When Mark and I began looking for our foundation stock we noticed that there were very few people breeding and showing mini's in Orange. We spotted the colour in other breeds and were instantly keen! We asked around quite a few people but nobody had anything  that they could spare from their breeding programmes. We then got a call from our dear friend Chris Humphreys who had found us a lovely orange buck that was way up in Carlisle with Phil Batey. Well, we were in the car and off to collect him before the phone could hit the reciever. We wouldn't have these beautiful rabbits in such stunning colours if it weren't for the help and support of Phil Batey, Daren Morris and Phyllis Chell.

Meet Willy. Willy was Bred by Phil and is the son of Supreme Champion Middleton, a REW who is a bit of a celebrity himself! Willy (and Phil!) gave us a great start to our lines.  He's been a wonder to show, doesn't take a lot of preparation and always sits well on the table. Willy has just recently gained enough stars to collect his Champion status. He's a real character in the shed and is definitely one of the favourites here.

Next we have Artemis. Arty is a High Rufus Red Agouti Buck that came to us from Daren Morris (big Thankyou's!). Artemis is a fantastic stud buck and has produced some of the most beautiful babies that we have in the shed. He throws babies with lovely big heads and his colour has been really useful for helping us to develop red mini lops ( a colour very rarely seen here in the UK).

This is Hercules. Hercules is the one of the brightest orange rabbits that we have ever seen. The other being his Sire, a beautiful buck bred by Daren Morris. Hercules came from Daren late last year to help us with removing ticking from our lines, a problem with oranges. Herc is a real stunner with a lovely ear carriage and crown set-up. He's a very small buck at less than 3lbs which is always useful. Hercules has been shown and done well. He has just recently sired a litter of 5 babies (some of which you will see on our youngsters page!) and is an asset to us here at Seacliffe stud.

Meet Shelly. Shelly is a bright orange doe that comes from Phyllis Chell lines. Shelly is the most wonderful doe, to be honest she looked like a buck for such a long time that I had to keep checking. Shelly has done what very few does have in having been runner up Best in Show out of all exhibits, Best U/5 lop on both times shown and coming home with Best of Breed. Shelly is no longer showing as she has just been mated to Hercules. We can't wait to see these babies and are sure with such a laid back personality she'll be a fantastic mum.

This is the lovely Asteria. Asteria was bred here in late 2008 and is the most beautiful coloured doe. She is expressing lots of rufus (the gene that turns orange to red) and has a lovely coat, head set-up and body shape. Asteria became a mother in late 2009 and produced the most stunning red agouti doe called Bertrude (she was Bert until we realised he was a she!). Bertrude was sired by the lovely Jose one of our black otter bucks (see otter page) and will be kept here at Seacliffe stud to help in both the orange project and improving tanning on our otters.

Diana is the most beautiful doe that was bred here at Seacliffe Stud in late 2009. Unfortunately Diana was building a nest for her litter that has been sired by Hercules so was unable to make her photo shoot. We hope to get a picture of Diana and her babies in a few months time.

The same can be said for Gretta (or Grumpy Gretta as we like to call her!). Gretta has babies with her at about 6 weeks old so we felt it best not to take any photographs of her so shortly after her pregnancy. Gretta has had a wonderful litter of 5 babies, 2 orange, 2 red and 1 high rufus sooty fawn. Pictures of Gretta's babies can be found on our youngsters page.