It has been very, very hot here. Yesterday it was 34 degrees Celsius. Which is like 94ish I believe Fahrenheit.
All I know is we felt like we were melting. I don't know how people handle 100 plus weather! We had the soaker hose, 4 fans(3 on stands, and one industrial) going in the barn, plus we were misting the rabbits, and soaking the air in the barn which seemed to help quite a bit. We couldn't get the barn down under 28 though. The best we found was closing everything up so only the back windows were open(5) and then of course all the ventilation on the tops of the barn, and that kept the barn cooler. Then we opened up the other windows as soon as the sun started to go down(at least not as intense!)
Tomorrow we are hoping it won't be nearly as hot so we can go through the Mini lop litters. We will have a bunch of pet babies for sale(well a few from each litter I'm sure anyway), that we would like to post for sale.
We took the dogs to the beach this morning. They were perfect until we headed back to the truck. Then they started to act up, but they did really well otherwise. We saw about 10 purple starfish.
Not much new rabbit wise. We have 7 does due next Thursday(not this coming but the following). I think that is the 10th? Anyway 7 does due, and we will finalize who we are keeping from our 28 older babies this week. Then Maggie's will be old enough to type in the next week or two!
Monday, June 30, 2008
Sunday, June 29, 2008
Transport available to Monroe
For anyone interested in the 2 Jerseys left(well 4 left) I do have transport to Monroe for $10 a rabbit.
The 2 young jrs can go in the same hole for only $10 transport total.
Tonka GC- $75
Mara- REG/1 leg- Smoke pearl - $40
Nice sable point buck, longer ear but it is shortening up as he is getting older. Very sweet, very cute! Super clean color! $25 w/pedigree
Blue tort buck- pet quality $15
We also have a few mini lop bucks to sell.. we weren't planning on it but we are running out of cage space!
The 2 young jrs can go in the same hole for only $10 transport total.
Tonka GC- $75
Mara- REG/1 leg- Smoke pearl - $40
Nice sable point buck, longer ear but it is shortening up as he is getting older. Very sweet, very cute! Super clean color! $25 w/pedigree
Blue tort buck- pet quality $15
We also have a few mini lop bucks to sell.. we weren't planning on it but we are running out of cage space!
Friday, June 27, 2008
Posey's Incognito wins Best of Breed
Incognito is a black buck we sent to Jentle's Rabbitry. He was supposed to go to Saskatchewan but the person decided to just get 4 since she was having to have them transported instead of flying them in. But she got mom!
Anyway, Incognito was the pick of litter, and a really promising black buck(Jersey wooly). He has been winning all over Ontario and I believe the US as well. He took Best of Breed this weekend! And is only 4 months old!
Jen is taking him to Convention, and we can not wait to hear how he does!
BTW- anyone interested in Jerseys- 4 left! Grand Champion RH's Tonka, Leapin' Mara(smoke pearl 1 GC leg/REG),
And 2 adorable pet bucks that would make terrific pets for families. Especially the one buck, he is SO gentle and calm. He was the one we packed around as a tiny baby as he was the only surviving baby out of Foxy Lady's last litter(ever), and he is a sweetheart!
Everything is going well with litters, and babies in the Mini lops. The last Dwarf hotots here are:
The trio going to Wally- Sprite, Isis and Stairway
2 does that are still available
1 pet buck that is pending, they should be coming on Sunday to pick up.
And one doe that is also pending(with a deposit) to a new show and possible breeding home in Victoria!
Then Cowboy, Panache, the tort jr buck, Chantilly Lace and her baby buck, and the tort doe go live with Patti and family in 150 mile house on July 12th.
After that it will just be Tonka, Mara, and the 2 pet bucks. I am hoping to have homes for those 4 before then too, as we are only working on the Mini lops now.
I think we've worked all the different breeds well out of our system now for a few years! Although there are a bunch of breeders that have 5-6 breeds around here. I have no idea how they manage that one. I found with 3 breeds one of the breeds always got short changed for figuring out the breeding and showing etc(you always had more selection in one breed to show then the other because you didn't have enough cage space to keep too many of each breed!
We still have the 2 stackers of Andrea's available, and 2-4 hole carriers. Plus the 2 dwarf hotot jr does. We will take the 3 Dwarf hotots to Wally sometime in July the next time we are up that way.
The rest of the animals are all fine. We've been doing some major training with the dogs, and are seeing a somewhat difference with Luke.
He went to the farm with us last night to see if the tires for the truck were at the farm yet, and also a pet person came to look at the dwarf hotot buck. He barked at them as they got out of their vehicle ( Golden Retriever just not your normal happy go lucky one sigh!), anyway he barked but I told them he was friendly and just an idiot(lol). They tried to pet him but he would scoot his tail behind his bum and take off. Then he would approach them and if they ignored him he would get closer. The minute they tried to get close to him he was off running.
He was like that at 3 months old. The day we brought him home from the breeders(litter of 9, and he was the only one like that) but the breeder recommended him to us(probably figured we would be the only ones that could handle him this long lol). anyway the day he came from the breeders at 3 months old, we took him to Shar Kare where I used to work to show him off and he ran behind us and away from everyone. Despite all the socializing he gets going to the dog park, walks, in stores etc he still has never overcome this fear. Maybe someone with ideas can post comments! That would be wonderful!! : )
Anyway, Incognito was the pick of litter, and a really promising black buck(Jersey wooly). He has been winning all over Ontario and I believe the US as well. He took Best of Breed this weekend! And is only 4 months old!
