A little of this, and a little of that!

Today was a bit of a crazy day. Around here, Friday's usually are!


We left the house just after 8:00 this morning to take our Grandma to her activity for the day. Then we saw our Uncle and talked to him for a few minutes, and had Harley the Rotti(farm dog) with us. Took Grandma, ran around downtown, went back to the farm. We forgot the key to check the boat in Cow Bay so will have to do that tomorrow. We checked out Pressure Washers at Canadian Tire, and saw a couple we liked but wanted to get the okay from our dad first(he was on his way from up Island). So we priced those and headed to the barn.

Then we were trying to figure out what we should do.. (Barn was clean and we just groomed and cut a bunch of nails a few days ago) didn't have the camera for pictures and had worn the dog out already by walking him downtown in amongst everything else we did today)

So we decided since we want to start "spring" cleaning we would take every feeder off the cages and clean them (thankfully they are all the EZ plastic feeders so they are so easy to clean, take off, and put back on! Anyway, we got the ENTIRE barn done this morning(bleached, soaped, re bleached, rinsed, dryed and put back on!).

Then we did a couple of bills for our Uncle, headed back home to pick our dad up to take him to Canadian Tire. We bought a new power washer. It is pretty nice-- 1600 PSI, has the attachment for cleaner, various attachments for how hard/soft you want the water etc etc. So we finally have our own Pressure Washer for in the barn. We tried it out on the car first and it worked great : - )

And then the afternoon was basically spent running around, picking up our grandma, washing the car, chores etc.

This weekend is pretty quiet. Next weekend is crazy- we have a few people coming to look at rabbits on Saturday. Then on Sunday the entire south 4-H club is visiting our barn to see all the rabbits and to learn various things(Coccidosis treatment, deworming etc etc). We also have to go to Sooke at some point either Sunday or Monday to pick up my new trio of Champagnes from the US, and some rabbits for a friend as well drop off a couple pre-sold rabbits.

We've already sold quite a few Jersey woolies and most of the mini lops that were for sale are sold with a large waiting list for spring litters. Don't expect many steels or dilutes available this spring(show animals anyway), the waiting list is very full on those. Chestnuts are always available- nice typed animals too it is just our least favorite color!

Anyway still quite a few JW's for sale.

Jerseys for sale

So I decided which Jerseys to part with. I'm a tough culler, and these guys I have full or half siblings, kids, or aunts/uncles/cousins etc.

Does are bred, and if they kindle there will be a $25 charge for bucks pedigree(you keep the litter). Or no charge and I get 1 baby back from the litter.

I have over 20 babies in the boxes now with more litters coming.. So I can move these guys on safely.

Leapin Snookums- Blue tort senior buck- $140- incredible producer! But I have kids, half siblings and lots of relatives from him. He is Heza Smooth Cowboy dad who is the replacement for Snookums and mom Mona Lisa.

Leapin Rock N Roll- Tort Senior buck I have a chocolate sable point doe, a sable point doe, and 3 new torts out of him that some will be replacing him. So I felt I can move him on too. $120

Leapin' Hot Flashez- Blue tort senior doe Full sibling to Munchkin, and I am keeping Munchkin. Really nice doe, bred yesterday February 26 to Snookums. $85

MG's Decoy- pointed white senior doe- Kiss's Corey X Selena's Destiny- nice doe, I've rebred her just need to check to who. I believe Snookums as she wasn't taking by Hero. $50.00

Leapin' Mara- I debated on this doe and her full sister Chantilly Lace but decided to keep Lace and sell Mara. Really nice doe, still showable. Proven, very good mom. $65

Leapin Panache- daughter to Mara- I have so much from this line and I am culling hard!! $55

Leapin Ginger Rogers- brood doe for sure. $35- has a litter of 3, of which I will be keeping one or two as her replacement. Nice lines, out of Leapin Snookums X Leapin Flame N Desyre(Laura's best producer from what I've seen). Great mom! Ready in 8 weeks.

Leapin' Foxy Lady- REW- I just bred her a few days ago to Cowboy. $55

Leapin' Mona Lisa- Blue tort, awesome producer, Cowboys mom. $50

Leapin' Maggie May- Smoke pearl senior doe- Very nice producer, awesome body type. Proven, great mom. She is likely rebred to Munchkin. $70 1 leg for BOB at WA State Convention.

My pair of Chins(sniff) I love my chin Jerseys but! they are mother and son which will work to breed together once or twice(for major linebreeding) but then I am going to have to go elsewhere for another buck or doe from the same line hopefully. And with not working on martens anymore I should sell the pair. The buck is really really nice and I think he will do very well at the shows this spring. If they don't sell I'll enter at least the buck at the April 5th show. $150 for the pair

Plus the ones on the for sale page, have a couple more to add on there I believe. And I will have a bunch of babies for sale down the road(blacks, blues, torts especially).

