It's the holidays, people want rabbits for Christmas, but people either are eager to sell for Christmas or pretty cautious.
A lot of people want to buy a present for their girlfriend/boyfriend or kid, and well, why not a cute bunny? This time of the year you see lots of those photos, of why a bunny isn't a present, and such. I've seen a few myself and have some opinions on this, that I'd like to share. I find there is a lot of misinformation out there, and I like to put out the truth (in my opinion) for my buyers and readers..so, here's my thoughts: I haven't posted on my blog in a long time, I apologize! I've just been busy recently, and have a YouTube channel now that I'm focusing on: https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCEy0o_Uzz6aUmoHK0E1FF8Q Young SeniorsPOB's Little Bear - Buck, Just turned 6 months NGF Technicolor x Lori's TMan I like Bear, but I am not sure if I will be keeping him in my herd based on the fact I need to improve hindquarter and that's his main weak spot (could be fuller). I do like his body, his limbs, though he has a bit of weak ankles. I like his ear shape and lengthm I like his head curvature but wish it was a bit smaller. He does have 1 leg now, he's a possible chocolate carrier too. Not sure if I should keep him or not! What are ya'lls thoughts? Bergstrom's Orange "Fiora" - Doe, Just turned 6 months Bilick's Ginger x CR&DB Coalminer - Blackberry Fiora is a doe I bought to use in producing agoutis, dilutes and harlequins. She carries self and dilute, so I can make lots of fun colors when bred to a dilute carrying buck, like opal and cream, as well as blue and blue tort! I do like this doe, she's a BUD but is nice in person. I've never seen a Holland with such THICK bone, wow. She has a really nice body, and great width as well as good crown depth. Don't like her h/e/c or HQ too much, but the rest of her is awesome. Cannot wait to get some babies out of her! JuniorsPOB's Razzle - Doe, 12 Weeks POB's Saphira x Nick's Fonzie (9 legs) I am in love with Razzle. Pictures don't do this cutie justice. She has a beautiful tpoline, a beautiful head (wide and big). Outstanding width, good ear shape and size, good crown depth. Would fault her on a slipped crown and slightly pinched HQS. She's a tad long in limbs, they look better in person. I cannot wait to see this girl grow, she also has the best personality, so possibly a potential replacement for her mother. POB's Light 'em Up - Buck, 12 Weeks NGF Technicolor x Lori's TMan So, Light used to be a doe. But "she" is actually a buck! And he's amazing. I love this buck, he has thick bone, a chubby head coming in, a wide chest, good ear shape and a good body. Would like to see shorter limbs and better crown placement. Can't wait to see how he develops, he's looking amazing, especially for a CHOCOLATE TORT! He is also super friendly, though he has "matured" rather quickly so now is in a cage by himself, haha. POB's Patronus - Buck, 8.5 Weeks BTB's Effie x Ridge Hop's Thumper This is one of the 3 harlequin babies, the only one I really ever liked. This buck is super cute, love his body (way better in person), his width, his head, his ear shape and length and his bone. He has his faults (slipped crown, undercut HQ) but he's super nice for a harli. This guy has been sold, he's gonna be a pet and I honestly don't regret it, I can make more like him and he's going to a good home, that's all that matters in the end. He's gonna be a christmas present for a girl who lost her bunny she had for years recently <3 Pre JuniorsPOB's ____ - Buck, 6 Weeks POB's Saphira x PGR's Tisroc A cute buck from Saphira's most recent litter. This guy isn't named yet, I will be waiting to see if he turns out nice, if he does (and is a keeper) he has a special name I've been saving in store for him :D He didn't want to sit for pictures, and front pictures didn't turn out well. But love this guys ear shape and length, so perfect. Love his body, his bone, his head. He has pretty good width too. Certainly a baby with potential. POB's Miss Independent - Doe, 6 Weeks POB's Saphira x PGR's Tisroc Just gonna start by saying... I LOVE THIS DOE! I think this is the nicest pre junior I have ever had. She's been special since day 1, I had a feeling about her. Love her body and topline, she's a super natural poser too. Love her amazing width, her head, her limbs. Her ears should drop later. I can really only fault her on a bit of weak ankles. Miss Independent will certainly be staying. Love love this doe, can't wait to watch her grow up. So, that's all the nice juniors! The other black in Saphira's litter and the other two Harlequin does are not futured because they are all pets, pretty sure the black is and the harlequins are. One or both of the harlequins have been sold and pending pickup, and the black has not yet been listed, will be in the next week or so probably. Which rabbit shown in this post is your favorite? I think we know who mine is..Miss Independent :D Thanks for reading!