Jen is taking him to Convention, and we can not wait to hear how he does!
BTW- anyone interested in Jerseys- 4 left! Grand Champion RH's Tonka, Leapin' Mara(smoke pearl 1 GC leg/REG),
And 2 adorable pet bucks that would make terrific pets for families. Especially the one buck, he is SO gentle and calm. He was the one we packed around as a tiny baby as he was the only surviving baby out of Foxy Lady's last litter(ever), and he is a sweetheart!
Everything is going well with litters, and babies in the Mini lops. The last Dwarf hotots here are:
The trio going to Wally- Sprite, Isis and Stairway
2 does that are still available
1 pet buck that is pending, they should be coming on Sunday to pick up.
And one doe that is also pending(with a deposit) to a new show and possible breeding home in Victoria!
Then Cowboy, Panache, the tort jr buck, Chantilly Lace and her baby buck, and the tort doe go live with Patti and family in 150 mile house on July 12th.
After that it will just be Tonka, Mara, and the 2 pet bucks. I am hoping to have homes for those 4 before then too, as we are only working on the Mini lops now.
I think we've worked all the different breeds well out of our system now for a few years! Although there are a bunch of breeders that have 5-6 breeds around here. I have no idea how they manage that one. I found with 3 breeds one of the breeds always got short changed for figuring out the breeding and showing etc(you always had more selection in one breed to show then the other because you didn't have enough cage space to keep too many of each breed!
We still have the 2 stackers of Andrea's available, and 2-4 hole carriers. Plus the 2 dwarf hotot jr does. We will take the 3 Dwarf hotots to Wally sometime in July the next time we are up that way.
The rest of the animals are all fine. We've been doing some major training with the dogs, and are seeing a somewhat difference with Luke.
He went to the farm with us last night to see if the tires for the truck were at the farm yet, and also a pet person came to look at the dwarf hotot buck. He barked at them as they got out of their vehicle ( Golden Retriever just not your normal happy go lucky one sigh!), anyway he barked but I told them he was friendly and just an idiot(lol). They tried to pet him but he would scoot his tail behind his bum and take off. Then he would approach them and if they ignored him he would get closer. The minute they tried to get close to him he was off running.
He was like that at 3 months old. The day we brought him home from the breeders(litter of 9, and he was the only one like that) but the breeder recommended him to us(probably figured we would be the only ones that could handle him this long lol). anyway the day he came from the breeders at 3 months old, we took him to Shar Kare where I used to work to show him off and he ran behind us and away from everyone. Despite all the socializing he gets going to the dog park, walks, in stores etc he still has never overcome this fear. Maybe someone with ideas can post comments! That would be wonderful!! : )
Saturday, June 21, 2008
A tough day
We had a very, very tough day today. First, last night coming home from ladysmith we blew TWO tires on our new truck. We knew when we bought the truck that was the thing that would need to be attended to before winter. But we didn't think it would happen so soon. So that will be $1000 this week. I have a truck payment coming out on Monday and an insurance payment on Wednesday ugh..
Then Harley our gorgeous Rottweiller, and the most incredible dog, had to be put to sleep. We called the vet to the farm as Harley took a turn, and it was best to put him to sleep. We are of course devastated.
We talked to Stan and Kathy and all the people have picked up their rabbits at WA State Convention so that is good. We took 5th of 21 solid jr does, and 10th of 21 solid jr does. The competition at WA State Convention is always fierce in the Mini lops, and our juniors were only 4 and 4 1/2 months old so we were happy they did place that well. We will see how they do tomorrow, and keep striving higher. Last year we took 1st in solid jr bucks AND does, and BOSV! At least we didn't have NP's!
We still have lots of empty cages with 10 rabbits being shipped to Quebec(they loved them!) and 25 rabbits going to WA as well! We weaned all the babies from the older litters that were still together. They had been away from mom for weeks but we didn't have the cage space to wean them all seperately.
We decided to keep Smokey, he was such a nice buck/is such a nice buck, still a little senior gangly.
Anyway I am going to go relax... It was a very emotional day, and I need to go destress.
Kim
Then Harley our gorgeous Rottweiller, and the most incredible dog, had to be put to sleep. We called the vet to the farm as Harley took a turn, and it was best to put him to sleep. We are of course devastated.
We talked to Stan and Kathy and all the people have picked up their rabbits at WA State Convention so that is good. We took 5th of 21 solid jr does, and 10th of 21 solid jr does. The competition at WA State Convention is always fierce in the Mini lops, and our juniors were only 4 and 4 1/2 months old so we were happy they did place that well. We will see how they do tomorrow, and keep striving higher. Last year we took 1st in solid jr bucks AND does, and BOSV! At least we didn't have NP's!
We still have lots of empty cages with 10 rabbits being shipped to Quebec(they loved them!) and 25 rabbits going to WA as well! We weaned all the babies from the older litters that were still together. They had been away from mom for weeks but we didn't have the cage space to wean them all seperately.
We decided to keep Smokey, he was such a nice buck/is such a nice buck, still a little senior gangly.
Anyway I am going to go relax... It was a very emotional day, and I need to go destress.
Kim
Wednesday, June 18, 2008
Another thought
A few days ago I wrote a blog on the "Best and worst moments of rabbit raising". I thought of something yesterday I figured I should post.
