Middle Tennessee Rabbitry

Mini Lop

The Mini Lop is a very popular breed in the United States. I t is the second smallest lop breed overall, as well as the smallest (and only) dwarf lop of the lop breeds.  Breeders try to make them feel like a fuzzy basket ball with legs, a head, and a tail  The adults(6month and over) should weigh between 4 1/2 to 6 1/2 pounds with 6 pounds being the ideal weight.

HISTORY

In 1972 at a German National Rabbit Show in Essen, Germany, Bob Herschbach discoverd the Mini Lop breed, then known as a Klein Widder.  The first Mini Lops were originated from crossing the German Big Lop with the smaller Chinchilla.  Both of these two breeds originally came in Agouti and white colors.

German Lops were an average 8 pounds, slender and large with a pointy head and thick ears.  Herschbach achieved the first procreation of the Mini Lops in America, through breeding an agouti lop pair and a white lop doe in 1972.  The first Mini Lops where solid colors.  As a result of the breeding process we now have a large variety of colors.