I'm insane, nuts, out of my mind, crazy, bonkers - but I like it that way. This time, I brought home.....
In March I did the "5 Breeds" thing, and on the breeds I never wanted/planned to have was "any type of Angora". I recant that statement.
This is the 2nd Angora I've had after I said that, guess life wanted to show me how awesome Angoras are! I may or may not have told you guys already, but we've got litters coming up soon!
Keep reading for details! :D So, we got a new addition to the rabbitry a few weeks ago, I finally got pictures of him...
As promised, the much awaited introduction! So, Gloria's babies are 3 weeks old now. WHAT. WWWHHAAATTTT. But good news is, this means they are little fluffballs of cuteness that torture their mom and run around and do cute baby bunny things :P Also, I can usually tell the genders with pretty good accuracy at around 3 weeks old! So, lets get on with the gender reveal of the 7 babies :D POB's FizzCharlie PreJunior Buck Charlie Black Tort(?) HE'S FREAKING ADORABLE IS HE NOT Now that that's out of the way, I LOVE this little buck, oh my gosh he's just so CUTE. I've always liked him because he's the lightest marked, and has that high rufus making his color brighter, which I LOVE. POB's MagicBroken PreJunior Doe (I think) Broken Black Tort Magic is so spunky, she just wants to run around and play, sitting still is probably her least thing LOL. POB's SabrinaSolid PreJunior Doe Black Tort Sabrina is a cutie, she also was very hard to photograph :P POB's KrackelBroken PreJunior Buck Broken Black Tort Krackel is so freaking adorable! Why are the bucks always the cutest? POB's KatSolid PreJunior Doe Black Tort Honestly, I'm not sure how I'll tell Sabrina and Kat apart... POB's CorkiSolid PreJunior Buck Black Tort Love this chunky little guy XD POB's MysteryBroken PreJunior ??? Broken Black Tort I have no idea if this one is a buck or doe, but it's still cute :P Well, there's all the baby bunnies!
Hope you enjoyed these cute pictures and getting to "meet" them. I'm pretty certain on the genders and I don't think any of the names will change (unless genders change). Thanks for reading!!! Thoughts or Questions? I'd love to hear them! Comment below :D breed hard, cull harder I have been swamped with kits, I'm thankful for it, indeed; but tough choices will have to be made sooner then I'd like with 18 juniors coming up!!