Almost all the does I believe above are bred, so would need to be sold/shipped in the next 2 weeks. If not, they will have to kindle here and they will be for sale once babies are fully weaned.

I need to update pages on the website with my keepers etc but that will have to wait a bit! I have a bunch not pictured that need to go on :- )

I'm only keeping 3 top herd bucks but they are either proven, producing my best stock or what I want to produce. As I said I am culling and I'm culling hard and these guys are awesome rabbits but I don't need them in my program.

k_c_lops@telus.net
or tini67p@telus.net
If interested in stock.. For sale page to be updated shortly.

Trying new things

Someone asked me recently why we sold our Netherland dwarfs. Before I answered back, I thought long and hard about exactly why.

Here's what I thought about:

When you go to Walmart and see the racks of clothes you might see a few pieces that attract your eye but you want them slightly different, no buttons, more buttons. A zipper, no zipper, a different color, a different saying on the T-Shirt. Am I right? You go to American Eagle and right away that latest and greatest Sweatshirt is just staring at you, saying "Pick me", Pick me!

The Dwarfs were like that for me. There were lots of things I liked about them, but not enough to keep them around. I saw another breed that interested me more and wanted to try it out.

I didn't feel so bad lately when I talked to a breeder who has had rabbits for over 30 years and she mentioned she has bred almost all the breeds except for a few(mainly wool breeds as her allergies won't allow her to have wool breeds).

She has always had 1 breed as her main breed that I can never see her without, but other breeds have come and gone and she said she loved lots, and some didn't stay for very long.

That was my last year and a half. We had the Hollands for 5 years, with 3 years actually really working on showing them to improve the breed. The first 2 years I hate to admit were kind of a wasted time just playing around with them and working on "colors" that didn't have type. Anyway, the last 3 years we worked harder on them and then just found we didn't enjoy the breed all that much anymore.

So we bought Mini rex, tried those twice in a course of 1 1/2-2 years. (in a couple different colors) liked the breed just weren't for us.

Then, Cristina decided to try Mini lops again(she had them when we first got started in rabbits) and absolutely loves them. I like the breed too. I can't see her ever without Mini lops, they are absolutely the breed for her.

Anyway, we then had Selina our step-sister come live with us to finish one of her years of high school( I think it was grade 10 or 11 can't remember) anyway, she loved the dwarfs and got a few herself.. With my money of course(sigh!!). She had them until she left 8 months later and Cristina and I kept them for another 6 months and decided they were really not the breed for us. Then we tried the French lops, and a few Jersey woolies. Sold both(the original Jerseys we got were selfs mainly with only a couple of shades) so we sold all of those and then this fall got the Jerseys back(which I love the shades and pointeds). And picked up a few Champagnes most recently. I have to say, those Champagnes are an incredible breed of rabbit. They are super sweet, good eaters, not scratchy, clean on the cage wire, and they run up to the front of the cage for attention. I can't say that about most of those Jerseys! The buck hasn't sprayed yet at all either(Jerseys don't spray either). Can't say that about Mini lops lol! They can be pee heads :- ) (Cristina will growl at me now for sure ; )

So yes, that is what I think about trying new things. You don't go to the same restaurant every day of the week and order the exact same thing, do you? I know if I go to Subway more then a few times a month I won't order the same thing. If I only go once in a while I do, but if I go more then 3-4 times in a month I order something different. Or if you order the same thing day in and day out, you would order a different kind of drink wouldn't you? I don't know, maybe it is just me but for some things I like change and trying these new breeds has been a ton of fun! I think now, though, I've found the breeds for me :- )

08 plans

Well first, I should say that I am very happy we got the Champagne D' Argent cages hung today. 4 cages(3 24 by 30, and 1 30 by 30) repaired(more j-clips). So we hung those, and put the pans on top(they will be exactly the same as the right side of the barn). Then we will pull down the one 2 hole where Kara/Ada are and hang it underneath as well, put a pan on top, and then we will have room for 3-4 stackers on that side instead of in the middle. We will be ordering 1-2 more cavy type stackers from Wally(or Cristina will) for growing out Mini lop juniors. We only sold hanging cages, and one stacker that wouldn't work for us anyway. So we aren't "backtracking" or kicking ourselves for selling anything. What we had didn't work with what we wanted. : )

I was reading Jody's blog on her plans for 08(she has way more then us!). But, I would love to paint the barn this summer. I just don't think any of us can afford it but it would be nice!

