Small updates

I just got done cleaning the barn last night. I dumped all trays, cleaned some cages and moved some rabbits around. I also re-did cage tags and am going to move some extra cages in the back of the barn.

My two new litters are doing well. Looks like Summer may have some steels, so atleast they are not all agouti's :). Dignified's three babies are SO fat and well fed. There is 1 Bkn Chestnut, a solid agouti and 1 broken that I think may be a chin.

It looks like "Mia" the Bkn Chestnut Doe I'm keeping from Easy Summer Breeze and Keepsake, might have got pregnant after all. She is showing all signs. Where I have no clue when she might have got bred, she has a box and I'll wish her the best of luck before I leave.

I have been allowed to breed one more doe. LHHR's Mozzerella (Frosted Pearl) who is just turning senior, will be bred to Keepsake (Chocolate Chestnut) for some interesting colored, typey babies!

I named the Bkn Chestnut doe I'm keeping from Habanero, "Ellie Mae". She'll have to wait until mid-march to get pictures. She's a slow grower, so we'll see how she looks in a few months.

And for more Bkn Chestnut does, this is the doe I am keeping from Secret Score and Lil' Hollister. I recently changed my mind on this matter but I think it's a wise choice. I decided to name her "Kendall". I attached some photos of her below.

More babies!

Dignified finally popped this evening! 3 of 3 babies, 2 broken and 1 solid! I am very much relieved now, and only one doe to watch now.

I sexed Ex. Getaway's litter of 3. There is one doe who got nest box eye, but there are another doe and buck who look good. So as long as the type is there, they will be 5 months old for Mini Lop Nationals.

I also looked at the two steel does, and I reverted back to the one I originally tattooed. She looks better this week.... ugh!

I also pulled out my Pride x Landen litter, again... just to drool over them :D

Boomerang looks to be in good condition. If I can get to any shows this spring he might go back on the show list. Not that he needs to be, but I like having good senior animals to show occasionally.

that's all :) I will be updating the website this evening.

Babies!

I really was just kidding about the bad weather being over with last week... as we went through another week of snow and ice and were snowed in for days (and nearly still are), but now, we hear the worst is over. I sure hope so, I've got to go back to school next week!

My parents never wrote down the day they re-bred my does for my Mini Lop Nationals litters. I assumed they bred them right after they DOA'ed and lost their litters last time, so their inital responses were "the 21st and 22nd". Well that got strectched out to atleast the 25th.... They learned their lesson, they will write it down next time!

Summer kindled to EIGHT babies this afternoon, all uniform and most likely all chestnuts. I checked on them right after she kindled so I wasn't looking for color or anything, but that's what's most probable.

I am still waiting on Maid Dignified.... hopefully tonight! I would like atleast two nice litters to go through over spring break.

Also, Summer's daughter, the broken chestnut I'm keeping may be pregnant. We discovered the "cute chestnut" was a buck when his bkn steel sister kindled a unexpected litter a few days ago. Unexpected so it was a bad result, but we have a box in her sisters cage incase she got bred as well. She was in with him an additional month, so it's possible from now to a month from now if she has babies. We'll see... These guys turned 4 months old on Dec 2nd, so these guys are pretty early bloomers. I hope Summer's next litter can physically be mature at that age, so they dont die in junior competition. They will be around exactly 4 months of age....

While the weather is bad, I'm working on 4-H stuff for my club. I figured now would be a good chance to get ahead of things while I have extra time on my hands!

Roxy's Christmas

Roxy's livin it up :)

Weather and Feed Update

We made it through the first part of the disgusting weather. Our pipes under the house broke about a week ago, my dad fixed it so we have water for the house, but we are still hauling it out to the barns. A chore, but until it warms up some more, nothing's going to get done. It started raining today, which is appreciated after all the ice and snow we got!