I will only have 2 or 3 open cages, so will not be able to grow out them all as long as I'd like :( That being said, when thinking about the tough choices ahead of the very few juniors I will actually be able to grow out and still have room to breed in the fall, I remember my motto; "breed hard, cull harder". These may be tough choices but I'm actually kind of glad I have to make them. I run a small rabbitry, I don't have the room to keep sub-par stock, like really, I don't. This lets me work with the best animals possible, which lets me better my herd more. There's nothing wrong with keeping parts animals, don't get me wrong, but I'm kind of glad I don't have that space. I have to keep the nicest animals. I can't be like "oh well Y has a nice h/e/c and bone so Y can stay as a parts animal, I can fix up the width, body and HQ when paired to the right rabbit! And I'll also keep X, the showy animal too." Nope, I can't do that. I have to be like "Well, I think X has one of the best h/e/c out of what I can pick, and I really like X's body and width over Y even though they both need some work on the HQ. X will stay, Y will go" See, the small rabbitry enables me to keep ONLY the best and not the sub-par stock, because it has 3 good parts that could be helpful to someone's herd, but not mine, when there is a better animal with the same good parts and then some. There's no perfect animal though, but we breed to the standard of perfection. Anyways, sorry for the rambling on there. I'll likely not be keeping bucks..well, Phoenix and Bear have stolen my heart, and Bear is blue tort, so obviously he'll be staying if he's nice. Phoenix will need to beat my other solid bucks to stay, I'm thinking he'll probably end up going as brood but I'm still growing him out past 8 weeks unless glaring faults start to pop up. I would like to keep does, I think I'm pretty well off on the bucks in my herd, Fonzie rules, and then between TMan, Chunk (Born For This) and Duke, I do believe we've got things covered. I do know for sure that the sallanders will all be sold, at this time I cannot assess quality clear enough to sell as brood/show, but if your interested in one as a pet feel free to contact me now! They will be grown out (if not sold as pet first) long enough to assess quality to sell. If anyone is wondering what a Sallander is, it's a self non-extension chinchilla. That means Effie or TMan carries chinchilla! Both of them will now be staying for sure ;) Somethin' Bad (now renamed Blaze) is now my sister's pet, he was not able to sit up indicating structural issues and a low headmount, these things can normally be seen early! She really loved him so I let her have him. I'll be keeping an eye on the remainders, Fire N Gold (broken tort doe), Centuries (broken black doe), Phoenix (black tort buck), Little Bear (blue tort buck). The solid black buck (Colby) will likely be sold as pet due to structural issues. The other broken black was looking like a fader, but I'm away visiting family (my grandma is taking care of bunnies but some came with me!) so haven't been able to see him/her recently. Gloria's litter consists of 3 solid black torts, 1 black tort charlie and the other 3 are either black tort brokens or charlies, I'm not sure which one they'll be considered yet. I'm wondering how these babies will turn out, and I'm just super glad Gloria had a litter and is being a good momma. I'm trying to improve hindquarter and ear shape/crown placement in my herd, this is why I can't wait to rebreed Fonzie to Saphira and Saphira to Chunk, Fonzie x Saphira produced Chunk, who has beautiful ear shape and decent placement, like his mother, so I think mother to son will have good results! Those are my main goals, but I'm always trying to improve all areas slowly. I would like to work on bone a bit too, but not as much as HQ and ear/crown. Those are things I'll take into consideration when choosing juniors too. Pinched HQs will likely be petted out, limbs longer then my liking will likely be petted out or brood, depending on the rest of the rabbit. Narrow heads in bucks and folded/super long ears will be faults likely to be cut also. Also non-posers are an instant pet, and false dwarf bucks are normally petted out too. Anyways, just some thoughts and the update on all the babies/juniors :) Also, I plan to breed Narcissa and Saphira this fall, as soon as I get the space, who knows when that'll be! How do you guys evaluate juniors? What do you cut for at first cut? What do you want to see? Thanks for sticking with me throughout all this rambling! June is here, and with it is the 90*f weather.
