"Show withdrawls"

This year and last year I had the wonderful chance to attend nearly any show I wanted to as long as I had the money and a good showing. Currently, we are on a 3 month waiting for our next show. We cannot fathom going to Frozen Friends, so Emerald Empire will be our next show.

But we have to get used to the lack of shows, it's not all what we are in it for anyways. I want to continue registering rabbits, and to hopefully go on to earn my judges license in a couple of years.

And yet the story is a few years back, I told myself I would never become a registrar, or even think about becoming a judge. What changed? and why?

I am not really sure, but I do know that raising rabbits is a wonderful hobby full of awesome people. It surely is not showing other animals (horses and dogs to start off with!). There are so many awesome people I love talking to and many others I look up to. There is always room for advancement, something to work on, people to meet, new shows to attend and at the least, there is always room for having fun.

Today started out all right. We finished delivering cookies to our neighbors, which turned into a fiasco really, but at the least was fun and heartwarming.

Later tonite we plan to go look at all the christmas lights :) And I will be busy with the kids as they wait for Santa.

happy holidays!

*pictured above is LHHR's Maid Dignified, who earned her first 2 legs at Red Bluff and will continue her show career next year :)

That Christmas Feeling...

Well, I realized that tomorrow is the 20th.... I realized that Chrismtas is RIGHT around the corner and I haven't done anything. I mean... nothing! I have just been too busy! School and family have been occupying most of my time... Mike has a job right now (which reminds me that I need to get one!) and I am also still in the midst of doing 4-H and becoming a leader.

I just don't have that "buzzly christmas feeling" you get around the holidays..... And I don't know if that is a bad thing, I just haven't had time to land. I plan to go christmas shopping on Friday.... and if not Friday I will post-pone it to Saturday night. Friday, Saturday, and Sunday will be making christmas cookies for all of our close neighbors. It is a tradition that our neighborhood has done since I was just a small kid, and I feel the need to contiune this, even if it means staying in the house hard at work.

The bunnies are doing good. In this nasty weather I manage to quickly feed and water, do some minor head scritching but I rarely find the urge to do anything else. I would DIE for some nice semi-warm spring weather right now, anything but what we have!

If I get lucky, I may have some litters coming along! Klara should be almost 2 weeks along and Bridget & Honey are still in with Drizzit. I figure I will remove them in a couple days, atleast give them a week for something to happen!

I hope to get some riding time in. My horse thinks I have neglected her as all I have had time for is feeding/watering and minor grooming. Maybe I will take some pics of Katie and Sierra (the young girl who needs horse therapy for her legs) when she comes over to ride.

until then, Happy Holidays! :)

Finally!

Two blogs in one day? Wow.... you're probably thinking that it is the holiday season and we have nothing better to do but to stay warm in the house, right?



Well I just wanted to post that I got 2 more does bred!!!



LHHR's Exclusively Roman #RW2 was acting really frisky this morning, so I decided to give him a doe. LHHR's Lil' Gigi, a bkn chesnut GC with 5 legs was a suitable choice. I also wanted to breed Velotta's Renee, *GC with 4 legs as the last litter she threw was just amazing! So I bred her to LHHR's Mr. Miami, *GC with 6 legs. Renee carries dilute so we should get dilute babies this time around!



Bridget and Honey are still in with Drizzit. I don't know why they have to be so stubborn!

Cold & Foggy

Despite the wonderful Oregon weather we have been having lately, the chores must go on!

I started the morning off putting Bridget and Honey in with Drizzt for a slight hope that one or oth of them will get bred! They will remain together for a couple of days as long as no blood flies. We have done colony breedings in the past, just not lately.

We weaned Klara's "litter" Klara ended up only having 3 kits, and sadly, we lost the Blue Eyed White buck last night, which was *very* depressing! We noticed he was a bit on the smaller side about a week ago, he had stayed in the back of the cage for a while, but everything else was fine. :( So the BEW doe and Orange buck recieved their own cage, as Klara is bred again, to Hollywood Dun It! We hope she has a nice litter for us. :)

We are glad to be using just 20 cages, having 20 rabbits. That is a number we surely are not used to, but will have to get used to for the next few years. Even yet, we would like to get down to 15! Which means I will have to find myself to part with 3 more rabbits (2 are already on hold) and not have very many babies, or replace their sire's/dam's entirely. Not an easy task I might add.

We're still in the process of "upgrading" the barn. We have yet to get the auto water system figured out for our stackers, we need to get 6 solid dividers, need to sell 7 cages so we can buy 4 new ones [that match our others!] Plus we have no further use for those 7 cages, we never really liked using them anyways!

So now that I took a small break, I need to go out and finish dumping and cleaning the rest of the trays. :)

Blog Readings

Every evening I take time out after getting online to read my bunny friend's blogs. It is always neat to stay in the loop of what is going on outside of my district.

This evening I was on SunnyBrook's blog and she posted the passing of Adson :( Adson was a prime star for a lot of people's rabbitry, not just Nicole's, but Kim & Cristina's and mine as well. Gigi, Renee & Bridget are all sired by Adson. Adson is also the sire or related to in some way all of the animals I have from Nicole. And of those animals, I have kids and soon grandkids from these animals. He truly was a stunning animal who left this bunny world too soon. May his kids pass his name on.

Other blogs of interest are Betty Chu's blog, which I have been a reader of since it's start. She always has interesting stuff to post, and it's not always about her rabbits, or even rabbits, but people who raise rabbits and their hobbies as well! Currently she post's Allen's reportings from Africa, so we all know he is still doing well.

Steve Machado has the Rabbit Shows and Winners blog. The winners are generally from District 2 but he tries to include everyone. Including pictures and breed winners from all of the shows. Red Bluff Results are now up with pictures!

I should also mention that I got my Domestic Magazine yesterday. I appreciate all the new stuff they are incorportaing into it, pictures and results! Yearbook also came a couple weeks ago and that is completely updated as well!

I will try to find the time sometime soon to post some more blogs!

Red Bluff

We traveled down 1-5 on Thursday. We got stuck in 5:30 Sacramento traffic and I can now recall why we moved to Oregon. Dropped off a few bunnies and went to Stockton.
Spent all day Friday with my aunt, uncle and cousins. Was really good to see them! Friday night, proved for about an hour of sleep. Woke up at 3 AM to leave for Red Bluff.

Saturday went well. I spent most the time running around as I was doing about 3-4 things at once all day.

Stitch - BOB, his 10th leg!

RW5 - BOB, her 1st leg!
LGB3 - BOV, her 1st leg!
Allen Ormand just LOVED these two!

Hollywood Dun it - 1st SSB! his 5th leg!
BP1 - 1st & BOSV 3 out of 4 shows
CRV - 1st 3 out of 4 shows

Sunday was decent. More 2nds and 3rds but very good comments none the less under Josh. RW5 was 2nd in the large class of SSD's and Kokomo was right behind her. LGB3 was also 1st. Under Randy, RW5 was 2nd or 3rd, she's still a junior, so being in a senior class didn't help her any. LGB3 was 1st.

Sunday, I was clerking with Courtney Lund and there was a man there making conversation. He was talking about how he got a really nice buck out of a raffle at this show last year. I asked him if he was a chin and he was like yeah, and I said Mojave? :) Mojave went to good owners who use him and LOVE him and his blue-chin daughter won BOB both shows Sunday!

So I suppose you could say that it was one of those shows where all the rabbits you have sold, or are a offspring of ones you sell, come back to kick you in the ass. Teri did really good with the ML's I have given her and now I know wher Mojave went to and that someone actually appreciates people who put GOOD rabbits in raffles :)

I got rid of my sold rabbits. Which is going to open up some holes in the barn, for sure.

Today I have to spend cleaning the barn and moving rabbits around and trying to get some does bred. If that is even possible this time of year.

Am I crazy?

As I have started on my "rabbit show chores" getting mainly the easy stuff done, I am sitting here wondering why I put myself through all of this.

