Sunday we picked the rabbits who went to Convention up, as well as the new ones we purchased.
The 2 we showed had been travelling for the last 10 days, and lost condition on their journey.
Results from Convention:
We actually did the best with the ones we sold to other breeders. The 2 we sent were really docked for condition. They just didn't hold it. They started their travels on Thurs afternoon, and didn't get judged until Monday, and I guess they didn't eat great on the trip.
Kylee was 35 / 64 SJD's. So half in her class, not too great. She had good comments all the way through, except wanted more in her HQ (I agree), and more condition.
Storm Warning was NP in the SJB's. Good comments on his body, but only Fair head and lacks width in HQ (agree on that HQ).
The ones we sold though were 5th SJD/64 for Susan Howman, and 9th SJD of 64 for Susan Howman. The 5th place was Trixie, the sister to Porter, Parker and Kia. The 9th was a Gold Tipped Steel doe out of Trinity X Zeke. She had the HQ!!!
Also, Alison Votow had 8/50 BSD in Youth with Precious Moment, who is Jamison's sister out of Montana X Gillian.
Caitlin & Ben Votow had 5/34 SSB in Youth with Country Boy (the dad to the 5th place SJD in Open above). They also had 3/39 SSD in Youth with a Chestnut doe out of As You Like It X Cassady.
So not bad at all for first Convention... The comments were what we really wanted, and knowing that we need more work on HQ's really helps guide us for our breeding program this next year.
We actually went through our Mini Lop herd today, and decided what our next step was with working on the HQ, and also improving depth and trying to keep our shoulders short.
We have a list together of some For Sale animals to go up, since I removed everything off our for sale page for Mini's until we had a chance to go through the herd. That list will go up in the next few days.
As for the new rabbits, Kitsemble's Gus & Kitsemble's Sidney arrived. They will work perfect in our breeding program. Gus is a brother to Sara "Too", so will work great for linebreeding with her kids. He is a nicely balanced buck with similar type to Sara. He's also a big sweetie!! Sidney has depth GALORE!! She has 8 legs with a RBIS win. Very nice doe, with even a nice head. So we are thrilled to introduce her into our program.
We also had our 3 new Mini Rex from KT's Rabbitry arrive. We are very pleased with them, and can't wait to show Mayhanna when she returns from Florida! We bought a Black doe, Broken Blue doe and Broken black buck. I need to get the Mini Rex portion of our website set up. However we need to get pictures of all the Mini Rex. We will work on that soon (everyone here, besides me, has been sick so this will happen in time!)...
In litter news, I forgot to mention GB1's litter (ML) in my last blog. She has 5 babies by Ethan. So far we are keeping an eye on 1 G'Tp Steel doe. They are only 6 weeks though so won't make final decisions yet.
Bridget's litter is doing great too, so far we have our eye on a Brk S'Tp buck and a G'Tp doe. This litter is by Hunter.
In French Lop news (I haven't mentioned much about them lately, but it's been pretty quiet on that front). Emerald has 3 babies left. I think we are going to start the French on some Calf Manna when they have litters. They just don't have the milk supply like the other breeds. Anyway, Emerald has 3 babies. I believe 2 does and 1 buck. Squirrely has 3 babies left, 2 Blue Chins and 1 Black Chin. All bucks.
The older 2 French we kept back from our July litter from S&K Posey X Rugby are really coming into themselves. I like the depth and short body on the Sold G'Tp buck. He is a pretty decent size too. The Brk G'Tp has better size, and I know will be bigger. He also looks nice, with a better head, however isn't as deep/short. But still is looking promising!
Will post about Satin's in another post another day...
Wednesday, November 11, 2009
Friday, October 30, 2009
104 less blogs than a year ago
We sure haven't written as many blogs in 2009 as we did in 2008. I wonder why such a difference?
Anyway, litter updates:
Dream On Boys had a litter of 8 last Sunday by Kayden. Brokens and Solids, but no REWs or Torts I believe.
Squirrely had a litter of 7 last Monday by the Rainstar buck. She lost 1 though. Dilutes and Chestnuts.
Emerald has 3 babies, plus raising Milky Way's 1 REW doe. They are doing good.
Gillian has her 9 still, and is doing very well (all Black / Broken Black).
Isobella (Mini Rex) has 4 still, 2 Blue, 1 Broken blue and 1 Broken black.
We have narrowed our Keepers down from the September litters. We haven't gone through them for a few weeks, but here is what we are planning to keep, at last look:
Sara X Evan - Sable Steel doe, G'Tp Steel doe
Rosalind X Braxtin - Growing all 3 out for now. 2 Black does, 1 G'Tp buck
All Summer Long X Ethan - G'Tp Steel buck (have 4 left, but at last look liked just 1, although we will re go through them first)
The other litter by Bridget X Hunter has very cute babies! 2 broken Steels, 2 solid. Thought there was another one I forgot about, but must not be...
We have 2 new Mini Lops coming back from Convention. From Silent Springs Rabbitry - Kitsemble's Sidney and Kitsemble's Gus. Looking forward to those 2!!!
Also have 3 Mini Rex from KT's Rabbitry...
Our For sale page has been updated with several Satins for sale. One day we need to go through Mini lops and sell some bucks!! We'll have time one day soon to do that!
Anyway, litter updates:
Dream On Boys had a litter of 8 last Sunday by Kayden. Brokens and Solids, but no REWs or Torts I believe.
