Hi, I\'m new to the board and have a question about floppy ears. Here\'s the situation: I was planning to get a doe from some friends that raise meat rabbits. They haven\'t had lop-eared rabbits before but in one group of youngsters, several have ended up with floppy ears including the doe I was planning to get. They aren\'t all from the same does or bucks. The doe I was going to get is out of a New Zealand doe and by a Flemish Giant buck. Some of the others are from dutch and mix rabbits. Any ideas? Should I avoid this doe?
Thanks!
This really doesn\'t indicate anything of a serious nature. 1) During summer, this is a common problem. Ears do tend to be longer as a response to higher temps (known as \"summer ears\"). 2) Flemish/NZ cross bunnies would tend toward a larger ear and if the ligaments at the ear base aren\'t capable of holding the ear erect, they will flop.
If these were pure bred bunnies, you might be concerned from an exhibition standpoint as \"lazy ears\" are a serious fault in erect-eared breeds and ears carried below horizontal are a disqualification. Otherwise, if your looking for a pet and the rabbits are otherwise healthy, unless you personally have a problem with those ears, all should be fine.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
Thank you! I couldn\'t find anything about it anywhere. They thought maybe it was wry neck but I never found floppy ears listed as a symptom and they don\'t have any other symptoms. I don\'t think \"lazy ears\" will be a problem since I\'ll be using her to raise meat rabbits.
You\'re welcome. They should be just fine for backyard meat production...nobody eats the ears anyway.
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com