2 years ago we went to WA State Convention with Heather(no longer raising rabbits), Andrea(in Ireland), Selina(our sister in Yellowknife) and Cristina and myself. We went in our dads Cargo van which only had 2 front windows for air, and a huge area for rabbits but the heat that weekend was killer(105 in Ellensburg WA). It was awful. Well, we got stuck in Seattle traffic for over 2 hours, no air really going through the van it was just awful. We get to the show and it was so, so hot. We kept cooling the rabbits down with misters, and drenching them with water. We didn't lose any, but we did have to put down a mini rex we purchased when we got back. :(
Anyway, Selina, (yep I'm blaming part on you sis) ;) was great the first day, loved being at the show. But by Sunday morning she was tired of a rabbit show(not really a rabbit person), tired of that much driving, tired of not getting proper food because we all ended up spending our money on buying more rabbits and forgot to save much for food. So, we tried to go to Dairy Queen after the show I think it was Saturday night. Well, we get into this really, really small dairy queen. We had purchased carriers and water bottles and had very little money left. I thought I had more in my account. Which I did. BUT! that dairy queen would only let you pull out $20 at a time from their ATM. There is a $1.50 fee on top of it because I have a canadian bank card. Well, I couldn't pull out ANY money because it wouldn't let me. They also only accepted CASH. No debit. Well, between all of us we managed to scrounge up enough for 3 blizzards but had already ordered all kinds of food.
So here we are holding up this huge line, all these people are getting mad. We are hot and tired, and did I say hot? It was awful that heat. The dust/wind was terrible too, and the floor in the show room was dirt so it go in your eyes, and your nose and in your toes, and your hair. Ugh. Anyway, so we held up this huge line, people were out the door of dairy queen. Andrea and Heather had enough for their food but we didn't, and they didn't have any extra for us. So, we went to sit down and share a blizzard between the 3 of us. The people at DQ had made all our food, and had it sitting there, and I guess felt sorry for us and brought it to us for free. We were SO greatful!
By Sunday it was so, so hot and we were tired, hot and grumpy. I remember we were all ready to go and Andrea was talking inside and Selina was yelling that she wanted to go and someone had yelled at us to move the van as they needed to get in. Anyway we all started yelling at Andrea because she was taking forever and the van was about 100 degrees the rabbits were so hot. Poor things.
Even after all that we did go last year and had a great time. We couldn't afford to go this year, but as long as it isn't predicted to be that hot next year we will go again!
2 years ago we went to WA State Convention with Heather(no longer raising rabbits), Andrea(in Ireland), Selina(our sister in Yellowknife) and Cristina and myself. We went in our dads Cargo van which only had 2 front windows for air, and a huge area for rabbits but the heat that weekend was killer(105 in Ellensburg WA). It was awful. Well, we got stuck in Seattle traffic for over 2 hours, no air really going through the van it was just awful. We get to the show and it was so, so hot. We kept cooling the rabbits down with misters, and drenching them with water. We didn't lose any, but we did have to put down a mini rex we purchased when we got back. :(
Anyway, Selina, (yep I'm blaming part on you sis) ;) was great the first day, loved being at the show. But by Sunday morning she was tired of a rabbit show(not really a rabbit person), tired of that much driving, tired of not getting proper food because we all ended up spending our money on buying more rabbits and forgot to save much for food. So, we tried to go to Dairy Queen after the show I think it was Saturday night. Well, we get into this really, really small dairy queen. We had purchased carriers and water bottles and had very little money left. I thought I had more in my account. Which I did. BUT! that dairy queen would only let you pull out $20 at a time from their ATM. There is a $1.50 fee on top of it because I have a canadian bank card. Well, I couldn't pull out ANY money because it wouldn't let me. They also only accepted CASH. No debit. Well, between all of us we managed to scrounge up enough for 3 blizzards but had already ordered all kinds of food.
So here we are holding up this huge line, all these people are getting mad. We are hot and tired, and did I say hot? It was awful that heat. The dust/wind was terrible too, and the floor in the show room was dirt so it go in your eyes, and your nose and in your toes, and your hair. Ugh. Anyway, so we held up this huge line, people were out the door of dairy queen. Andrea and Heather had enough for their food but we didn't, and they didn't have any extra for us. So, we went to sit down and share a blizzard between the 3 of us. The people at DQ had made all our food, and had it sitting there, and I guess felt sorry for us and brought it to us for free. We were SO greatful!
By Sunday it was so, so hot and we were tired, hot and grumpy. I remember we were all ready to go and Andrea was talking inside and Selina was yelling that she wanted to go and someone had yelled at us to move the van as they needed to get in. Anyway we all started yelling at Andrea because she was taking forever and the van was about 100 degrees the rabbits were so hot. Poor things.
Even after all that we did go last year and had a great time. We couldn't afford to go this year, but as long as it isn't predicted to be that hot next year we will go again!
Helping a friend - Hollands and lionheads
Lots for sale! Located in Nanoose here on Vancouver Island.
http://www.ridgewoodrabbitsandcages.com
http://www.ridgewoodrabbitsandcages.com
Saturday, June 14, 2008
Jersey woolies for sale
I'm not sure the first 10 Jerseys are sold. We haven't had a reply back from the person(in a few days), and they haven't had even a deposit paid on them yet. They would have to leave in 5 days for WA, and so I am putting them up for sale on here in case the sale falls through.