First off I came home this afternoon. On my way I picked up 6 carriers from my old 4-H leader who was very generous to let me use them! Luckily they were already cleaned and filled, so I didn't have to add them to my list of my own to do!

I went to the bank and got some money... which I will need for gas, lodging, and food.

I came home, I lunged my horse, put her away and fed/watered the animals. I need to go out and get the rabbit food ready we will use for the show, and I need to breed some animals! Not just for myself, but some co-op breedings as well! I also need to make cage tags, stuff carriers with hay, get the chairs, sawhorses and boards. Among that I still need to get my pedigrees in order, grab my standard..... and PACK! I forgot about that part.

We are leaving in the morning. We will drive down to the Bay area to deliver some rabbits, then drive back up to Stockton and spend time with family. It's been a year since I have seen my cousins (we did the Red Bluff Family trip last year!) so it will be good just to breathe. We will spend all day Friday there. Saturday we will leave around 5 AM for Red Bluff and spend the rest of our weekend showing and we will come home on Monday in the daylight.

So.... looking forward to a long weekend.

Wish us luck!

Beaver Spirit

I sent my Red Bluff entry in today. I am showing 8 animals in open and 2 in youth. To get this off my chest, 3 are overweight. Did I do that on purpose? Well, they are in such good condition and un-noticeable that I decided to take the risk. If they get weighed, oh well.

Teri called shortly after I got home from 4-H training. Her van was too full of bunnies to pick up the ones she wanted. So... they will be here a lil while longer but it's not like we're that desprate to get rid of them, there are still a couple juniors in there I'd like to look at further. I also get more time to clean the barn, since I did absolutely none of that today like I had originally planned! I also need to get some does bred, Gigi lost her litter and MAD simply didn't kindle at all, and I needed the babies from Hollywood. Just my share of bad luck though. The ones I am showing look good, I love it how coats are just in prime here in December. They have almost a sheen to them because some of them are just so plush and perfect!

The catalog for Frozen Friends is out. Quite frankly, I would love to attend, but I don't see myself making the trip... All the best judges are there and well, I may just have to wait until Corvallis. :) I will miss my buds up there though....

The horse I've been looking at...... I got word back from Rex's owners that he had his first "official" lesson this morning by Jason Acosta. I took the very first ride on him on Saturday and it was just amazing! He is so smooth and responsive, not to mention tall! He's 16.3hh and only 3 1/2 years old. He will remain in training until Spring Break, where I will decide if he can/will go onto be my OSU equestrian team mount! He has a lot to learn, but is a quick learner. I will have more to update on that in the months to come.

I also got word back from Benton county 4-H extention office. I can become a 4-H leader if I go through all the training, references, ect! I am so excited, as this is what I have wanted to do! I loved being in 4-H and being president/Junior Leaders/Leader conferences/camp counseling + I have learned a lot of skills and I hope they have a rabbit position for me. If not I will take one of the other animal areas I have experienced, so wish me good luck!

And if by now you are wondering what my title means, today was the Civil War game between Oregon State University and University of Oregon. Since becoming a OSU Beaver, I felt the "need" to watch this game! I never really cared about my HS football team (even though we had a really good team!) and rarely ever watch NFL games, but this was different. It's a "must" to being a student I suppose.
Anyways, Oregon State WON in double overtime 38-31 and it was a very good game :)

How Time Flies - my year long novel (beware of a long read)

Sitting here late November, I realize that the year is almost over. But where did it go? New Years eve I set 17 goals. I passed/in process of completeing 10 of them. 2 really are out of the picture and the others... well I need to work on them still!

January, we recieved a lot of snow. If I remember correctly, we had 7 snow days this year. Not having snow days for over 20 years in our county, that was just plain ridiculous. I started planning the Rabbit rally late that month. I must have been insane when I decided to take on the task.
Feburary, was really spent studying for my registar's exam after the down time after finals. I tredged the 15 mile drive Tuesdays-Thursdays at 5:30 AM for a Statistics and Probablity class. I had been in the class since September, but by this time of year it had gotten to be too much. I was lacking in the sleep department, roughly recieving around 4 hours a sleep a night, if I was lucky! I had two Satin litters, two which remain around today. A Bkn Black buck owned by a local Satin breeder. He took BOB in Crescent city in September. A Bkn Blue doe, who is in the barn today on a litter. Gigi kindled to Stitch. I have 3 those in the barn today, the 4th living with a good family-friend of mine. He is a 4-H and show bunny for their 8 yr old daughter. The two I showed both granded, the 3rd on a litter currently. Lots of snow in Feb.
March, we held a couple 4-H meetings which lasted well into the night. I started on the rabbit rally exams. The night before Corvallis I did not go to sleep. I went to a play and left around 3 AM. I took BOSV (MAD) and a 1st (Boomer) in A, and BOB (Stitch) and BOS (Habanero) in B under Randy. The Rabbit Rally proved to be successful with 50+ members from Oregon and California. It most certainly was a LOT of work and there is a mile-long list of things I'd like to change for next year (did I JUST say that, I'm insane for even considering doing it again) But my take on it is, if you don't put these youth events out there, then the hobby cannot go on. I took BOB (MAD & Hab) & BOS (Hollister & Stitch), also a BOV (Bridget) at Pear Blossom both shows. I clerked all day to learn more about breeds for my registrar's test.
April, started out on the 1st with me going to Roger's to take my registar's test. Sitting down at his dinner table, I realized this was the real thing, I was finally there! I found it to be rather easy, calculating the ones I might have missed, I felt pretty good as I went to take the oral. The oral wasn't that bad. Roger only has 2 breeds in the barn, one of which I raise, so I wasn't at all worried. I had to tattoo a couple crabby juniors and drool over his awesome Satins! Went to a 4-H leaders conference at Crater. It was pretty fun. Mike came back from CA just before the Pacific Coast show. [Which went well!] I worked my first two shows there, I took BOS Friday with Hab, BOB (MAD) and BOS (Stitch) both shows there.
May, there were AP tests. And coming out of three of them in one week, I was sure I failed all of them (which I did!) Canby show proved to be more successful than my academics. Well maybe. I worked under Randy and got to see a lot of breeds, I learned a lot and passed! I only walked away with a BOSV in B (Hab) but she granded and my rabbits did well in the stiff Von Arx/Velotta competition. I picked up Renee (bred to Waltor) and I bred Stitch to her doe Lyra. I can honestly say I had never done a show table breeding before, I had to catch Stitch has he fell off of her, but she took and kindled! [Their son won his 1st leg recently!] I went to the Portland show on Memorial Day weekend. It was smaller to be expected, I won BOB & BOS in all 4 shows, pretty much with the same animals. Was fun though, just not one worth repeating.
June, proved to be more successful. State Convention was a blast. We drove up early Friday and just had a day to chill. We visted Sea Lion caves and even browsed through the Aquarium. I unloaded my rabbits (only to have Roger set up right next to me...) and went to the Judges Conference. It was really fun I might add, and I learned a lot from good judges! Saturday morning I got to finish showing my Mini Lops before Royalty started. Miami took BOS! Habanero was BOSV. Royalty went well, although stressful as usual. In the B show, Stitch took BOS and Sizzle won BOB again! I worked with Meadow Gustafson for my license. I got to register quite a few animals and just have some breathing time The Banquet was fun. I got an apron for winning 8th in points. It was pretty cool to have my name embriodered on it. Youth show and Open Mini lops were the same time on Sunday, so I ran around like a trapped rat. We got to leave at a decent time, to still arrive home in the dark. The end of June was the Yreka show. My animals couldn't have looked better. My doe "Down in Kokomo" won Best in Show in A & recieved Honorable Mention in B! She was born, bred, and raised here, so it was very special. Miami was BOS and BOV.
July, I started selling animals for National Convention. Oh but would I go?! I recieved a scholarship from the Forestler Youth Fund for competing at royalty, but it sill seemed out of the picture at that point. We had out 4-H cleanup day, which seemed to last forever, but as always, was full of fun. We fought off triple digit temperatures and got our fair entries in.
August, on the 11th we went down to Yreka. I won BOB with Miami (and he took Honorable Mention in show) and BOB with Habanero. Fair week went well for the winnings. In the open show, Habanero was BOB and Miami was BOS. I won Grand Champion Showman. That night I was hit with some horrible news, and I don't wish to discuss it, but it made Wednesday very quiet. My Mini lops took Champion and Reserve Champion for breed. MAD was 2nd runner up in show. My 4-H leader, whom I have looked up to for the past 6 years, left for Beaverton, Oregon. She moved, and took one of my favorite 4-Her's with her. I won Grand Champion Judge Thursday and on Friday, I won Reserve Grand Champion in Master Showmanship "Round Robin" over 20 other showman of rabbits, cavies, poultry, steer, sheep, swine, pygmy goat, dairy goat, dogs & horses. I sent in my Royalty applications the day they were due postmarked. Talk about last minute! Mike came back up and Suzana had her baby!
September, started out with the Crescent City Labor Day Weekend shows. And if you didn't attend this show, you missed out, seriously. I worked with Melissa to gain knowledge on other breeds. Habanero too BOS! and Hollister was BOS in B! I talked with Muriel and we discussed some ways to get me to Convention. It did seem more possible for me to attend, but my parents were still reluctant (a lot of unanswered questions). Sunday I worked with Randy, and that was a chore. I counted over 20 breeds went under my hands, and probably more than 500 animals. He let me practice on classes of 4, for royalty. I got almost all of the classes in order. Hollister was BOS and Miami was BOB. Stitch took BOB in the youth shows. Habanero sustained a leg injury and I didn't sleep there for a couple of weeks because I was worrying about her. She pulled through though. School started, very stressful. Took a trip to Portland, had my 18th B-day and then had the RVRF show. I worked with Roger, as he knew I wanted to learn about breeds and practice for convention. My two bucks took 2nds in A, and I pulled them in B because I was too busy. I don't remember how my Satins did... hummm.. Around the 12th, I booked my flight for convention. That was *the* biggest decision I made. But I decided to set aside the monetary aspect and consider the fun and once-in-a lifetime experience I would have. It was my last year to compete in Royalty, all my family is in Michigan... and.... I just needed to go.
October, was basically preparing for convention and then, going. I delivered my 10 rabbits (6 pre-sold!) to Teri and they would be on their way to Michigan. I left on the 11th. I came back on the 19th. Did I have fun? See my convention post. :)