The barn is really coming where we want it so I cant say we have a lot of plans that way. We will be buying a few more industrial fans for the heat this summer, and then of course 1-2 more stackers for that side of the barn when we are ready(not until later this spring). Otherwise though the barn is basically where we want it. We want to get a bunch of power washing done soon, and regular disinfecting of feeders. Since everyone is being treated for Coccidosis since it is almost spring and we brought in a few new animals we will be disinfecting next weekend(not this coming weekend the following).

Basically we are pretty caught up on barn work now. We got rid of the last few cages from the lower shed today so everything is completely gone. We also have cleaned everything from under the barn and got rid of all that stuff we didn't need! We've gone through carriers and the various "junk holes" in the barn and got rid of everything we didn't need!

Every carrier has a EZ crock for water, and food and we have 2 big bins of cleaned dishes and feeders sitting in the back aisle.

I would like to do some gardening around the farm this year and I think that will be one of my major things this spring. Also Obedience with Luke our Golden Retriever(he may be the death of me) anyone want a dog??!!! Maybe a Yellow Lab? We have a 11 year old :- ) Or a Shih Ztu? Maybe one of those.. The Rottie and the German Shepherd/Flat Coated Retriever mix are good dogs.. they can stay.. Those other 3!!!!!!!! :- ) They can GO!!!

In the next few weeks I will get pics of the barn to post. We have pics from last spring but it looks much different from even last spring... So I will convince Cristina to make a "rabbitry" page.

I liked Jody's idea about the pea gravel. I will price that and see what it would be for a load for the walk way at the rabbit barn, and maybe around various other areas of the barn/house(at the farm).

We sent the only bull we had off to Auction last week. The lines were getting too close so we just have the 4 cows, and 2 bull calfs from last year left. They will both be sold and then just the 4 cows. Who are likely bred to this Bull we just sent off, next year we will have to find a "stud". Or maybe wait until the following year(they are our Uncles cows). Well except Molly she is ours.

Well that is all my babbling for today.. I was happy to get the Champagne cages hung today. I had one new litter of Jerseys. Still waiting on one more! One blue baby born between Hero and Jetta. She has 1 peanut as well, and 2 DOA.

Kim :- )

Missed breedings

We had a great winter with breedings. While quite a few people were struggling for litters we were able to keep breeding and had about a 50-65% success rate. Well... Out of my 5 jerseys 4 are coming through. Maggie did not take again(I think she is a little too well fed and I need to put her on a bunny exercise program) she feels great though. Anyway, Panache and Jetta we are waiting on today. Mona Lisa is due next Saturday- she isn't due now, no way. She would have taken on the 2nd breeding date which is this coming Saturday the 31st so that is fine : )

We had 3 of the 4 Mini lop does miss though although most were by Show me the money who seems to be a very low sperm count buck(okay this is my blog and not mini lop blog so I'm just going to write it ) he seems to be a pitiful breeder!! We went through every single mini lop in the barn yesterday and I will let Cristina talk about that. We are have so few rabbits right now it is insane. We are culling really really hard, which is good but also means we have no rabbits left lol! Well about 32 mini lops and selling a few more bucks.... Again I will let Cristina talk about that- she does have as many babies in the boxes as she has seniors/older juniors.

We are going to hang up 4 of the Champagne cages today, and get barn things done- maybe a few more pictures? It is supposed to be the last nicest day of the week as it is supposed to pour rain until who knows when. So I think working outside sounds great today :- ) Who needs to do work anyway?! lol

Barn cleaning was yesterday so that was good

I am thinking about keeping some of the blue jersey babies because Hero is so nice that if one looks like him(I hope) I will keep something... I know how excited Jen is about getting him otherwise I may have held off and waited until I could do some linebreeding. I just don't want to work on selfs, otherwise he would have stayed. I will breed him to a few shades before he goes and hope he produces some gorgeous babies!

I will post on Jetta and Panache tonight with what they had!

New litter

If you read Cristina's blog it basically sums up our day. We did a little bit of this, and a little bit of that. We really didn't want to do a lot today as last week and weekend was just nuts, and well, we needed a day off to relax!

I did have a new litter today. Leapin' Ginger Rogers (blue tort) had 3 babies. I need to run out to the truck to grab the piece of paper that tells me who they are by. I am thinking Munchkin but it could be Rock N Roll. Or I could be totally wrong but I'm pretty sure it was one of those 2 boys : )

I am still working on getting Hot Flashez and Mara bred. Mara I tried breeding to Cowboy today but no suck luck, same with Hot Flashez and Rock N Roll- no such luck. Oh well, we will keep trying!

Upcoming litters

I have some Jersey litters due this weekend that I am looking forward too, and next week as well.

