Last Updated on August 13, 2022
Breeding a Holland Lop can be simply out of your hobby and petting the new rabbits. However, some people breed rabbits for the meat and at times for the show.
No matter the reason behind them, the process is still confusing. Here’s the tea- we will tell you how to breed Holland lops without any professional help at home!
The Right Time To Breed
When you plan to breed a Holland lop, make sure your rabbit is 6 months old or more. We do not recommend you breed your rabbit before this age limit. Yes, you can find male Holland Lops that can be bred when they are 4.5 months.
However, it is safer and better to breed them after they reach their 6 months stage. This is the time of their age when they get aggressive breeders so that they can produce kits.
Another thing you must keep in mind is the testicle of your rabbit in this stage should be dropped. At times, you might want to breed a female that’s more than 2 years and never has been bred. Well, we don’t recommend breeding a female Holland lop that passes this age.
When she gets older, the hips of the rabbit will fuse together. As a result, there will be complications while giving birth.
The same goes for the females that are older than 1 year. Sometimes, it can get quite risky to breed them if they have not been bred before. Yes, there were times when breeders bred a 1-year female that had no experience of giving birth before and it worked well for them. However, it’s always better to be safe.
Heath Check-Ups before Breeding
Before you, as a breeder, plan to breed the female or male Holland Lops, both of them will require health checkups. For breeding them, they must be healthy and fit for the process.
Female Holland Lop
In the case of the female Holland lops, make sure you check the genitals. The process of giving birth to a baby will require her to be healthy carrying no disease. She must not be sick.
Check the nails of the Holland lop, trim them, and keep them neat. You should not breed overweight female rabbits. Check out how big Holland Lop Rabbits get and know about the right weight for their size and age!
Note: Check the female’s vent or privates. If it is dark pink, red, or purple or it is swollen, she is ready to conceive.
However, when you see the vent to be light pink (at times, whitish) she is not ready to conceive. Even after mating, in this condition, she won’t conceive.
Male Holland Lop
In the case of the male Holland lop, the genitals should be checked. The two testicles must be on either side of the genitals.
Check the penis and make sure it extends by pressing on the genitals a bit. Once again, trim his nails and keep them neat. He should not be sick or tired and must feel healthy.
The Breeding Processes
Other animals have their heat cycles but that’s not the case with Holland lops or any other rabbits. They will ovulate after mating.
Among the rabbits, the Holland lops are choosy about mating. If they don’t feel like mating, they simply won’t. To check the mood, you have to go through the color of their genital area.
Table Breeding: When the process of breeding is going on, you need to be close to your Holland lop. You can go for the Table Breeding process. Here, you have to place a high surface or a table. And in this position, you can see when the process takes place.
Cage Breeding: However, you can also settle for the natural process- Cage Breeding. In this process, you have to take the female Holland lop to the male’s cage. At times, you might plan on taking the female to the male’s cage but it won’t work that way.
Mostly, females are territorial and males take a lot of time to enjoy their new surroundings. They don’t need to stay for hours and days. Instead, if they both are interested, they will do it in a jiffy.
The Mating Position
If both of the Holland lops are doing it for the first time, you should lend your hand. The male can try to mouth the head of the female. The female can be scared and run away too. You might see the female mounting the male first at times.
Don’t worry, this is normal and the breeding process will be easier this way. When the female Holland lop will feel like mating, she will lie down like a log. And to make it easier, she will raise her tail keeping the heels off the floor.
It is the right mating position. However, you can also see it not settling in this position. You need to understand that the female is not interested.
The Period between Mating
During the connection, the male will fall off. At times, you will see the male screaming or grunting. Also, they can thump right after they are done breeding. When they are done, you can simply hold your female Holland lop and slowly, take her out.
Check the sperm on her vent. It is proof of their mating. Right after taking her out, cradle her like a baby and keep her in this position for about 5 minutes or so.
The Rebreeding
After 5 minutes, you need to take the female inside the cage once again. Go through the same process and once again hold her there.
You have to certify that both of the rabbits have mated at least 3 times for breeding. All you need is to take care of the female when you get the confirmation of their pregnancy.
Breeding Holland Lop Rabbits
Wrap Up
After three times mating or more, it is mostly considered that your female Holland lop is pregnant. You can plan on rebreeding the female after 12 hours of the first mating. The idea behind rebreeding is to ensure that the sperm gets in and eventually the rabbit becomes pregnant.
