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MY HOLLAND LOPS | SHOWING RABBITS | RABBIT GENETICS | FOR BREEDERS | BLOG | WEB DESIGN | RABBIT STORE |
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About UsAbout The Nature Trail Rabbitry
The Nature Trail Rabbitry was begun in February 2003 when our first two litters of Holland Lops were born and I absolutely fell in love. I originally had two breeds of rabbits, but soon found that the Holland Lop had captured my heart.
In the latter half of 2004, we expanded the rabbitry to 64 holes. I thought the rabbitry would be so spacious. Boy, was I wrong! Within a month of hanging the new cages, every one of them was full and I had a bunny living in a large breed carrier. In early 2005, my barn had a population explosion when I purchased 36 wonderful bunnies from Valerie Harrell of Mountain's Bunny Farm. Valerie decided to get out of bunnies after ten years. I wanted to keep almost every one of these beautiful bunnies, but had to settle for half of them, due to space constraints. In late 2005, I made the tough decision to reduce my herd dramatically. I felt that it was time to tighten my gene pool and begin to work on producing predictable results. I also wanted to reserve more cage space to growing out juniors so that I could keep them long enough to evaluate their potential. My herd suffered great losses during the summer of 2007 due to a combination feed and water problem. My herd went from 134 to fewer than 40. I went ahead and sold rabbits as scheduled and further reduced my rabbitry to about 2 dozen adults. The year 2007 was both my best and my worst years. I suffered the terrible setback with the rabbit deaths and lack of breeding. But I also had my best regular show at the NCRBA Convention with all four Best of Breeds, 1 Best Reserve In Show, and 2 Best In Shows. I also had my best national show to date when GC The Nature Trail's May was best opposite broken (her grandson bred by Roman Kulesza was best broken). I won the NCRBA sweepstakes for the second year in a row. The rabbitry is located just 4 miles into Virginia, 15 minutes north of Mt. Airy, NC, and one hour north of Winston-Salem, NC. The rabbitry overlooks the last valley before the Blue Ridge Mountains and has a view of the Blue Ridge Parkway in the distance. It’s part of a family community that consists of the home of my sister and her family, of my parents’ home, a home for my nephew and his wife and son, and, in the house at the top of the hill, our home. Although my husband Andrew is allergic to rabbits (something we found out a little too late!), he helps me greatly with building, carrying, picking up supplies and disinfecting (something I’m allergic to). Sometimes the babies are just so cute, he can’t help himself and holds them anyway—paying the price later! I couldn't do this without his help.
I have developed a fascination with rabbit color genetics. Determining the genotype of my rabbits as well as the phenotype is solving a fun puzzle to me. I keep extensive records, attempting to identify as much of the ancestor genotypes as possible. Determining which buck to breed with which doe is central to breeding for continually better results in the offspring. I keep a running list of my next breeding plans and revise it constantly as rabbit characteristics become apparent and breeding results are available. When I'm not working with my rabbits, I'm working on my business, Laurie's Cobalt World, where I sell quality cobalt blue glasses, cobalt blue glass serving dishes, cobalt blue glass accessories, and cobalt blue glass home interior gifts. As you can tell, I have a thing for cobalt glass! I have a second hobby, which is ballroom dancing. Andrew and I have been dancing for over a year. We enjoy waltz, rumba, fox trot, cha-cha, swing, tango, and a little bit of samba. And of course we love Dancing With The Stars! I hope you will enjoy my site and will come back often. I add something new almost every week. And please find me at a show and tell me who you are. I'd love to see your rabbits and show you mine—no purchase required!
Laurie
Stroupe
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This website is owned, designed, and maintained by
Laurie Stroupe of The Nature Trail Rabbitry.
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The
first year as a Holland Lop breeder was a busy one for us. My husband and
I built a small barn and 42
holes (cage compartments). I learned how to breed and how to build kindling
boxes. I attended a number of shows and talked with lots of breeders
(special thanks to Mary and Garrett Justice who gave me a great start). 