I got my Fibre 3 feed on Friday. I only got 3 of the 5 bags because it's such a popular feed, that's all they had left for a small town feed store in a small town. But already, I am happy. I am taking half a bag up to Corvallis with me for Roxy, since that's what she's been eating, and the other 2 bags will be used for my show string, which I have already started them on. So far, everyone is eating well. I asked for advice on it from breeders who switched, and furthermore, there has been a lot of discussion about feed changing/feeds on the District/State groups and so today, Roger H posted this which I thought was pretty intelligent, so I am quoting directly.

"I have been reading the periodic feed discussions on the Reporter with some interest. I am a little surprised at the reports of frequent feed changes. I just changed feeds, which I am loathe to do because of the impact it has on my herd. In 35 years of raising rabbits, I think I have only used 6 different feeds. Two of the changes were driven by moves that resulted in not being able to purchase the previous feed locally and two of the changes were the result of poor feed performance proven over fairly lengthy trial periods. I don't like changing feeds especially for two reasons. First, change inevitably results in moult, so the timing of the change has to be right if you are breeding for specific or national competitions. Second, we eventually cull our herds to the feed--because we keep the animals that do well on that feed and cull the ones that don't. That process takes a good deal of time and changing feeds upsets that process. All feeds have commonalities so a change is not like starting from scratch, but feeds have different formulas and the nuances can effect conception, the timing of fur finish and so on.I recently changed to Fibre 3 Purina feed because of the promise of higher fibre and no corn, reflecting the research done by Patton, Cheek and crew at OSU in the 80's that diets with higher fibre and no corn result in reductions of enteritus and intestinal upset. I also like the claim on the feed tag of higher fat for fur finish. Some folks have asked me how the change is going and all I can tell after two months is that they eat it and nothing bad has happened. It will take the better part of the next full year to evaluate conception rates, growth, flesh development, fur finish and general vigor. It will take that long because those things are effected by so many variables other than feed---the season, temperature and/or consistent temperature, water and water quality, genetics, natural mothering ability, etc. Short of obviously bad feed (mold, discoloring, etc.) or feed that tests bad in a lab setting, it takes quite a long time to determine if a feed is working.All of which leads me back to being surprised that some folks change feeds so often. -- Roger Hassenpflug"

Does due... again

Summer and Dignified are due here again soon. I had written it down when my parents had re-bred them but I left that note at college, so since they were acting squirrley I decided to throw a couple boxes together and give them to them. They have started nesting immediately. I am almost positive Summer took, but I am really not sure on Dignified. A few more days will tell.

In the meantime, I have nearly decided to keep a Steel doe from Secret Score, and keep the two broken chesntut does from Summer's earlier litter and Habanero's litter. They need names. I have decided to keep Pacific Pride's entire litter of three. I named the broken buck "Zeus-Kennedy" and the does "Hera" and "Hades". They are just too stinkin nice to let go. Scidget's litter, is 1 cute buck, but the other two picked up a mild eye infection so I can't guarntee they'll make the Mini Lop Nationals list, which is why I NEED these litters from Summer and Dignified. If she doesn't sell soon, it's likely I'll rebreed her so I can have a replacement from this nice doe. I might just try and use Zeus-Kennedy.

The weather has been nasty. We've been snowed in for days, with freezing temperatures, lots of snow and more foul weather to come within the week. I unhooked and drained my auto water system a few days ago and gave everyone a plastic crock lock. It works well for the time being. The pipes up to the barns burst, so we are bucketing water up to the horses. It's no different than if it was not drained and frozen... it happens every year. Under my parent's care, my mare looks excellent... I cannot complain! I'm hoping to have a high school equestrain rider come look at her and potentially leaser her out. Maybe after the holidays.

I was supposed to go pick up feed today, but there was just no way to get out the driveway or make it into town. Hopefully within the next few days though!

And she's named...

ROXY

Roxy is going back up to Corvallis with me to live as a spoiled house pet :) She's already great... she enjoys watching TV on the couch, chasing the cats and uses her litter box correctly. She's also decently quiet during the night hours. She's a pigger though and loves her food!

