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