Mona Lisa X Snookums is expecting a litter either the 24th(tomorrow, Sunday) or next weekend the 31st(I rebred her a week later as she wasn't really interested on the 24/25 and so I retried the following weekend and she was interested. But, just in case she has a box now regardless and has been packing for the past few days. This is a rebreed to Heza Smooth Cowboy :- )

Jetta is bred I'm just trying to remember to who? I have it all written down, lol

Maggie X Tonka
Panache X ?? have it written down need to check

And I have more bred due later in the month. I will get them all producing yet! Babies are doing fine. I need to check some does to see if they are bred, otherwise need to get them bred. Hot Flashez and Mara being two I need to check and rebreed if they are not pregnant. Mara's last litter was early summer last year(ack) and Hot Flashez I don't know if she has ever had a litter. (I couldn't breed when I first got them because they all needed to be in quarantine for a month of course(since we bought the whole herd in October) then they all were dewormed, treated for coccidosis as a preventative. Then I started breeding just in December/January. Which of course has been frozen weather, well into the -'s (except the past couple of weeks!) so everyone has been either reluctant to breed, or frozen popsicle babies. Although I do have 14 babies in the boxes now.

Anyway nothing else new around here. Super busy week, have had a very relaxing morning so far! Need to go get some work done soon though.

Where do I even start?

So last Wednesday our farm dog, Harley went missing. We searched over 6.5 hours for him and found not one trace. So we called the SPCA right away and the animal shelter, they had no information. We kept searching until we gave up to do chores etc. Then of course we had all the show preparations to do(dishes in carriers, finding the good grooming table, cleaning out the van when it got here, etc etc. So Thursday and Friday were a mix of hanging posters, calling various places, knocking on peoples doors, and show prepartions some more.

Saturday and Sunday was the show in Victoria- VIRBA. It was an awesome show, we all I think had a great time. Show results for the woolies:

Under Manuel Hidalgo on Saturday- Leapin Fantasy was BOB Shaded Senior doe, and Jentle's Hero was BOS Self Senior buck! Then Sunday under John Grimm we had BOB with Jentle's Hero, BOSG with Leapin' Fantasy, and BOG with RH's Tonka. Cristina did awesome with her mini lops, but if she hasn't already blogged/bragged I'm sure she will : -)

So anyway we get through the weekend, all went well. The waiting list is getting very full which is great especially in the Mini lops-- and Jerseys as well-- and get this!! The best news of all almost all the inquiries are for very good bucks!! We can do bucks. We always get lots of good bucks. I think Cristina has 5 jr bucks right now, and they kept bouncing back and fourth all weekend on who was nicer. Some of those bucks are going to be just gorgeous! Anyway, so we got through the weekend sold ALL the supplies we had to take, sold some rabbits etc.

Monday and Tuesday go by, and today we are at the barn cleaning, and trying to start cleaning carriers and we get a phone call on the cell phone. Someone has spotted Harley on the railway tracks(this is a 150lb Rottweiller that is super friendly). So we roar over to this persons house to see if we can find him(she saw him on Sunday). We walked the tracks and called and called and called. No Harley. So we asked the machine shop(that we hadn't asked) and they said a few days ago they thought they saw a dog but didn't pay attention. So we called some more and No Harley. We head back to the farm to do more chores, and called on Hall Rd as well. While doing chores we get a phone call from the animal shelter that someone has seen a rottie or a doberman in their field and it was either hurt or lost or old. So we go roaring over there to meet up with the spca constable and sure enough it was Harley! Very happy to see us as we were with him and very happy to go home and go to sleep and get some food!

Now onto rabbit type things. Litters are doing well. I am not going to work on self or tan pattern Jerseys. Only shaded and pointed so I have the rest listed for sale. I also have some babies in the boxes- 2-3 are spoken for at the moment in the black litter(6 blacks 5 bucks, and 1 doe(spoken for) out of GC Jentle's Hero gorgeous blue buck X B-Mac's Canadian Mist. Jentle's Tikki X GC Jentle's Hero have a litter of 3 - blue buck, blue doe, and a blue silver marten buck. And my final litter Chantilly Lace has a litter of 1- smoke pearl doe! I think out of Munchkin but I'd have to double check. In the next year all my stock I have in the barn besides the 3 from Ashley, Cowboy, Fantasy and my pair of chins will be up for sale as I replace them with kids/grandkids etc. Quite a few already are spoken for as they come up for sale.

Other then that, that is about it! I am so so greatful to have Harley home.

Getting lots accomplished

I'm pleased with how much we've gotten organized so far. We got our grooming table sign ready to go. We dug out our red rabbitry sign, and our white board. We cleaned the nestboxes for Amanda and Sarah(they'd been under the barn so had dirt on the bottom etc)

I got feeders on EVERY cage in the barn- finished those last few stackers. Actually that isn't true, I have ONE cage to finish but didn't worry about it (bottom stacker 4th cage down) because I have to buy a new door for that cage anyway so I never use it(the door got bent when we moved stackers) oops!

