The Nature Trail Rabbitry BLOG
Monday, July 23, 2007
GAA Show in Taylorsville, NC, on July 21, 2007
The GAA show was fairly small this year. I believe that's partly the effect of having so many shows in Taylorsville this year and partly because the show ended around 4:00 a.m. last year. And was very uncomfortably hot.
This year, the weather was great, the flies were low, and there were enough judges to go round. The show ended at 2:00 a.m. I got home at 4:15 a.m. and finally got to bed at 5:05 a.m.
But it was all worth it.
I've had such a tough summer - first with the health of my rabbits and then with my own health (I lost 50 rabbits directly or indirectly from an epidemic of mucoid enteropathy (ME) and got struck by lightening in the barn right in the middle of dealing with that). It was so good to see my rabbit friends and focus on the fun, rewarding part of showing rabbits.
Luckily it had been 20 days since the last epidemic death. My vet suggested two weeks would be the all-clear point. So I was able to pack up my bunnies and attend. I still opted not to take juniors. First, I still wonder if I picked up the ME at a show. I didn't want to start that again. It's young rabbits that are most vulnerable. Second, I haven't named or numbered or tattooed juniors in a long time. I've been so focused on their health that I haven't had much time to evaluate their show potential.
I do have a pair of junior sisters I want to show, but they were still a bit young. Now I wish I had shown them because the show was so small there weren't enough juniors on the tables for legs. I know how disappointing that is. We need to coordinate better before shows to make sure we're bringing enough for full tables.
Back to the sisters. I could have brought one, but the other one had gotten out of her cage two nights in a row. The first time, I just thought it was because the children had helped me water the bunnies. But the second time, we figured out that she could push on the door and pop the latch. She was getting out of the cage AND out of the barn. The first time she got out, a young buck also got out. I hope he's not fully functional. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on her. At least he's a cute boy.
The second time I was sure the dogs or a snake or a fox must have gotten her. Andrew ran a long plastic pipe under the shed and out she sprang - and ran right back into the barn. Well, we now know her exit point!
The relevance to the show? She's now molting - probably from spending two nights with no feed except the clover around the barn.
Okay, back to the show. I was really hopeful that I would grand a rabbit or two at the show. I told a friend that I'd rather have three class wins for a leg than BOB because I was taking seniors with two or more junior legs.
In the SSB class, I took Padawan (GC Lord x GC Padme), 2 legs, and had planned to take Mistoffelees (GC Franz x GC Jo-Jo), 2 legs. But Mistoffelees had developed moist dermititis on one side of his chin and lower cheek. So I had to substitute. MLK had really caught my sister's eye when she was in the barn, so I decided to take him. He was looking nice.
(For moist dermititis, raise the water crock or use a bottle or automatic watering system. I put Wonder Dust on the chin, an antiseptic powder found in the horse section of stores such as Tractor Supply.)
My SSD was Jamillia, 3 junior legs. I really wanted to show her sister Jocasta, 3 junior legs, too. But she was molting her head. I had pulled out the dead fur on her head to help things along (removing dead hair is grooming - plucking is removing live hairs for the purpose of faking or deceiving a judge). It was working great until I realized that two circles of fur - like eyebrows - were still attached and wouldn't come out. She looks like a comic character with a concerned look on her face! It's been about ten days and the circles are still there!
My broken senior bucks were Crazy Horse, 2 legs, GC Lex, and Kerry, no legs yet.
My broken senior doe was Hope, 1 leg. She is so aptly named. When I was going through my epidemic (I will be writing about that when I can catch my breath), I lost Panache. That was a great loss to me. But near the end of the epidemic, I noticed how nicely Hope was turning out (her pictures on her page do NOT do her justice). Hope is Panache's half sister and Padme's full-sister, later litter. So even though I lost Legacy, Panache's daughter, and Panache herself, I still had Hope and therefore hope.
So I was poised to grand somebunny. Three rabbits just needed one leg.
We were assigned Greg West first. I appreciate the fact that the show superintendent put two and two together and figured that Greg is good with Hollands; he raises mini lops and his wife raises Hollands. Good call.