The younger guys :)

LHHR's/Velotta's PPL - I have side pics of this guy too... but I can't just get over his head piece. This combined with his body, lands him a senior spot in our barn and I'm highly considering taking him to ML Nationals as a young senior buck.

LHHR's/Velotta's PPL - This Chinchilla doe took me away too....

LHHR's/Velotta's PPL - This doe... amazes me as well. Her posed shot isn't very good so I'll re-try in a couple of weeks. [They haven't been worked with at all since I left for college]

[Overall this litter of 3, I like them all... what do I do?]

LHHR's SSLH - To be honest with you, this isn't the original steel doe I had tattooed and had my eye on; but the smaller sister went into overdrive and looks better than the other steel at this point. I'm going to pull both of them out until I leave and finally decide, but today at this point I like this doe better :)

Yes.... she's a doe :)

LHHR's ESBK - This doe wasn't too cooperative in posing either, but she's a pretty promising doe from Keepsake and Summer, who carries chocolate!

LHHR's/Velotta's HL - This doe has been chewed by her sister, so I wasn't too happy in posting pics but I've decided to keep her over her solid sister. I'll seperate the two and get some pics of her in a couple of weeks.

A little Hab junior :)

The older guys :)

Stitch, the oldest man in the barn :) He's going to be a daddy again soon.
Keepsake's 2nd litter here is looking strong! And the doe I'm keeping out of him is very promising! This pic is blurry.... but in my opinion it kinda looks cool. He moves so much and wants attention its hard to get a still shot of him!

Boomerang is done molting! We need some babies from him... bad! He's only got one litter on the ground and it wasn't for us!

Mozzerella... was born earlier this year. A brother-sister breeding from Kokomo and Mr. Miami. After selling her siblings, I was hestitant in keeping her (she was very ugly in her teen phase) but she's done a 180 and headed in the right track now. She'll proably never make it to the show table but she'll make a fantastic brood doe!

Maddelyn - has grown up a lot since I last saw her. She's very similar to her mom and dad... espeicially since Buster has been passed onto new owners and MAD's passing, even though she's not the most common show variety, I'm still going to keep her for breeding. She's got that dense coat like her mom did... I miss that a lot.

Coming home happy :)

I went to our old feed store today looking for a rabbit cage. Where the rabbit cage was very nice, it isn't what I wanted. I had asked over the phone what rabbit feed they carried now, and where they still only carry the Purina green bag on a regular basis, the lady special ordered me 5 bags of Purina Fibre 3. I'm very excited to start using it. The holland doe I just got who has been on it a while, looks amazing for a 2 year old brood doe and the food I was supplied to switch her over looks and smells so good. Yesterday I called a feed store about 60 miles RT from me, it was $13.95 a bag there (which is cheaper than my reg. feed and way cheaper than my show feed!). So I'm willing to pay $15 a bag, with a price break for 5 bags, and have it be here right in town. And ordered only when I need it :) So I left there cageless, but gleaming that I get the feed I have heard so many good things about! I am very excited to start my Mini Lop Nationals list on it :)

So then, I went to the store... had to pick up a few things for school and some things the family needed. There, I checked the dog area for a collapsable kennel (thanks Christina G. for mentioning that!). At first I only saw the big ones, but I turned around and right there was a 18 x 24 collapsable kennel with tray and handle! It also has two doors and a divider! Since my new doe is already litter trained, I bought a corner litter box too. The kennel was only $38... cheaper than any rabbit cage I was looking at!

So my little girl is in her new cage staying in the house till I go back to school. She likes it a lot :)

The new bun :)

I am very pleased with my purchase for my house bunny :) She is SO sweet, docile and a 'perfect pet'. She's already been potty trained and got her new cage today :) She's had plenty of time to run around and give everyone lovin. :) Oh, and she's very beautiful on top of all those nice other characteristics.