I had over $2700 invested in the Jersey woolies. With everything happening, and all the dog classes and obedience and everything plus harley and all the grooming and cage plucking Jerseys require, I just need to cut down on some kind of a workload. Don't forget, we also have 6 house cats(6 very spoiled lazy house cats) and 4 very spoiled lazy barn cats, plus the 5 dogs... : )
Anyway there are 10 animals, 13 including the other trio. I am asking $350 only for 10 animals! This is really, really, really inexpensive. There are 2 gorgeous blue bucks, a gorgeous sable point buck(and pics are available), a Siamese sable senior doe REG/1 leg, a Smoke pearl senior doe REG/1 leg, A sable point senior doe, a tort jr doe, a smoke pearl jr doe, a sable point jr buck- excellent body and coat. And a black buck included(very nice black buck). $350 only! I paid WAY more then this originally. But I would like to see someone get a good start with some nice animals, most of these are juniors because I cull hard and was keeping juniors to replace senior stock. All are out of White Oak, Leapin Laura, Schultz's, Jentles, Brian's, lines.
I have pics of all available, transport is available to WA State Convention next weekend for $50 for all.
I also have one other trio available- Smoke pearl marten GC buck, and 2 senior does both REG/1 leg, each should be able(especially the blue tort) to grand. Both does are proven.
k_c_lops@telus.net
I thought the 10 animals above were sold for the past 3-4 weeks, otherwise I would have posted before now. They still may be and the person may be super busy, but at least I've re-posted as I really need them gone! We need cage space!
I had over $2700 invested in the Jersey woolies. With everything happening, and all the dog classes and obedience and everything plus harley and all the grooming and cage plucking Jerseys require, I just need to cut down on some kind of a workload. Don't forget, we also have 6 house cats(6 very spoiled lazy house cats) and 4 very spoiled lazy barn cats, plus the 5 dogs... : )
Anyway there are 10 animals, 13 including the other trio. I am asking $350 only for 10 animals! This is really, really, really inexpensive. There are 2 gorgeous blue bucks, a gorgeous sable point buck(and pics are available), a Siamese sable senior doe REG/1 leg, a Smoke pearl senior doe REG/1 leg, A sable point senior doe, a tort jr doe, a smoke pearl jr doe, a sable point jr buck- excellent body and coat. And a black buck included(very nice black buck). $350 only! I paid WAY more then this originally. But I would like to see someone get a good start with some nice animals, most of these are juniors because I cull hard and was keeping juniors to replace senior stock. All are out of White Oak, Leapin Laura, Schultz's, Jentles, Brian's, lines.
I have pics of all available, transport is available to WA State Convention next weekend for $50 for all.
I also have one other trio available- Smoke pearl marten GC buck, and 2 senior does both REG/1 leg, each should be able(especially the blue tort) to grand. Both does are proven.
k_c_lops@telus.net
I thought the 10 animals above were sold for the past 3-4 weeks, otherwise I would have posted before now. They still may be and the person may be super busy, but at least I've re-posted as I really need them gone! We need cage space!
Thursday, June 12, 2008
My favorite and worst rabbit moments
I have a lot of favorite rabbit moments, and definitely some not so good moments as well.
One of the worst "Show" rabbit moments was, we were supposed to go the VIEX fair, and we had a really bad week, between college and I can't remember what else we were in lousy moods.
Usually if we are complaining on a Friday afternoon or Evening we totally forget on a Saturday morning and are raring to go(even that early in the morning).
Well, this one morning we woke up, and went to go to the barn to load the rabbits.
We were already over an hour late, NOT something we normally are. We are normally one of the first people at the shows! Anyway, we were late, grumpy and really thinking we should have skipped this day. Well, the truck won't start, so now, not only are we late, we have no wheels and we haven't even loaded rabbits yet.
So, we had to use our old, old farm truck with no canopy or anything. We loaded up all the rabbits into the back, and put a big piece of plywood over them, and headed on our way to the show. Very slowly I might add!!!
We get to the show, and Cristina gets a rock in her sandal. It took something like 25 mins to get the rock out, and Vern from M&S rabbitry helped her get it out(I think he thought we were nuts) but anyone that has had a rock in there sandal going into there foot knows how annoying and uncomfortable it is! We were trying to unload rabbits and we are so late judging has STARTED. NOT something Cristina and I ever do. Literally, if judging starts at 9:30 we are at the shows by 8am. If judging starts at 8 you can expect to see us there between 6:30-7. Now, for college/school if I showed up 1 min before the classes started that was good for me. Cristina was ALWAYS early :- )
Anyway we had DQ's for our hollands- light toenails on an opal, and we didn't do well at all with any of them. This had to have been in 2005. 2004 was the Best in show with Aerik, and 2006 was the last time we showed the hollands.
One of the best moments was winning my first "real" best in show with Sunny's Aerik a French lop buck in 2004. We had a best in show the year before with Sunny's can't remember her name, but Cera Young had that doe/was showing her so we could take credit for the breeding, but not the Best in show. Anyway, that was a great day.
One of my other best moments were all the trips to Enderby BC to the rabbit show. I think we went 3 years, and I loved it. The okanagan is beautiful, and they have the old drive in movie theatre. It was always so much fun, our mom would come with us and we would stay the weekend and go out for dinner, and we would go as tourists etc. Maybe one of the okanagan people reading this blog, will start a show up again- HINT HINT! Boy, those were the days, so much fun!!
Another bad rabbit moment was some of the US trips, getting lost, terrible motels, stinky rabbits, oh the fun lol!
Last year and the beginning of this year has been a great showing year(s) for us, and we are grateful for that.
Other favorite rabbit moments are all the times hanging out with our rabbit friends, and chatting rabbits, visiting our friends with rabbits and going through there herds. Something I wouldn't trade for the world!