MLK won his class and I wanted to kick myself for bringing him. MLK is already granded and he had just kept Padawan, who came in second, from granding. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE MLK. But he's already granded and my focus these days is working on my all-grand-champion pedigree project.
Jamillia took her class, too. My first third generation grand champion. I was thrilled. Both her parents and all of her grandparents are The Nature Trail's grand champions. I had made my goal for the night.
In the BSB class, Crazy Horse took his class and was BOS. That granded him, too! Crazy Horse is MLK's younger full brother. I love them both. I believe that Kerry was second and Lex was third.
When Greg got to Hope, he took her over and weighed her. My heart stopped. I had noticed she was getting very large and had thought that I needed to weigh her myself, so I wasn't surprised. However, we were both surprised when she weighed in not much over 3.00!! She really, really projects a massive image! Hope won her class and earned a second leg with a BOB.
After the Hollands were shown, I kept writing for Greg. I didn't need to stand around on concrete since I'm still struggling with back pain from the lightening strike.
Our second judge for the night was Josh Humphries.
In the SSB class, he picked Padawan. I had briefly thought about taking MLK out, but left him in. I'm glad it worked out. So that was my third rabbit granded for the night. Padawan went on to be BOB. I do finally have one picture of him on the website. The trip really took a lot out of him (he's really a tiny fellow - just projects a larger size), so I didn't really get any good pictures of him. Overnight, his coat started breaking. Glad he waited one more day!
Jamillia won her fifth leg with a BOSG.
Crazy Horse got DQ'd for a tiny abcess on his chin. I had a hard time finding it - it's not nearly large enough to lance. I'm glad that the judge did so I can start treating it right away. It was small enough that most judges wouldn't see it and most that did wouldn't DQ for it, but it's certainly Josh's right to DQ for it if he wishes.
And it gave Kerry a chance to take the class. He's another bunny I love and whose time is coming. He's won twice with just four in the class and has gotten great comments, but he's been competing with Lex and Crazy Horse for the last several months, so he's familiar with second place. But now that they are both granded, maybe his time will come soon.
Hope took her class, BOG, and BOS earning her third leg and granding her - my fourth grand champion of the evening.
Yes, this show was small, but large enough to get the job done. You won't be seeing much of Hope or Jamillia except perhaps between litters. They are joining my breeding program when I breed later in August.
My all-grand-champion project really received a shot in the arm! I'm energized about my bunnies for the first time in what seems forever, but was really only about 8 weeks.
You will soon be seeing a lot of my rabbits for sale. I've decided to do again what I did last fall. I'll be selling all of my non-grand champion does except for the ones on their way to granding. I really need to cut down my herd since Andrew and I have picked up ballroom dancing as our joint hobby. It seems logical to cut the herd down to the rabbits that can help me with my project.
I want to thank all of my Holland friends who have shown me great support over this really terrible time in my rabbitry. More than one exhibitor told me before the show that they hoped I did really well since I needed something to pick me up after the epidemic and lightening strike. Janice Jones gave me a huge hug after the show. It means so much that they care and show how much they care.
Some people hold the opinion that if you do well on the show table, people will automatically dislike you and treat your poorly. I can testify that there is a huge group of Holland breeders in District 9 that have disproved that theory. They've been wonderful to me in the darkest period in my barn I've ever had or hope to have ever again. And they've been here to celebrate with me when things turned the corner.
Laurie
PS There are new pictures of Padawan, Jamillia, Kerry, Crazy Horse, and Hope now on my website. ¶ 11:28 AM 1 comments links to this post
This year, the weather was great, the flies were low, and there were enough judges to go round. The show ended at 2:00 a.m. I got home at 4:15 a.m. and finally got to bed at 5:05 a.m.
But it was all worth it.
I've had such a tough summer - first with the health of my rabbits and then with my own health (I lost 50 rabbits directly or indirectly from an epidemic of mucoid enteropathy (ME) and got struck by lightening in the barn right in the middle of dealing with that). It was so good to see my rabbit friends and focus on the fun, rewarding part of showing rabbits.