So that brings me to November -- I skipped the last Oregon League show in Albany to attend Red Bluff. So our sweepstakes points ended there. I finished in 1st, not like I worked on it, but my animals deserved it. I have spent the month spending time with my horse, jumping her and going out on the trails. School takes up most of my time. If I'm not doing homework or studying, I am out with friends or getting back involved with 4-H. I hope to become a leader? At home, when I do get the chance, I have been spending time with Mike, my family, and my animals. I am reducing my herd for school. I am considering a auto-water system right now. I need to get a job... with that said soon I will probably go around town to pick up some applications. Gotta start paying for college somehow. I need a new car, but cannot afford one. I want a horse for OSU Eq team. If I a lucky, we are looking at a potential stud right now. He's a Warmblood located up in Beavercreek. He's amazing, but has that amazing price tag on him too.... I've considereding getting back involved with Golf in the spring... Spring.... The crappy winter weather has arrived. It's approx. 27* here right now. Maybe it will get above 32* so I can go out and do something. I'd rather it be raining and near 40*, this frost is just insane!

I hope you all have a wonderful Thanksgiving!

Klara's crew

Klara's litter with Tikhon - 15 days old

All together
Blue Eyed White Buck

Blue Eyed White Doe

Blue Eyed White Doe 2

Orange VM (sex was undeterminable yet)

Maintaining a website

This summer I had Sarah McCrea create a website layout for me. It was very neat to put it altogether on my new geocities site, I can't thank her enough. But what work did that entail? A lot.... And I had the easy part!

I have always wanted to get a "photo shoot" of all my bunnies. In other words, good photos that all have the same background. Preferably the animal would be in good condtion and the bunnies would be on their best behavior.

So that day was today. I spent a few hours out in the barn grooming, evaluating and snapping photos of all my Mini Lops. I then downloaded them on my computer. I cropped them. But, on my software I cannot resize them and I couldn't put them onto my website that big..... So I decided to upload them here onto blogger to get them a more desired size. I then had to save those re-sized pictures into another folder. Those pictures were in bitmap format, so then I had to go into AOL and change them all into jpeg. I was then ready to upload them onto my website. But while I am there changing photos, there is much more editing to be done to the website. I guess it will be my "big winter edit."

Websites need to be continually updated. There is something always happening in the barn, new animals, new litter arrivals or show updates! And a website is most breeder's publicity. Some can have a good word of mouth, but much of the world today is on the Internet. Good pictures are valuable to have, but are not the real rabbit. I don't really care for photographs that much because there is no way you can get your hands on that rabbit through the computer screen. I think it's just a good idea to have a generalized idea of what they look like.

On a different topic, the rabbits are doing well. I think I have come to an entry of 10 for Red Bluff. The catalog is soon to be out (most likely within the next week or so) which will be the turning point of our excitement. We missed the Pacific Coast show and we decided not to go to Albany. And, Red Bluff may be our last show for a while. With the way the weather is, St. Helens may be out of the picture. It's a good 5 hour drive plus (not to mention driving through Portland). All babies are doing well and the barn is clean. :)

*check the website for updates!*

Royalty & Banquet photos at Convention

Oregon Senior Judging Team - We were 2nd!
After Banquet, ready to go home!

Before banquet...

Before banquet...

Before banquet

Before banquet, in the Amway by our elevator...

Too tired already....

DeVos place on the Grand River bridge

Queen Individual Judging

just for fun...

A day spent cleaning

Time flies when you are having fun! I knew yesterday I had to get the barn clean.... but I put it off until this morning. Coffee lit my fuse and I was out in the barn in no time. I cleaned the Satin's cages (just because they made SUCH a mess while kindling) and dumped most all of the trays. (think I have 3 left to do....) Swept the grounds and did kit head counts.

I think Klara's is actually an Orange, not a Fawn as I first assumed. The kit is SOOOO bright now! I could be wrong, but not really, because Fawn, Orange and Red are all the same color, it just matters how much modifiers/rufus genes it has to determine it from one another. The fawns and oranges are commonly mistaken for each other.

I decided to put a couple more animals up for sale. I just have to get my numbers down... and the task is harder than it seems at first. But 4-H is starting up, so maybe with some cages and equipment available I can move some guys out.

Meanwhile I will also be updating my website. I have to resize some of my pictures though in order to get them uploaded.... ghar...

Klara kindles and other pictures

Klara kindled this morning. There are 2 BEW and 1 fawn/orange. All are healthy and fat. All Satin babies are also doing well.

The following pics are of my mare Sierra in the turn out pen this morning. I was exercising her over a small jump before we went out on a fall trail ride.

Our Oregon Senior Judging Team :) Photo of Janice Frantz . We were SECOND in the nation, with Nevada in 3rd and Iowa in 1st.

3 down, 1 to go

The Satins kindled today :)

Bounce (Bkn Blue) had 7 babies. Bkn/Solid Blues

Brook (Black) had 8 babies. Blacks

PJ (Bkn Blue) had 10 babies. Bkn/Solid Blues

*These babies will be fostered, and the Satins will have time to re-coop. They will be bred before leaving for CA. That will be the end of our Satin adventure. We just don't have room to keep them now being I can only have 10-15 rabbits.

Klara is due tomorrow. We are hoping she will bring healthy BEW's to the west coast! (She is a Vienna carrier) Wishing her the best :)

Klara in New Hampshire *Photo of FireDove Rabbitry.
Tikhon, BEW buck Klara was bred to *Photo of FireDove Rabitry

Productive day at the least....

