Tri Colored Mini Lops are making a comeback!
- Christine Bailey
- May 11, 2015
- 3 min read
A few years back I had sold my entire Tri Colored Mini Lop project. However, I did keep a few from that lineage, but those that I kept were in fact not tri colored. At that time I really wanted to focus on improving the type and develop a stronger Mini Lop rabbit, and not have to worry about color.
This year I bred a blue buck, out of a black doe and a blue chin buck to my broken frosted pearl doe. And lo and behold what popped out of the nest box! I was given 2 japanese and two magpie babies! The buck, GML Windigo is out of the begining of my tri colored mini lop project waaay back when. His Grandfather being GML Napoleon a black/orange tri out of my very frist tri colored buck BT's Mr Teriffic.
I will honestly and openly admint when it comes to the whole AA-aa-BB-b-C-cc part of genetics, to me it reads like stero instructions, and I cannot grasp this concept. But hey these are Mini Lops! Color is only 5 points and very few colors are not recgonized in this breed. The main focus should be type, type and more type! So when i chose my pairings of GML Windigo and Valadez's Desire' I gave no thought of the possibilities of Harlequin Marked or Tri Color kits popping out of this pairing.
Recently, I will admit that I had realized how much I miss the fun color and markings of the Tri Colored Mini Lops and played around with the idea of briging them back into my barn. After all I had also added Harliquins not only because they are a meatier type rabbit with a better meat to bone ratio than the mini lop, but they have unique colors and markings! At that point I knew I had already missed my tri colored mini lops. I have been talking with a friend of mine on the other side of Montana who currently does have tri colors and we had planned a breeding between on of her bucks, a tri color, and my broken orange doe. I mean after all the original purpose of purchasing my broken orange doe years back was to improve my tri color in the type department. Loha, has out produced herself with every buck I have paired her with and has become a valuable member of my herd. So why not try to get a better type tri colored animal?
Perhaps this recent surprise of harlequin marked mini lop kits is a sign? A sign telling me that I NEED and must have tri colors in my barn? Well why the heck not? Let's give it another whirl! Of course depending on type on these two japanesse harlequin marked kits, I believe they with both stay here and we will see what happens! The buck is a blue japanese pictured on the right and his sister a black japanese on the left. Plans for these two have yet to be set in stone. But I can almost guarantee you that the buck, GML Spin Doctor, will at one point be bred to my broken orange doe, Lola in hopes of some beautiful typed tri color kits!
The future of Glacier Mini Lops tri color Mini Lop project will rest in the paws of these two surprise kits! Only time will tell if this is a path I am meant to journey down!