We cleaned our grooming table(the top) it had pieces of hay on it, and we finished the last bin of dishes!! 5 bins total we cleaned from various parts of the back of the barn. We got them cleaned, bleached and dried, and back into bins. We are taking 3 bins of things to sell at the show!!

I am now up to 14 JW babies!! The 4 older babies are doing well- chocolate sable point doe, sable point doe, chinchilla buck and a ? color doe.
Litter of 6 blacks, a dilute sable point in another litter, and a litter of 3 born yesterday- likely smoke pearl or sable marten or blue. A lot of these will be replacements this spring for the parents... Oh, other news. I am going to sell my agouti AND self programs. The selfs aren't my favorite, nor are the agoutis...

The pair of agoutis are ready now. I am keeping a really nice chin buck from the opal buck as his replacement. The chin will work in my smoke pearl marten project as well.

So Just Hoppin's Apollo and MBR's Chestnut senior doe are for sale. $100 for the pair. The chestnut doe is from Brian's and Ayer's lines in Ohio- and is originally from Valerie and Michelle Uptagrafft.

Leapin' Black Prince is available- Black senior buck $60

For now I am going to keep GC Jentle's Hero and get his really nice type into my other programs as much as I can through linebreed(pending color wise) and eventually he will be for sale.. Which is why I'm keeping Mikhala as well.

After litters:
MG's Jetta- Black Senior doe $40
Leapin' Mikhala- Black senior doe $50
Leapin Ginger Rogers- Blue tort senior doe $40
B-Mac's Canadian Mist- available after her litter of 5 is weaned $40
Jentle's Tikki- sable marten senior doe- hoping her litter of 3 is does as I have 2 sons already then she can move on. $50

So today we are powerwashing the 6 meat rabbit cages we need to hang, the stacker going to Amanda, and Wendy's big cage, and Kelly's 8 small cages we are giving her. Then everything will be done in that lower shed.

After that we will start tattoos.... The dreaded job!!

New pics

I got a few new pictures today(well we both did). We have to leave in 30 mins to babysit dogs(lol) so I am throwing them on the blog...

Leapin Rock N Roll- Tort buck




Leapin' Miss Sierra- that picture on the website is horrendous. I cringe everytime I look at it. She has a gorgeous body!




Leapin' Too Hot 4 U- For sale






Leapin' Butch- For sale





The litter of 4! Chin buck, sable point(chocolate??) doe, sable point doe, and frosted pearl doe






I have one more sable point in the box(the other 2 were peanuts), and 6 blacks... I will get more of those does bred yet!! Over 30 ML babies in the boxes now... sigh!! I shouldn't complain in total I have 11 babies.... ;) ranging from 3 1/2 weeks down to just a few days old.

Kim : )

Feeders on cages

This afternoon we got feeders on all the 24 by 24 stackers. Every cage in the barn besides stackers had feeders(white plastic ez feeders which we swear by!) so easy to clean, keep clean, and they look great!

Anyway, we ran out of feeders to put on but we only have 12 more to do! That will mean we have all 85 holes with the white feeders. I swear by them!

So tonight, we brought home 2 huge bins, and a garbage bag full of dishes and feeders to clean. We now have enough feeders to put on those last 12 cages : ) (our parents let it slip that we are getting feeders and Ez Crocks for Valentines day next week too : )Thank You!!!(not that they ever read this)

We got all the dishes and feeders cleaned, and have 3 bags of dishes and bottles to sell at the show next weekend, plus over 30 wide mouth lixit 8 oz bottles to sell. And 2 grooming table things that hook onto cages or carriers at the shows. If that makes sense, plus a box of metal feeders!

Cristina and I are going to do a few meat rabbits because of the demand. There is a huge demand for meat rabbits for human and pet consumption. We are definetly getting a bred Champagne doe, and are hoping to find a buck. And we are debating about a pair of lilacs, but will look at the show : )

Entries for JW sent in, barn cleaning etc

So I sent in my JW entries also entered my Mini lop senior doe.

I entered 12 JW's. Cristina entered her senior doe JW- Hot Flashez (her favorite doe in the Jersey barn) and then Honky Tonk sable marten jr buck.

Mainly shades, 8 shades, 2 selfs, and 2 martens(tans)

We did our regular weekly barn cleaning, played with Harley, went to Tim Hortins for coffee(and Harley went for a car ride).