Squirrely had a litter of 7 last Monday by the Rainstar buck. She lost 1 though. Dilutes and Chestnuts.
Emerald has 3 babies, plus raising Milky Way's 1 REW doe. They are doing good.
Gillian has her 9 still, and is doing very well (all Black / Broken Black).
Isobella (Mini Rex) has 4 still, 2 Blue, 1 Broken blue and 1 Broken black.
We have narrowed our Keepers down from the September litters. We haven't gone through them for a few weeks, but here is what we are planning to keep, at last look:
Sara X Evan - Sable Steel doe, G'Tp Steel doe
Rosalind X Braxtin - Growing all 3 out for now. 2 Black does, 1 G'Tp buck
All Summer Long X Ethan - G'Tp Steel buck (have 4 left, but at last look liked just 1, although we will re go through them first)
The other litter by Bridget X Hunter has very cute babies! 2 broken Steels, 2 solid. Thought there was another one I forgot about, but must not be...
We have 2 new Mini Lops coming back from Convention. From Silent Springs Rabbitry - Kitsemble's Sidney and Kitsemble's Gus. Looking forward to those 2!!!
Also have 3 Mini Rex from KT's Rabbitry...
Our For sale page has been updated with several Satins for sale. One day we need to go through Mini lops and sell some bucks!! We'll have time one day soon to do that!
Convention Update
We've been slacking on our blog posts lately. Not sure where the days go, but when we think to write a blog we don't really have anything too exciting to report.
Let's see, first Convention news. We spent the day yesterday getting all the last minute details finalized for the rabbits leaving for Convention. We sent 13 animals down, 2 to show and the rest sold (4 others are being shown as well).
We are showing Kylee and Storm Warning. Will see how they do!
Even though we weren't attending Convention ourselves, the amount of paperwork we had to make sure we had ready was a bit crazy. Permission letter allowing Stan & Kathy to show our animals, and check them in/out; copy of ARBA card; Receipt of Entry submitted online; cage cards; mini-peds and all peds for pre-sold animals labelled to new owners. Also made a Convention booklet with all info for S&K in it, along with feeding instructions; and any other info I could think of!
Anyway, our exciting adventure to deliver the rabbits began at 3 pm yesterday. We loaded the extended cab of our truck (as we don't have a canopy for it, and we REALLY need to find one!!) with all the rabbits, we had Luke (our Golden Retriever) with us, so the 3 of us piled in the front of the cab. We had to run by the feed store first to buy a bag of feed to send down with S&K, them stopped at the Farm market and bought some Parsley for the rabbits heading down (they love it, and that way they can have a few sprigs over the next few days each). Finally got out of Duncan by 4 pm. We had to be downtown Victoria by 5 pm, to take 2 guinea pigs to the pet store. So we managed to get down there just after 5, found the pet store (right in the middle of downtown, and it was a zoo!), but we lucked out and found parking right in front. Quickly did that, at least we stacked the cavies so we only had to pull one other carrier out to get them.
From there we raced over to the airport to grab our shipment that was coming in from Ottawa (4 Mini Rex). So we got there at 5:45 (rabbits were supposed to be in at 5:30, but we were a bit late). Anyway, they tell us they've been delayed, and wouldn't be in until at least 6:30 if not later. So Kim comes out and tell me this (I've been walking Luke around the parking lot, as he is bored out of his mind already). So we take the dog for a long walk all around the airport, past all the travellers, etc. That takes us until 6:20. We get back to the truck and jump in, and wait and wait. By 6:35 we see the fellow drive the cargo truck over to an aircraft. So we think great, will wait another 5 and go in. So we go inside, and wait, and wait. Finally just after 7 the guy is finally back, and we can leave!
As we are leaving the airport we remember that the 6 chicks we have with us (forgot to mention those), the lady was meeting us at Stan's at 7, and we are a good hour away. Shoot! He number was restricted on my cell phone, so I call Stan, talk to his daughter and explain my dilemma. That way when someone shows up at their place, they aren't wondering what the heck is going on. So we thought since it was after 7, we'd just run through a drive thru somewhere and grab something quick. Well another phone call from Stan 10 mins later, and he says the lady is going to meet you at the 17 mile pub up the road. So rather than stopping, and having her wait longer we just kept going. We had to meet Wendy first in Langford to take Stan money and get a rabbit from her for someone else who is picking up Sat at our farm.
So we finally meet Wendy at 8 pm, and keep heading towards Sooke. But, we have a burnt out head light (low beam) on one side, and the road is black with no lights on the side (or reflectors). Kim knows the roads, but not that great in the dark. So we had to go slower. Finally get to the 17 mile pub,meet the lady who bought the 6 chicks. This was about 8:30 or so.
Finally we could head to Stans, unload and get dinner somewhere. As we are heading down the dark road to Stan's with just 1 headlight, Kim has a brainwave. We have fog lights. So she fiddled around with her lights, and figured out fog lights (was really foggy there, and this gave us 2 working lights). Finally we could see what was on the right side of the road. Lol.
By 9 pm, we were pulling into Stan's driveway. Start unloading the rabbits, and give him all the paperwork and instructions.
We left S&K's at 9:30 to head back to Duncan. Still haven't had dinner, so stop in Mill Bay (as there is nothing open between Sooke and the TC Hwy). So we get to Mill Bay just after 10, grab something for us and the dog, and run to the farm to unload the few rabbits, and put the ducks in their house.
