Fewer rabbits, well organized barn, rabbit life is good!

I really like having fewer rabbits.

Sure, our show string won't be as big although I still think we will probably have up to 30 animals to show for VIRBA so that is a huge entry!!

It is much more fun having fewer rabbits. I can enjoy them, I can keep up on grooming and my normal cage wire brushing.

Maybe I can even get everything organized in the lower shed this week(nothing down there just storage). Wouldn't that be nice?!

I got a whole bunch of grooming done the other day. All the cage cards were put up on cages and as I said in my blog earlier on the weekend we moved a couple of stackers. Why? Because we finally have room to move a few stackers! I love how the barn is looking. If we could just get those last 4 stackers moved from the back middle it would give us 8-9 feet in the middle of the barn!! right now we have ample room for walking on each side, and enough room to turn a wheel barrow around in each aisle so I can't complain(has been like that for a long time).

We are getting things more organized. It wasn't so much they were unorganized before it was basically that the rabbits come with WAY too much stuff so we had to better situate everything. I think I mentioned in the last blog or maybe Cristina did that we got rid of a whole bunch of small "bins" and got her one of those huge cow/horse bins that fit 5-6 bags of feed. Much better then those other bins that hold 2 bags : ) We will move all the shavings into the lower barn in the next few weeks and keep our 2 feed bins, 2 grain bins(for treat mix) in the main barn. Once we move the freezer into the barn and get it situated in the lower shed we will use that just for feed storage, extra grain storage, and whatever else we might need it for!

Now we just need all the sold rabbits to go so we have more cage space for weaning the litters we have right now in 6-7 weeks. And then the 21 litters we have coming up over the next 4 weeks : )

Again, i love having the fewer rabbits. Life is more enjoyable, and I have more time for other things.

With the mini lops out of stackers it works MUCH better too. They are all in hanging cages now. The Jerseys do well in stackers. It is just the hair that is the biggest problem.

We still have 85 holes in the main barn exactly plus 2 small cages for growing out jersey jrs or mini lop jrs just weaned.

After VIRBA we will do our spring ivermecting and coccidosis treatment. They were all done in October .

So yes, I love having fewer rabbits. It put me back in perspective of what I wanted to do with them.

With 150-160 before it was constantly trying to just keep on top of cleaning 1-2 times a week(always once but likely 2 times quite a bit) and the amount of feed for all those rabbits. We easily went through a bag and a half a day if not more(sometimes 2 or more!) that is over $20 a day to feed them-- $140 a week, $560 a month on FEED alone! that doesn't include the 2 bags of shavings we go through approx per week, plus a bag of floor shavings(the finer stuff) once a month(4 cleanings). Wow..... Also of course doesn't include the grain, hay and flax, sunflower seeds, old fashioned rolled oats, and fastrack for the young babies.

Yes, i love having fewer rabbits! And so does my pocket book!

Various color programs in my Jersey herd:

Blog for Tuesday January 29th NOT what is it showing as I already wrote a blog for todays date the 28th. See below for that one ; )

I've been figuring out my various color programs in the Jersey Herd.

Although I am going to try to keep my colors seperate so I can keep the colors clean I will be doing some crosses that are only okay color crosses. Reason being that the coats from Shultz's Secret Weapon and her daughter Fantasy are gorgeous and need to be put into the rest of the herd- they are full of texture and density and do not mat. They also have great legnth although not above 3inches(if over 3inches they will be DQ'ed). The sable points in my herd lack that nice coat so I am going to cross all of them together to get the better coats.

I'm hoping to bring stock in from Convention next October to help me with that!

Pointed Whites:
B-Mac's Canadian Mist-N-Cream- Bred
MG's Decoy- Bred
M' an M's Sophia
I need a good buck for this program! I am in contact with a breeder now trying to find a good buck : ) A siamese sable would work too but I can't find one. I only have one siamese sable in my entire herd!

Shades(Sable points, Siamese Smoke pearl, Siamese Sable(would work with pointed white), Blue tort, Tort,

Bucks:
Leapin' Butch- Sable point- REG
Leapin' Munchkin-Sable point-REG
Leapin' Rock N Roll- Tort
Leapin' Snookums- Blue tort REG
Leapin' Too Hot 4 U- Sable point
Leapin' Heza Smooth Cowboy- Sable point(blue point?)
Leapin' Ranger- Seal Jr buck- out of martens though.

