop a quality steel free self foundation line, to put into my otters in the long run.      

I am already at the stage where my selfs have achieved wins at 4 and 5 star shows, competing against modified steels. I am not having a go at modified steels. It's just that the steel lines (like agoutis) have been shown for years so they are usually much bigger with better coats, so it is hard to win through. This is changing though and the true selfs are improving. I find rabbit genetics to be both complex and fascinating. You do not have to breed lots of rabbits to learn. I gained my knowledge from speaking to experienced breeders (and listening to their advice), going to shows and speaking to the judges and from reading others' websites. I would recommend this as the more responsible way to learn. Ruskin Stud has a very good article on genetics, as does Avalon Lops. In terms of information on the steel gene one of the bast articles around is written by Donna at Hampton Stud, you can read her article on: http://www.hampton-rabbits.co.uk/French_Lop_Rabbits.htm . 

Why does the modified steel gene bother me? If the rabbit looks nice so what?  

The real problem to me with the modified steel issue is an animal welfare consideration. I do not breed many rabbits because I am always concerned when it comes to rehoming  babies. There are enough unwanted rabbits in the UK today without me adding to their numbers. To improve otters and selfs whilst keeping the numbers of litters I breed to a minimum, I must be 100% sure the rabbits I am working with carry the right genes. If I buy in a self I expect it to be a self. If it is a modified steel then genetically it is the opposite of what it appears visually. So rather than being the recessive self pattern it is actually a dominant pattern. All I would ask is if you are breeding modified steels and not selfs, be honest and tell people :-)

 Contact Me: 

Rabbits can and do breed like rabbits. It is not that difficult to produce one or two good bunnies if you breed scores of litters each year. I don't do this. The challenge to me is in improving the quality of otters and selfs, from just a select few matings each year. I know this way it will take me many years to achieve my aim, but all the time my lines are improving. I have the size in my lines now, and in most good heads and crowns, but I need to work on their coats as many are a bit too soft. Nice for cuddles though, lol. The bottom line for me is my rabbits are family pets before anything else, and their welfare will always come first.  

I will occasionally have babies and young adults for sale as I cannot keep them all, but you may have to wait for a suitable kit. If you can wait, please e-mail me on bunnylanelops@fsmail.net and I will try my best to help.  

I need to improve coats as my blues still have soft coats but they are an excellent type. I am now looking to bring in a good agouti carrying self or a black self to improve on the coats :-)

Mocha at 8 months old

This is Mocha. Mocha has a very placid nature, and is easy to handle in every way. When not in moult she has very nice roll-back coat, with good pattern and no white hairs on her back. She is a solid doe weighing in between 13 and 14lbs, and a good size for an otter. Mocha also carries dilute. Her fault is she is slightly narrow across her head and has a very slightly slipped crown, so I plan to put her to a buck that is strong in this area. She has achievd 2 seconds and 2 thirds at 4 star shows so far. 

Here is a picture of my very first litter at about three weeks old . I was so pleased with them and took hundreds of photos from birth (as Donna at Hampton Stud will testify). The colours from left to right are Blue Chinchilla, Opal, Ghost Chinchilla, and Fawn. They were so amazing; all so different and equally pretty, but not an Otter or Self amongst them!  Mmm why??

Lesson 1, it was likely Amber their mum (a fawn doe) was AA and did not carry Otter or Self. She also carried Cchd, Cchl, or REW.  Update 2010. I now know Amber carried REW - I   know as one of her daughters Sapphire (the blue chin above) produced a REW kit in Feb 2010. As dad was an otter and I know he carried chin, the REW could only have come from mum! 

Lesson 2, Stella their dad (a Blue Otter) carried non-extension, and Chin.