myrabbitry

~*~Lotsa Lops~*~

~MY RABBITRY~

~WELCOME~
I started Lots-A-Lops rabbitry back in 1996. From an ad on the local trading post, I acquired a free sable point Dwarf that I named Justen. Yes...a non Lop started this rabbit habit!! Soon after, I claimed a birthday gift of a broken blue Holland Lop doe, Justeena. Before I knew it, then came a blue tort English Lop buck, Brisco. And soon to follow were three Mini Lops, Winston, Classy Lady and Angela. In September of 1996, I attended my first show in Belvidere, Illinois. Shown there were Justeena, Classy Lady and Brisco. Justeena brought home a third place ribbon while I brought home a French Lop--Dakota, that I won in the raffle. These few rabbits started out living in our two horse trailer. But before long, they moved on up. Space in the garden shed was made, and they spent the winter in there. Did I say just the winter?? LOL
In 1997, I registered my rabbitry with ARBA and was accepted as Lotsa Lops, being that was what was available for registration.

I did some showing, acquired a few wonderful wins with Dakota. Many close calls with Angela. Purchased some more stock, met some wonderful breeders, and some not so wonderful. Soon I was ready to start my breeding program. My first litter actually came from Jewel, a Mini Lop mix breed that my cousin could no longer keep. Later on down the road, one of the best experiences that can happen did so. Three shows in a row, just weeks apart, a Mini Lop from my first breeding took three Best of Breed and a Best In Show awards. The name LL's Bandito was soon given, being he was like a bandit stealing the wins!

I began establishing a name for myself by breeding some very nice animals, winning with these wonderful animals and end result, selling these quality animals at a fair price. It had certainly been a rough time for me, having to learn conformation types of 4 different Lops!! Help was not willingly given from other breeders. Having a limited cage/barn space, it all finally took it's toll on me. I then decided that I have cut my numbers and almost to a point, eliminated the French & Mini Lops from my rabbitry. Leaving me able to focus more on learning and breeding better English & Holland Lops.

My goal primarily is to breed the best animals for my show and future breeding stock program; to sell those lines proudly with quality animals to others in order to help them develop their own lines and along this process offer animals for pets if the occassion calls for it. My goal, as any respected breeder should do, is offer enough information for rabbit owners to understand the care, love and understanding that owning a rabbit is really about!

I have roughly an 85 hole rabbitry, in 4 locations at my home. I took over the garden shed fully, have current possession over half the garage and about a dozen outside hutches. Going into winter-2004 I have about 80 occupents. Most of my breedings are done in the spring/summer months. I may do an occassional litter of Holland Lops in winter, but I no longer breed the English Lops in the cold months, for having the summer heat does help to grow those big ears!! I try to keep most of my English Lops in the back barn where I run a space heater to take the chill out and keep the water from freezing. Surprisingly as it may be to some...there are not that many problems with the ears of the English Lop long ears in the cold wintery temps as most people would think and fear.

Entering into 2006, this is my tenth year of breeding, raising, selling and showing rabbits. I travel usually not more than 3 hours to local shows in Illinois, Wisconsin, Iowa and Indiana. I plan to hit a few Michigan shows to meet up with some of my fellow breeders I talk to on a regular basis and compete against some new animals. I have attended 5 ARBA National Convention Shows, and have 4 first place winning animals. I am a member of several rabbit national, speciality & local clubs. I have had the glorious honors of being in the Top Ten Open Exhibitors in Illinois for two years, and have been and still am in the Top 50 Open English Lops Exhibitors in the nation. Not to mention the numerous animals I have sold helping their new owners to be in the top standings in youth.

~*~UPDATE~*~
I started dabbling in the Mini Rex breed in 2003. But Lops are still my passion. I cut my numbers down from nearly 200 rabbits, to maintain roughly 60-80 rabbits. I used to be found at every show I could travel to, but now maybe only attend less than a dozen shows in a year. I feel I have accomplished a lot with my rabbits. I have many wins, including the national level wins that I can boast about. And I have several generations of my own breedings on the pedigrees of my animals. I have been in the list of top exhibitors, and I feel content with what I have accomplished. I have even thought about closing up shop, getting out of the rabbit hobby. I, at this point have not decided for or against that idea. A new bunny barn is still in the works, so who knows...we'll see what happens in the coming years.
New in 2005, purebred Velveteen Lops were purchased and the breeding program for them had begun.
Also within 2005, my mom, Cathy, dubbed by fellow exhibitors as "Danielle's Mom", started getting more involved with her own line of English Lops as a "silent partner" under the Lotsa Lops rabbitry name.
In 2006, other worries surfaced needing attention and my rabbit herd was cut in half. I sold off nearly everything I could in order to take care of some personal matters. I felt that the rabbits and my rabbit hobby need not suffer from that, so with keeping only a few select animals, I went on a "rabbit hiatus" for nearly 2 years. I felt I had fallen off the face of the earth! I had not attended shows, I was not breeding, I was completly out of the "loop".
Going into 2008 now, I will mark 12 years of raising rabbits. My breedings start to slowly increase with the animals that were kept back from the "near sell out". A few new additions have been added for line improvement-hopefully :)

~*~Justen~*~

~*~Dakota~*~

2003

2000

1999

LL's Onyx

LL's Apache

LL's Stella

LL's Phantom

ARBA National Winners

It must run in the family!
LL's Onyx; grand daughter of LL's Phantom. LL's Stella; niece to LL's Phantom

Inside back barn-north wall

LL's Bandito-1998

[French Lops] ~ [English Lops] ~ [Mini Lops] ~ [Holland Lops] ~ [Velveteen Lops] ~ [Mini Rex] ~ [Others] ~ [For Sale]

[My Rabbitry] ~ [About the Rabbit] ~ [Care Page] ~ [Selecting Your Lop] ~ [Caging/Housing] ~ [Feeding/Nutrition] ~ [Rabbit ID]

[Health/Disease] ~ [Rabbit Language] ~ [Genetics] ~ [Links] ~ [Warranty] ~ [Shipping] ~ [Showing] ~ [Upcoming Shows]

~*~Justeena~*~

~*Classy Lady*~

~*~Winston~*~

~*~Angela~*~

~~~~~~~~~~NEW FOR 2008~~~~~~~~~~
And a new task is at hand for me to attempt in 2008.
Several fellow rabbit friends suggested and are supporting me in running for the
Lop Rabbit Club of America Zone 6 District Director.
A most definite new type of task for me to take on, but I feel confident with my knowledge, experience, friendly and helpful nature, as well as the support of many LRCA members within the rabbit community, this position I can take on with certainty .
I look forward to the election voting and hope my fellow Zone 6 members also feel that I am worthy to be your representative in the Lop Rabbit community.
Please feel free to contact me if you have questions or comments! lotsalops96@comcast.net