Yesterday went well with our grandpa and then to dinner at our Aunt/Uncles. On Monday we are babysitting the dogs for them. Their young dog had to go in for surgery so she has to be on "bed rest" basically for 8 weeks. We are going to babysit for 2 1/2 hrs : ) We had a great dinner and watched some TV with them, lots of talking ;)

Tomorrow we are going with a friend and her dog to the "dog park" with Luke and Harley so the dogs can play. First we will take Star, River, Ben, and Luke to the lake to wear off a whole ton of energy. That way Luke will be half tired when he goes and plays with the other dogs so he won't be so rough(or nuts).

I still have lots to do to get ready for VIRBA but we are getting there. Next is getting all the pre-sold equipment dug out, and tattoos done. Those are the next most important.

Not much else new! Oh! wait there is. My pointed white doe Canadian Mist had 6 babies by Hero- all blacks though(sigh!) lol! Obviously she doesn't carry dilute, and first generation won't produce pointed whites(??) someone help me out on that one? Is it possible?
Anyway, 6 blacks. Chantilly Laces are doing great. I know Tikki and the other PW doe are pregnant for sure. I've rebred almost everyone else that missed...

Today

Well, did I get all that I wanted to get done today? Nope! Did I get close? Sort of!

We tried to leave early this morning but had a bunch of errands to do before hand. Then we had to take the dogs to the lake because they were driving us nuts and we had to wear some energy off them. So we didn't get to the farm until almost noon.

We did manage to get ALL the cage dividers on : ) And ordered 3 more. We also got ALL the carriers cleaned, disinfected and clean shavings put in them : ) We also put a whole bunch of dishes and feeders into rubber maid bins and brought them into the house to disinfect and get cleaned up.

So we still have a lot to do but we did a major start today and I am happy with what we got done.

We also had a new litter. Chantilly Lace X Rock N Roll had a litter of 3- 1 peanut, 2 light colored(probably sable points). Looking forward to these babies!

I culled through my litter of blacks in October. Narrowed it down to 2 does- one for myself, and one for Kelly Jersey.

Tomorrow I have more to get done then we are going to our grandpas for a visit and take his Christmas presents(lol). We went just before Christmas and he wasn't home, then were going to leave them with our aunt but he said no bring them when you get back from Calgary. Well we got back beginning of January then we had all the catching up to do, we decided to eliminate the lower barn etc. Then we had quite a few other things to do and never got to his place, then we all came down with bad colds and were down for over a week. Plus, he is in his 80's so we didn't want to give him that! So now life is a little less crazy and we are going to his place tomorrow around 4:30 and then to our Aunts for dinner at 6pm.. Saturday and Sunday are going to be barn days- regular cleaning, try to get that lower barn cleaned, get Amandas stacker ready to go.(we just need to clear a path so we can get it out lol)

The main barn is so organized now that the lower shed is packed full. : -)

Anyway I will write more. Still have 4 more JW's due this weekend...

Lots to do before VIRBA

I think tomorrow(Thursday) I am going to spend at the farm. I have so much to do.

I want to get the lower barn cleaned out (it is full of storage and bins and gods know what else!) and get that all cleaned out. Once I have the cleaned out I want to clean all the feeders and dishes that were on the hanging cages that went to Kelly.

Then clean dishes for the carriers for next weekends show. Then get the carriers disinfected and ready to go, put clean shavings etc in them.

Make sure they all have dishes ready to go. Harley will enjoy the extra company I'm sure. He is such a sweet dog. Rotties sure get a bad name for themselves, he doesn't even fit the bill. He is 140lbs easily but he is a huge lap dog(or thinks he is). He has gone to the feedstore 2 times. Today he saw a Chihuaha(sp) he looked at it as if to say (what the heck is that thing?) and proceeded to try and steal the squeaky toy the owner was buying for her dog(lol) So convinced him to steal cookies instead so instead of taking one he stuck his whole head in the cookie bin and went hog wild. : - ) He just got laughed at by everyone. He is just too nice of a dog to get mad at. Well he did get yelled at yesterday when he tried to help Cristina bring a rabbit out of a cage. That didn't go over so well- "Harley try that again and you won't come back in the barn". He looked at us as if to say "How rude". lol

Anyway back on track. I also hope to hang 4 empty cages in the main barn, and put up the 2 pans- doubt that will be done tomorrow but would be nice. As this weekend we have to figure out entries and send those in. Then we have to start tattooing and getting all our signs ready to go, and figuring out sale animals if any. I also have to get nestboxes ready to go for Amanda and Sarah, Sarah's carrier, Sherri's carrier and hollands, Sylvia's Holland, and way more other rabbits to factor in that we have to make sure we have enough carriers for!

It should be a fun show. We are both really looking forward to it. I also want to take the dogs to the lake again tomorrow(we've missed the last 2 days). It is good exercise as well-- huge hills. Star, Luke and River run up the hills. Ben usually has to catch up to us about 10 mins later. By then he is barking going where the hell did you go lol!