One of the worst "Show" rabbit moments was, we were supposed to go the VIEX fair, and we had a really bad week, between college and I can't remember what else we were in lousy moods.
Usually if we are complaining on a Friday afternoon or Evening we totally forget on a Saturday morning and are raring to go(even that early in the morning).
Well, this one morning we woke up, and went to go to the barn to load the rabbits.
We were already over an hour late, NOT something we normally are. We are normally one of the first people at the shows! Anyway, we were late, grumpy and really thinking we should have skipped this day. Well, the truck won't start, so now, not only are we late, we have no wheels and we haven't even loaded rabbits yet.
So, we had to use our old, old farm truck with no canopy or anything. We loaded up all the rabbits into the back, and put a big piece of plywood over them, and headed on our way to the show. Very slowly I might add!!!
We get to the show, and Cristina gets a rock in her sandal. It took something like 25 mins to get the rock out, and Vern from M&S rabbitry helped her get it out(I think he thought we were nuts) but anyone that has had a rock in there sandal going into there foot knows how annoying and uncomfortable it is! We were trying to unload rabbits and we are so late judging has STARTED. NOT something Cristina and I ever do. Literally, if judging starts at 9:30 we are at the shows by 8am. If judging starts at 8 you can expect to see us there between 6:30-7. Now, for college/school if I showed up 1 min before the classes started that was good for me. Cristina was ALWAYS early :- )
Anyway we had DQ's for our hollands- light toenails on an opal, and we didn't do well at all with any of them. This had to have been in 2005. 2004 was the Best in show with Aerik, and 2006 was the last time we showed the hollands.
One of the best moments was winning my first "real" best in show with Sunny's Aerik a French lop buck in 2004. We had a best in show the year before with Sunny's can't remember her name, but Cera Young had that doe/was showing her so we could take credit for the breeding, but not the Best in show. Anyway, that was a great day.
One of my other best moments were all the trips to Enderby BC to the rabbit show. I think we went 3 years, and I loved it. The okanagan is beautiful, and they have the old drive in movie theatre. It was always so much fun, our mom would come with us and we would stay the weekend and go out for dinner, and we would go as tourists etc. Maybe one of the okanagan people reading this blog, will start a show up again- HINT HINT! Boy, those were the days, so much fun!!
Another bad rabbit moment was some of the US trips, getting lost, terrible motels, stinky rabbits, oh the fun lol!
Last year and the beginning of this year has been a great showing year(s) for us, and we are grateful for that.
Other favorite rabbit moments are all the times hanging out with our rabbit friends, and chatting rabbits, visiting our friends with rabbits and going through there herds. Something I wouldn't trade for the world!
Tuesday, June 10, 2008
Is this November?
I don't know about you, but I think this weather is awful! Yet, I don't really want it to be 35 degrees either.
I don't mind the heat, but my animals hate it. And with Harley having to stay quiet and live in the barn for the time being I wouldn't want the heat to come. Harley gets too hot in houses(being a big dog, lots of fur!) and the slippery floors aren't good either. And no stairs in the barn, so it just works out better all ways around.
He got a new toy yesterday, and he has his balls and the cats and rabbits and radio etc. He is quite content!
I just have one trio of Jersey woolies left. The 10 haven't been paid for yet, but I have been in contact regularly with the people getting them and they have promised to send payment. I've organized transport and will drop them off next week/Friday to the transporter!
The trio left is GC RH's Tonka, Leapin Mara- 1 leg/REG, and Leapin Hot Flashez 1 leg/REG
I am asking $150 for the trio- way less then they are worth that is for sure! I was originally asking $125 for Tonka alone. Very nice rabbits. They were unfortunetly supposed to go to Atlanta GA and then the airlines kept giving us a hard time AFTER we got health certs so these guys have also been vet checked. How often do you find that- lol!
We spent 8 hours yesterday working on books for the company we are book keeping for(our uncles), plus we had to do a whole bunch of photocopying and making up bills and all kinds of things. Plus we had to run downtown for more paper and various labels etc. It was a busy day.
Today I've been busy getting pedigrees organized. We look to have a shipment of approx 10 rabbits going to Quebec/Montreal next week, plus all the transport rabbits will leave next Friday- empty barn! I think we are down to only 2 holes maybe 3 empty now.... That will be nice! We decided to breed a few more does.. We counted how many babies in the Mini lops(only ML's) born this spring that lived(didn't count the few that were DOA and we had one baby from Addison's 11 that didn't make it past 5 weeks, and one from Sara's as well. Anyway, we had 117 born! That includes the newest 28! We decided to go ahead and breed a few more first time does before the heat comes. We can have a couple of litters to play with this summer, that way. And we will start breeding again late September.
We also rebred some does that didn't take. Neither Penny or Butterball took (at least we didn't feel anything) so we rebred both those girls. Penny we bred back to her sire Heath for a chocolate/broken chocolate and lilac litter! And Butterball we bred to Black Jack. That should be a nice cross! And Cocaine we bred to Huffle, for a rebreed of a doe named London that Jen from Rah Rabbitry had that was awesome. We also attempted to breed Godiva since she went an entire year without having a litter, and we weaned off her litter a few weeks ago. She is in prime(a little chunky) condition, so we tried to breed her to As you like it. And we tried Ocean Pearl with Imagine. We will re-try those 2 girls today, and breed Midnight as well.
All we will have left after next Thursday or Friday is the 4 rabbits to go to 100 mile house(jersey woolies) to Patti and family- Cowboy, Panache, tort buck and Chantilly Lace and baby. And the dwarf hotots, and all the mini lops. Oh, the last trio of JW's if they don't sell before...
