Well, the blog really got away from me. I'm afraid I'm not a very good journal keeper. Never even kept up a diary. Not a whole lot going on right now.
For a few different reasons, I haven't gone to all the shows available to me lately. Haven't had much to show anyways. The srs are molty, the js too young.
There's promising babies in litters, does are bred, and I hope to have some new faces to debut in a couple months.
A few highlights in litters:
A very cute himi popped out of Sweet Dream x Back In Black. Didn't see that coming. And yay, it's not a broken himi! The other kit is a mismarked broken. This was Dream's first successful litter.
Black Dahlia x Back In Black threw a chocolate tort. Oh joy. That's ok. It's a doe and a friend wants her for her oranges. My keeper in this litter is a very cute little broken black.
Painted Lady x Back In Black (he's been a busy boy) has a very promising broken black and an 8% broken tort. She's also raising a very nice little broken sia sable from Iron Maiden x Paint Job.
Iron Maiden x Silverado has 2 smoke pearls and a REW. Looking forward to seeing how that turns out.
I just took delivery on a couple new rabbits from Bruce Ford. I needed a type upgrade for the brokens and didn't know where else to get it. I don't like or want broken tan pattern, so otter was not an option I cared to mess with. So I will try agouti. Broken agouti is pretty. Bruce has the best chestnuts in the area for sure. I got a buck and a doe, and can't wait to see what I get from them. They are both young bunnies, just now breeding age. I held a few does open so I could use the buck right away. I wasn't sure how old the doe would be, but she's the perfect age for 1st breeding.
The other reason I decided to go with Ford rabbits is that I'm really liking what I'm seeing from the chestnut VM buck I got from him last year. He is doing good things for my BEWs!
In other news:
Stevie had kittens! Gah! I was told she was a male. I don't know from cats. I would have fixed her if I had known. She began to get fat and fatter and I realized she was preggers. She had the litter May 22. Somewhere under the house. She brought them out on June 8. They were about 17 days old at that time. I heard them in the back deck garden. Actually, Whipper alerted me that they were there. He does the classic "Lassie" whine when he sees or hears small animals he doesn't recognize. I found 2 at that time, but when I put them in the crate I had originally set up for her to use, she kept trying to take them out. I put the crate in the house for a bit to calm her down. That's when Whipper heard the 3rd kitten in the garden. Once all 3 were in the crate, she settled down, and has left them there. They are all blue like Stevie, but one has white markings on face and toes. Stevie is off to the vet as soon as she can leave the kittens. I might keep the one with white markings and it will be fixed regardless of sex, too. I don't want any more unauthorized cats.
The guinieas hatched! Oh yeah, babies everywhere! The hen has been sitting on 26-27 eggs. Research said they should hatch in 28 days. On day 34, I was thinking about tossing them, assuming they weren't going to hatch. I found a dead hatchling on the nest! I looked over the clutch and found more eggs cracked. I brought them into the house to finish hatching under a warm lamp. 12 or so hatched, but I lost a few here and there. Final count is 7 viable keets. That's plenty! I didn't know what I was going to do with that many guineas if they all hatched and lived.
Sadly, I lost a couple of the adults about 2 weeks ago. One I found just a pile of feathers so something took it. I don't know what. I can't see that area from the house. They are always back inside the fence and on their roost by dark, so whatever it was took it during the day. Maybe a stray dog. Coyotes aren't usually that bold. Then a few days later, George, the original chocolate male, went MIA. Darn. That leaves the hen and 2 males. I found a site that shows keet color of the different varieties, and I think all but one of the 7 keets are chocolate like George. Cool, I was hoping he got his licks in.
Can't wait till the keets are big enough to go outside in a cage. They are currently in a rubbermaid bin in the kitchen with the heat lamp and it's kinda smelly.
Well, all for now. I will try to write more often.
tnt
