November

Since this blog has become a monthly thing for me, I think I'll just leave it at that.

Well, letsee, what's going on this month.

I have 3 new babies in the box. Better than none. Mustang Sally had a BEW and a VM, and she took on a blue fosterling from Cloud 9. A lot of failures lately. All does are bred. Something like 12 or 13 litters due. More 1st timers in the mix.



This is Anaba, a lovely little himi doe who has been doing really well on the tables. She already has 3 legs (at under 4 mos), and the last 2 were BOS! Sometimes I get a bit depressed about how I'm doing at shows, and then a bunny like this comes along.

I'm off to T-ville this weekend and this is probably the last show of the year for me. Not sure who I'll see there. There's another show in SC the same weekend (what were they thinking?) and half of the usual suspects are going there.

There's been several rockslides on the area's highways that will be causing a lot of travel problems over the next few months. Scary! So far my route to NC is still open, but who knows how long that will last. I'll be nervous heading over in the morning.

tnt

October

Again, I'm being bad about updating the blog.

The rabbitry is in a holding pattern right now. Not a lot of new litters coming in. Does are bred, but they are coming in staggered and not alot in each round. Last week, only 3 does were due and they all failed. A lot of the currently working does are 1st or 2nd timers that I'm trying to prove.

Black Majik. Don't know what to do about her. She's one of my favorite does. Not only is she beautiful, but she's such a pet. But she just can't have babies. I've only got a couple live ones out of her, and they were charlie-marked. The last was a pretty little blue doe that I haven't decided what to do about her yet. I like her type but as a broken she'll be useless. Probably not worth it when I have other broken does with much better pattern. Majik just dumped another DOA litter this week, and it was 3 days late in getting them out. She just has too much trouble. It figures she threw good pattern. I think I'll try her one more time and then decide what to do.

I acquired another new doe at the last show. Garrett's Pretty Broken is a -10% broken otter. I really like her type, not crazy about her being otter. I figured I'd give her a try (price was right) since I'm messing with broken chestnut. She is proven and I was told she threw a baby with more color than herself. The Ford's chestnut is proving to allow good pattern through so maybe he'll bring it out of her. And hopefully the litter will be chestnuts instead of otters.

I was pleasantly surprised at Taylorsville, NC 10/3. My little 12 wk old himi doe Anaba was BOS! She has the best point color of any himi I can remember at this age. I can't get over that fact that neither parent has outstanding color. The himi dam is so pale she looks like a REW. The himi sire (sold) I didn't know if blue or black until almost sr. There was also a REW in the litter which can diminish point color. Oh yeah and there were 5 in the litter and it was summer so can't say temperature had anything to do with it. I guess the modifiers were there to be had. I've bred the dam to the sia sable bro of this sire. He's also sold but not delivered yet. He earned several legs until his molt which the himi bro never did so maybe I'll get another keeper out of this doe. Then I plan to move her on. She's an awesome mother though, and I often keep these around as back up.

As I said before, things are in a holding pattern. I'm not doing as many shows for the rest of the year. I don't really have much to show except for a few young jrs. I'm not fired up to make the long drives to shows. I'd like to just sit back, breed and grow some offspring.

tnt

1st Fall show

Murfreesboro, TN. This is way over in middle TN and a 4.5 hr drive for me. Not so bad in the morning because I gain an hour for Central Time. I don't have to leave as early. But it's still a long drive either way.

Had good fun at the show. Muchly enjoyed time with friends. I emptied holes and the sale page delivering a bunch of buns. Only earned 1 leg with a bunny not of my lines so the showing aspect was soso for me.

I didn't mean to but I brought home 2 new bucks. Both from Smiths. The broken black goes back to a buck I loaned them. He looks a lot like mine but has a better body due to the Smith otter influence. He's kinda big at 2.08 and a little light of pattern, but for the price (free!) I'll give him a try.

The other is a blue JB. Now this was exciting for me because I've been needing/wanting one and the price was good, too. Not free, but definitely doable. He has a solid short body, very thick and well-furred ears, and a big head. At about 4 mos old, the head isn't much to look at but they said this line's head comes slowly. Maybe now I can get some decent broken blues. Have several broken blue does but the only dilute buck is Silverado who does not throw any pattern. Grrrr. Almost all the broken black bucks carry dilute, but I don't bred them as much to the blue does.

I did find some slightly mismatched nail color, but since he's slated for brokens, I'm not too concerned about it. If I show him, it will depend on the judges. If "DQ happy" judges are on the docket, I'll leave him home.