We got an e-mail from Andrea asking us to sell the dwarf hotots for her, as she doesn't feel she is at a point to keep them. We are waiting to make sure she is absolutely certain and then we will put them, the 2 stackers, and the carriers(maybe?) up for sale. She may want to keep the carriers I'm not sure. About 12 dwarf hotots IF she is truly positive will be for sale.
We will be down to one breed again, and you know what it is the right thing to do. I like just having one breed.
I don't mind the heat, but my animals hate it. And with Harley having to stay quiet and live in the barn for the time being I wouldn't want the heat to come. Harley gets too hot in houses(being a big dog, lots of fur!) and the slippery floors aren't good either. And no stairs in the barn, so it just works out better all ways around.
He got a new toy yesterday, and he has his balls and the cats and rabbits and radio etc. He is quite content!
I just have one trio of Jersey woolies left. The 10 haven't been paid for yet, but I have been in contact regularly with the people getting them and they have promised to send payment. I've organized transport and will drop them off next week/Friday to the transporter!
The trio left is GC RH's Tonka, Leapin Mara- 1 leg/REG, and Leapin Hot Flashez 1 leg/REG
I am asking $150 for the trio- way less then they are worth that is for sure! I was originally asking $125 for Tonka alone. Very nice rabbits. They were unfortunetly supposed to go to Atlanta GA and then the airlines kept giving us a hard time AFTER we got health certs so these guys have also been vet checked. How often do you find that- lol!
We spent 8 hours yesterday working on books for the company we are book keeping for(our uncles), plus we had to do a whole bunch of photocopying and making up bills and all kinds of things. Plus we had to run downtown for more paper and various labels etc. It was a busy day.
Today I've been busy getting pedigrees organized. We look to have a shipment of approx 10 rabbits going to Quebec/Montreal next week, plus all the transport rabbits will leave next Friday- empty barn! I think we are down to only 2 holes maybe 3 empty now.... That will be nice! We decided to breed a few more does.. We counted how many babies in the Mini lops(only ML's) born this spring that lived(didn't count the few that were DOA and we had one baby from Addison's 11 that didn't make it past 5 weeks, and one from Sara's as well. Anyway, we had 117 born! That includes the newest 28! We decided to go ahead and breed a few more first time does before the heat comes. We can have a couple of litters to play with this summer, that way. And we will start breeding again late September.
We also rebred some does that didn't take. Neither Penny or Butterball took (at least we didn't feel anything) so we rebred both those girls. Penny we bred back to her sire Heath for a chocolate/broken chocolate and lilac litter! And Butterball we bred to Black Jack. That should be a nice cross! And Cocaine we bred to Huffle, for a rebreed of a doe named London that Jen from Rah Rabbitry had that was awesome. We also attempted to breed Godiva since she went an entire year without having a litter, and we weaned off her litter a few weeks ago. She is in prime(a little chunky) condition, so we tried to breed her to As you like it. And we tried Ocean Pearl with Imagine. We will re-try those 2 girls today, and breed Midnight as well.
All we will have left after next Thursday or Friday is the 4 rabbits to go to 100 mile house(jersey woolies) to Patti and family- Cowboy, Panache, tort buck and Chantilly Lace and baby. And the dwarf hotots, and all the mini lops. Oh, the last trio of JW's if they don't sell before...
We got an e-mail from Andrea asking us to sell the dwarf hotots for her, as she doesn't feel she is at a point to keep them. We are waiting to make sure she is absolutely certain and then we will put them, the 2 stackers, and the carriers(maybe?) up for sale. She may want to keep the carriers I'm not sure. About 12 dwarf hotots IF she is truly positive will be for sale.
We will be down to one breed again, and you know what it is the right thing to do. I like just having one breed.
Tuesday, June 3, 2008
Our chick Fiasco and Harley
We caught the 10:15 ferry from Duke Point to Tswasswen, and got over in Tswasswen at 12:30. We were starving, hadn't had breakfast so we ran to Tim Hortins for lunch(right near the ferry) it was super busy and no drive thru. But, we ended up eating inside and left at 1:30. (got there about 10 after 1, since we got lost trying to find it first!). So, we left and headed towards the border.
We told the customs guy we were going to the Blaine Post Office to pick up chicks, and showed him the letter with the permission from Karyn, and also the receipt showing the chicks were in fact coming(invoice). He said "chicks are being mailed to the post office"? We said, yes. They do it all the time! So, that was fine and he waved us through. We yet again got lost, as Mapquest told us we were to make a left, and we were supposed to make a right. So we got to the Post Office at 2:15. We picked up the chicks, and had no problems and jumped back into the truck and headed for the border. The chicks were in 2 boxes, with a paper/shipping strap around them holding the 2 boxes together. We didn't know if we should dig for health papers because the border can be so funny if things are opened and what not so we didn't go into the boxes at this point. We were back at the border at 2:40. So, we get to the border and tell them what we had picked up, what they were worth, and how many etc. He gives us a white slip and tells us to pull over and someone else will help us. Well, the first thing the next agent/customs guard wants is the health papers. So we dug through the box. We found the invoice right away but no health papers- it said on the box they were in there. So the customs guard searches the box (x2) himself(we cut the strap so we could get into both. He couldn't find them. So he told us to wait and he would go call the vet. He called the vet and he had the vet come out with him. The vet told us "You need health papers, I can not accept these chicks without health papers" they will surely die if they are not fed/watered in the next few hours. So the vet starts looking and finds in one hole 3 of the chicks are dead, and there is one more dead in another hole. One box seemed much healthier then the other. So the vet searched both boxes and could not find vet papers(health certificates) either.He even called a 2nd vet to confirm and we definitely needed those health papers. He also said 2 weeks before chicks were sent through the same hatchery, and the same problem occurred and over half the chicks died.
