# 4H show bunny?



## Ndun (Aug 29, 2019)

we are looking for a bunny for my daughter for 4H. I’d love go get opinions on this doe.


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## Augustus&HazelGrace (Aug 29, 2019)

@SableSteel He is the best person to ask!


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## SableSteel (Aug 29, 2019)

I'd personally not recommend that rabbit for 4-H. If you're wanting to show rabbits - _especially _with holland lops - you'd be better off buying an older rabbit (6 months +), because it's hard to know they will change as they mature. I never recommend people new to showing hollands to buy a baby, that breed changes _so much_ with age. As of right now the rabbit appears long and narrow overall (look at the ears and head for example - the ears shouldn't go beyond the jaw) and while it is possible to fill out as they grow, that isn't a chance I'd recommend taking unless you were more familiar with how the line matured.


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## Ndun (Aug 29, 2019)

@SableSteel I’d appreciate any feedback! I’m a newbie with coloring and I guess the darker ears are throwing me off? I want to make sure she’s an orange. We have a choice between her and this one


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## SableSteel (Aug 29, 2019)

Her color is orange. That darker color on the ears is called smut; it's technically a fault but nobody really looks at color in holland lops. Of the two I do like the orange more.


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## Ndun (Aug 30, 2019)

SableSteel said:


> I'd personally not recommend that rabbit for 4-H. If you're wanting to show rabbits - _especially _with holland lops - you'd be better off buying an older rabbit (6 months +), because it's hard to know they will change as they mature. I never recommend people new to showing hollands to buy a baby, that breed changes _so much_ with age. As of right now the rabbit appears long and narrow overall (look at the ears and head for example - the ears shouldn't go beyond the jaw) and while it is possible to fill out as they grow, that isn't a chance I'd recommend taking unless you were more familiar with how the line matured.


Thank you I appreciate your knowledge on this


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## Ndun (Aug 30, 2019)

SableSteel said:


> Her color is orange. That darker color on the ears is called smut; it's technically a fault but nobody really looks at color in holland lops. Of the two I do like the orange more.


@stablesteel when you say nobody really looks at color do faults like half butterfly’s (like this doe) not matter either or would that be more of a major fault.


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## Mackenzie Salm (Aug 31, 2019)

Color faults in holland's aren't that important. I would say that the orange doe you were looking t has a good color idk about the ears if that would be a dq or not(as in the color difference) I only have 1 solid rabbit and she is a sable not an orange so idk. But I believe she has a slip crown . Also just watch out that if you get a jr rabbit that it doesn't turn into a false dwarf(it doesn't inherit the dwarf gene). But there is more to 4h and showing rabbits then just showing its a lot of work too. Your daughter has to work with her rabbit everyday practice posing with it and it helps a lot if she creates a bond with her rabbit too. She needs to clip its nails, groom it, practice posing, and so on. And SHE has to do it not you. Judges can tell if it was her or someone else who takes care of the rabbit and practices with it. If you want to help her go ahead but don't do it for her! Judges can tell.

If you do showmanship she has to practice her facts and how to do showmanship. I used these books when I first started and they helped a LOT. https://shop4-h.org/products/rabbit-curriculum-set-of-4. You have to do it in order though or it won't make any sense! The first book is for absolute beginners it teaches breeds of rabbits, how to set up a cage for your rabbit, how to show your rabbit, and so on. I hope this helped. I'm sorry this got long but I love teaching people about showing animals and 4h. They have books like that for any animal that you show like goats, pigs, beef cows, dairy cows, even cats and dogs. If you have any questions about showing any animal or 4h in general I would love to help


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## Mackenzie Salm (Aug 31, 2019)

@SableSteel I'm not an expert but does it look like the orange doe might have a slip crown? I'm trying to look at rabbits and find dqs on them because thats kind of the point I am right now in 4h I have to learn dqs and what a proper rabbit looks like and right now I am focusing on Holland Lops because I plan breeding that breed. Thanks


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## SableSteel (Sep 2, 2019)

Yes, that orange does have a slipped crown, but the broken tortoise has an even worse slipped crown. 

Smut on the ears of an orange is only a fault, not a DQ.

In holland lops, color & markings are worth 4 points. Type (shape) is worth 84 points. A rabbit with even the absolute worst possible color (short of a disqualification) could only be marked down 4 points maximum while a rabbit with poor type could be marked down up to 84 points. They don't actually use points when showing but it gives a good idea of how judging them is weighted and how much more important Type is than Color.

The crown is worth 8 points, and the ears are worth 10. A slipped crown can lose the rabbit points in both (for both crown placement and ear placement) and so a slipped crown is much more severe fault than a half-butterfly or smutty color on the ears.

In some breeds color is more important (like Standard Chinchillas where color is 35 points) but in Holland lops it's not. The only time color ever really comes up in judging hollands is when there is a disqualification - some more common color disqualifications to look for are a broken rabbit with less than 10% color (so one that is mostly white), a broken entirely missing any nose markings (so the nose and whisker beds are entirely white), or white toenails.


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## Mackenzie Salm (Sep 2, 2019)

Okay, thanks I can't view the tort rabbit that well because the picture won't load for me. But this helped a lot thank you.


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