Monday, May 15, 2006
This Past Weekend
Okay, I know you are wondering whether I got everything on my to-do list done this weekend. Almost. I did everything except shovel manure. Funny how that one tends to sink to the bottom of the list.
But I have a good excuse. A couple of my bunny friends came by for lunch and to play with rabbits for awhile on Saturday. We had a great time with the exception of one sad moment. I had to say good-bye to Bear.
I did breed him one last time. Cindy Pail once said that last breedings often turn out very well for her. I hope this last breeding turns out to be a winner for me. In any case, I have a couple of last kits in the nestbox right now that are his. He and Chica (Rio's sister) had a litter of four, but two were apparently peanuts.
I also said good-bye to Chica, but since I have her sister Celeste and her daughter Kimmie, I'm good with that. Belle struck out with me so another breeder is going to give her a whirl. She's had one live kit before, so she may get her started. Belle is a grand champion with a wonderful body. If it works for her, it may work well indeed.
I made a very good swap with my friend Dani. I have gotten some kits from The Nature Trail's Natasha. But honestly, I don't need her since her brother Boris is siring kits all over the barn. Their gene pool is well represented. So I swapped her for Bella, Belle's beautiful brood doe sister - proven sister, I should add. Dani has gotten some Bella kits, too. So I hope it is a good swap for her as well.
So now I have two - count them - two empty cages in my barn! I should enjoy it while it lasts because with 30+ kits in the barn, things will be changing drastically in a couple of months.
I do need to get in my barn and tag some rabbits for sale. I just hate to do it because there are precious few that I want to sell. I do have two brood boys with fantastic lines. They are nothing special, but I'm sure they can throw a lot better than themselves. They would be an inexpensive way for someone to get offspring from Merlin x Katee, and Rio x May. I'm just charging my pet price of $40, so there's not huge risk there. The former is a broken tort, and the latter is a solid.
I'm also going to sell Bruce whenever I get the time to take his picture. All three of his littermates placed at Nationals. His hip came out of place at one time, so he's slightly uneven in the hindquarter. The one judge who noticed it said it was a fault and not a DQ, not genetic, and he was doubtful that any other judges would even notice it. It took me awhile to feel what he was talking about. But I will be reducing his price because of it. His parents are GC LaForge and GC May. His siblings are Lord (9th place sjb), Panache (6th place bjd), and Sakata (2nd place bjd).
I've been thinking of selling Piccolo. She's Roxie's beautiful brood doe sister. I have a litter of 4 from her right now, including two black does. Plus Roxie is producing wonderfully and I have a Roxie daughter. I guess my bases are covered enough to let her go. But she's so nice, it's hard to.
That's enough thought about selling. Let me tell you about my kits.
I lost a REW kit this weekend, but saved the other accidentally. I have two older kits in a cage, so I had taken them an empty oatmeal box to play in. I just leave it in there a day or two until it is soiled or flattened or both. So, I reached in to take out the box and felt some weight in it. Inside was a REW kit, warm and toasty. I assume the older kits had slept in there, saving the newborn from dying of exposure. But I immediately looked on the ground and saw the other REW cold and dead. At least the one was saved. I moved all three remaining kits from that litter back further in the nest box and hope that none takes to wandering again soon.
I had given up on Pandora having kits (the rabbit, that is, not the breeder). She was due Thursday and none of the five does who were due had produced a thing except a lot of fur and much nest box making activity - enough to get my hopes up. But Pandora had done precious little except arrange her nest box as most will do, babies or no.
But I was surprised on Mother's Day with three fat kits (and one DOA) nestled into a ton of fur in their box. They looked like they had been born on Saturday evening. This was Pandora's first litter and I'm so proud of her. They are Java babies, so I'm very anxious to see how they turn out.
I believe that both Autumn and Celeste have retained kits. I hope they pass them soon so I can rebreed them.
I did attempt to breed twelve does this weekend and got nine of them bred. This is still Convention breeding season, so I am anxious to see what I get in this batch.
One of my favorite breedings was Java to May. Those are two rabbits that both placed well at national-level shows (Java, first at Nationals; May, seventh at Convention) and are two of my three BIS rabbits. And they are physically compatible. I think their lines should work well, too, because Java is Boris x Katee. Boris is an LL Brendan son. Katee has produced nice babies with LaForge (Brendan x Katee), and with Boris, Java's father. I'd hate to figure out their family tree!
Speaking of May babies with Boris, May is now a grandmother. When Pandora had her babies, she made May Grandmama! And I guess that means that Boris is a proud grandfather. My, how time flies when you are breeding rabbits!
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how my herd is developing. I'm anxious to go to a really good show, but I don't see any scheduled anywhere within driving distance, anytime soon. (I'll be at the Judges' Academy this weekend, so that's out.) I'd like to go to one with some judges I don't get all of the time.