Does:

Leapin' Chantilly Lace- Sable point REG- Bred
Leapin' Fantasy- Siamese Smoke pearl
Leapin' Ginger Rogers- Blue tort- Bred
Leapin' Hot Flashez- Blue tort REG- Bred
Leapin' Maggie Mae- Smoke pearl REG- Bred
Leapin' Mara- Smoke pearl REG- Bred
Leapin' Miss Sierra- Sable point
Leapin' Mona Lisa- Blue tort REG- Bred
Leapin' Panache- Smoke pearl- Bred
Schultz's Secret Weapon- Siamese Sable REG


Marten Program:
Bucks:
Leapin' Honky Tonk- Sable Marten
GC RH's Ronka- Smoke pearl Marten

Does:
Jentle's Tikki- Sable Marten- Bred

Self Program:

Bucks:
Jentle's Hero- Blue REG/GC
Leapin' Black Prince- Black- REG
Pharoh's Jet- Black- REG

Does:
Leapin' Foxy Lady- REW- probably for my shaded program though
Leapin' Mikhala- Black
MG's Jetta- Black- REG- Bred
Posey's Willow- Black
Posey's- Heidi- Black

Agouti program:

Bucks:
Just Hoppin's Apollo- Opal REG

Does:
MBR Look at this kid- Chestnut agouti- Bred
MG's Ironwood-Chinchilla- raising 5
If I continue with this program longterm I will need to bring in a couple more animals eventually.


Eventually I will likely eliminate either my self program or my agouti program as with all those programs I will run out of cage space quickly. My favorite colors are shades and pointed whites. Probably next being smoke pearl marten(not sable marten) and then I like blues better then blacks. Although I love Black Mini lops or Hollands, I don't care for them in the Jerseys. They are nice but just not my favorite. Whereas as Black Mini lop to me with that slick black coat is just gorgeous! So that is where my "color" programs are going.. I think the agouti program will go before the self, however I love my chin doe and can't see her leaving so I would put her into my other programs SOMEHOW! Maybe Ashley will have a few Jerseys for sale at VIRBA. Will see how funds and cage space are :- ) Of course, they would have to be somehow related to my lines(which she does have somewhat) and they would have to work color wise. I just got exciting news that there will be rarebreeds at VIRBA!- Beverans and Creme D'Argents and others!! Very exciting! : )

Jersey colors, busy weekend, busy week!

The 5 Jersey babies are doing well. I confirmed colors(I think) One chinchilla and one Frosted Pearl for sure. 2 Blue torts, and one siamese smoke pearl. 4 does, and one buck!

We had a very busy weekend with Tammi and Jody coming by the farm. Tammi got all her Mini lops(elaborated in Cristinas blog) and Jody dropped off a rabbit for Tammi, we saw her beautiful new Silver Marten buck! And we got our new nestboxes! Very nice craftmanship! If anyone wants nestboxes, grooming tables etc built contact Jody! She makes excellent ones!

We got cage cards printed for quite a few of the rabbits in the barn and put those all up. I think almost all the Jerseys are done now. I think we missed one black and that is it! Cristina will have to get her butt in gear and do all the Mini lops : )

Last night Tammi and Saskia and Coleton came to the house for dinner, we had a great dinner and a long good talk. Then the Chimney caught on fire!! We've been burning wet wood and so we had to start running around like chickens with our heads cut off. It was quite an interesting couple of hours. Got that all sorted out, and the smoke smell out of the house. I think the house is about 13 degrees right now only though because we have to wait for Norm to come and look at it and clean it before of course we light the fire. ;)

We had a good time showing Tammi all the animals. The only cat she didn't see was Max. We tried to find him but had no luck, he finally came home at 7:30 this morning. He is very much "his own cat". He does things on MAX'S terms : )

Today we are heading to the ferry to meet Wendy to take lionheads to Kelly in Black Creek. Then we are picking up a friends holland herd who is selling out and they are being shipped to Alberta(except a couple are going to Wally/Andrea). Then from there we are picking up MORE cat food at Petsmart. I swear they are inhaling it in this cold- and they aren't even outside very much!!! I guess with 7 of them it is to be expected. We are going through a bag of Nutro Natural Choice cat food every 2 1/2 weeks(about $38 a bag).

Well I should go find breakfast and get ready to go in a little while.

My Jersey herd

I've been thinking about what I need to work on in the Jerseys this year.

Because Cristina and I have decided not to attend many shows in the US it will give me time this year to focus on my breeding program not worrying that I shouldn't breed this doe or that doe because there is a show I want to go to. I think that is the biggest frustration is when you have does you want to breed but want to show as well, especially if they are proven and in great condition yet if you don't breed something you won't have jrs to show anyway. That can be frustrating!

