Frostbitten ears? Showable?

[wendymac]

Well, I brought those two French Lops home. The breeder had them in a carrier when we got there, and right away I noticed their ears looked funny. She got the doe out, and sure enough...they are horrible! It looks like they had gotten frostbitten this winter. She uses crocks, and they probably got wet and then frostbitten. The doe's ears tips are like leather, no hair, and feel horrible. She did discount her considerably, she's super well built (like a basketball with a head), and possibly pregnant (to the buck we didn't buy), which is the only reason she came home with us. The buck's are yucky on the very tips, but not as badly as the doe's. I'm going to try using some of my horse hair growth cream on the buck, to see if we can get the hair back. I really wanted to show him. He's still an asset in the breeding shed, but I wanted to get judges' opinions and see how he did on the table.

I find it hard to believe, but she said she never even noticed it before. They also have messy bottoms (going to clean them up today), and she didn't know that either, until she went to put them in the carrier. She said that they have so many rabbits, and she works so much, that they usually only have time to feed, water, and clean trays most days. Once I noticed the ears, she did take $30 off the doe, and said we didn't have to take them if we didn't want to (with a full refund).

Now, the breeder said they could still be shown, that the judges don't look at ears. I don't believe that, because every comment on the rabbits (that I've heard during all my watching) goes like, "nice ears", "lacks thickness in the ears", etc.

I'm thinking showing is out of the question for them both, but thought I'd throw it out there and see what the general consensus is.

 

[woahlookitsme]

I will be no help in this as we don't have problems with frost bite in texas lol. Good luck though

 

[RoyalLions18]

Well you can try too get some hair to grow on them,then enter them in a show and see how it go's! I think as long as the ears arnt ripped with big chunks out it should be fine. I used too breed E-lops, crocks are never a good idea for the lop breeds!

 

[wendymac]

Her main breed is the Elop. But she says she raises the crocks, and their ears never get wet. There's no chunks missing, but they do look and feel horrible. Such a shame... Cher is such a sweetheart, and would have been really fun to show.

 

[BlueCamasRabbitry]

They would probably get DQ'd on the table, unfortunately. Sad that the lady seemingly never noticed their ears being like that... I'm sure they had to have been swollen and red and very painful after being frostbitten. :/

You could, of course, always take them with you to a show and approach the judge when they aren't busy (usually after the shows are over) and ask for their opinion on them.

Emily

 

[wendymac]

I know. I can't imagine how much that had to have hurt. Poor buns. There were a couple of times this winter, when it got way below zero, that I had to switch to crocks for about a week. I guess I just got extremely lucky. I have around 8 months to figure out something for next year. Time for the thinking cap. LOL

I thought about that. But the shows last so long (especially when a lot are double shows), that I have to hurry and get the kids home for school in the morning. I know I'm ready to leave at the end, and I'm sure the judges are just as anxious to start home, too. But I might have to do that, at least for the buck.