By 11 pm we were walking into the door of our house... Whew! Sure look a lot of hrs just to take some rabbits down!!
So, that's that story. The rabbits are all off, they were leaving on the 10 a ferry and hope to by in San Diego by tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they have an easy trip down.
Today we have a shipment of 1 rabbit to send to Terrace.
I was going to post litter updates, but that'll have to be another blog! This one is becoming a novel...
Let's see, first Convention news. We spent the day yesterday getting all the last minute details finalized for the rabbits leaving for Convention. We sent 13 animals down, 2 to show and the rest sold (4 others are being shown as well).
We are showing Kylee and Storm Warning. Will see how they do!
Even though we weren't attending Convention ourselves, the amount of paperwork we had to make sure we had ready was a bit crazy. Permission letter allowing Stan & Kathy to show our animals, and check them in/out; copy of ARBA card; Receipt of Entry submitted online; cage cards; mini-peds and all peds for pre-sold animals labelled to new owners. Also made a Convention booklet with all info for S&K in it, along with feeding instructions; and any other info I could think of!
Anyway, our exciting adventure to deliver the rabbits began at 3 pm yesterday. We loaded the extended cab of our truck (as we don't have a canopy for it, and we REALLY need to find one!!) with all the rabbits, we had Luke (our Golden Retriever) with us, so the 3 of us piled in the front of the cab. We had to run by the feed store first to buy a bag of feed to send down with S&K, them stopped at the Farm market and bought some Parsley for the rabbits heading down (they love it, and that way they can have a few sprigs over the next few days each). Finally got out of Duncan by 4 pm. We had to be downtown Victoria by 5 pm, to take 2 guinea pigs to the pet store. So we managed to get down there just after 5, found the pet store (right in the middle of downtown, and it was a zoo!), but we lucked out and found parking right in front. Quickly did that, at least we stacked the cavies so we only had to pull one other carrier out to get them.
From there we raced over to the airport to grab our shipment that was coming in from Ottawa (4 Mini Rex). So we got there at 5:45 (rabbits were supposed to be in at 5:30, but we were a bit late). Anyway, they tell us they've been delayed, and wouldn't be in until at least 6:30 if not later. So Kim comes out and tell me this (I've been walking Luke around the parking lot, as he is bored out of his mind already). So we take the dog for a long walk all around the airport, past all the travellers, etc. That takes us until 6:20. We get back to the truck and jump in, and wait and wait. By 6:35 we see the fellow drive the cargo truck over to an aircraft. So we think great, will wait another 5 and go in. So we go inside, and wait, and wait. Finally just after 7 the guy is finally back, and we can leave!
As we are leaving the airport we remember that the 6 chicks we have with us (forgot to mention those), the lady was meeting us at Stan's at 7, and we are a good hour away. Shoot! He number was restricted on my cell phone, so I call Stan, talk to his daughter and explain my dilemma. That way when someone shows up at their place, they aren't wondering what the heck is going on. So we thought since it was after 7, we'd just run through a drive thru somewhere and grab something quick. Well another phone call from Stan 10 mins later, and he says the lady is going to meet you at the 17 mile pub up the road. So rather than stopping, and having her wait longer we just kept going. We had to meet Wendy first in Langford to take Stan money and get a rabbit from her for someone else who is picking up Sat at our farm.
So we finally meet Wendy at 8 pm, and keep heading towards Sooke. But, we have a burnt out head light (low beam) on one side, and the road is black with no lights on the side (or reflectors). Kim knows the roads, but not that great in the dark. So we had to go slower. Finally get to the 17 mile pub,meet the lady who bought the 6 chicks. This was about 8:30 or so.
Finally we could head to Stans, unload and get dinner somewhere. As we are heading down the dark road to Stan's with just 1 headlight, Kim has a brainwave. We have fog lights. So she fiddled around with her lights, and figured out fog lights (was really foggy there, and this gave us 2 working lights). Finally we could see what was on the right side of the road. Lol.
By 9 pm, we were pulling into Stan's driveway. Start unloading the rabbits, and give him all the paperwork and instructions.
We left S&K's at 9:30 to head back to Duncan. Still haven't had dinner, so stop in Mill Bay (as there is nothing open between Sooke and the TC Hwy). So we get to Mill Bay just after 10, grab something for us and the dog, and run to the farm to unload the few rabbits, and put the ducks in their house.
By 11 pm we were walking into the door of our house... Whew! Sure look a lot of hrs just to take some rabbits down!!
So, that's that story. The rabbits are all off, they were leaving on the 10 a ferry and hope to by in San Diego by tomorrow afternoon. Hopefully they have an easy trip down.
Today we have a shipment of 1 rabbit to send to Terrace.
I was going to post litter updates, but that'll have to be another blog! This one is becoming a novel...
Thursday, October 08, 2009
An update
I've been a bit disappointed this year. We haven't been able to attend any US shows. In fact our last US show was 2 years ago this month!!! So besides for the few shows here on the Island we've had very few comments on our rabbits. We really need to go to a show and see how we are doing. I know with the rabbits we've sold they have gone on and done amazing things but we've sold most of our show stock the past year. Next year we need to keep show stock more LOL!