So then, we were told the chicks could NOT come into Canada, and they didn't know what we could do with them but those chicks could also not stay at the border while we sorted things out. So, we were told we had to turn around and go back into the US. So, we jumped back into the truck, and turned around to head into the US. Well, we explained our situation to the border/customs agents heading into the US. The guy looked at us, heard the chicks, listened to our story and gave us an orange sticker and told us to go inside. Well, we headed inside another building and explained the story yet again. The customs guard(a super nice lady) asked for my truck keys and went to search my truck. She said she didn't know if we would be allowed into the US but she would find out. So after about 20 mins of sitting in lockup we were allowed out of that area and were told we could go back into the US. We headed straight for the post office to see if they had the health papers. All this while we'd been talking to Karyn who of course was very upset and couldn't do much on her end.
The post office did not have the health papers, but they gave me 2 cardboard boxes so we could move all the chicks out to check under the chicks for the health papers. While I was getting the boxes Cristina(my sister) had moved chicks around and found the health papers buried under the bedding. So we raced back to the border, called Karyn and told her thinking we would have no problems. Well, this was not to be the case. We explained the story(since they get your plate and licence number every time and it goes into the computer(this was now my 4th time crossing in one day) and they again gave us a white slip and we had to go back inside. So we wait in line(this is now 3:30), we get called up to the counter and are told we are in the wrong area(a really not nice women!) and to go to the next building, go through a set of doors, don't get hit by the semi trucks going through, and go into the Agriculture building. So we head to that building, where we wait in line for another 20 mins. We are telling Karyn all this on the phone, as we are of course really wanting to get these chicks to her so there are no problems. After waiting in line we are told(by a very not friendly man) that we need a broker. Why did we not have a broker? There is nothing he can do without a broker. Cristina and I have never dealt with a broker, and I honestly don't really know what they do either. So, we call Karyn and she explained that the chicks are for 3 people including herself and to tell him that. Well, that didn't help he said "YOU NEED A BROKER"(quite like that too). So, we call Karyn back again and give her some names for Brokers. She gets on the phone. We wait another 30 mins and decided since a really nice guy told us there were brokers across the street and to go talk to them.
The first "Broker" we went into we were told "You will soon learn not to be nice to people and do favours for others" and that he didn't have time as he was leaving for the day so could not help us. To go across the street and talk to another Broker(Pacific Customs Brokers LTD). So, we were then yelled at in there that just a few weeks ago the same thing had happened and over half the chicks had died, they had 4 other people ahead of us and surely the chicks would be dead by the time we sorted this out. They also wanted to charge Karyn $125 to bring the chicks over. I explained to them that Karyn was not told she needed a broker, and Cristina and I had no idea but she said it didn't matter you need a broker. After about an hour of this(was now 6:00) she said
"Look, your only option is to go back to building one, ask for the superintendent, and tell him you don't have a broker but you have the health papers now and show him and hope he takes pity on you". So, we head back to building number one. The Superintendent turned out to be the first customs guard who we dealt with earlier in the day with the vet "Cory". He said "These health papers are very clean, these invoices are full of chicken dung, and yet the health papers are clean". He obviously thought we had them printed up or something. Also, the health papers said 220 chicks, and there were only 119- this did NOT help the situation. Finally we were waved through, he didn't believe us but wanted to get rid of us I think and we were on our way. It ended up being a 10 hour day. Also the health papers are supposed to say Zoo something and have a number on them? And no one could find this on the health papers.
Harley was doing so much better on Sunday, then yesterday our mom said(since we were gone for 10 hours) he was not doing well but we got home too late to run into the farm to check on him. We took him back to the vet today and he has a slipped disc. If things had have been in our favor which nothing has lately, the anti inflammatory and the rest and no stress with moving would have been in our favour. They haven't been and Harley's chance of survival in surgery alone is only 50%, and $3000. Things are not looking good and we need all the good thoughts and prayers we can get for this incredible dog this week.
We told the customs guy we were going to the Blaine Post Office to pick up chicks, and showed him the letter with the permission from Karyn, and also the receipt showing the chicks were in fact coming(invoice). He said "chicks are being mailed to the post office"? We said, yes. They do it all the time! So, that was fine and he waved us through. We yet again got lost, as Mapquest told us we were to make a left, and we were supposed to make a right. So we got to the Post Office at 2:15. We picked up the chicks, and had no problems and jumped back into the truck and headed for the border. The chicks were in 2 boxes, with a paper/shipping strap around them holding the 2 boxes together. We didn't know if we should dig for health papers because the border can be so funny if things are opened and what not so we didn't go into the boxes at this point. We were back at the border at 2:40. So, we get to the border and tell them what we had picked up, what they were worth, and how many etc. He gives us a white slip and tells us to pull over and someone else will help us. Well, the first thing the next agent/customs guard wants is the health papers. So we dug through the box. We found the invoice right away but no health papers- it said on the box they were in there. So the customs guard searches the box (x2) himself(we cut the strap so we could get into both. He couldn't find them. So he told us to wait and he would go call the vet. He called the vet and he had the vet come out with him. The vet told us "You need health papers, I can not accept these chicks without health papers" they will surely die if they are not fed/watered in the next few hours. So the vet starts looking and finds in one hole 3 of the chicks are dead, and there is one more dead in another hole. One box seemed much healthier then the other. So the vet searched both boxes and could not find vet papers(health certificates) either.He even called a 2nd vet to confirm and we definitely needed those health papers. He also said 2 weeks before chicks were sent through the same hatchery, and the same problem occurred and over half the chicks died.