The day went long. It was a double plus ND specialty. I wish now I had passed on the specialty. Several other exhibitors did. I didn't get home til about 10:30 that night. It was a hard drive and I was whipped!

Next week is the Knoxville Fair show. Since I sold almost all the buns, I don't have any thing to sell at the fair. This kinda changes my need to go there. But I already sent entry fees so I'm committed. Oh well, it's a nice fair. Mmmm fair food.

The week after that is Greensboro, NC. I don't really like this show because it's so far and rather slowly run. I probably wouldn't do it if not for the fact that a friend is coming from out of state and bringing me a doe. It's a triple, but I've learned to only enter the 1st two or I'll get home way too late.

If only the current crop of broken babies were old enough to show. I'd be more excited about shows right now. Hopefully the upgrades from recently acquired stock will give better results next year.

tnt

This & That

Here it is, the end of August and the end of summer. It's been such an easy summer weather-wise, I hate to see it end. But I love fall almost as much as spring, so I'm looking forward to that.

I got the new Raspberry Run himis this week. I met Darrell in Sevierville. He and his wife were vactioning in Gatlinburg. Very pleased with the buns, and it was fun talking with Darrell.

Unfortunately, the doe ripped a nail off the first night so I can't show her for a while. Maybe the last show next month if the nail has grown out then. I'm going to try and finish the buck. He came with 2 legs.

That was really startling! I had looked in on the doe when I did feeding chores the next morning, but other than checking to see that she had eaten, I didn't look at her closely. Later, as I watered, I found bright blood spattered all over her water bottle! Oh no! I then saw a lot of blood under her cage. I pulled her out and looked her over. My first fear was her face or a tooth or something. Not a speck anywhere! Then I found the missing toenail. Whew! It's amazing how much blood can come out of such a small toe! There is a nub of nail left so it will grow back in time.

This is the most I've EVER paid for rabbits so I worry about them.

Another himi doe I had bought earlier this year died before I ever got a litter out of her. I don't know what was going on with her. I suspect she was retaining kits from one breeding to the next. Very weird and nothing I'd seen before. She was a rather big girl, and seemed built for brood, too. She died 4 days before her due date. If the retained kits were happening each time, I'm guessing some sort of toxic reaction. I didn't pay a lot for her but had high hopes as this breeder had really nice himis.

I had thought to get out of Sable Pts, but it turns out the buck is carrying it. So I pulled Angeni off the market to use with him. They got together this week and she is due late Sept.

The herd reduction has gone very well. Most are pending delivery to Murfreesboro. What's left will go to the Knoxville Fair next month as pet sales.

The babies out of Ford's Ranger are looking soooo gooood! I love the brokens and even the unexpected chin is lookin nice. I think I have a buyer already for him. I'm not messing with chin unless I get a really nice broken chin. That could be rather pretty.

Got a few does bred this week. It's been real nice that the summer hasn't been too hot. I haven't had to suspend breeding due to excess heat like I usually do. It's really nice to not worry about kits dying of cold if the doe doenn't handle it well.

The fall shows are firing up, and I don't have much to show! Srs are too molty, or trying to finish their coats. I've culled so hard, I don't have a bunch of jrs and even those are at the rough coat age. I may have to pass on the longer distance shows for a while. It will depend on what I show, sell, or buy.

tnt

Dog Days

Ah August. Actually, it's been a real easy summer. Not too hot, enough rain. Oh I said that before. Well it's still true!

As I said before the new chestnut buck is proving very interesting. I'm learning a whole new set of genetics here. There were 2 mystery kits in his first litters. The solid looked like a smoke pearl marten but has turned into a chinchilla. Hmmph...and it seems to be shaded chin. I'll toss that as a pet. The broken in the other litter really had me stumped, but it now looks chin, too. Again, lookin shaded but maybe it won't be as noticable on the broken pattern for show. Judges don't seem to notice slight anomalies in color on the brokens. I won't keep the solid chin, and not sure how to use the broken chin. It wasn't my plan to have chins.

This makes me rethink the entire shaded program. If broken is to be my focus,and it is, should I even bother with shadeds any more? Other than the BEWs, I kinda need everything else to work with the brokens. Yeah, shadeds might have to go.

So what am I doing? I'm currently making arrangements to have a pair of himis from a superior line upnorth brought in. I said before that doing himi AND broken is a bit self-defeating, but I do like himis for their simplicity. Not a lot of color issues once you get all the correct modifiers in place.

tnt