Rabbits can get heatstroke at just 80*f, so it's important to keep an eye on them and help keep them cool! Rabbits ears are the best indicator of how hot/cold it is, just feel their ears. So with that, here are my tips to beat the heat! ~ 1 - Freeze water bottles and give them to bunnies on hot days 2 - Put icecubes in water dishes 3 - Freeze tiles and give them to bunnies on hot days 4 - Don't leave rabbits to play outside in direct sunlight for long periods of time, or without supervision. 5 - If possible, put a fan in your rabbitry. You can blow it at the bunnies or blow it to suck hot air out, as always, make sure cord is out of reach of all bunnies! 6 - Be attentive, check on your bunnies and make sure they aren't showing signs of heatstroke, make sure they always have fresh water available 7 - Use crocks in the warm months (or year round). Crocks are easier to drink out of, allowing the rabbit to get more water easier. I use crocks and water bottles. 8 - Try to keep your rabbit's hutch/cage in a shady place, if you let them out to exercise, try to keep the exercise pen in the shade. 9 - Semi-Frozen Veggies! Put veggies in the freezer for a little bit, but not long enough to freeze. Make sure your veggie is safe for bunnies and as always with any type of treat, give in moderation :) This is a good thing to do if you think your bunny is getting too hot. (Thanks Hollys Hollands Rabbitry for this tip!) 10 - Spritz bunnies with cool water to help cool them off ~ Hope that the tips helped you with ways to keep your bunny cool! Remember "An ounce of prevention is worth a pound of care" So guys, did you enjoy the photo slideshow? I took a lot of photos XD So lets get on to more good stuff, how Mini Convention went, placings, and all that fun stuff. Placings
Fonzie was only showed once, and he placed 8 out of 30-40 BSBs! I was really happy with that, I wanted to be in the top 15 and made it to the top 10! Congratulations To... Jacob Hawkes, his junior Holland buck took BOV in the Sunday show!!! William Flaherty, his junior Netherland Dwarf buck took best junior in the ND specialty show!!! Melinda Harshfield, her senior Holland buck took 6th out of 130-140 bucks in the national show!!! ...and any one else, congratulations on your placings! The important thing isn't winning, it was/is about having fun ;) What? Intermediate Youth Judging? Explain. At OSRBA they have youth contests (royalty, breed ID, management, judging and more!) I participated in the intermediate breed ID and intermediate youth judging. In the breed ID you go through and identify 25 animals, some rabbits and some cavies! In intermediate youth judging you judge 2 classes of rabbits and 1 class of cavies, the person who places closet to the original judge who placed them before the contest is the winner, and then 2nd, 3rd so fourth. I didn't think I would get far in the judging, or the breed ID really, because I hadn't studied much about cavies. Well, I didn't place in the top 3 of breed ID (I'm assuming because of cavies) But, SURPRISE, I placed 1st in intermediate youth judging!! I was not expecting that at all, and to think, I almost didn't enter it! Thanks to Brandy, Grace, William and Sarah for convincing me to do it :) And also, congratulations (again) to William on 3rd place intermediate youth judging! He didn't even study, and guess who wasn't gonna do it either? LOL. New Rabbits? Possibly. We all know that I'm a sucker for pretty, cool or unique rabbits...orrr just rabbits in general. And if you didn't know, now you do! I wanted to buy lots of stuff...the chocolate orange Holland buck, a Rhinelander, a Netherland, a English spot..lets not forget I was drooling over the Flemish Giants and their triple dewlaps! (LOL) I entered the raffle for a couple rabbits but didn't win either..ya'll would know by now anyways. I did come back with half a rabbit, a buck me and my friend are co-owning! Lori's TMan! Thank you Lori Borgmann for the amazing buck! For those of you who want to see him, scroll down on my rabbitry FB page! Good Times! Mini convention was so awesome! I got to hang out with William the whole time and we had fun! Then of course I got to talk to my fellow Holland breeders and friends too, and I got to meet some awesome people! (Jazlyn Meyer, Gabrielle Hibbert and probably more I can't remember!) I also got to see some people who have helped me tremendously! It was so good to see Brandy Dunn, Lori Borgmann and Melinda Harshfield again! Mini Convention 2016 was great, and I won't be forgetting it anytime soon! (partly because I embarrassed myself by tripping over EVERYTHING one day...what? Oh I didn't say anything!) Thanks to all the people who made Mini Convention possible, and thanks to all my friends who made it a show to remember! I went into it saying "Lets do this!" and I came out saying "Lets time travel to mini convention 2017!"..haha if only. I can't wait for next year! OH and next year national convention comes to my side of the country! WHOO! |
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January 2019
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