Luckily it had been 20 days since the last epidemic death. My vet suggested two weeks would be the all-clear point. So I was able to pack up my bunnies and attend. I still opted not to take juniors. First, I still wonder if I picked up the ME at a show. I didn't want to start that again. It's young rabbits that are most vulnerable. Second, I haven't named or numbered or tattooed juniors in a long time. I've been so focused on their health that I haven't had much time to evaluate their show potential.
I do have a pair of junior sisters I want to show, but they were still a bit young. Now I wish I had shown them because the show was so small there weren't enough juniors on the tables for legs. I know how disappointing that is. We need to coordinate better before shows to make sure we're bringing enough for full tables.
Back to the sisters. I could have brought one, but the other one had gotten out of her cage two nights in a row. The first time, I just thought it was because the children had helped me water the bunnies. But the second time, we figured out that she could push on the door and pop the latch. She was getting out of the cage AND out of the barn. The first time she got out, a young buck also got out. I hope he's not fully functional. I guess I'll have to keep an eye on her. At least he's a cute boy.
The second time I was sure the dogs or a snake or a fox must have gotten her. Andrew ran a long plastic pipe under the shed and out she sprang - and ran right back into the barn. Well, we now know her exit point!
The relevance to the show? She's now molting - probably from spending two nights with no feed except the clover around the barn.
Okay, back to the show. I was really hopeful that I would grand a rabbit or two at the show. I told a friend that I'd rather have three class wins for a leg than BOB because I was taking seniors with two or more junior legs.
In the SSB class, I took Padawan (GC Lord x GC Padme), 2 legs, and had planned to take Mistoffelees (GC Franz x GC Jo-Jo), 2 legs. But Mistoffelees had developed moist dermititis on one side of his chin and lower cheek. So I had to substitute. MLK had really caught my sister's eye when she was in the barn, so I decided to take him. He was looking nice.
(For moist dermititis, raise the water crock or use a bottle or automatic watering system. I put Wonder Dust on the chin, an antiseptic powder found in the horse section of stores such as Tractor Supply.)
My SSD was Jamillia, 3 junior legs. I really wanted to show her sister Jocasta, 3 junior legs, too. But she was molting her head. I had pulled out the dead fur on her head to help things along (removing dead hair is grooming - plucking is removing live hairs for the purpose of faking or deceiving a judge). It was working great until I realized that two circles of fur - like eyebrows - were still attached and wouldn't come out. She looks like a comic character with a concerned look on her face! It's been about ten days and the circles are still there!
My broken senior bucks were Crazy Horse, 2 legs, GC Lex, and Kerry, no legs yet.
My broken senior doe was Hope, 1 leg. She is so aptly named. When I was going through my epidemic (I will be writing about that when I can catch my breath), I lost Panache. That was a great loss to me. But near the end of the epidemic, I noticed how nicely Hope was turning out (her pictures on her page do NOT do her justice). Hope is Panache's half sister and Padme's full-sister, later litter. So even though I lost Legacy, Panache's daughter, and Panache herself, I still had Hope and therefore hope.
So I was poised to grand somebunny. Three rabbits just needed one leg.
We were assigned Greg West first. I appreciate the fact that the show superintendent put two and two together and figured that Greg is good with Hollands; he raises mini lops and his wife raises Hollands. Good call.
MLK won his class and I wanted to kick myself for bringing him. MLK is already granded and he had just kept Padawan, who came in second, from granding. Don't get me wrong. I LOVE MLK. But he's already granded and my focus these days is working on my all-grand-champion pedigree project.
Jamillia took her class, too. My first third generation grand champion. I was thrilled. Both her parents and all of her grandparents are The Nature Trail's grand champions. I had made my goal for the night.
In the BSB class, Crazy Horse took his class and was BOS. That granded him, too! Crazy Horse is MLK's younger full brother. I love them both. I believe that Kerry was second and Lex was third.
When Greg got to Hope, he took her over and weighed her. My heart stopped. I had noticed she was getting very large and had thought that I needed to weigh her myself, so I wasn't surprised. However, we were both surprised when she weighed in not much over 3.00!! She really, really projects a massive image! Hope won her class and earned a second leg with a BOB.