Came home yesterday evening. Had a real dinner and worked on some homework. :)
This morning I woke up around 6 (since that is my usual time) and went and fed my horse. I checked on the rabbits. I got the boxes down as I have four does due within the next couple of days!
I then proceeded back to the warm house, got online and checked my messages. I tried doing my online homework but I... did not succeed. Well actually I succeeded, but I failed. lol. oh well.
I then went out and lunged my horse.... Shes actually getting pretty good at the jumping thing... Clearing 3 feet while free lunging. Not bad.... I left her out in the round pen [since we are getting the pasture to grow seed] and went down to the rabbit barn.
I cleaned out my nestboxes. I let them dry while I found some bedding and went and got some hay. I filled them up and gave my three Satin does their boxes. Klara will get hers tomorrow. I know PJ and Brook have babies inside them, but I haven't got a glance at Bounce... She's a toughie... lol
I dumped 6 trays and then dumped the wheelbarrow. I gave all the rabbits the oxbow hay I had left over from convention. That crap was expensive! I gathered my feedbags and put them in the burn barrel.
I evaluated my juniors (yet again) and seperated the chin doe from her bkn chestnut siblings. She was trying to chew on her sister and I want to show her sister BAD, so she got her own cage. Overall this is what I thought of the herd at this time.
Klara [pregnant]
Honey [to be bred soon]
Sunset [on litter of 3, will look at her babies the next time I come home]
RW4 [nice, but I still like RW5]
RW2 [nice, but I still like RW3]
RW3 [nice buck]
RW1 [nice buck]
Fiona [nice doe, more broody than show....]
LGB-Chinchilla doe [nice type on this doe!]
Bounce [pregnant]
Brook [pregnant]
PJ [pregnant]
LGB-Bkn Chestnut doe [very nice type]
LGB-Bkn Chestnut buck [nice, but I "could" part with him]
BK1-Chinchilla doe [nice doe]
CRV1-Bkn Opal doe [nice doe, but I "could" part with her]
Drizzt [nice cond. for older buck]
Habanero [still doesn't hold that leg right, will breed her next month?]
Renee [missed to Miami, so will re-breed soon]
Gigi [recovering from litter, will be bred in spring]
RW5 [verrrry nice looking doe!]
MAD [need to re-breed]
Buster [looks decent, but does some slope in that HQ :( ]
Stitch [want to show him, but he is a big boy... so not sure if it's worth the risk?]
Kokomo [small molt, will be done by Red Bluff]
Bridget [bred to Drizzt, hope she took]
Miami [small molt, will be done by Red Bluff]
Hollister [should probably show him in Red Bluff, still has it at 2 yrs]
Took some pics and groomed some rabbits. Came in and worked on homework. Mike and his dad came over, and now back to doing more homework. *sighs* the work never ends!

In the meantime....

While we are trying to get pics uploaded (we may have to re-size them...) I have some notes I'd like to add....

Renee is due the 22nd/23rd to Miami.

All 3 Satins are due around the 31st/1st. I forget when I bred them....... Hopefully they will have litters.... We haven't had a Satin litter since Feburary! After they have their litters I think our Satin quest will be over with for a while. We will need those 3 holes for Mini Lops......

Convention bunnies are coming back on Tuesday! Thanks a million Teri! Klara is coming home from New Hampshire! She was bred to Tikhon (BEW) on October 1st. Klara is a Vienna Carrier, so hopefully she will first off deliver a healthy litter here in Oregon, AND if we have been nice, maybe we will get some BEW's in that litter too! Thanks Val :)

Currently Bridget is in with Drizzit. We think that would be a good breeding, type and lineage complements nicely.

Yesterday we were out in the barn. Arizona Sunset has a chestnut buck, chestnut doe and a bkn chestnut doe. We can only keep one of the does..... So AZ and two of her babies will be available soon.

Gigi's litter... WOW - We just love the type this doe throws out. I cannot even begin to think of selling one of the three. I also took a look at Renee's boys. The two broken boys are almost identical.... The chestnut buck is also coming along very nicely....

Our TCRA/WVRCB entry is due postmarked on the 24th. The show is in Albany Oregon. I am not even sure if I want to attend, but I really need to... since I don't think we will make it to Red Bluff..... and it is the last Oregon League sanctioned show of the year... I mean, I am a good 500 points ahead of 2nd place in points, so I'm not worried about that and we do have a lot to show.... but there are just some other reasons...... We'll see.

I am still not fully recovered from Convention. I did manage to get everything unpacked. I do have to go out and do some rabbit chores.... The work never ends....

Picture time!

Took about 175 photos at convention. Quite a few for the lack of time I had on my hands. I will share some with you all! And I will have more in the near future!

[this post will be updated as I get more photos up]Cute Himmie!

Belgain Hare.... so weird...
Opal Mini Satin (they passed their first showing, Congrats Randy!)

Red Mini Satin (they passed their showing, Congrats Randy!)

I don't remember who has the COD for Siamese, but they passed their first showing!

Copper MS - Passed their showing, Congrats Randy!

A bkn blue buck of Roger & Ron's. His name was PSYCHO. :) I love how Roger comes up with the coolest names for his rabbits.
Blue Silver Marten on the open side. His ear number was "FLAT". :)

A cute Rhinelander giving McKenna a kiss...

A Blue Tort English Lop, who looked dead at first glance. Thank god he WAS breathing!