Anyway, I see that 1/8 of the herd is lacking genetic condition, this is something I immediately want to breed out. The ones that just don't get that genetic condition or you can feel pinbones. I know after 3 months this is not feed it is condition as the others are feeling great and have coats now too! The ones that I am going to work on breeding it out of are:
Foxy Lady and her Dad Butch- obviously a genetic thing
Tonka and his son Honky Tonk as well as Tikki who is Honky Tonk's mom. Those are the ones I can think of that don't keep that genetic condition the other 25 animals do.

Off topic but I do have one great thing to post. Mitchell's Quentin an adorable broken chestnut buck who will be 5 in May(btw a Mini lop) anyway about a month ago we bought a bag of Dairy Text 14% to put into the treat mix. Quentin just hasn't had that top condition we strive for since he moulted in the fall. Well after only a month on 1 tbsp of Dairy he feels great : ) He was getting 1 cup of feed, regular treat mix(flatted barley, old fashioned rolled oats, and ground flax) but it just wasn't adding that "extra". With the dairy text it has really helped-- it has been very cold here too so I think he just needed that extra to get him back up to our standard of condition : )

Okay so back to the Jerseys. My next plan to is to strive for more depth in the jerseys, I am seeing a bit of longer bodies happening and want to keep them shorter. And then my 3rd thing is working on better shape of ears. Those are my 3 main things for this year then I will work on other things but for now that is my goal : )

Also the Jersey babies are as follows:
One Chinchilla buck!
One Frosted pearl ?

3 Sable points- 2 different litters

I bred 5-6 more Jerseys yesterday can't remember exactly lol. And have 5ish bred... So I am looking forward to all those litters
: )

Also pic attached we broke down and bought one more Jersey doe to add to the herd... Might pick up a couple more from Ashley at VIRBa will see how funds and cage space etc are(also I want to add what I'm needing only in my herd and keep within the same line) this doe is M an' M's Sophia- Pic attached courtesy of Ashley Felton- M an' M's Rabbitry
Can't wait to get her! Thanks Ashley! She is out of Leapin' Silverballs and a gorgeous pointed white doe of Ashleys : ) So I'm looking forward to seeing her in person! Again might buy something else at the show, will see!

Spring Cleaning

Although it is not quite that time yet, I have been thinking of all the things I would like to do for spring cleaning.

It is still in the -'s here during the day/night. Right now it is -2 (which with the dampness would feel like about -8 for the prairie places)outside so too cold to pull the power washer out, and take all the rabbits out of the barn but its not far from my thoughts!

Once all the cages from the lower barn go(hopefully next Monday) we can store all the extra shavings, feed, carriers, treat mixes etc in that lower barn(once we move the non-working freezer in there)

In the main barn I want to get all the power washing done of the cages and floor. Once everything from the back is moved to the lower barn I plan to move the stacker's from the back middle to the far back. Which will give us more room as well.

Then of course there is feeder and water bottle cleaning although we try to do that about once every month or 2nd month so that is never too hard, and we wire brush at least a couple times a week so a good spring cleaning is all that is in order!

Definitely the tops of the cages need that power washing from the hair build up though! Especially from the mini lops ;)

I need to do a recycling run and we might just give a couple of bales of hay to the cows. It is coarse orchard grass but we've had it since the fall and it is such huge pieces(each stalk of hay is about 1 foot long and 2 inches wide) they are huge! So each rabbit really doesn't eat a lot! Those bales are lasting us forever. Mind you we have been feeding alfalfa and a couple super green bales of orchard grass too so it has been lasting us all winter for 7 bales.(100lbs each)

I also want to get the front "counter" of the barn cleaned and power washed, and clean out our cabinet and restock it with what we need for spring. I know with spring around the corner and having Jerseys now will need to buy acidophilus to put on litters food(spring a capsule on top of the pellets) since I feed a rich treat mix I have to watch for enteritis with the little guys.

And of course there is the rest of the spring ritual :- )- going over the animals,website updates (although we just did a big one), everyone will in the next few months be swamped with litters I'm sure : ) nail clipping, show preparations, tattooing, deworming, coccidosis treatment(we aren't due until March/April).

Yes, spring is around the corner and despite all the work ahead I am looking forward to it!

5 Jersey babies!

Well out of all the does due to kindle we finally have babies!

Leapin' Foxy Lady X Leapin' Rockin Roll(tort) had 5 babies, with 4 DOA(first litter), however one alive and doing well! Sable point?

