Breeding
The ideal age for the female English Lop rabbit to start breeding is 9 months of age. The female English Lop rabbit is known to be particularly prolific, with rich milk, and a good maternal sense, and can produce large litters of between 5-12 babies, with a gestation period of between 28–31 days. On average they give birth at 30–32 days. It is recommended that the first litter must be born before the female is one year old due to the fusing of the pelvic bones, which would hinder her ability to give birth naturally, and it is recommended that they should have no more litters after the age of three years. It is during the first 16 weeks of an English Lop's life that its ears undergo its most rapid growth, and for this period, theirs ears will require special care and attention. Although a baby English Lop is usually born with normal-sized ears, for a month, each week the ears' size will double. At about four weeks old, the ears will be longer than the English Lop's body and the rabbits will be prone to accidents or injuries, such as tripping over their ears, or accidentally scratching them frequently, and more care should be given during this initial stage.
Read more about this topic: English Lop
Famous quotes containing the word breeding:
“We have been God-like in our planned breeding of our domesticated plants and animals, but we have been rabbit-like in our unplanned breeding of ourselves.”
—A.J. (Arnold Joseph)
“Good breeding ... differs, if at all, from high breeding only as it gracefully remembers the rights of others, rather than gracefully insists on its own rights.”
—Thomas Carlyle (17951881)
“Not everyone knows how to be silent or to leave in good time. It happens that even people of good breeding fail to notice that their presence provokes in the weary or preoccupied host a feeling akin to hatred, and that this feeling is tensely concealed and covered up with lies.”
—Anton Pavlovich Chekhov (18601904)