Well... I should get to bed... I will write a blog tomorrow of what I did or didn't get done. I tried to get all this done yesterday... All I got done was rabbits and a few small things done, animal things and helping our grandma, our mom and talking on the phone, writing back to e-mails, cleaning house and setting up the next couple of weeks work. Not what I wanted!

Do whats in the best interest of the rabbit

Thinking back to when we started all those years ago, honestly, I cringe to think of all that we did. No, it wasn't that bad but now we are so picky with our standards that we spend half our life cleaning something in that barn! (keep in mind this was 7 years ago)

When we first started we had a 10 by 10 approx shed for 21 rabbits. Now we have a 40 by 30 foot barn with 85 rabbits(with more room for way more if we did stackers on the one side instead of the 10 hanging holes.. but.... we are VERY happy with just 85 holes. We can do so much more with the rabbits now : )

I remember a few times coming back from shows with too many rabbits and having to put them in my french lop carriers for a week maybe two to make cage space. We would never do that now. Maybe we grew up, maybe we just care more, maybe it is just a mixture of both. But to me if you don't have cage space, don't buy the rabbit!

If you don't have time to care for more rabbits, don't buy more rabbits!

If you are always away or have to rely on someone else to take care of your rabbits more days a month then you are with them don't buy more rabbits!

If you are buying rabbits, and having them shipped to you or transported to you have everything ready before they come. Don't make them stay in carriers for a few days because you didn't take the time to get their home ready. THEY depend on YOU. They shouldn't have to wait.

I can understand coming home with an extra rabbit that will help your herd, although knowing the next day you will have to cull something in the barn to make room for that rabbit. 1 day in a large carrier would be fine, but not longer and definetly not in a small carrier.

I think what really changed for us(and hopefully she doesn't mind me posting this) was Jody Mitchell.

When we started going to her place and seeing all she did we really changed. It wasn't that we were neglecting the rabbits or anything of that sort. If it ever got to the point where I wasn't able to feed my rabbits every single day I would give them up. I wouldn't rely on someone else-- at least not longterm anyway(months, years etc).

When we had the small shed we didn't cull hard. So we had all these ugly rabbits that we wouldn't cull because we didn't want to cull any of our rabbits. Well, now it is just a fact of life. That definetly doesn't mean we've turned cold, however, when we cull them we know they never suffer. We know they aren't sitting in some hutch out in someones backyard with no attention, no food or water until their owner feeds them, not being let go into the wild because "its better for them" because its not.

We cleaned constantly that wasn't the problem but we didn't do the proper set up. We used canning jars for water, that were zapped in. Well a big french lop could throw those even zapped in if it wanted too. I would never do that now! Every rabbit has a water bottle and a lot have a water bottle AND crock.

We used to free feed. I measure feed now it is better for the rabbit, it keeps them in better condition. We would only treat for coccidosis 1 time a year(and didn't really know what we were doing), same with deworming. Now we are 2 times a year at least for both, sometimes 3 depending on how many shows we've been too. We would absorb information but never really do it. That all stopped 5 years ago when we moved to the big barn. I think we probably just grew up, but I'm still seeing some breeders who haven't seen that light of day and need too!

Jody is the ultimate rabbit breeder. She is the person if you had a favorite rabbit that you could no longer use in your herd, you would want her to have that rabbit because you know that rabbit would be in excellent hands. She loves her rabbits, she takes the absolute best care of her rabbits- we hope one day to do as good of a job as she does. Any help we ever need we call Jody! We've strived every single day to have a better barn, a clean sanitary barn, happy and healthy rabbits, and I think every day we get a little closer to our goal. We are very proud of our barn, it is coming together just as we like it. We have a lot to learn, but with one of the best people to learn from I think we are well on our way!

Linebreeding

Lately, every magazine we've recieved in the mail seems to have an article about linebreeding.

I'm really trying to do a bunch of linebreeding these days. It is very true that your best stock will come from the linebreeding. Once you get your core stock, don't bring anymore stock in until you are getting too close and need to bring another animal in. Even then they recommend bringing in something that is somewhat related. Maybe a distant relative.

Now if only Cristina and I could follow that rule.

Although honestly I think I am set : ) I am getting 4 really nice animals at VIRBA from Ashley(first time ever buying stock from anyone other then Laura!) so I am really looking forward to these guys. They will put my pointed white program up to speed, and they will also help add those better coats!

We are pretty bad with the Mini lops buying new stock and we need to stop doing that! We are completely set that if we need one thing, we have distant relatives that can help whatever it is we are needing! For instance, I know Cristina has 2 bucks who are super deep but both lack shoulder width. Then she has As You like it who has a gorgeous body but needs a better head, and Cornelius who is an overall very nice buck maybe needing a tad more depth. He is all about width and head. Those 4 bucks alone compliment each other so well that they will be influential in her herd.