So I am a bit disappointed because sometimes I feel barn blind with just us looking at the rabbits. The last person to look at the rabbits was Cliff Dick and Jan Coffelt and that was in August. We had excellent comments in all 4 breeds(now 5) overall and are heading in the right direction but my 2010 goal is definitely more shows. I know Cristina and I are both disappointed with so few shows the past couple of years we used to be quite high in the sweep stake points(for Mini lops) and we have dropped a lot from the amount of shows we have been too.
We've discussed what we need to work on in each breed. The mini lops we have worked on the longest so we have come the furthest in them. We want to continue working on balance but also better depth. We actually bought 3 animals to improve our herd. One is Velotta's Hydro a nice broken black junior buck, the other 2 are Kitsemble's Gus and Kitsemble's Sidney. I wasn't actually going to buy Gus but both Sidney and Gus bred together produced some super deep and typey kids for Silent Spring's Rabbitry so I decided.... they cross well why not!
The Red Satins I have seen a huge improvement in overall type already. But, I do want to work on temperament. My really nice buck we bred is showing signs of aggressiveness-- something I will not put up with! So we will work with him. I have a re breed right now of 10 babies that are super sweet(as was he) so I think it is just a "I'm a buck and I know it kind of stage) but some really nice babies in this litter as well! I'm actually finding the Satins the does have better temperaments then the bucks all of the sudden? Maybe it is just the weather? The bucks are wanting girls? Who knows. Anyone interested I do have 2 juniors, a Senior buck and a Senior doe for sale.
The French lops are hard to tell with only a couple of litters underway. I did keep 2 nice junior bucks from the one litter though. Emerald is due on Saturday. Punch is hopefully bred, and I've bred Squirrely as well. I can't really say with them what I'm needing to work on until I get some more litters! Sarah from Rainstar rabbitry worked very hard on the type in her herd and I am so grateful to get a great start again them. So I am really pleased with what I have and look forward to working with them.
The Dwarfs we have a lot we want to work on. These last litters we thought for sure Matt's babies would be nicer then the Sonshine buck(Keno) but we like Keno's babies better. We have 3 nice herd bucks to work with now. I think probably what we want to work on the most in the next 6 months with the dwarfs is short bodies and fuller ears.
The Mini rex have a lot of good points but we have a lot of different lines that I don't know how they will all tie in. First generations might not be great, and 2nd generation line breeding should be better. Although, I know as a whole(breed) they seem to cross well most lines. And Mini rex have the best temperaments! I just love their cuddly personalities : )
So, end of 2009 and 2010 we have our work cut out for us, but I've never backed down from a challenge so I won't start now!! I also spent a lot of the summer thinking about raising/showing Ducks and Chickens(Or Waterfowl and Poultry I should say) but that took away from a lot of breeding and showing with the rabbits. So I've decided to just keep what I have with the ducks/chickens and if I get something nice maybe show it but otherwise just keep them for eggs/selling ducklings/chicks and go from there!
Today is Cristina's 23rd birthday. We took the dogs for a good run and play, and then we gave all 4 dogs a bath(boy did they stink!!). We've had a problem with dog food- we've been Feeding Go Natural! Chicken/Fruit/Vegetable and suddenly our dogs got violentally sick with major diarrhea. We didn't realize at first it was the food but other people were saying the same thing. The food smelled like cat food! Anyway I switched them off that, and their canned Tripe and they are doing fine. They are now on Acana Large Breed and a little Science Diet canned food. So far all is well and they are now finally doing fine. I was really worried. First it was our old lab and then it was the Golden Retriever, and then it was my German Shepherd. The Shih Tzu had the opposite problem and was getting constipated so I knew something was wrong. I am hoping Acana will be a better food. I was pretty disappointed as well that Pet Curean did not seem interested in helping myself or the other 6-8 others with the same problem- basically all from the same batch of feed and only chicken based product of theirs. "Supposedly" it is an isolated issue, or a water issue. It if it "IS" an issue. But, everyone having this problem were on different waters(City, North Cowichan, Wells etc)
Anyway, hopefully now on a better dog food!
So I am a bit disappointed because sometimes I feel barn blind with just us looking at the rabbits. The last person to look at the rabbits was Cliff Dick and Jan Coffelt and that was in August. We had excellent comments in all 4 breeds(now 5) overall and are heading in the right direction but my 2010 goal is definitely more shows. I know Cristina and I are both disappointed with so few shows the past couple of years we used to be quite high in the sweep stake points(for Mini lops) and we have dropped a lot from the amount of shows we have been too.
We've discussed what we need to work on in each breed. The mini lops we have worked on the longest so we have come the furthest in them. We want to continue working on balance but also better depth. We actually bought 3 animals to improve our herd. One is Velotta's Hydro a nice broken black junior buck, the other 2 are Kitsemble's Gus and Kitsemble's Sidney. I wasn't actually going to buy Gus but both Sidney and Gus bred together produced some super deep and typey kids for Silent Spring's Rabbitry so I decided.... they cross well why not!
The Red Satins I have seen a huge improvement in overall type already. But, I do want to work on temperament. My really nice buck we bred is showing signs of aggressiveness-- something I will not put up with! So we will work with him. I have a re breed right now of 10 babies that are super sweet(as was he) so I think it is just a "I'm a buck and I know it kind of stage) but some really nice babies in this litter as well! I'm actually finding the Satins the does have better temperaments then the bucks all of the sudden? Maybe it is just the weather? The bucks are wanting girls? Who knows. Anyone interested I do have 2 juniors, a Senior buck and a Senior doe for sale.