Unbelievably Friendly - 2007 ARBA Convention

My trip to Michigan had its up and down points, but most certainly I am very glad I went.
Thursday morning, I packed my bags into my dads truck and we left for Tigard, Oregon around noon. The trip up there was smooth and we found the Frantz's place easily. We chatted for a few and then I went to go help McKenna with her rabbits. She had some rabbits to tattoo and minor cleaning to do before she left home. After everything was all done we went out to a chinese resturant and had a good dinner.
At 2 AM we were up, we got dressed and loaded the rabbits. We had left the house by 3:30 and on our 15 minute journey to the Portland International Airport. Doug helped us unload the kennel and the baggage. We made our way to check in, checked and secured the kennel with the TSA's, went through security and had just enough time to board our plane at 6 AM. Flew into Salt Lake and watched the rabbits being loaded into our next plane. There we met a few other breeders from CA going into Detroit. Once we got into Detroit, we got all of our bags and the kennels came out just fine. All the animals looked good. We made our way through this airport to finally find a shuttle service at the opposite end! We went through 9 elevator levels atleast twice, but finally found the right one. We went across the street and of course the shuttle service we needed was the very last one! The man loaded our kennels and baggage and took us to the car rental. We rented a grand caravan and loaded two kennels 4 people and about 10 bags into it.... Tight fit but we made it. We then had a two hour drive over to Grand Rapids. We caught rush hour traffic. And then proceeded through road construction. We finally rolled into DeVos place around 10 PM. We unloaded McKenna's and Muriel's rabbits into their coops with risers, feed/water cups and cage markers. No problems there. We go into the Amway Grand Plaza, and McKenna and I made our way up to our room while Janice and Muriel parked the van. We ordered room service and hit the bed around 1 AM.
Saturday we were up around 8 AM. We trudged our way to the show room and fed and watered the rabbits. I walked up and down the Mini Lop isle and only found 5 of my coops. So I got my check in packet and there were only 5 animals on the sheet, 4 of my animals were missing on the sheet and they didn't have coops! What a nightmare. I cannot describe the feeling that was in my stomach at that point as I knew I was in for a mess. Luckily, I brought my conformation page with all 9 animals up there. We went up to the registration desk, showed a lady and she called the superintendant "Jane" down there. She ran off with both of my papers, which I was utterly worried about. While standing there nearly 3 hours, we met a man "Willis" who was more eager to help us solve our problems. He was probably running on negative 48 hours of sleep, but by Saturday evening he had found us 4 temporary coops with the Rex to place my animals for the night. [Kathie had arrived around 6 PM that night and I grabbed all 10 of my animals out of the trailer and McKenna and I unloaded them, fed and watered them] All were alive and made the trip rather well. Going cross country in carriers does put some stress on the rabbits.
Sunday morning we had to be up bright and early.I had watched opening announcemnts because I was supposed to meet Roger there. Willis had come up to me to tell me he had found Janice's number, and he was still active in trying to get my issue solved. Gary Michaud had all of us Youth cram in one corner by the Grand River and made the announcements of all the royalty stuff. Roger H. assured me that the GLRSC would figure my entry out and not to worry while judging and breed ID. Started off with Indvidual judging. We must have waited in line over 3 hours. Roger came through the line of queens to find me to re-assure me my animals were getting fixed as he had just got done talking to Jane. For invidual juding I did Silver Martens, New Zealand, Harlequin and Havanas. We then gathered our Team Judging members and got ready to go at 1:30. I personally had to do Britania Petites and Champagne D'Argents, but my other team members did French Angoras and Himilayans! When we got done with that we made our way over to Individual Breed ID. It was a dark cold area on the loading docks, but I made it through that. When we were done with that it was nearly 3 PM. Ken Henry had picked up Boomer. I had found Klara and went to feed and water her. We went back up to the hotel room to breathe for an hour or so. Willis called and told us to meet him or Ed, they had found coops for me, with cage numbers AND a complete entry sheet!!! 6 oclock deadline was nearing so I browsed the isles to make sure coop numbers, ear numbers, classes and everything was correct. I signed it and took a huge breath realizing my entry was complete! YAY! I moved my animals into their new coops. They were over by the ARBA youth booth, so they were only around a few other animals. There were 23,000+ aniamals and the building was just right for it. :)The cages never seemed to end! Ate dinner and rolled into bed, Monday would be a long day.
Woke up at 6 AM. Fed/watered rabbits and made our way up to the 3rd level to go take our 200 Q written test. I found it to be rather easy and had it finished within the hour. There I learned that there were FOURTY Queens competiting for the royalty title. I made my way down to the show room to see that the SSB class was only probably halfway through. Stitch and Quintessence had placed and there was a note that there were 4 animals in different coop areas, so atleast they knew they were there! Then they did the SSD's. Kevin Hooper put Kokomo in a placing coop, and when it boiled down to placing she got 19th! They did SJB's so I went and rested/checked on how McKenna's rabbits were doing. I then came back to watch SJD's. I could tell he liked RW5, and he immediately put her in a placing coop. She ended up placing 17th! He loved everything about her except that her head was a little narrow for her age, but I already knew he would say that. She is a very nice doe otherwise. BSB's, Boomer had left with Ken so I didn't need to watch. I am not sure what I did in this time, but I ran around the show room. I missed the BSD's but I learned later that Blue Bijou ended up placing 18th! I missed the BSD's because I was watching McKenna's AFL's. We went back up to the hotel. I figured I could miss the BJB class because Buster Blue wasn't going to do much. Boy I was wrong. We ended up coming back down to feed/water before going to dinner. I looked down the long row of Mini Rex to spot Kevin Hooper still doing Mini Lops! And who did I see?! BUSTER! So I ran up there to see that there were 15 animals left! He placed a few more and Buster placed 11th!!!! WOW! We strolled down to the ARBA youth booth. They posted results at 4 PM. I QUALIFIED FOR AN INTERVIEW! I was so stoked. Orig. there were 40 queens and only 20 got interviews! (basically if you didn't get an interview you were already out of the running). So McKenna and I practiced and practiced for interviews. Probably none of the questions we asked each other got asked, but it was good to hear what each other of us had to say.
Woke up Tuesday early because the judging wasn't done yet. My interview was at 11:20, and McKenna's was at 12:20. I know I could have done better....... but I gave it my best shot. I returned to watch McKenna's buck take BOS to Collin Burn's BIS convention winning doe!!! {which was determined later}. I then went with McKenna for her interview. I am pretty sure after that McKenna and I ran around taking photos of all the bunnies. I had a goal to take 500 photos, but I only achieved 175, and most all of them were rabbits!!!!
Wednesday McKenna, Janice, Muriel and Carol all had their fuzzy brunch. So I was on my own to do whatever I pleased. I watched the standards committee presentation. I can't remember all of them, but Broken Havanas passed (Congrats Brad), Sable Mini Rex passed (Congrats Jeremy), Broken NZ passed, Himi and Chinchilla MS passed, Red, Opal, and Copper MS passed (Congrats Randy!). It was actually somewhat interesting to watch : ) I did get pics of some of the presentation animals before, but not during... I don't think I had my camera on me at the time. I met up with people I had to sell/deliver animals to. Got all those details straightented out. We came back to the hotel room around 4, got dressed for the banquet. Went down to Benthams to eat dinner. We then made our way to the ballroom around 6:30. Roger was supposed to show up, but he didn't. Which was quite depressing as OREGON WON 2ND PLACE TEAM JUDING IN NATION OF 18 STATES/TEAMS!!!!!!!!!! That was worth the whole trip for us! Afterwards Jen, Alex, McKenna and I got our photographs taken. Will post those pics as soon as I get them from Janice or Charlcie. From there we spent the rest of the night packing. We had to be up at 5 AM, to get into the show room at 6 AM, to load our rabbits and be at the aiport at 2 (with a 3+ hour over to Detroit!!!). Got down there, I met Kathie and got my carriers, loaded the rabbits, got my check out packet and had my rabbits checked out and zip tied by Dan and put back in Kathies trailer within an hour. I then helped McKenna and Muriel with their rabbits. We loaded the rabbits into the van, went back and got our luggage and started our journey over to Detroit. Allen Mesick was supposed to drive us over to the airport and fill up our van, but things came up so Muriel drove. We filled up in Portland, Michigan (which is NOTHING like Portland, Oregon) and we did get pics of that. Since we can't pump our own gas here it was a first time experience for all of us :). When we arrived at the car rental a nice young man drove us to the airport, we uloaded, got the rabbits checked in (Ambrosinos and Kassi Sieber were right behind us). They patted all of our rabbits down and we then waited about an hour for our plane to arrive. Better to be early than late. :) Got on our long plane ride into Salt Lake City. We then had a 3 hour layover, but it was nice to look at the snow capped mountains and be able to breathe some cool mountain air. We then got on the plane to Portland. It was dark now. We were almost to Portland and we hit 150 m/hr head winds, which caused a lot of turbulance and it woke me up. The weather was just horrible and the landing wasn't 5 stars but hey, we were on the ground :) The rabbits made it safe and sound, Doug was waiting for us and Tom was waiting for Muriel, and we loaded all the stuff and drove back to Tigard. I took a nice hot shower and climbed into little Jeffrey's bed and I was OUT! I probably didn't wake up till 8 AM. Ate breakfast and helped McKenna feed and water the bunnies until my dad got there around 1. Got home late. Unloaded some of my stuff, took another shower and headed to bed. Thus here I am. I am still pooped.
Overall I want to thank........ first off my dad for doing all the driving. There was no where to safely place my car for a week while I am thousands of miles away. Doug, Janice, McKenna - Doug for driving us to/from the airport and Janice and McKenna for being my tag/room buddies at Convention. Muriel and Carol for being polite having the room next to us!!!! Jane Burts for being extremly understanding when my rabbits had no coops, Willis and Ed for getting my rabbits straightented out! Thanks guys! Roger for stepping in when you needed to! And for getting me a banquet ticket! Everyone was unbelievably friendly and outgoing. I met a lot of nice people and I can't wait to do it again!
[I will post pics as soon as I get them uploaded :)] --- And this is an extremly shortened version of my convention. I left out a lot of stuff.... SO much to report!

Off to convention!

I had quite the eventful weekend, it was good to be home. I did get sick though (sinus/nose) and I hope to get over it soon. I have been feeling a little better with each day. But I leave tomorrow!

Still packing. And I realize the longer I sit here, the less time I have to pack!

So.... I leave for Portland soon, wish me luck! I will have lots of pics and stories to post when I get back!!!!