So then, we were told the chicks could NOT come into Canada, and they didn't know what we could do with them but those chicks could also not stay at the border while we sorted things out. So, we were told we had to turn around and go back into the US. So, we jumped back into the truck, and turned around to head into the US. Well, we explained our situation to the border/customs agents heading into the US. The guy looked at us, heard the chicks, listened to our story and gave us an orange sticker and told us to go inside. Well, we headed inside another building and explained the story yet again. The customs guard(a super nice lady) asked for my truck keys and went to search my truck. She said she didn't know if we would be allowed into the US but she would find out. So after about 20 mins of sitting in lockup we were allowed out of that area and were told we could go back into the US. We headed straight for the post office to see if they had the health papers. All this while we'd been talking to Karyn who of course was very upset and couldn't do much on her end.
The post office did not have the health papers, but they gave me 2 cardboard boxes so we could move all the chicks out to check under the chicks for the health papers. While I was getting the boxes Cristina(my sister) had moved chicks around and found the health papers buried under the bedding. So we raced back to the border, called Karyn and told her thinking we would have no problems. Well, this was not to be the case. We explained the story(since they get your plate and licence number every time and it goes into the computer(this was now my 4th time crossing in one day) and they again gave us a white slip and we had to go back inside. So we wait in line(this is now 3:30), we get called up to the counter and are told we are in the wrong area(a really not nice women!) and to go to the next building, go through a set of doors, don't get hit by the semi trucks going through, and go into the Agriculture building. So we head to that building, where we wait in line for another 20 mins. We are telling Karyn all this on the phone, as we are of course really wanting to get these chicks to her so there are no problems. After waiting in line we are told(by a very not friendly man) that we need a broker. Why did we not have a broker? There is nothing he can do without a broker. Cristina and I have never dealt with a broker, and I honestly don't really know what they do either. So, we call Karyn and she explained that the chicks are for 3 people including herself and to tell him that. Well, that didn't help he said "YOU NEED A BROKER"(quite like that too). So, we call Karyn back again and give her some names for Brokers. She gets on the phone. We wait another 30 mins and decided since a really nice guy told us there were brokers across the street and to go talk to them.
The first "Broker" we went into we were told "You will soon learn not to be nice to people and do favours for others" and that he didn't have time as he was leaving for the day so could not help us. To go across the street and talk to another Broker(Pacific Customs Brokers LTD). So, we were then yelled at in there that just a few weeks ago the same thing had happened and over half the chicks had died, they had 4 other people ahead of us and surely the chicks would be dead by the time we sorted this out. They also wanted to charge Karyn $125 to bring the chicks over. I explained to them that Karyn was not told she needed a broker, and Cristina and I had no idea but she said it didn't matter you need a broker. After about an hour of this(was now 6:00) she said
"Look, your only option is to go back to building one, ask for the superintendent, and tell him you don't have a broker but you have the health papers now and show him and hope he takes pity on you". So, we head back to building number one. The Superintendent turned out to be the first customs guard who we dealt with earlier in the day with the vet "Cory". He said "These health papers are very clean, these invoices are full of chicken dung, and yet the health papers are clean". He obviously thought we had them printed up or something. Also, the health papers said 220 chicks, and there were only 119- this did NOT help the situation. Finally we were waved through, he didn't believe us but wanted to get rid of us I think and we were on our way. It ended up being a 10 hour day. Also the health papers are supposed to say Zoo something and have a number on them? And no one could find this on the health papers.
Harley was doing so much better on Sunday, then yesterday our mom said(since we were gone for 10 hours) he was not doing well but we got home too late to run into the farm to check on him. We took him back to the vet today and he has a slipped disc. If things had have been in our favor which nothing has lately, the anti inflammatory and the rest and no stress with moving would have been in our favour. They haven't been and Harley's chance of survival in surgery alone is only 50%, and $3000. Things are not looking good and we need all the good thoughts and prayers we can get for this incredible dog this week.
Sunday, June 1, 2008
All Jerseys pending
The 10 Jerseys are all pending. We just have one doe left, she has a litter of 1
(blue point) I think a buck out of M an M's Battle Royale a broken blue. The baby is just a few days old, so couldn't go with mom to WA etc.
$40 for both!
We have the 4 hole stacker, solid bottoms(metal pans) but designed for cavies work just fine for rabbits too. 24 by 24, 5 feet high. $80
3 hole carrier- $30 small rabbit size, ex condition
4 hole carrier- $40- individual lids, ex condition as well. Small rabbit size(bought for mini rex originally)
6 wooden nestboxes, and 2 metal nestboxes available as well.
(blue point) I think a buck out of M an M's Battle Royale a broken blue. The baby is just a few days old, so couldn't go with mom to WA etc.
$40 for both!
We have the 4 hole stacker, solid bottoms(metal pans) but designed for cavies work just fine for rabbits too. 24 by 24, 5 feet high. $80
3 hole carrier- $30 small rabbit size, ex condition
4 hole carrier- $40- individual lids, ex condition as well. Small rabbit size(bought for mini rex originally)
6 wooden nestboxes, and 2 metal nestboxes available as well.
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