The French lops are hard to tell with only a couple of litters underway. I did keep 2 nice junior bucks from the one litter though. Emerald is due on Saturday. Punch is hopefully bred, and I've bred Squirrely as well. I can't really say with them what I'm needing to work on until I get some more litters! Sarah from Rainstar rabbitry worked very hard on the type in her herd and I am so grateful to get a great start again them. So I am really pleased with what I have and look forward to working with them.
The Dwarfs we have a lot we want to work on. These last litters we thought for sure Matt's babies would be nicer then the Sonshine buck(Keno) but we like Keno's babies better. We have 3 nice herd bucks to work with now. I think probably what we want to work on the most in the next 6 months with the dwarfs is short bodies and fuller ears.
The Mini rex have a lot of good points but we have a lot of different lines that I don't know how they will all tie in. First generations might not be great, and 2nd generation line breeding should be better. Although, I know as a whole(breed) they seem to cross well most lines. And Mini rex have the best temperaments! I just love their cuddly personalities : )
So, end of 2009 and 2010 we have our work cut out for us, but I've never backed down from a challenge so I won't start now!! I also spent a lot of the summer thinking about raising/showing Ducks and Chickens(Or Waterfowl and Poultry I should say) but that took away from a lot of breeding and showing with the rabbits. So I've decided to just keep what I have with the ducks/chickens and if I get something nice maybe show it but otherwise just keep them for eggs/selling ducklings/chicks and go from there!
Today is Cristina's 23rd birthday. We took the dogs for a good run and play, and then we gave all 4 dogs a bath(boy did they stink!!). We've had a problem with dog food- we've been Feeding Go Natural! Chicken/Fruit/Vegetable and suddenly our dogs got violentally sick with major diarrhea. We didn't realize at first it was the food but other people were saying the same thing. The food smelled like cat food! Anyway I switched them off that, and their canned Tripe and they are doing fine. They are now on Acana Large Breed and a little Science Diet canned food. So far all is well and they are now finally doing fine. I was really worried. First it was our old lab and then it was the Golden Retriever, and then it was my German Shepherd. The Shih Tzu had the opposite problem and was getting constipated so I knew something was wrong. I am hoping Acana will be a better food. I was pretty disappointed as well that Pet Curean did not seem interested in helping myself or the other 6-8 others with the same problem- basically all from the same batch of feed and only chicken based product of theirs. "Supposedly" it is an isolated issue, or a water issue. It if it "IS" an issue. But, everyone having this problem were on different waters(City, North Cowichan, Wells etc)
Anyway, hopefully now on a better dog food!
Friday, October 02, 2009
Shipment of rabbits in from Ottawa!
So, I had an e-mail sent to me from a friend telling me of a breeder in Ottawa selling out of Mini rex. I know, I'm insane now we have 5 breeds of rabbits. But, the way I see it, you only live once and if I'm able to do this, why not? I will and do keep my high standards in every single breed so I plan to do just as well in all the other breeds as our main breed- ML's. Anyway so I contacted the guy selling and the animals are all from Cresthill Rabbitry, with 2 animals from New York. These 9 new Mini rex are mine/Cristina's but Mayhanna the little girl that helps us has her own pair, plus read further for more info!
So after a lot of organizing-- they arrived today just before 6pm. We got them unloaded and put into their cages. Some really nice rabbits in the bunch! We had to clip a bunch of nails as they were really long but the rabbits look good and healthy and hopefully they eat and drink well tonight.
We sold a rabbit and a guinea pig today/tonight. We have someone coming tomorrow for a rabbit and actually 2 rabbits tomorrow so that will be good.
Very pleased with the new rabbits, really great type. Just need to go on some diets.
We've gone a bit crazy buying new stock this month. We purchased these 9 Mini rex, and a trio of Mini rex from KT's Rabbitry for Mayhanna : ) Plus 2 Mini lops- Kitsemble's Gus and Kitsemble's Sara and Velotta's Hydro to work on a few things in our ML program but still stay within the same lines. We also purchased the new Chestnut dwarf buck, that is all the buying we will be doing for quite a long time!
Otherwise that is all that is new!
So after a lot of organizing-- they arrived today just before 6pm. We got them unloaded and put into their cages. Some really nice rabbits in the bunch! We had to clip a bunch of nails as they were really long but the rabbits look good and healthy and hopefully they eat and drink well tonight.
We sold a rabbit and a guinea pig today/tonight. We have someone coming tomorrow for a rabbit and actually 2 rabbits tomorrow so that will be good.
Very pleased with the new rabbits, really great type. Just need to go on some diets.
We've gone a bit crazy buying new stock this month. We purchased these 9 Mini rex, and a trio of Mini rex from KT's Rabbitry for Mayhanna : ) Plus 2 Mini lops- Kitsemble's Gus and Kitsemble's Sara and Velotta's Hydro to work on a few things in our ML program but still stay within the same lines. We also purchased the new Chestnut dwarf buck, that is all the buying we will be doing for quite a long time!
Otherwise that is all that is new!
Thursday, October 01, 2009
Rabbits in general
Our blogs have been few and far between, at least compared to a year ago when we used to write one daily. I'm not sure what happened, but I just haven't been inspired to write much lately. Life is hectic, for one thing, but I just haven't come up with anything intelligent to write about. Maybe one day...
