Okay I admit. I am a stalker. I often look at Holland Lop websites. Sometimes just our state, sometimes all states. You come to get used to how they are broken down. Bucks, does. Juniors. And of course the delightful nestbox. Hints of sarcasm. So I have chosen to elaborate my definition of these animals and thier titles. This is of course my opinion and probably not found in your average dictionary.
Lets start with my favorite one!
The Herd Buck: This animal should be of immense quality. He should have as many strong features as you can possibly cram into your rabbit. Granted some of us can't afford to go out and get the best animal in the country. We can however do our homework. Save up and obtain something that is at least worth working with. You will probably never encounter a herd buck at the age of 7 weeks. Why is that? Because you have no clue how that animal is going to turn out. Believe me, I learned this the financially hard way. I bought a herd buck as baby. I look back now and want to slap myself. I knew better. From my days of raising show animals. It was desperate and stupid of me. What I purchased as a supposed herd buck turned into this horrible giant beast of a rabbit with a terrible slipped crown a huge dip in it's shoulders and to be quite honest doesn't even look like a Holland lop. Luckily I snapped out of my desperation and never used this animal. From there I moved onto a buck who had much better type. He was however, far from perfect. He was only slightly slipped, which sadly is common in Hollands. He was however weak in shoulders and I wasn't pleased with his ears. His length was great but the shape wasn't what I wanted. So despite the fact he is developing quite the amazing head he doesn't offer enough in all the other areas for me to consider him a true Herd Buck. He was great while we were learning though. But as a breeder, when I look at other sights and see what people are using as their herd stock it is very upsetting to me. I wish people would realize the terrible traits that you see are usually going to pass down to your stock. Personally I would never ever use a rabbit with severe slipped crown or terribly long ears. If you have weak shoulders you can hope to find a good doe to improve that. But the terrible head and ears seem to be difficult to eradicate.
Does: Your does should consist of quality stock. To be honest, I don't think there should be a huge difference between a brood doe and a show doe. I have been seeing too many people use brood doe to describe a horrible looking doe. This isn't how it works. If a Holland lop has long body, slipped crown, extra long ears and a dipped shoulder, it isn't a brood, it's a pet. This animal should not be used for breeding. I would like to think that my does could all compete at shows. On some occasions your doe may exceed the weight limit. This would of course put her in the brood category. She should still have excellent type besides her weight.
Juniors: This one is just a quirky one for me. I like to think the reputable breeder has a spot to show off their juniors. It also demonstrates the fact that you are taking time to grow out and evaluate your stock. I think it is a good way to view what you are producing and if you are improving.
Nestbox: All too often I see this on pages with rabbitries who appear to be breeding for mass production instead of selecting quality traits to improve upon. I have noticed often times as well it is the same row of does year after year which only becomes more clear this rabbitry has no intentions of improving only intentions of breeding. Boooo Hisss.
So yet again another rant from me. On the bright side I have seen a surge of people working to improve! Hooray for that. The more everyone works to improve their stock and their lines the more it helps all of us in the long run. And most importantly the better it is for this wonderful breed we love so much!
Lets start with my favorite one!
The Herd Buck: This animal should be of immense quality. He should have as many strong features as you can possibly cram into your rabbit. Granted some of us can't afford to go out and get the best animal in the country. We can however do our homework. Save up and obtain something that is at least worth working with. You will probably never encounter a herd buck at the age of 7 weeks. Why is that? Because you have no clue how that animal is going to turn out. Believe me, I learned this the financially hard way. I bought a herd buck as baby. I look back now and want to slap myself. I knew better. From my days of raising show animals. It was desperate and stupid of me. What I purchased as a supposed herd buck turned into this horrible giant beast of a rabbit with a terrible slipped crown a huge dip in it's shoulders and to be quite honest doesn't even look like a Holland lop. Luckily I snapped out of my desperation and never used this animal. From there I moved onto a buck who had much better type. He was however, far from perfect. He was only slightly slipped, which sadly is common in Hollands. He was however weak in shoulders and I wasn't pleased with his ears. His length was great but the shape wasn't what I wanted. So despite the fact he is developing quite the amazing head he doesn't offer enough in all the other areas for me to consider him a true Herd Buck. He was great while we were learning though. But as a breeder, when I look at other sights and see what people are using as their herd stock it is very upsetting to me. I wish people would realize the terrible traits that you see are usually going to pass down to your stock. Personally I would never ever use a rabbit with severe slipped crown or terribly long ears. If you have weak shoulders you can hope to find a good doe to improve that. But the terrible head and ears seem to be difficult to eradicate.
Does: Your does should consist of quality stock. To be honest, I don't think there should be a huge difference between a brood doe and a show doe. I have been seeing too many people use brood doe to describe a horrible looking doe. This isn't how it works. If a Holland lop has long body, slipped crown, extra long ears and a dipped shoulder, it isn't a brood, it's a pet. This animal should not be used for breeding. I would like to think that my does could all compete at shows. On some occasions your doe may exceed the weight limit. This would of course put her in the brood category. She should still have excellent type besides her weight.
Juniors: This one is just a quirky one for me. I like to think the reputable breeder has a spot to show off their juniors. It also demonstrates the fact that you are taking time to grow out and evaluate your stock. I think it is a good way to view what you are producing and if you are improving.
Nestbox: All too often I see this on pages with rabbitries who appear to be breeding for mass production instead of selecting quality traits to improve upon. I have noticed often times as well it is the same row of does year after year which only becomes more clear this rabbitry has no intentions of improving only intentions of breeding. Boooo Hisss.
So yet again another rant from me. On the bright side I have seen a surge of people working to improve! Hooray for that. The more everyone works to improve their stock and their lines the more it helps all of us in the long run. And most importantly the better it is for this wonderful breed we love so much!
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