I really hate that I missed the Mineral Wells show this past weekend, but I really needed the weekend off. And, as it turned out, I got to have some bunny fun, too.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design ¶ 9:33 AM
But I have a good excuse. A couple of my bunny friends came by for lunch and to play with rabbits for awhile on Saturday. We had a great time with the exception of one sad moment. I had to say good-bye to Bear.
I did breed him one last time. Cindy Pail once said that last breedings often turn out very well for her. I hope this last breeding turns out to be a winner for me. In any case, I have a couple of last kits in the nestbox right now that are his. He and Chica (Rio's sister) had a litter of four, but two were apparently peanuts.
I also said good-bye to Chica, but since I have her sister Celeste and her daughter Kimmie, I'm good with that. Belle struck out with me so another breeder is going to give her a whirl. She's had one live kit before, so she may get her started. Belle is a grand champion with a wonderful body. If it works for her, it may work well indeed.
I made a very good swap with my friend Dani. I have gotten some kits from The Nature Trail's Natasha. But honestly, I don't need her since her brother Boris is siring kits all over the barn. Their gene pool is well represented. So I swapped her for Bella, Belle's beautiful brood doe sister - proven sister, I should add. Dani has gotten some Bella kits, too. So I hope it is a good swap for her as well.
So now I have two - count them - two empty cages in my barn! I should enjoy it while it lasts because with 30+ kits in the barn, things will be changing drastically in a couple of months.
I do need to get in my barn and tag some rabbits for sale. I just hate to do it because there are precious few that I want to sell. I do have two brood boys with fantastic lines. They are nothing special, but I'm sure they can throw a lot better than themselves. They would be an inexpensive way for someone to get offspring from Merlin x Katee, and Rio x May. I'm just charging my pet price of $40, so there's not huge risk there. The former is a broken tort, and the latter is a solid.
I'm also going to sell Bruce whenever I get the time to take his picture. All three of his littermates placed at Nationals. His hip came out of place at one time, so he's slightly uneven in the hindquarter. The one judge who noticed it said it was a fault and not a DQ, not genetic, and he was doubtful that any other judges would even notice it. It took me awhile to feel what he was talking about. But I will be reducing his price because of it. His parents are GC LaForge and GC May. His siblings are Lord (9th place sjb), Panache (6th place bjd), and Sakata (2nd place bjd).
I've been thinking of selling Piccolo. She's Roxie's beautiful brood doe sister. I have a litter of 4 from her right now, including two black does. Plus Roxie is producing wonderfully and I have a Roxie daughter. I guess my bases are covered enough to let her go. But she's so nice, it's hard to.
That's enough thought about selling. Let me tell you about my kits.
I lost a REW kit this weekend, but saved the other accidentally. I have two older kits in a cage, so I had taken them an empty oatmeal box to play in. I just leave it in there a day or two until it is soiled or flattened or both. So, I reached in to take out the box and felt some weight in it. Inside was a REW kit, warm and toasty. I assume the older kits had slept in there, saving the newborn from dying of exposure. But I immediately looked on the ground and saw the other REW cold and dead. At least the one was saved. I moved all three remaining kits from that litter back further in the nest box and hope that none takes to wandering again soon.
I had given up on Pandora having kits (the rabbit, that is, not the breeder). She was due Thursday and none of the five does who were due had produced a thing except a lot of fur and much nest box making activity - enough to get my hopes up. But Pandora had done precious little except arrange her nest box as most will do, babies or no.
But I was surprised on Mother's Day with three fat kits (and one DOA) nestled into a ton of fur in their box. They looked like they had been born on Saturday evening. This was Pandora's first litter and I'm so proud of her. They are Java babies, so I'm very anxious to see how they turn out.
I believe that both Autumn and Celeste have retained kits. I hope they pass them soon so I can rebreed them.
I did attempt to breed twelve does this weekend and got nine of them bred. This is still Convention breeding season, so I am anxious to see what I get in this batch.
One of my favorite breedings was Java to May. Those are two rabbits that both placed well at national-level shows (Java, first at Nationals; May, seventh at Convention) and are two of my three BIS rabbits. And they are physically compatible. I think their lines should work well, too, because Java is Boris x Katee. Boris is an LL Brendan son. Katee has produced nice babies with LaForge (Brendan x Katee), and with Boris, Java's father. I'd hate to figure out their family tree!
Speaking of May babies with Boris, May is now a grandmother. When Pandora had her babies, she made May Grandmama! And I guess that means that Boris is a proud grandfather. My, how time flies when you are breeding rabbits!
All in all, I'm pretty pleased with how my herd is developing. I'm anxious to go to a really good show, but I don't see any scheduled anywhere within driving distance, anytime soon. (I'll be at the Judges' Academy this weekend, so that's out.) I'd like to go to one with some judges I don't get all of the time.
I really hate that I missed the Mineral Wells show this past weekend, but I really needed the weekend off. And, as it turned out, I got to have some bunny fun, too.
Laurie Stroupe
The Nature Trail Rabbitry
Precious Pet Rabbits
Affordable Web Site Design ¶ 9:33 AM