After the Hollands were shown, I kept writing for Greg. I didn't need to stand around on concrete since I'm still struggling with back pain from the lightening strike.
Our second judge for the night was Josh Humphries.
In the SSB class, he picked Padawan. I had briefly thought about taking MLK out, but left him in. I'm glad it worked out. So that was my third rabbit granded for the night. Padawan went on to be BOB. I do finally have one picture of him on the website. The trip really took a lot out of him (he's really a tiny fellow - just projects a larger size), so I didn't really get any good pictures of him. Overnight, his coat started breaking. Glad he waited one more day!
Jamillia won her fifth leg with a BOSG.
Crazy Horse got DQ'd for a tiny abcess on his chin. I had a hard time finding it - it's not nearly large enough to lance. I'm glad that the judge did so I can start treating it right away. It was small enough that most judges wouldn't see it and most that did wouldn't DQ for it, but it's certainly Josh's right to DQ for it if he wishes.
And it gave Kerry a chance to take the class. He's another bunny I love and whose time is coming. He's won twice with just four in the class and has gotten great comments, but he's been competing with Lex and Crazy Horse for the last several months, so he's familiar with second place. But now that they are both granded, maybe his time will come soon.
Hope took her class, BOG, and BOS earning her third leg and granding her - my fourth grand champion of the evening.
Yes, this show was small, but large enough to get the job done. You won't be seeing much of Hope or Jamillia except perhaps between litters. They are joining my breeding program when I breed later in August.
My all-grand-champion project really received a shot in the arm! I'm energized about my bunnies for the first time in what seems forever, but was really only about 8 weeks.
You will soon be seeing a lot of my rabbits for sale. I've decided to do again what I did last fall. I'll be selling all of my non-grand champion does except for the ones on their way to granding. I really need to cut down my herd since Andrew and I have picked up ballroom dancing as our joint hobby. It seems logical to cut the herd down to the rabbits that can help me with my project.
I want to thank all of my Holland friends who have shown me great support over this really terrible time in my rabbitry. More than one exhibitor told me before the show that they hoped I did really well since I needed something to pick me up after the epidemic and lightening strike. Janice Jones gave me a huge hug after the show. It means so much that they care and show how much they care.
Some people hold the opinion that if you do well on the show table, people will automatically dislike you and treat your poorly. I can testify that there is a huge group of Holland breeders in District 9 that have disproved that theory. They've been wonderful to me in the darkest period in my barn I've ever had or hope to have ever again. And they've been here to celebrate with me when things turned the corner.
Laurie
PS There are new pictures of Padawan, Jamillia, Kerry, Crazy Horse, and Hope now on my website. ¶ 11:28 AM 1 comments links to this post
Saturday, July 14, 2007
Chihuahua Puppy Ready For New Home
It looks like our male puppy is going to a new home next week, so we just have one female left. She is black with tan markings and white feet. She's a little shy until she gets comfortable. I can't describe how adorable she is. She's eating very well and weighs just under 2 lbs. at 9 1/2 weeks old.
Her sire is Daniel's newest dog, Haku. He's just 3 lbs. 3 oz. and quite adorable himself. Angel is this little girl's mother. She ranges from around 5 lbs. to 6 lbs (a little chunky at 6 lbs.).
Saphira is $375. She can be picked up in Ararat, VA, or can be delivered to Winston-Salem, NC, on any Thursday evening. I will also be in Taylorsville, NC, on July 21.
See Saphira here:
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/chihuahua-puppies.htm
Laurie ¶ 10:04 AM 0 comments links to this post
Her sire is Daniel's newest dog, Haku. He's just 3 lbs. 3 oz. and quite adorable himself. Angel is this little girl's mother. She ranges from around 5 lbs. to 6 lbs (a little chunky at 6 lbs.).
Saphira is $375. She can be picked up in Ararat, VA, or can be delivered to Winston-Salem, NC, on any Thursday evening. I will also be in Taylorsville, NC, on July 21.
See Saphira here:
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/chihuahua-puppies.htm
Laurie ¶ 10:04 AM 0 comments links to this post
