It's almost over

Winter that is. The weather finally turned for the better, and it's more like a TN winter is supposed to be. Sunny and 50s. Most of the snow is gone. It still lingers where the sun doesn't shine, but that should be gone soon too. Supposed to be this nice for a few days. Aaaah.

The hose was open so I could water all the animals without hauling water jugs. That gets old. With several weanling litters in the brood holes, even the bigger bottles empty fast. I often think about investing in an automatic water system. However, even though it's more work, I can easily monitor water intake with water bottles. If a rabbit isn't getting water, it's immediately noticed by either an empty or full bottle. A full bottle means the nozzle is clogged. You can't see that with an auto system. A full feed cup is another indication of lack of water. Rabbits won't eat if they're thirsty. When I see they haven't eaten much, I look at the bottle.

When I go out in the morning to feed, I can hear an empty bottle and immediately look to see who it is. An empty bottle makes a different sound when the rabbit is working the nozzle. I think they know this gets my attention, too. Ok ok, I'm coming!

The warmer weather means I can open up the door and windows during the day. The rabbit shed gets real stuffy when it has to stay closed up to conserve heat. Even with the "Brush Clean" system that's cleaned every couple days, urine fumes build up fast. All I need is a calm clear day above 35 degrees, but it's hardly been that all winter!

Dalton, GA show is coming up in a couple weeks, and I'm looking forward to it for a lot of reasons. I've only been to one show this year due to the weather. I see friends at this show I don't see as much. I'll be clearing out the sale page delivering everything there. It's a big, rather crowded and hectic show, but even that's fun. It's an easy drive because I don't have to drive over mountains to get there. Late winter/early spring weather usually isn't a problem.

And I'm picking up a new buck! I'm excited about this guy. He's a typey little Opal. I've been keeping an eye out for something else to help the brokens along. Checked in a friend's sale page and there he was....just what I needed. My chestnut buck is doing good things for broken type but he doesn't carry dilute. Most of my broken does do. This opal should help give me some blue things in the nestboxes again.

The timing is perfect! I have several broken does that will need rebreeding by the time he gets here. Their litters are 4-6 wks old now. I almost bred some of them last week. I was down to repeats with the black or chestnut bucks, and couldn't make up my mind what to do. I have choc and blue jr bucks but they aren't old enough. Well, the choc is maybe ready, and I might even give him one of those does.

I've been putting together the show string for this show. I had to take Rayven (black doe) off the list yesterday. Little darling grew a dewlap! Grrrr. I was giving her show conditioning rations and she goes and stuffs it into a dewlap. She is in beautiful condition otherwise, too. So she's going on smaller pre-breeding rations and will be bred soon.

I should have expected it. She came from a BUD who had one. It seems to be genetic. I've been pretty lucky in that respect. It's not an issue I've had to think about too much. Also, both her and her choc sis Rana have really fluffy neck ruffs. This is probably a good indication for future dewlap. I've had Rana on smaller rations for a while, and she doesn't have it yet. Unfortunately, once the dewlap is there, it can't be dieted away.

How many buns I enter will depend on how many carrier holes I have left after I fill them with pre-solds. Right now, I have 2 or 3 selfs, 3 himis, and 2 brokens. I'll cut the selfs if I have to because I really want to show all the himis and brokens. I have the first of the Raspberry Run sons that look so good, and a broken chestnut I want to test for his lack of full butterfly. All opinions say he should be ok, but he only has a few freckles in his whisker bed. He's so nice otherwise, I have to try.

All for now

26 days until Spring!

tnt

Herd reduction successful.

I'm very pleased with how the BEW sell out went. I had a lot of hits for individual rabbits the 1st day, but I held out for a buyer for the entire herd. A serious and intelligent BEW breeder came along the 2nd day, and I'm very happy with my choice of buyer. I'm confident they will take my work and move it forward, and my lines will live on. Maybe someday I'll see a descendant of my beloved stock kick tail on the table!

They aren't leaving for a few weeks. In the meantime, I'm giving them more of my attention. I will miss them so, and want to enjoy them while they are still here.

This also made the overall reduction very successful. After they are all delivered in a few weeks, I can do some rearranging and spring cleaning. Several does are coming to breeding age and they can move into vacated brood holes. It should be warm enough to move the bucks and jrs out to the Summer House.

Yikes! I might be strapped for carrier holes! I'm delivering around 14 head to that show. Some jrs and mom + kit can share a hole. I might not have enough room for my show string. I'll have to look at that. Might not be showing as many as I planned. I do have a couple carriers without dividers that I use for transporting groups of bunnies. I might have to put the dividers back in. I wonder where they are.

My local TSC had a sign posted near the feed that they'll take bunnies in March. They only sell bunnies and chicks in the spring. Perfect timing for me. I have culls in current litters that can go then. If there are any pet buyers reading this, now would be the time to let me know. I'm not holding onto them any longer than necessary.

I discovered a way to give the busy buns something to do. I've always put hay in their racks. Some of the boys think this means playtime. They immediately dig it out and strew it all over their cage. The next door neighbor sees that this looks like fun and soon all of them are doing it. An awful lot of hay is wasted. I noticed some would pull hay through the wire from a neighbor's rack. My cages are set up with space on top. Now I put a handful of hay on top of the cages, usually over 2 holes at a time. They have to stand up and pull it down a blade at a time. They get exercise and relief from boredom.

Snowing. Again. Cold. Again. [sigh]

31 days until Spring!

tnt

BEW Sell Out

With a heavy heart, I've made the decision to sell out of Blue-Eyed White. This is really hard for me, they've been a major part of the rabbitry for over 8 years. I will miss their beautiful blue eyes and quirky personalities.

My reasons have to do with the overall plan to maintain a much lower head count. As of now, the BEW herd is at a standstill. They've gone as far as they're going to with the current stock. The only way to move forward is to outcross again. That means at least 2 generations before I see results. Showable results, that is. I'm no longer willing to devote that much time and space to the project.

Details here.... For Sale. I've set a package price for the entire BEW herd as I'd like to sell them that way. I would love for someone to continue with what I've done so far. Otherwise, prices are firm for individuals.

In other news. It's COLD! What a wicked winter it's been in the south this year! I didn't get much snow out of the latest round of storms, but parts of the deep south were hit pretty hard and they're not used to it.

I keep telling myself...February is half over....it will get better soon. It has to, right? Right?

Happy Valentine's Day!

33 Days Until Spring!

tnt