Watchin TV with me
Resting after running around

"Look mom, no hands!"

"Lemme show ya..."

All rabbit business :)

I'm home from college. Finals week is over. It's all rabbit business from now on :)

On my way home, I had arranged to purchase a Holland Lop doe. For two weeks or so, I had bene looking to purchase a house rabbit. I went to my favorite breeder, and where she had some nice ones to look at, transport just wasn't possible. So, thinking of more Holland breeders, I contacted another on my way home. The first one that caught my eye was a broken tort buck, but he had a deposit on him. I went back to the first breeder I contacted, and found out who she'd reccomend. She sent me to someone in my hometown (which I later realized I knew) but they didn't have anything available. So, at last resort, I contacted the second breeder again, visited her website and up pops this rabbit that was not on there before! My jaw dropped.... she was just too darned cute! I e-mailed, and early the next morning they called me. They were willing to meet me late that night; I got through my last final, picked up the doe and headed home.

As soon as I took the doe to the barn, after not being home months on end... I discovered my barn a little dirty and unorganized. But, all of my juniors WOW me.... I don't know what else to say. I am getting a photo shoot tomorrow if it's good weather and I will share my love of some of my favorites! I will definately have some young yet mature seniors to show in Monterey.

I placed the Holland in a single carrier and brought her inside the house. It was there I discovered her good type and sweet nature. She is so cute, so cuddleable....so calm and perfect. I couldn't have made a better purchase. I will be keeping her pedigreed name with respect to her breeder, but she'll have a pet name, which I am currently coming up with.

I have pictures, but I'm going to upload all my pictures at once, so I'll share her pics tomorrow!

Scidget's babies are.... FAT and HUGE and healthy buggers! They are already eating pellets. I'm kinda sad I've missed out on their birth and kit stage but right now they are in that "OMG look" stage about 3-4 weeks now. Maid Dignified and Summer are due here again soon, I am hoping for good results or I'll be very sad. I need these babies for Mini Lop Nationals juniors. :)

I'll have a few animals posted for sale tomorrow with pictures:
*LHHR's/Velotta's PPL - Broken Chinchilla Doe (VERY nice!)
*LHHR's ESBK - Broken Steel Doe
*LHHR's ESBK - Chestnut buck (very nice!)
*LHHR's SSLH - Chinchilla Doe (very thick and wide!)
*LHHR's SSLH - Chestnut Doe (pretty nice)
*LHHR's/Velotta's HL - Chestnut Doe
*LHHR's SSLH - Steel Doe (very nice)
*LHHR's SSLH - Bkn Seal? Steel Doe (very nice doe!)
*LHHR's SSLH - Bkn Chestnut Doe (very nice, might keep?)

Check back for pictures!

Atlanta Photos

A direct flight was muchly appreciated :)
Lovin the snowy rockies :)

The first state we met when we got to Atlanta..... GEORGIA!

Looking down from the 21st floor.... spooky!

The day it wasn't rainy/foggy

The Westin... the hotel next door

The spinning Hard Rock Cafe ball

This sign was posted outside of Hard Rock...

Georgia is known for Peaches... but all we got served were canned ones :(

I thought this was pretty cool... you can see the globe on top of our hotel in the building on the left....

This is the house MLK Jr. was born in....

and this is where he is at now...

A statue thing at MLK Jr gravesite

Dan Thurmon was his name... He is excellent speaker and juggler; very motivational.

Since we couldn't take pics inside CNN, this is as close as I got...

We were happy, as Pendelton is a town in Oregon!

I forget this comedians name, but this was the funniest event of all of congress!

This dinner was too..... formal.

All dressed up and ready to go!

Georgia Aquarium...

Wolf Gang Puck catering.... need I say more... this was amazing!

Ready to go home! Dressed in our wonderful Orange shirts...

The beautiful sunset (it looked way cooler in person... this picture sucks!)