For now, here is an update. This is the best I can do for now! lol.
We have several youngsters popping out of the boxes. Some really cute ones too. 2nd Time Around X Montana have 2 ADORABLE babies. Seriously, these 2 have Holland heads and those short round ears. Now mini lop babies are usually cute, but these are extra cute (so maybe I'm a little bias, but even one of the guys who hangs around the farm agreed with me that they are adorable, and he doesn't usually think the rabbits are cute!) They are also both does, I believe, if my memory serves me correctly.
Hope has her 10 red satins, they are super cute too. Looking forward to typing them in another few weeks for first cut.
Rosalind has her 3, typed them for the first time yesterday, and am impressed thus far, but we'll give it a few more weeks and decide who we will hold back.
Sara has 3 still too, looking cute also; and All Summer Long has a very cute litter of 6. All Gold Tipped Steels too - awesome color. I know, I'm boring, but love the Steel color!!! Hoping for some nice typey babies out of that cross (All Summer Long X Ethan). ASL is a full sister to a nice G'Tp doe (Jersey Girl) who is in WA, and has done well in the shows. Ethan is a Sara son X Zeke. Zeke has produced some of our best stock, including the 2009 BOV winner Youth at Nationals... So here's hoping! Although 5 of the 6 are bucks, oh well.. You can show them longer!
For the dwarfs, we have 12 cute babies. Some we like more than others, but so far looks like we have some promising ones. Will know more in a few weeks. We are growing Emma X Keno son out. Nice cheeks on that buck (he's 8 weeks this weekend), and short body type. He can be a pain to pose though, so working on that. Also would like to see a rounder ear, but giving him the benefit of the doubt as he is right smack in that ugly stage, and will be for probably another few months. I remember what the dwarfs were like!
So those are our VIRBA show junior hopefuls.
Our next batch of litters are due this weekend. Bridget X Hunter; Cali X Zander (not sure if she lost her litter though, she decided to go off feed last week, so have been dealing with her being stubborn. She's back eating pretty good now, but not sure if she lost the litter. At least she is doing OK); Jessica X Kayden; and GB1 X Ethan...
Those will also be VIRBA juniors, a month younger than the above, but will see what comes out of those breedings.
Have 1 more dwarf due, Deja beginning of next week. Milky Way is due next Friday too..
We have added some new pictures to the website, but they didn't come out as clear as I would have liked. The CF card we were using was corrupted, so we lost half our pictures from the last picture day. That was a pain! So all those pictures were corrupted, and couldn't be opened / altered. Also, we should have move more out of the sun, so some have a glare in the pics...
Will need to retake some pictures one day, annoying, we actually had some really good ones of Naomi's kids!
Finally bred a few French Lops, Emerald was bred to Rugby a few weeks ago; Squirrely to the Rainstar buck (can't remember his name right now). Need to breed Punch still. I think those are all our senior does? Five Alive is a 6/8 now, I believe.. I think she is just 6 months or around there. Had her out today, wow, she is going to be huge like her mom Squirrely! Had a friend at the barn looking at the rabbits, and she is probably 10lbs. So good size for her age...
Oh, had a Satin litter born last Sunday. She had 2 (Tana)... Believe they are both does too!
We shipped 7 rabbits out today to Ontario. Glad to have those cages! Now end of the month have some more going, but some coming in too. Lol...
A couple non-rabbit updates. We now have 2 horses. Our own personal horse (our first!) is a 14.2 paint mare- will get pics this weekend! We just got her last night. She is 8 and a super sweet girl! Her name is Susie(we think she looks more like an April though). And the other horse at the farm is our uncles friend and his name is Avatar. He is a 3/4 Arab, and 1/4 Standard bred. We also got 111 layer chickens(well our uncle did).
Anyway, that's the update for tonight. Need to figure out Convention entries next week!!
For now, here is an update. This is the best I can do for now! lol.
We have several youngsters popping out of the boxes. Some really cute ones too. 2nd Time Around X Montana have 2 ADORABLE babies. Seriously, these 2 have Holland heads and those short round ears. Now mini lop babies are usually cute, but these are extra cute (so maybe I'm a little bias, but even one of the guys who hangs around the farm agreed with me that they are adorable, and he doesn't usually think the rabbits are cute!) They are also both does, I believe, if my memory serves me correctly.
Hope has her 10 red satins, they are super cute too. Looking forward to typing them in another few weeks for first cut.
Rosalind has her 3, typed them for the first time yesterday, and am impressed thus far, but we'll give it a few more weeks and decide who we will hold back.
Sara has 3 still too, looking cute also; and All Summer Long has a very cute litter of 6. All Gold Tipped Steels too - awesome color. I know, I'm boring, but love the Steel color!!! Hoping for some nice typey babies out of that cross (All Summer Long X Ethan). ASL is a full sister to a nice G'Tp doe (Jersey Girl) who is in WA, and has done well in the shows. Ethan is a Sara son X Zeke. Zeke has produced some of our best stock, including the 2009 BOV winner Youth at Nationals... So here's hoping! Although 5 of the 6 are bucks, oh well.. You can show them longer!