On the Road

I came home early this morning, the rabbits were already loaded and ready to go and we made the 3 hour trip to Redding to drop them off to Teri. From there, she will drive them to Kathie at the Santa Rosa show. They will go home w/her until she leaves for convention, and they will have a long trip over to Grand Rapids, Michigan. Getting the rabbits out of the way certainly makes more room for concentration on packing/school, but I do miss them. When I came home and seen my 4 fave's empty cages I got a lump in my throat hoping that they will have a safe trip there.

I did manage a glance at the four I sent for myself. I must admit I made some nice choices and I hope they hold their condition. RW5 had a small profile, but very typey! Buster was lacking in the fur and a couple nit picks, but I still liked his overall flow than the other two BJB's I had. Stitch looked nice for his age and Kokomo had a glow to her. I just don't want my rabbits to place dead last, otherwise I could care less how they do. I'm going for fun and mainly to compete for royalty and represent Oregon :)

In the meantime there were no success in breedings. I don't think I posted but I did breed my Satins does. Hopefully all three of them took :) It has been a long week and now I begin to prepare packing for convention. If I feel a little better, I might go out and clean some cages and move some rabbits around. I also have to evaluate my juniors because I still have people interested in rabbits, and I do need to downsize more.

Convention Countdown

As I sit here by the calendar, I realize there are only 14 full days until Conevntion starts. 11 days until I leave. I deliver my rabbits this Friday to my transporter. And I was just filling out a state royalty application in May. Where did the time go?

I have a butt-load of things to do. And where it's raining and freezing cold out, I can only do the things inside right now. Many of which I can't do because my clothes are in the dryer.
I need to:

• Decide which clothes I will take to convention, and how much suitcase room I need. Wether or not I need to take two suitcauses and a carry on or if just the big and small one will be enough. It is going to get cold there, so I will have to dress in layers I suppose.
  
• Clean my carriers! I do not know of Teri will be taking them with her or not. Either way I don't mind, but if she does, they need to be clean and fresh!
  
• Continue preparing the rabbits. There are still some who need some grooming and I forgot to clip a few nails.
  
• FEED! I still have to figure this issue out. I have 13 days in which my rabbits will eat 60 ounces a day (6 ounces x 10 rabbits). I have 6 days where 5 rabbits will eat 6 ounces each. That's 60 lbs of feed. I figure since the rabbits will stress a 50 lb bag will do the trick, but how do I get 50 lbs of my feed to convention, where convention does not supply my brand of feed?! I have to find dealers near Grand Rapids and see if any of those carry Nutrena Ring Master.
  
• Decide what I will use for cage markers. I want to use my blue cage tags that I use here at home, but I do know they are common and I'm sure I'm not the only one who has thought of that.....
  
• Charge all my batteries. I have like 3 or 4 sets and they take like 16 hours each set to charge. Since I don't want to be on battery watch, I'll do them in the sleeping hours.
  

I am sure there is much much more, I am just not thinking of it all right now.... ha ha....

Long Week / Portland Trip / RVRF Show

Sunday, Monday and Tuesday went well. Seemed to go by very slowly.

Wednesday a few friends and I went to Portland. We had one idea on our agenda, we wanted to go to OMSI! We left at 7 AM, and arrived in Portland shortly after 1. We toured the exhibit halls (which were very fun and entertaining). At 2 o'clock the Body Works Production was on the OMNIMAX theater [10x size/quality sound; in a dome] and it was really neat. We then toured the Body Exhbits [bodies/parts that have been fixed for museum viewing]. We went to the Science Store, and there was a COOL rabbit shirt there [a dissected rabbits showing all ariteris and organs] but of course, I left my $$ in the car. Wed. nite we had to sleep on a floor since there was 7 of us that went. Wasn't bad, and ended up having lot of fun with my friends.

We left Portland around 6:30 and got back around 2 oclock. Have a few pics but need to download them. :)

Friday was my birthday. I turned 18 years old. Yay me. I didn't actually have a super exciting one though as we had just too much to do. Convention is coming up on us so fast and I had the RVRF show to prepare for today!

Speaking of that show. It went very well! I got there around 7 AM. I unloaded my bunnies. The show got started around 8:30 and I went to work with Roger H. Now, Roger is a close aquantance, a local breeder, a well respected judge and our district 1 director. Let me say it was an honor to work with him [practicing for royalty, pursuing my judges licence in the future] but it was still very awkward. We got started though. A bunch of Mini Rex and a bunch of Dutch, so those were the only breeds we did in A. Potluck lunch was good. I sold two rabbits at lunch, so that opened up ahole. That hole didn't stay open long, as Mandy from Mandy's Monster Farm came up to me asking if I needed a ML buck. So... I looked at the pedigree.... Velotta's Drizzt. Gee... that sounded familiar. So I didn't *need* another buck, especially since I am supposed to be downsizing! But I went to look at the buck after I was done eating, and even though he was out of condition and a lil chunky, the type was there!

I came home, the buck is an RGC; 3 or 4 legs and placed 9th/53 at 2005 ML nationals in Maryland! He even has a RIS win. He is pictured at the top.

Show B started. We had Rex and Mini Lops. Respectively I pulled my two bucks out of contention so I could work the Mini's. The Rex were phenonmoal (sp?) I have truly never felt coats like that, and almost every single one of them had a sweet set of fur on them! Andre took BOB/BOS and the two that took it were very nice animals. My bucks placed 2nd to his boys in A, so I didn't feel bad. PJ (my homebred Satin doe) beat out BOUNCE, which I bought from Roger. I am not sure how BROOK placed, since there were so many blacks! Whoever got my animals to the table, I thank them :)

Tomorrow is filled with work / getting rabbits ready for Convention. I meet Teri next Friday, so I won't have any time during the week to get my buns ready.

The Satin Story

We don't talk about our Satins very much because our focus is always on our Mini Lops. But they have been a vital part of this rabbitry for almost two years now, so shouldn't I talk about how they came about in the first place? In 2004 I got the "commercial breed" bug. I wanted to raise a large breed of rabbit. I began my quest for Californian or NZW rabbits, but when found that those rabbits are not available in quality in my area, I turned to another breed. At our local fair in 2005 I found my self constantly gazing at the Satin rabbits. I had never really paid attention to them before except that they were big. I did some research and found out they were good meat rabbits, came in a variety of colors and had an awesome feel to their fur. I was hooked, this is the breed I wanted to raise!

I knew I had an awesome Satin breeder near me, and I contacted him around October. He didn't have anything for sale so I waited. March 2006 he e-mailed me and asked if I was still interested in Satins, and of course I was! He gave me two black intermediate does to start out with. I named them Jessica Simpson and Sarah Jessica Parker. In May, I was able to have them bred for Meat pens for county fair. I had them bred to a black buck "Bench". They kindled 7 & 8 kits each, all blacks and raised them successfully for fair. Thier meats pens were 1st in Open, Champion, Reserve Champion and 3rd in youth. I also had the Best single freyer. We put 15 juniors and SJP into the freezer that summer. We kept the feet, tails, pelts and I gave my dogs the heart, kidney, livers and lungs. There was very little to discard. We kept one of the junior does, we named her Brittney Spears. In the meantime, I purchased Porky, a broken red buck from Melissa Magee in Crescent City. He would serve as our herd buck. In December I bought a mate for Porky, a red doe and I also picked up a copper doe from the Fenton family at the Red Bluff show.

I bred the Satins in January of 2007, giving me two litters in Feb. Jessica had 5 and Brittney had 3. I sold Brittney's broken buck and Jessica to a Satin breeder here in Grants Pass. "Bandit" won BOB in Crescent City earlier this month! I kept one of Jessica's babies, which I still have today. "PJ" has turned into an awesome doe! It just amazes me how she has turned out.

Around March, I decided the reds and coppers were just not going to work out for me. I sold Porky, Ilana [+ her two does], Sanetti, Brittney [bred] to a nice lady up in Eugene. I miss Porky, I miss him a lot. But hopefully he has a nice home and is being used more often for reds. With that sale, it left me with one Satin in the barn, "PJ". I had decided I wanted to do black & blue [broken/solid] varieties only.