I'm still figuring out my Jerseys. I've only had them for coming up 4 months now so I'm still working on that. However, I know linebreeding is the key and I have 11 upcoming litters of which MOST ARE linebred in someway or another.

So my tip for today, not only linebreed(best is father/daughter, mother/son in my opinion, but also cull, cull, cull. How many times have you heard me say that?! We had 70 babies born this fall, and only 16 made the cut :- ) Out of those 16 we are down to the ones we feel will help our breeding program the best. Then out of the latest litters we had 3 litters- one of 7 but unfortunetly she lost all but 2, a litter of 4, and a litter of 5. We are down out of the 11 babies we are keeping 6 babies- all very nice though I might add 2 bucks, 4 does :- )

We never keep something that won't help our herd in one way or another, we rarely keep something because "oh we don't have anything from this doe or buck yet" if it can't beat the mom or dad I'm not letting it stay in our barn!

We got a breeding from a friend back in the summer, the doe had 8 babies. Chestnut is our least favorite variety so we sold a nice doe to a girl starting out in Powell River, we culled the other 2. The other 5 were a blue doe who went to Tamashanter Rabbitry, a blue chin doe going back to the person who gave us the breeding(thanks guys!) and then a black buck we are keeping at least for now, and a steel doe we culled, and an opal doe that went to Ranui Aviary and Farm. Just because we got the breeding doesn't mean we were going to keep more then 1. It was a total outcross though so it was interesting to see how the genetics worked!

Anyway for the most part linebreeding seems to be the key to success. I will write a blog in a few months to confirm if that was true or not. I know in the Hollands it was. I know in the French lops it depended. I know in the Mini rex it definetly was.

New Jerseys etc

So I confirmed some animals coming from Ashley for sure, so now I have to make the cuts here to sell a few. I have 10 empty holes(once the hollands go)(long story), however, I don't need this many bucks!! So I need to sell a couple :- )

Here's the new animals coming from Ashley
M an' M's Bebop- A smoke pearl senior buck with 2 GC legs
" " Sophia a pointed White Jr doe
2 Jr pointed whites(hopefully) I know one for sure, but hoping both are for sale : ) One doe for sure and hoping the other is a buck!
I am still debating about a senior doe but will see! : )

So I am selling my agouti program, however, I am keeping my chin doe to work into the martens(as that is a good color cross I am told) and remember from the hollands. I will sell my Chestnut doe from Brian Hartzell and Ayer's lines after her litter, and Just Hoppin's Apollo(see bucks page) is available now.

Also, I hate to part with him but Leapin' Butch is also for sale. I have a daughter by him and one baby in the box by him as well. He is a super cute buck but is too big for show now(3.09ish). He produces nicely, very good lines, registered.

I also will be selling one more buck. I am debating about Too Hot 4 U, Honky Tonk, Jet or Black Prince.... Just after the show or at the show I should know!

I also have A black Jr buck and a Black Jr doe available out of a pointed white doe and Black Prince(pointed white is Canadian Mist N Cream).

Jersey babies are doing well. We did lose one of those small ones the other is doing great. We have a siamese smoke pearl doe, a dark sable point doe(thought blue tort it is a very blue torty sable point color lol!) and then a chinchilla buck and a frosted pearl doe. We start with more litters by next weekend : )

We got the rest of the cage doors on today- they look so good! We just have a few more cages that need new doors and then the barn is almost either all new doors or all new cages. We've replaced everything this year. We will get pictures in the next few weeks. We need to work on tattooing and entries next weekend. Entries are due on the 10th for the show the following weekend(16/17). There will be carriers AND a stacker available at the show-- everyone bring cash!! I know for a fact there will be single, double, triple and 6 hole carriers available at the show.

Well I need to go to bed. zzz!

2 new bucks coming

I have 2 new Jersey wooly bucks coming, however, I have to sell some bucks to get these 2! I have a pointed white buck coming from Ashley, a gorgeous smoke pearl buck with 2 legs, and then Sophia the pointed white doe. I may see about getting another doe or two :- ) I will attach pics/courtesy of Ashley this weekend.

I have some bucks to sell :- )

I'm on my way out for the night, but I will write a blog with what is available.. I think I will let the agoutis go before the selfs. I love my shades and my pointed whites. And I only have 41 holes so with 11 upcoming litters I have to be careful!

Just Hoppin's Apollo- Opal senior buck REG is available, see bucks page

And I had to pick between my 4 sable point bucks so I am letting Leapin Butch REG go as well. I will post more about him etc later but a nice buck with a very nice head.

A few more???

Short blog! Gotta run!