Learning the Holland Lop Colors

THE HOLLAND LOP'S COLORS

Unlike some other rabbit breeds, Holland Lops come in a variety of colors, which makes them interesting genetically and fun, as well. There are two main varieties of Holland Lops which are typically seen at shows-- solid or broken. Solids are one solid color that come in seven of the different groups. Brokens are any recognized color among Holland Lops combined with white and are considered one of the eight groups of Hollands by color. The seven solid color groups and a few common colors representing each group are:

Agouti - A few color examples are Chestnut Agouti, Opal and Lynx.
Pointed White - This group is white except points of colors on the ears, nose, feet/legs and tail. Black and Lilac Pointed White are examples.
Self - A few common or prized colors for this group include Black, Blue, Chocolate and Blue Eyed White.
Shaded - A few well-known colors include Black Tort (aka Tort), Blue Tort, SablePoint and Smoked Pearl.
Tan Pattern - A few colors representing this group are Black Otter and Blue Otter.
Ticked - A few example colors of this group are Black Gold Tipped Steel and Blue Gold Tipped Steel.
Wideband - And, a few examples of this group are Fawn, Cream and Orange.

There are five major genes affecting color in Holland Lops. We won't go into detail but will note them to show that there are many different genes at work that determine a Holland's color. All genes occur in pairs, with one from each parent, so that is why a gene is expressed with two letters. They are:

Agouti/ Non Agouti gene. A few color examples of this "wild look" include a Chestnut Agouti and an Opal. Agoutis have distinctive markings with variations in the hair shaft. The Agouti gene causes the black and yellow bands on the hair shaft with a light colored belly and other light areas on the body. This gene is expressed as: AA, Aa, A_ or aa typically.
Black/ Brown gene. The dominant black gene causes a dark pigment to be produced. The classic, but rare example, of the recessive brown gene would be a chocolate colored rabbit. This gene is expressed as : BB, Bb, B_ or bb typically.
Full color/ albino gene. This gene is complex. It has more than two forms. When the dominant form is present, this gene is non-contributing to color and the color will be determined by other genes. This gene has several forms but is often expressed as : CC, ch1_, C_ or ch1ch1 . The most recessive form of this gene, cc , is a red-eyed white rabbit.
Dense / dilute gene. The dominant form produces a dense pigmentation as determined by other genes present. Some examples of the dense vs. dilute gene. The black is the common example of a rabbit with the dominant Dense gene and the blue has the recessive dilute gene. Likewise, the black tort is the dense form and the blue tort is the dilute form. This gene is typically expressed as: DD, Dd, D_ or dd .
Extension/ Non-Extension gene. The dominant form of this gene causes an extension of the black band in agouti rabbits. This gene also has several forms but is often expressed as: EE, E_ or ee.

Some examples of the different colors found in Holland Lops:

CRICKET, a BLACK TORT, was one of Shamrock's original Holland Lops. The TORT (short for Tortoise) tends to win a lot of shows in the Holland Lop breed, perhaps since it was an original color for the breed. The two main variants we have had or have at Shamrock Rabbits are the black tort and the Blue Tort. The Black Tort has the dominant form of the Dense/dilute gene (expressed as D_) resulting in a black color. The Blue Tort has the recessive form of the Dense/dilute gene (expressed as dd). The photo of Cricket, one of our original does, is an example of a black tort. Gizmo, seen on our "Bucks" pages in the "Meet the Herd" section is an example of a blue tort. The Tort is part of the Shaded (aka light chinchilla gene) color group among Hollands, represented by colors that darken on areas around the nose, ears, eyes, lower sides of the body and tail. The genotype of a Black Tort is expressed as: aa B_ C_ D_ ee .

GIZMO, is one of our new bucks here at Shamrock Rabbits. He is a BLUE TORT, which is a dilute version of a Black Tort. As noted under the comments for CRICKET, a BLACK TORT, the BLUE TORT is a diluted version of the BLACk TORT, genetically expressed as (dd). If a rabbit appears as a dominant Dense gene and doesn't at least carry the recessive dilute gene, expressed as (Dd) then breeding to a rabbit appearing dilute (dd) will always result in the offspring appearing to be the dominant Dense version of the Dense/Dilute gene. The genotype of a Blue Tort like Gizmo is expressed as:
aa B_ C_ dd ee . Notice that the only difference between a Black Tort and a Blue Tort in how they are expressed genetically is the Dense/dilute gene (Dd). The Black Tort can either be DD or Dd with regard to the Dense/dilute gene and still appear to be a Black Tort, which is why it is expressed as D_ (the _ being a wild card type of notation).

As noted previously, the BROKEN variety and group is any recognized color combined with white. JIMMY BUFFETT (pictured to the left), is a BROKEN BLACK OTTER. In a broken-colored Holland Lop, they are about 50% white and 50% the other recognized color. If a broken buck is bred to a broken doe, 25% over time, you will get a Charlie rabbit. A Charlie is mostly white in color, say 75-90% with just a few markings of the other color. As far as the Black Otter color goes; it is characterized as part of the Tan group (the surface color described as part of the black Self group with orange/gold markings and ticking on the rabbit). In Jimmy Buffett's case, he has the gold marking on his neck and around his nose and eyes. The genotype of a solid Black Otter Holland Lop is: at_ B_ C_ D_ E_ .

Louise, was a broken blue doe.

LOUISE, was one of our prettier does here at Shamrock rabbits. She was the pretty BROKEN BLUE color. Again, the BLUE color is the dilute version of black, expressed as: dd . The BLUE is in the SELF group of Holland Lop colors, which means the appearing color extends to the base of the hair shaft. A solid BLUE rabbit's genotype is expressed as: aa B_ C_ dd E_ . As a comparison, a solid Black Holland Lop's genotype would be expressed as: aa B_ C_ D_ E_ . The only difference between a black and a BLUE Holland Lop in their geneotype is the Dense/dilute gene-- the black expressed as DD and the BLUE as dd .

Sorcha, was one of Shamrock's Sablepoint colored does.

SORCHA, was a SABLEPOINT doe. SablePoints have proved to be a very popular color with Shamrock Rabbits' customers. They have the look of a Siamese cat. Like the Tort, they are part of the Shaded color group of Hollands. The Sablepoint Holland's genotype is expressed as: aa B_ ch1_ D_ ee . As a comparison the Black Tort's genotype is expressed as: aa B_ C_ D_ ee . So the difference in the genotype between a SablePoint and a Black Tort is found in the Full color/albino gene (CC) with the Black Tort having the dominant form of the gene and the SablePoint having one of the recessive forms of that gene.

Nemo, a cream colored buck.

NEMO, is one of our new bucks. He is a CREAM colored buck. The Cream color is fairly rare among Hollands. We had a Fawn at Shamrock Rabbits, which was Monty. our first buck back in 2009. Both the Cream and the Fawn are part of the Wideband group, although only the Red has a true genetic wideband. The Cream is the dilute version of an Orange rabbit and the Fawn is a variation of the Orange. The Cream's genotype is expressed as: A_ B_ C_ dd ee . The Orange and Fawn colored Holland Lop genotype is expressed as: A_ B_ C_ D_ ee .