So, I contacted Roger, and I did have to wait a while for him to sift through 175 juniors so I could come and pick a couple out. I took a trip over there this July and picked out three Satins. A black doe [who looks very nice!], a broken doe and I even came home with a black buck. I thought the buck was pretty stinkin nice, so he came home with us too :) So currently my Satin herd stands at 4. I doubt there will ever be a day that there will be more than 5 seniors. And most likely, with me going off to college, the Satins may be non-exsistent after next year. My true love falls within my Mini Lops, and where I have a strong hold onto the Satins, I always have access to great stock. There truly are great Satin rabbits here in the northwest :)

Boog will be 7 months old in December and we are going to try to breed him to our three does. We are going through Satin-baby withdrawls!

Bad News / Cleaning

I should start off with the bad news first. MAD lost her entire litter :( It was a huge dissapointment to find that this morning and we have no clue what could have happened....

On a more positive note, we let Hab back in her cage for a few hours while we were cleaning. She stretched her back legs really good and put her weight on that leg. It seems to be a little crooked, but she's doing well, eating well and continues to have a good attitude.

We moved a few rabbits around. I took Cloey and Peppercini's babies away from them and put them all together in one of the junior cages. I also took some pics of my juniors :) I am very impressed with what I have got. LGB3 will be Buster's backup for convention. He's a very promising buck. LGB1 also looks promising! BK1 looks very nice, as does BP1. These are all of Boomer's kids! Cloey's solid opal is a doe :) whoops. So either the solid or broken will be available in December. They both look pretty nice.

I dumped every tray in the barn. I got my carriers down that I will use for RVRF next weekend. I still need to clean the trays out though and re-fill them.

I am making convention transport plans currently. I might be switching transporters, and we might be making a trip down to Santa Rosa because of it. :) We'll see.

AZ pops / long week

Arizona kindled this morning, three healthy kits! 2 solid and 1 broken :) Sire is Boomer.

It's been a long week. Just have been getting caught up with things. Really cracking down on the convention plans, it's creaping up closer and closer!

I got 200 lbs of rabbit food today... 100 of the professional and 100 of the show. That should last me through convention time.... The brand of feed I use will not be available at convention.

Tomorrow I will be cleaning rabbits and cages before convention. I have just a couple rabbits that were on litters that really look down, I will trim all nails. I also need to move a few rabbits around and that involves cleaning cages. I also have a couple trays to dump. The work never ends.....

On a more positive note, I will be conversing with a young adult from Palastine, either WestBank or Gaza here soon. It will be an internet pen-pal community thing I am getting involved in. I might blog some on that when I get around to it.

I got my show reports from Yreka and Crescent City shows. I love it when they all come back correct :)

I'm going to try to breed some rabbits this evening, so I may update who I get bred. [if any, haven't had much sucess with the weather...]

MAD pops :)

MAD is a natural born mother. Her not being due till the 20th or 21st, I wasn't expecting to see babies this afternoon.... but she had NINE! Just like her momma :) Will post pics soon.

Big N' Fat

Who's big and fat?

Arizona Sunset and MAD is who is fat. Came home and Sunset was stretched out in her cage today and it dawned on me her & MAD are due soon... when soon.... the 20th! But then I look over at MAD, and she has nearly DOUBLED in size! She looks like a bit fat marshmellow with blue dots... I'm takin' numbers on her expected litter size.... I never palpated her so I truly have no idea how many buggers she could be hidng in there. MAD was 1 of 9 children, so maybe she carries the big momma gene. :) We'll see, she gets her box soon.....

RVRF entry

I decided to send my RVRF entry out this morning, as if I wait until next week, I am bound to forget!!!!! I had to go out and weigh bunnies [the Satins] to make sure they were within their limits. They have gotten to be such fatties! PJ was nearly 9 lbs, Brook was about 7 3/4 and well I forgot to weigh Bounce, but she weighs more than Brook!


I entered:

• PJ - Satin Broken Intermediate Doe
  
• BOUNCE - Satin Broken Intermediate Doe
  
• BROOK - Satin Black Junior Doe
  
• Mr. Miami - Mini Lop Solid Senior Buck RGC; 6 legs
  
• Hollister - Mini Lop Bropen Senior Buck RGC; 6 legs
  

I might bring a couple sale bunnies... If so I would bring Kaluah and BBLH3. That is about all I could bring at this point, since I haven't chosen my keeper broken boys from Renee and Gigi's litters yet. Maybe I should do that today....

I also sent out the pedigrees on my sold rabbits for Convetion. I am espeically going to miss Boomer. He's such a cutie! And Blue Bijou... the world's greatest mom... well Peppercini & Cloey get those awards as well. But I hope their new owners spoil them rotten :)

Random thoughts - rabbits and otherwise

So, we have just gotten busy since I decided to go to Michigan. Which was a BIG decsion, to say the least. I figured... it's the last year I can compete for royalty [and if I didn't go, Oregon wouldn't have a team], all my family lives in Michigan... and it's the last year I'll be able to attend a convention, mainly because of school and... well... life goes on. That outweighed the school days I will miss and the money it will cost me.

But I am super excited, as is for everyone else. Before I even knew I was going [my parents bought my ticket for me] I had several e-mails from Oregon league members congratulating me and wishing me the best success. My friends [non-rabbit] are excited for me even though they really do not understand how the process works. I just know this will be an awesome, awesome one in a lifetime experience.

RVRF is rolling up fast. Just a couple weeks away. Entries are due postmarked on Wednesday. I think I will enter just five rabbits. 3 Satins and 2 Mini Lops. They are all looking fine and are in good condtion. The Satins.... PJ - a huge WOW on this doe, she still has a couple body faults, but that fur [which is 50% of a Satin] is to die for! So dense, and great texture! Brook is looking good. She's got a deep and massive body on her, good fur on her, she does have some scattered white hairs though. Which is one of the reasons why I chose not to send her to convention. Bounce -- Bounce is very deep, but I'm afraid doesn't have the width to balance at this age. She's got a pretty good fur on her, she's still young, but I wanted to compare her up to PJ. I would have entered Boog, but he's not feeling well right now. Miami looks great, and so does Hollister. Hollister was a late blooming buck, finally getting his coat after fair, and with his success at Crescent City, I'm going to take him, even though I swore I would be retiring him again!

Habanero is still in her carrier. But looks better and better everyday. She still carries that leg wrong, won't put it down straight, but she is putting more weight on it and is more.... content. She still looks utterly pissed for being stuck in a small carrier, but she is eating/drinking and pooping well. I am extremley depressed to be retiring her already! She is quite the fancy lady!

Convention bunnies..... I entered Stitch, Kokomo, Buster and RW5. For starters. RW5 has only been shown once. She took some 2nds to older does [as she was only about 10 weeks] and she had promising comments, just wasn't old enough to run with the big dogs. I figure give her another month and she may be spiffy. Buster... has only been shown once, at fair. He was just weaned and took a 2nd, I didn't care for the comments he recieved, but I didn't care for the judge either. I personally, think he is a promising animal. He's a stinker to pose but we will be working on that. His fur, hopefully will come in before then.... Stitch.... Should be past his prime, and I should have just retired him... But when I pulled him out the night of the 11th, I just couldn't leave this sucker home. He is such a nice buck! And I still, do wan't to thank Nicole for him. He is a HUGE sweetie! He completely molted out right after C.C., so he looks very handsome right now. Kokomo [which is a Stitch baby]..... The judges didn't agree with this doe at C.C. but I LOVE this doe. I think she's got a little bit of length/narrowness to her head, but she's got a good crown/ear and a terrrrrfic body! She also holds superior flesh and fur condition. So... she went on the list.

Have been trying to get a few does bred! I know I don't need any more litters right now... but some of these gals just need to be moms. And I need to use my boys! I have three leaving for convention and I need more of their blood!