Leapin' Pan X Leapin' Butch had 3 babies- 2 alive, one peanut. Not sure the colors

And finally MG's Chin doe X Just Hoppin's Apollo had 2 babies one chin and one ? All are fostered to the chin doe and all doing great! Can't wait to see what colors. I have 4-6 more does due, and 8-10 more does to breed shortly.. I will hopefully get them bred tomorrow!

We are feeling much better around here, we were down with a cold. Back to getting caught up on e-mails, phone calls and blogs!

I should have approx 15 Jerseys to show at VIRBA on the 16/17 of February :- )

How should you cull?

You've read the magazines, you've heard people talking, you've had someone give you that piece of advice "cull hard", "cull tough", "Cull, Cull, Cull"

How the heck do you cull though?

In my personal opinion first you need to know your breed. Read the standard, show your rabbits under various judges.

Know the standard but see what the comments are as well(from judges). Eventually you will know your breed and will be able to see what your rabbits are lacking-- although all of us have some kind of barn blindness to a certain degree.

Because these are the 2 breeds we raise, they are the breeds I am going to talk about, however these points would likely work for almost any breed.

- Learn your line, some lines are fast developing others are slow. For instance, I am seeing the mini lop lines tend to differentiate. One line is very slow you don't even bother look at them until at least 6 weeks and even then it is 9-10 weeks before you even look at type for the first time. Other lines if you don't look at 4-5 weeks you have a long wait ahead of you! I would say we are accurate 95% of the time. As for the Jerseys we haven't had them too long and only one litter so far, but what I am seeing is that they for the most part hit a terrible gangly stage and there is no point looking at them until 4-5 months!

- Realize what parts are easy to fix, and what parts are harder to fix. Keep long shoulders or low shoulders away if at all possible. We've found they are the HARDEST thing to fix. If your having a problem with heads or bone that is much easier! We like to get certain things going in the right direction before we fix the small things- keep proper toplines and headmount with the jerseys, short bodies, full lower HQ's. Right now we are working on Mini lop bone and head, and short midsections. JW's rounder ears and short bodies will be my this year goals.

- We also have our own personal preferences. I can't stand long ears or pinbones- we never have pinbones in the Mini's(touch wood!) however the Jerseys seem to have that problem in the line so I will be weeding that out(just a few so it isn't too bad). I also can't stand weak heads although that is a fairly easy thing to fix!

I still think in any breed you can be looking at the babies between 4-9 weeks and get a good idea of who goes and who stays. I've never had luck with growing all the babies out in a litter and finding "more" keepers. I find if I keep them until 4-5 months the ones that looked good at 4-9 weeks are still the ones that look good, and the ones that looked like pets at that stage still look like pets. The only thing I find that comes in especially with the mini lops is width of loin and width of shoulder those CAN both fill in. So if you have a beautifully deep animal with tremendous HQ's and shoulders but it is a tad weak in the loin don't be so fast selling it. It may fill in :- )

Of course go over the animals for obvious DQ's- split penises, malocclusion, white spots, mismatched toenails. Don't keep animals that are pinched, undercut, severly long in the shoulder(or just long in the shoulder).

That first culling we go over all these DQ's, we don't keep anything with bad shoulders or lower HQ's. In the mini lops it is hard to tell what the senior weight will end up being. They are usually around the same size for all of them, if one is way bigger you can almost bet it will be over that senior weight. But for the most part it isn't a huge thing in our line with the Mini's. The JW's you know which ones are BUD's-- they will have longer ears, longer bodies, and will be 1/4 size more then your "normal" babies.

Ask yourself what is it that I want to improve in my herd? If it is shoulders then dont keep long shoulders if you can fit fingers at that shoulder don't keep it! Midsections-- you shouldn't be able to get any fingers between the hip bone and front leg if you do the finger test. If you get 1 finger you are okay the rabbit will still balance you will want to lose that finger in later breedings but with one finger you are still okay.

You will want to be culling for bone, ear legnth, heads, HQ's, shoulders, midsections, depth/topline, fur and flesh! And know your breed, read the standard!

Cull hard. It may be tough but in the long run you will thank yourself. In one year we've moved on about 3/4's of our original herd of Mini lops we purchased. However, in the last year we've managed to win double Best of Breeds with home bred stock over 70 animals in Monroe WA against some of the top WA breeders, we also managed to win RBIS, honorable mention(so close!) and many 1sts. A couple of the shows we won every class, we granded 2 homebred animals, almost granded 5 more(they all just need 1 more leg), and were very happy where we went! We kept better kids then all the parents, and have grandkids from some of those now.

So culling may be tough, but when you cull, cull, cull your herd moves faster!