For the dwarfs, we have 12 cute babies. Some we like more than others, but so far looks like we have some promising ones. Will know more in a few weeks. We are growing Emma X Keno son out. Nice cheeks on that buck (he's 8 weeks this weekend), and short body type. He can be a pain to pose though, so working on that. Also would like to see a rounder ear, but giving him the benefit of the doubt as he is right smack in that ugly stage, and will be for probably another few months. I remember what the dwarfs were like!
So those are our VIRBA show junior hopefuls.
Our next batch of litters are due this weekend. Bridget X Hunter; Cali X Zander (not sure if she lost her litter though, she decided to go off feed last week, so have been dealing with her being stubborn. She's back eating pretty good now, but not sure if she lost the litter. At least she is doing OK); Jessica X Kayden; and GB1 X Ethan...
Those will also be VIRBA juniors, a month younger than the above, but will see what comes out of those breedings.
Have 1 more dwarf due, Deja beginning of next week. Milky Way is due next Friday too..
We have added some new pictures to the website, but they didn't come out as clear as I would have liked. The CF card we were using was corrupted, so we lost half our pictures from the last picture day. That was a pain! So all those pictures were corrupted, and couldn't be opened / altered. Also, we should have move more out of the sun, so some have a glare in the pics...
Will need to retake some pictures one day, annoying, we actually had some really good ones of Naomi's kids!
Finally bred a few French Lops, Emerald was bred to Rugby a few weeks ago; Squirrely to the Rainstar buck (can't remember his name right now). Need to breed Punch still. I think those are all our senior does? Five Alive is a 6/8 now, I believe.. I think she is just 6 months or around there. Had her out today, wow, she is going to be huge like her mom Squirrely! Had a friend at the barn looking at the rabbits, and she is probably 10lbs. So good size for her age...
Oh, had a Satin litter born last Sunday. She had 2 (Tana)... Believe they are both does too!
We shipped 7 rabbits out today to Ontario. Glad to have those cages! Now end of the month have some more going, but some coming in too. Lol...
A couple non-rabbit updates. We now have 2 horses. Our own personal horse (our first!) is a 14.2 paint mare- will get pics this weekend! We just got her last night. She is 8 and a super sweet girl! Her name is Susie(we think she looks more like an April though). And the other horse at the farm is our uncles friend and his name is Avatar. He is a 3/4 Arab, and 1/4 Standard bred. We also got 111 layer chickens(well our uncle did).
Anyway, that's the update for tonight. Need to figure out Convention entries next week!!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Luxton and life
So Luxton Fair was a great success. I took all my "other" breeds of chickens and some ducks and put them on display. I managed to sell every single chicken I took except for 2 that I thought I was going to keep(not a breed I want to breed/show) and now have someone coming to pick up those 2 girls on Saturday!
Which just leaves me with my silkies, which is the breed I want to raise : ) Then of course all my ducks in many breeds- Cayugas, Pekins, White calls, Silver Appleyard, Buff Orpington and I think that is it. Oh and I have a Khaki Campbell as well ;)
We also sold 3 nice Mini lops to Tara Grunwald in Sooke, and a French lop Jr doe. We also sold a Cavy as a show/breeding boar when he is ready to go. And hopefully have some more sold when they are ready to go!
I am trying to cut back on some cavies as I only have 4 big cages "designated" for cavies and I am into rabbit holes( X many!) so I need to cut back. I am considering parting with Just Hoppin's Charles who has a Best in Show win at a very small local show. Beautiful boar in breeding coat. Has produced terrific kids that I am keeping otherwise he would NOT be for sale. I also have a Kelly Gilmore boar and sow to part with(nice pigs!) and others! Many babies! I would like to get down to about 6 adults so I can keep some babies... I want to keep my Black boar, Roan sow, a Red/White sow, a TSW sow and Boar and 1-2 of my current babies... So the others are all available. :- )
I also non-rabbit related have a couple of young(baby) Silkie roosters, and some Black Cochin and Barred Rock chicks for sale.
We are planning a couple of quiet days. Tomorrow we are going to ship a rabbit to Terrace, and possibly pick up a rabbit cage in Nanaimo that someone is selling if not already sold. Try to get the chicken run completely finished and work in the barns!
I want to get some does bred tomorrow too. Babies are beginning to bounce around the cages- looking super cute!
Which just leaves me with my silkies, which is the breed I want to raise : ) Then of course all my ducks in many breeds- Cayugas, Pekins, White calls, Silver Appleyard, Buff Orpington and I think that is it. Oh and I have a Khaki Campbell as well ;)
We also sold 3 nice Mini lops to Tara Grunwald in Sooke, and a French lop Jr doe. We also sold a Cavy as a show/breeding boar when he is ready to go. And hopefully have some more sold when they are ready to go!
I am trying to cut back on some cavies as I only have 4 big cages "designated" for cavies and I am into rabbit holes( X many!) so I need to cut back. I am considering parting with Just Hoppin's Charles who has a Best in Show win at a very small local show. Beautiful boar in breeding coat. Has produced terrific kids that I am keeping otherwise he would NOT be for sale. I also have a Kelly Gilmore boar and sow to part with(nice pigs!) and others! Many babies! I would like to get down to about 6 adults so I can keep some babies... I want to keep my Black boar, Roan sow, a Red/White sow, a TSW sow and Boar and 1-2 of my current babies... So the others are all available. :- )
I also non-rabbit related have a couple of young(baby) Silkie roosters, and some Black Cochin and Barred Rock chicks for sale.