I am going up to Portland on the 26th and 27th. Shall be fun with some of my amigas. Then I am coming back home for my birthday on the 28th, and then the RVRF show is on the 29th. I will be working with big daddy Roger Hassenpflug and practicing for Royalty! I need to start studying again.... I want to do rather well.... if that's possible....

until then, I am done rambling for now. Tomorrow I will re-try to breed some does and clean some trays. Maybe groom some bunnies. Or ride my horse. Who knows. :)

It's FINAL!

Well... I am going :) Where? National Convention!

So... there was this huge issue with me and convention and for a few weeks there I seriously thought I would not be going.....

BUT

I got da' bug. I bought my plane ticket and am sharing a hotel with some friends. I am bringing 4 rabbits to show and am representing Oregon and competiting in royalty, achievement and management [also team breed ID & judging]

I will undoubtedly have fun :)

I entered:
Boomer *Sold, to Ken & Hannah Henry, Ohio
Miami *Sold, to Eileen & Larry King, Maine
Blue Daiquiri *Sold, to Val O'Neil, New Hampshire
Peppercini *Sold, to Val O'Neil, New Hampshire
Blue Bijou *Sold, to Alicia Trickett, Massachussetts
Cloey *Sold, to Jessica Foster & family, New Jersey

Stitch, RGC 9 legs
Kokomo, RGC 3 legs [limited showing]
RW5 [shown at CC 10 weeks old; 2nds to a 5 month old doe]
Buster [not shown]

And I am coming back with a rabbit. I am trading Peppercini for Klara, a Chestnut VC doe, bred to a BEW buck. Hopefully she will travel well and bring BEW's to the West Coast Peppercini and BD will help implement strong type and genetics into the BEW line on the east coast.

What else... I will take a thousand photos [and yes, I will share them ]

Hind Leg Injury

First I will start off with the hind leg injury, a topic I have been hesitant to write on yet, but I need to get it off my chest..... Last weekend at Crescent City, I was busy working. I had asked others to show my animals for me. It worked well, my rabbits got up to the table and back into my carriers without little worry from me. In the 5th show, Randy Shumaker brought it to my attention that she would not pose correctly because of her back leg. He let her hop on the table and she for sure, was favoring that hind leg. He said she would have placed first and possibly have gone for breed, but he didnt want to stress her out more so I did take her off the table. When I got home, I placed her in a hay packed carrier. She has been in there for a week. In the evening I will take her out and put her in her cage while I clean the carrier and restuff it full of hay. She seems to be getting better, the swelling and heat has gone down. She is an RGC with 8 legs [2 BOSV, 3 BOS, 3 BOB] and those were in the bigger shows. I was going to take her to Redmond, Grants Pass, Grand Rapids and continue showing her this winter. Most likely I will be retiring her now, so that is quite depressing. She is a huge sweetie that doesn't deserve this.

Long week

We've had a long week. Just things to do, places to go and people to see.

We got the hay in yesterday. I am soooo happy because its the best stuff available and the lady remembered us from last year, so she saved back a couple tons, and even sold us a ton of her alfalfa that she had reserved for her own horses. We couldn't be more thankful :) I am also thankful for Mike and Trini for stacking it in the barn and my dad for driving. I couldn't do without those guys ;)

We're getting rid of 9 animals today. I just have no further need for them. All are juniors we have no intentions of keeping and yes, many could have been potential show animals, but the sales are just not coming in this time of year and I can't keep feeding them.

Took some pics and evaulated some juniors this morning. I like all of the babies in Gigi's litter. There is the 2nd best broken buck I will offer up for sale, he is very nice, so if he doesn't sell right away, I won't be unhappy. Peppercini's buck I decided on looks very nice. Kaluah's doe I am keeping is a seal chinchilla, but she is pretty promising as well. I put them in with Pep as Kaluah needed a break [much older doe, has had more litters, ect.]

Renee's litter is growing by leaps and bounds. Boy I know some of them could do well at Grand Rapids. The one doe RW5 is just "WOW" and the bucks are coming in right behind... the three stooges... they are so comical.

I decided to keep just 20 cages. They are all on one wall, neatly stacked. That would leave me 15 animals for seniors, 2 cages for growing out juniors and 3 brood doe cages. Pretty good eh?
So... I have a 3 hole hutch for sale [very nicely made!!!!] a single 24x24, a 18x20 [with tray] a 20x24 pet style condo cage [with tray, on rollers, all accessories] plus a double 30x30 cage.

Anyways, back to life. I'll try to update often.

Convention Canidates

So, convention entry deadline is coming up. The 11th. That is just a week away! My original convention plans have changed [yet again] and quite honestly, I am not even sure what I am doing yet!!
Cloey, Blue Bijou, Blue Daiquiri, Peppercini, Miami [poss. Boomer and Kaluah] will be entered, they have deposits down on them and transports secured.
As for Satins, all four I have look nice. But... I don't work with the Satins much so I doubt I will enter any.
Honey is too fat, Jenie is retired, Quintessence just doesn't have a flowing body I desire, Renee is retired and Habanero has a hind leg injury from this weekends show; even if she does recover, I still wouldn't risk bringing her. MAD will be on a litter, Gigi is on a litter, Stitch is past his prime, as is Hollywood, Sunset will be on a litter, Bridget and Lil' Hollister are past their prime showing ages.

What does that leave me?

Renee's litter, two solid does, two broken bucks and one solid buck. 4 of them had a major chewing war. 3 look salvageable if I seperate them completely. Blue Bijous litter I am afraid is a slow growing line, and even though they are older than Renee's litter, they just won't be there. That leaves me with Kokomo. [Hab is out]. 4 rabbits. Out of..... 19 seniors, 6 juniors and 13 babies. *sighs* A huge trip, for 4 rabbits to show and royalty and an experience to last a lifetime. What shall it be? Well I contact the travel agent tomorrow... so... we'll know sometime around then I guess. :)

Crescent City weekend!!!!

So... basically with me working and running around like crazy, I really have a half-buzzed idea of how my bunnies did and placed. But I had fun and learned a lot and had some more fun. I had a great time getting my hands on some animals with Melissa and Randy, I got to have about 25 different breeds under me between the two days. And I came back with zero pictures.... *sighs* But through other breeders I might be able to scramble up a few.

Sat A: Melissa M
BOS - LHHR's Habanero - 8th leg

Sat B: Cathy S
BOS - LHHR's Lil' Hollister - 4th leg

Sun A: Roger H/Allen M
BOS - LHHR's Lil' Hollister - 5th leg

Sun B: Leslie T
BOB - LHHR's Mr. Miami - 5th leg
BOSV- LHHR's Lil' Hollister - 6th leg
1st - LHHR's Quintessence - 1st leg

Sun C: Randy S
BOV - LHHR's Mr. Miami - 6th leg

BIS- Roger H's white Satin doe "Poetry" [she was a really nice doe!]

Youth A B
BOB - Stitch, 8th & 9th legs

Camping was a blast and the weather was good. Well everything was good. So go next year, or alteast mark it on your calendar :)

busy, busy

We're still pretty busy around here. We have the barn done and ready, when Mike gets back from up north we will go get the hay {thursday or friday}.

Friday evening will be spent getting ready for CC. I am actually rather excited for this show, so we will see how it goes :) An update on everyone we entered/are bringing:
Miami - looking pretty good, minor slip on coat
Quintessence - looks good, good flesh/fur
Kokomo - looks great, maybe pushing weight, slight slip to her coat
RW5 - looks good :)
Hollister - has one tinnny mat on his but, but he has the best fur condition he's EVER had, pretty good flesh for almost 2 yrs old too!!!!
Habanero - looks great :)
Bridget - still slipping in her coat, but not horrid
Sitch - almost completely molting otherwise looks awesome.

Bringing 4 young juniors to sell, perhaps another junior doe {smoke pearl steel or bkn black} but we will not decide until friday. Our cage space is limited.