The Lop-Eared Rabbit.—One of the oldest varieties of the rabbit when these were first taken in hand and bred as fancy or domestic stock, was the Lop-ear; and so, paying reverence to his age, I will give him the first place. At the majority of rabbit shows I see lads and young men, as well as old ones, congregated in eager groups round the pens containing the Lops, or, as they are sometimes called, the King of the Fancy. I need scarcely tell our boys that the great feature in the Lop rabbit is the immense lop or hanging ears.
Well do I remember in the early days how proud the owner of a Lop was if he could show to those assembled a specimen whose ears measured from tip to tip 19 inches; yet to-day, such a rabbit (if an adult) would not be looked at by the judges in a show, for specimens 25 inches and upwards are now produced. In measuring the ears you must understand it is done as follows: Take hold of one ear, lay it flat out full length, but not stretching it to hurt the rabbit, then place a rule at the extreme tip of the ear, pass it along, across the head, and so on to the tip of the other ear, which must be held out at full length as was the other, and so you have the proper measurement of your specimen so far as length is concerned. Besides this, however, you want width of ear, and this should, roughly speaking, be one quarter the total length, measured across the widest part of one ear.
The ears of the Lop must be as long as possible and wide in proportion; not set on too closely on top of the head; thick at the root, and fall gracefully down the sides of the cheeks, nicely rounded at the tip and free from knots or lumps; the head large, with full, round, bright eyes. The body, when in repose, should be rather low at the shoulders, rising in a graceful curve to the hind quarters, which should be gradually and nicely rounded off, the head resting on the pouch or dew-lap; the tail must be straight, and carried close to the body, and the fore-legs straight and strong. Lops are bred in various colours, such as black, yellow, fawn, blue, grey, and tortoiseshell, so that there is any amount of room for experimenting. Some people, I am sorry to say, have the absurd idea that constant pulling and stretching the ears of their rabbits, whilst even in the nest, greatly helps to lengthen them, but like many cruel and ignorant ideas it is altogether wrong. All that Lop rabbits require to develop the length of ear and keep them healthy is regular feeding, cleanliness, and being kept at a temperature of from 55 to 60 degrees Fahrenheit; to secure which, during spring, autumn, and winter, artificial heat must be supplied, the best for the purpose probably being hot-water pipes.
Lops breed freely, but, as the young ones require a good deal of nourishment, the doe should, in order not to weaken her too much, only be allowed to bring up two or three, the others being given to nurse-does or foster-mothers, which can generally be had easily if a little trouble is taken to enquire for one or two amongst friends who keep rabbits. A healthy common rabbit makes a good foster-mother.
The Himalayan Rabbit.—It would be difficult to find a more handsome little rabbit than the Himalayan, and as it is one of the healthiest and hardiest of the coney family, I propose to give a few particulars of it. To commence, then, the Himalayan, or, as it has been called, the Chinese rabbit, has a perfectly white body, with dark chocolate-brown (as nearly black as can be) ears, nose, feet, and tail, and pink or rich golden eyes, the whole appearance being that of a very handsome animal. The ears must be short, close together, and stand very erect, so much so that if you bend them in any direction they immediately spring back into their proper position when released. The eye is round, bright, and rather full, and as I have just said, pink or rich golden in colour; the shape is very graceful, rather long than short or stumpy, giving it all the appearance of a thoroughbred animal. The coat is short, pure white, and fine and silky in texture, and the weight of a full-grown specimen should not exceed about six lbs. The fur is greatly in request for the making of imitation ermine, and good skins are always saleable to the manufacturers. Now that we have this beautiful little rabbit in our hutch, how are we to preserve its distinctive markings in all their beauty? For be it remembered that the white turns yellow, and the black or dark brown markings grey, unless proper attention is paid to them. In Chinese or Russian markets where these rabbits are on sale, we are told that the colour, especially on the feet, is not so distinct as is seen in our domestic specimens; and this I can quite understand, as, with their constant burrowing and scratching amongst damp sand, earth, lime, etc., the colour on the feet will soon be affected. A very great deal of care is bestowed by those who exhibit Himalayans in order to have their handsome markings as even as possible; for instance, the ears, from roots to tips, should be as dark as possible, and the nose the same colour, as well as all four feet and tail. This is often difficult to get; still, were it all as simple as A B C, there would be little honour in producing what any one else could produce without trouble.
