The Life of Animals | English Spot | The English Spot is a breed of domestic rabbit that was developed in England in the 19th century through selective breeding. Averaging 5 to 8 pounds in weight, the English Spot is a medium-sized breed that is most noted by the distinctive colored markings on its body, including the butterfly, eye circles, English Spots have a full arch body, with long front legs that carry them off the table. English Spots are most known for their curious and fun loving nature.
The English Spot is believed to be one of the oldest breeds of fancy rabbit. The Checkered Giant is a larger breed, weighing on average 10-14 pounds. The American English Spot Rabbit Club was established in 1924. The French named the breed "Lapin Papillon Angalias", or the English Butterfly Rabbit from the butterfly marking on the nose Previous generations of the breed entailed a white rabbit with patches of color and through the years has acquired clearly defined markings
The English Spot is a medium sized breed, averaging 5-8 pounds.An English Spot is known by its six types of body markings: butterfly, cheek spots, eye circles, colored ears, herringbone, and chain of spots. The butterfly is a butterfly marking around the nose; if looking straight at the rabbit's nose, the butterfly will peak in the middle and have a wing on both sides. The cheek spots are a colored dots below the eye on both sides of the rabbit. Eye circles are solid colored circles around both eyes of the rabbit. The most known feature of the English Spot is the chain of individual spots that sweeps both sides of the rabbit's body, running from the base of the neck to the hind legs.
The English Spot is an active rabbit needing an hour or two to run around each day. Due to its arched body type, the English Spot is judged while it runs the length of a table, which allows the animals body type to be fully assessed. This type of hay should be reserved for young kits or lactating does. Some of the vegetables that rabbits enjoy are parsley, thyme, cilantro, dandelion, and basil The English Spot doe, female, will foster young easily, often raising her young with the litter of other breeds A normal litter is on average, 5-7 young with a gestation period of 30–32 days Of a normal litter, 25% will be a solid color, 25% will have partial markings, and 50% will have all the required markings The partially marked babies "typically have a mustache similar to Charlie Chaplin" and therefore are called 'charlies' A pregnant English Spot will require adequate food to support her and her young.
