Realm of Lapine Rabbitry

About Us

Experienced Holland Lop Show Breeders

Since we began breeding Holland Lops many years ago, we have worked hard to develop the consistent quality that is in our current program. While we have many champion torts in our line, our primary focus is on improving the quality in our favorite showable colors. We strive to consistently produce Tricolor Holland Lops of show quality. Our Tri lines are free from VM and we work hard to ensure the chinchilla gene does not enter our Tri line, in order to avoid un-showable magpies. We also have a heavy focus on Red Holland Lops which are surprising people on the show tables. Show quality is a huge priority for us, but we also focus heavily on temperament.

All of our beautiful babies are raised in a healthy, loving environment. We perform modified Bio-Sensory Stimulation on all our babies in the first weeks of life to ensure they grow up to be adaptable to new stresses without the concern of associated health issues.

A Healthy Bloodline

We work hard to ensure our rabbits remain healthy and free from genetic diseases. Although we no longer us the Pasteurella vaccine due to some issues with it, we maintain a high percentage of rabbits vaccinated for RHVD in our herd. Our primary (original) foundation stock for our line include Miller's, Woodland's, and Lil' Bit Farms.

Why We Are a Closed Rabbitry

Being a closed rabbitry means that we do not allow visitors to our barn. It used to be very normal for reputable breeders to allow people to come to their homes to select their future pets. Unfortunately, there have been many changes in the breeding world and this is no longer considered best practice. Preventing transmittable diseases is a primary concern for breeders. For rabbits in particular, health is a big concern and with RHVD being as easily transmitted as it is, additional foot traffic risks the lives of even vaccinated rabbits. Another big reason is that some very unscrupulous people come to breeders (of any species) homes acting like they are interested in buying a pet, then leave and come back when no one is home to steal their animals. I have also heard of violent attacks on people's animals from previously amicable buyers. I do everything I can to ensure the safety of my family and between our rabbits and our dogs, I am not taking any risks at my home, so all meetings are done in a public place away from my home.

That being said, I do want people to always feel comfortable when purchasing from us, so if ever you have concerns about buying a rabbit you would be using transport for, I am happy to meet with potential buyers through video calls so you can see the rabbit move and get a feel for type and temperament. I am set up with Google Duo, but if you have enough patience to teach me to use another format, I can probably work that out.

Why Should All Breeders Show Their Rabbits?

If you have ever spoken to me and told me you don't show your rabbits, I have certainly encouraged you to do so. I believe that anyone breeding rabbits should be showing them and I want to take some time to talk about some of the big reasons why.

Show breeders breed to preserve the breed they love. As a show breeder it is my goal to work toward the SOP (standard) in order to preserve the features that make my breed so unique. The squishy looking face and floppy ears on a tiny rabbit that stand out to people who don't even know the standard are iconic to the breed. The ability for a tiny rabbit to look massive with its thick bone and wide body is something worth continuing. But this isn't everything. A huge priority for all show breeders is the health of their animals.

I have talked to so many people who have bought rabbits from a pet breeder who does not show their animals and so often they tell me about issues that the rabbit has such as malocclusion, spinal deformities or sore hocks that are causing their rabbit pain and unnecessary stress throughout their lifetime.

When you show your rabbits, the judges are absolutely looking at the features of the rabbit, but if you don't own the ARBA Standard of Perfection book, how could you know that the first thing the judges are assessing on every rabbit they see is their health and structure? It is a disqualification for competition for a rabbit to abnormal teeth because an abnormal bite on a rabbit is very serious since their teeth continue to grow their entire life. Judges are looking for any deformity of the spine or limbs as well as doing a thorough health check to ensure the rabbit shows no signs of disease. I cannot overstate the importance of this in breeding animals.

It is very easy for someone who is not directly looking for it, or who does not know how to look for it to miss a major issue in their line. Spinal deformities get passed on, malocclusion gets passed on, as does a predisposition for sore hocks, and split penis and other deformities. Animals with these issues should not be bred, but until you learn that, how could you know? This is why showing your rabbits that you intend to breed is so important.

Showing your rabbit is also a lesson in keeping them in prime condition. I thought I was taking good care of my rabbits before I started showing, but learning about how supplemental feeding can improve on specific qualities has made my rabbits healthier than ever. They have better muscling and coats than I even thought possible. While genetics play a part in this, proper care and feeding makes all the difference. The things that I have learned about this through showing have been absolutely invaluable.

One other thing that I think is very important for pet/non-show breeders to know is that you limit yourself from both who you can sell your stock to as well as who will sell to you. Show breeders tend to not be interested in buying from breeders who don't show, which you probably already know, but you may not know that show breeders will research you before selling to you and may not sell to you based on your breeding practices. If there are concerns about the care of your rabbits such as apparent signs of disease in pictures, if your rabbits do not look distinctly like your breed or you are mixing breeds, or if there are signs of unethical color breeding practices breeders will refuse to sell to you. Things like breeding chocolate to vienna, breeding the chinchilla gene intentionally into a tricolor line, and so much more can very quickly lead to a refused sale. If you show your rabbits you will quickly learn the dos and don'ts of color breeding and breeding in general. There is no better way to learn about your breed, color genetics and care than to show your rabbits. If you breed rabbits, I so highly recommend that you show them.

Find an upcoming show near you by searching your state at :

Find A Show – ARBA

Our Current Projects

TORT:

No Holland Lop Rabbitry would be complete without a show string of torts. We of course have that here to bring quality into our color projects.

TRICOLOR:

Our tricolor project is an obsession. We have dedicated unreal amounts of time (and a good amount of money) into this project. Our tricolors are highly competitive on the show table and we are very proud of the progress we have made with this incredible line.

ORANGE:

Our orange project is a huge priority for us as a go-between for the tricolor and red projects. Our oranges are bred to tort to ensure incredible quality that can be bred into our 2 most important color lines.

RED:

Our red project is a newer color project for us, but one we take great pride in. What began with a beautiful Thrianta made leaps and bounds line breeding to a GC Holland Lop buck. By our F2 Generation we had wins on the show table including Best Opposite Sex of Breed. We are currently in our F3-F5 generations and are very excited to be able to start registering our red line with ARBA.

SELF/OTTER:

The self/otter project shows consistently well and we are very proud of the quick progress we have made. This line originated from our tri line bred to chestnut.

VIENNA:

Our Vienna project is 100% separate from all of our other color projects. We are still working toward bringing this project to show quality and our goal is to have competitive blue-eyed white show rabbits by 2025. The blue-eyed white project has a VERY long way to go, but we are determined to get them to match with the quality in our torts. We do NOT breed chocolate into this line.