We are planning a couple of quiet days. Tomorrow we are going to ship a rabbit to Terrace, and possibly pick up a rabbit cage in Nanaimo that someone is selling if not already sold. Try to get the chicken run completely finished and work in the barns!
I want to get some does bred tomorrow too. Babies are beginning to bounce around the cages- looking super cute!
Friday, September 18, 2009
Ohio Shipment sent out, and others!
So it took a day longer, thanks to the Victoria cargo office, but going out of Nanaimo went with no hitches to get 9 rabbits off to Ohio (supposed to be 10, but will send the other one to Convention, she just didn't fit in shipment).
Cage space wise, that REALLY helped!
Also sent 4 Mini's down to WA (thanks Jan for transporting for us!!!), and we are doing a shipment of 1 Mini to Terrace tomorrow morning (7 am flight in Victoria.. not my idea of a fun Saturday morning! Oh well can use the cage.)
Now we just have to try to get through a few more weeks, with a few other people's rabbits. We have been looking after 2 Dwarfs, that are to go with a few ML's to another breeders place, and as of tomorrow will have 4 hollands we are housing until we can get that shipment off (along with 3 French lops).
Our nest boxes are getting full, have 5 ML litters right now, smaller litters though so not too high of numbers. New litter born yesterday by "2nd Time Around" a broken chestnut doe who is a sister to Ada and Ava. She was returned from a 4H home, as they found her scratchy. So I worked with her for a few weeks, and she really just wanted to be a mom! She is actually a super sweet doe, wanting head scratches. So she had a litter of 4 (3 alive) yesterday by Montana. Perfect timing, as we were just loading to send Montana to Ohio, so glad to have this litter by him!
I believe our last count of ML babies, including the 3 born yesterday is 19 I believe.
Dwarf litters are doing well. We have an Opal! Out of Mae and Keno. Something different for sure. Was expecting it to be a Blue Otter, but now that it has more fur / eyes open, we're sure it's an opal. Last count was 12 Dwarf babies. Have 1 more doe due, then nothing until Nov when we will breed a few for Dec litters (that way Selina can have cute 4 week old babies when she is here! Her request).
Still have the 10 Satin babies, Hope is raising 7, Rosalind 1, and Sara 2 of them. We have Tana due in the next while, can't remember when she is due, need to check barn calendar on that one!!
Still have some ML's due, with not breeding since May (last litters in June), we had a WHOLE slew of does that needed to be bred. Ones that had the last 6 months off. We have bucks that are 1 yr old that have only just now been used for their first litters, and does that are 1 yr old who have had 1 litter, and sat idle since then... So, we had to breed some of them!!
I think the next most important one(s) to breed are Alexis, and maybe Anne Marie, and Dream on Boys (as Mayhanna really wants her rabbit to have babies, and I forgot to breed her to Porter before he left... Whoops! I think she wants her bred to a REW though, so Kayden can get a girlfriend probably!!)
Those are all the updates for today, have a gazillion jobs to do with Luxton Fair this weekend.
Cage space wise, that REALLY helped!
Also sent 4 Mini's down to WA (thanks Jan for transporting for us!!!), and we are doing a shipment of 1 Mini to Terrace tomorrow morning (7 am flight in Victoria.. not my idea of a fun Saturday morning! Oh well can use the cage.)
Now we just have to try to get through a few more weeks, with a few other people's rabbits. We have been looking after 2 Dwarfs, that are to go with a few ML's to another breeders place, and as of tomorrow will have 4 hollands we are housing until we can get that shipment off (along with 3 French lops).
Our nest boxes are getting full, have 5 ML litters right now, smaller litters though so not too high of numbers. New litter born yesterday by "2nd Time Around" a broken chestnut doe who is a sister to Ada and Ava. She was returned from a 4H home, as they found her scratchy. So I worked with her for a few weeks, and she really just wanted to be a mom! She is actually a super sweet doe, wanting head scratches. So she had a litter of 4 (3 alive) yesterday by Montana. Perfect timing, as we were just loading to send Montana to Ohio, so glad to have this litter by him!
I believe our last count of ML babies, including the 3 born yesterday is 19 I believe.
Dwarf litters are doing well. We have an Opal! Out of Mae and Keno. Something different for sure. Was expecting it to be a Blue Otter, but now that it has more fur / eyes open, we're sure it's an opal. Last count was 12 Dwarf babies. Have 1 more doe due, then nothing until Nov when we will breed a few for Dec litters (that way Selina can have cute 4 week old babies when she is here! Her request).
Still have the 10 Satin babies, Hope is raising 7, Rosalind 1, and Sara 2 of them. We have Tana due in the next while, can't remember when she is due, need to check barn calendar on that one!!
Still have some ML's due, with not breeding since May (last litters in June), we had a WHOLE slew of does that needed to be bred. Ones that had the last 6 months off. We have bucks that are 1 yr old that have only just now been used for their first litters, and does that are 1 yr old who have had 1 litter, and sat idle since then... So, we had to breed some of them!!
I think the next most important one(s) to breed are Alexis, and maybe Anne Marie, and Dream on Boys (as Mayhanna really wants her rabbit to have babies, and I forgot to breed her to Porter before he left... Whoops! I think she wants her bred to a REW though, so Kayden can get a girlfriend probably!!)
Those are all the updates for today, have a gazillion jobs to do with Luxton Fair this weekend.
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