As on many other questions, considerable discussion has been carried on as to how best to preserve the distinct colour. Many argued that the rabbits should be kept in entirely dark hutches, as they said the light not only destroyed the colour, but the rabbits in their wild state lived in dark burrows; just so, but these people forgot that such of the wild specimens as are to be seen in the foreign markets are not of that dark or nearly black colour, especially so far as their feet are concerned, as are those which are domesticated. Others took up the extreme opposition view, and recommended as much light as possible. These latter were further astray than their “dark” opponents, for there is no doubt that constant exposure to the full light does destroy the purity of both black and white. Another thing that was overlooked by the advocates of light was that too much exposure to light affected the eyes of the Himalayan, which, as I have said, are pink, for it is a well-known fact that human beings, as well as animals and birds who have pink eyes, avoid a strong light. Himalayans are best provided for in a partially darkened or shaded hutch, and this can be easily arranged, especially if the hutch stands in an outhouse or shed; if not, then partially cover the front with a bit of sacking or anything that will keep off the full glare. If your Himalayan is allowed to sleep or sit about in a wet hutch the colour of the feet will soon be destroyed; but if the hutch is built as I previously described, all water from the rabbit will soon run away. However, in the case of the rabbit under notice, it is best to make “assurance doubly sure,” so, on the bottom of your hutch put a nice layer of fine sand or sawdust, and over this straw or dried ferns, then any water will run through and be absorbed by the sand or sawdust, which should be raked over each morning, and renewed once a week. Do not give your Himalayan too much green meat, and never any that is wet or stale, as they are rather prone to scours. A few acorns are always a valuable thing to have on hand, and immediately bunny is seen to be relaxed; give one or two, and you will soon see the great good they will do.
Silver and Angora Rabbits.—Amongst the many beautiful specimens that are to be seen now-a-days at exhibitions and in the rabbitries of breeders, the silver varieties hold a deservedly high place. The various colours include silver grey (light, medium, and dark shade), silver brown, silver cream, silver fawn, and silver blue. The silvers are of medium size, and should weigh between six lbs. and seven lbs., be compactly built, having a very neat head, ears moderately short, clear bright eyes, and with that general appearance of activity that denotes a healthy constitution. The coat or fur is close-fitting and smooth to the touch. The skin or ground colour of the silver grey should be blue, the fur consisting of black, white, and blue hair, and, according to its distribution, so we have the three shades of light, medium, or dark, as mentioned. When the silver grey is born it is black, the colour only beginning to develop between the age of one and two months, and being fully developed at about five or six months, when their coats are very handsome. Some breeders, in order to get the silvering as quickly as possible, help nature by keeping their pets in artificially heated hutches; they succeed in thus accelerating development, but, as we have found from many years’ experience, those who so interfere, and think they know more than Mother Nature, have generally to pay the penalty for their presumption; for rabbits, too quickly developed, although their coats have a beautiful appearance, do not continue so long in that grand bloom and brightness that denotes the rabbit that has been allowed to get its coat as nature intended. All the warmth that is necessary can be obtained by having the hutches water-tight, kept clean, and protected from the extremes of heat and cold.
During the years the silver grey colour was being perfected, it is needless to say, crosses of various colours had to be resorted to, and amongst these were white rabbits, which naturally threw offspring with white or very pale ground (skin) colour in many cases, and as the fur grew, it was observed that the white hair predominated, giving the rabbit a cream or fawn colour, the lighter being designated creams, whilst the darker (or medium) were called fawns. The silver brown was another outcome of the various crosses, the Belgian, wild English, and common grey hutch rabbit, all leaving their trace in the silver variety, the under coat and top coat being, as the name denotes, a brown colour; this colour, pretty as it is, is not so “taking” to the eye as the other handsome ones are, and so it has not been kept or bred so carefully as the foregoing colours mentioned. The silver blue is still a rare colour, and has not yet reached anything like such perfection as the others; a correct blue, whilst evenly silvered, should show a beautiful blue colour all through.