More broken thoughts

The recent litters have me musing about how brokens and solids work together again. I'm probably repeating some of what I've said in a previous blog, but I can't remember exactly. It was long enough ago that it might be new to some readers.

One theory suggests that solids out of broken affect pattern. Supposedly, a solid out of broken will carry the broken parent's pattern. Dreamer's litter supports this. She had all brokens with her rather messy pattern. The sire is the black on loan, and I know his history. He came from a line of messy pattern.

Messy is what I call the kind of pattern often DQ'd for scattered white. It's not really scattered white, it's a freckled blanket that feathers when the guard hairs grow. Judges see it as scattered white. It's a frustrating double standard. I'm told that 6 or more white hairs in one place is considered a foreign spot on a solid rabbit. But the broken standard says that white spots in a colored area are allowed. These feathered freckles are spots and they are quite a bit more than 6 hairs. The spots are white to the skin.

I should mention that my over-50% brokens have a large solid area of color on the body. There are no white hairs to be found there. The messiness begins around the edges of the blanket where the freckles appear. It is NOT scattered white.

Back to the theory. I'm now wondering if solid out of broken has the ability to pull more brokens. It's pretty unusual to get all brokens in a solid x broken litter which happened in Dreamer's. On the other hand, I also wonder if pattern is a 50/50 thing. Rayven is solid out of broken x solid. She has never thrown a broken in 3 litters. Her full sis Rana, also solid, has (none alive). Did Rana get the pattern but not Rayven?

Which brings me to my theory that solids with no brokens in the background also affect pattern. But now I wonder how that is. I used to think (read it somewhere) that all solids carry a broken pattern as part of the genetic color code. It might even be related (strictly my speculation here) to the insidious spotting gene. I've had solids that gave great pattern almost every time, and some that never gave a broken keeper. Is it maybe that they actually don't carry a pattern at all? If this is true, it might explain why my little black buck usually pulls the pattern of his broken mate, and it was actually herself that threw the good pattern. Maybe other solids were just paired with mates that didn't throw pattern consistently?

In conclusion. Breeding broken dwarfs is still a crap shoot! I'm getting better type on the messy patterns (of course I am), and the cleaner spot or streaked patterns leave a lot to be desired. I plod along. I'm bound and determined to produce better brokens.

Nestbox News:

A few more babies.

Foxy Lady x Lil' Bit Farms LB92 - 1 broken otter. Nice pattern. Foxy and LB both have pretty clean pattern so I hope this kit will be a breakthrough. She also had a dilute broken. It was alive at birth but it got pretty cold that night. I barely got to the other in time to save it. Fostered to Infinite Detail so I can repeat this breeding right away.

Infinite Detail x Lil' Bit Farms LB92 - 1 blue, 1 charlie. Normally I'd cull the charlie but I decided to grow it to see what I've got. I. Detail is a broody-lookin true dwarf. I thought she was a BUD but she always throws peanuts. She and LB share a Darkside ancestor and I'm hoping they will mesh. That's the main reason for growing the charlie. I've yet to come across a true charlie. I've grown a couple to breeding age, but they proved to not be true charlies, just charlie-marked, so I quit trying. Maybe this time I'll get lucky. Of course, if the type isn't there, I won't bother. Oh yeah....there were also 2 peanuts. You know they had pattern! Grrr.

A couple others were misses. I was getting a bit worried that Camaro was shooting blanks. This is the first time I've used him. Both his does missed, and the one was proven. Yesterday, I tried rebreeding some, and I got mixed up. I put Anaba with him and when she fussed, I looked at her card. Yeah, I had already put her to him. Duh. I hope her vocal refusal means that she took this time.

Speaking of vocal rabbits. Don't often come across chatty bucks. Other than the squeak or moan of a successful mating, bucks don't have much to say. LB is an exception. He's pretty loud when he "gits her done", but then he goes on to talk to his doe some more. Wonder what he's whispering in her ear.

In other news:

Got the Fairview show this weekend. Even though I don't have much to show, I'm looking forward to it. From what I've seen in the grapevine, looks like a lot of people are planning to attend, so I'll see friends. Ugh, I have to tat a jr I plan to enter. Dislike having to drag out the tattooer for just one ear. I suppose I could tat a couple others I'm not showing or at this point planning to keep.

Last thought for the day:

I've seen a trend lately and don't know what to make of it. Actually not all that lately, but it struck me again so I'll mention it. Facebook. I'm not a big Facebooker. I check in, comment sometimes, but not a real user. I've seen a lot of breeders post their sale lists on FB instead of their website or forums. Is that really all that effective? You have your friends list, but aren't many potential buyers excluded? Do you only sell to "friends"? FB doesn't come up in a rabbitry search because most FBers use their real names. So all others would only find you via a breeder list or google for rabbit sites, and if you don't post your sales on your site, you just might lose a buyer. I don't email someone to see if they have something not listed on their site. I just assume they don't, and I bet there are others like me. I also don't accept or request friends just to have access to their FB. Some people seem to collect all the friends they can. If you have rabbits for sale and a website, post them on it and give everyone who is not a "friend" the opportunity to find you. A website are still a valid and important way to put yourself out there, ya know.

tnt

October

Chilly! The calendar and weather are matched for sure. Fall color hasn't really started yet, but there's bit of yellow and red here and there. It's also been very rainy. Almost steady rain for the last 5 days. I need to get out in the garden and start cleanup. The soaking will make pulling weeds so much easier.

But first I have to finish the project in the barn. I got one brood unit done in time for some litters that were due. The does are in the Summer House until their due dates, and I've been rotating them in and out as those dates come. If they give me a litter, they stay in.

Here's a pic of the 1st finished brood unit.



There were a few flaws in the original design. It wasn't that easy to clean the wavy panels, and it wasn't leak-proof. That's a needful thing with a wood floor. I laid flat vinyl flashing over the panels which solved the leaks. It can now be raked out much faster with a squeegy, and I can do light wet cleaning as well. The urine guards are attached to the frame instead of the cages which is part of the leak-proofing. Everything is directed onto the chute. The cage strips were attached directly to the legs, and the units couldn't be moved outside for heavy cleaning very easily. I added some support rails and the cage strips now slide out of the units.

I'll update the Barn page when it's all finished. Since I'll be maintaining a smaller herd, I eliminated the unit that stood in the middle. It was mostly in the way, anyways. I have the parts if I need to put it back together. This cut the barn back to 36 holes. In a pinch, I can use the Summer House for overflow during winter, but it's my plan to not need it.

Nestbox News:
Yes, I have some babies! Considering the does have been idle for most of the summer because of the heat, they've done remarkably well. Currently 2 does on litters and 5 babies. I'll take it! A few more due next week.

Rayven x Lil' Bit Farms LB92 - 1 black. It's a tiny thing and yay...not an otter. Also 2 DOA solids. Have yet to get broken out of this little doe.

Dreamer x Smith's DA - 1 broken black with her pattern. She had 2 DOAs and they were well-marked brokens, too. I love getting an entire litter of brokens out of a broken x solid pair. Fostered to Rayven.

Lady Blaque x Lil' Bit Farms LB92 - 1 broken black, 1 broken black otter, 1 blue. I'm very pleased with this litter! Only one otter and it's not the solid blue...yay. Oh and no charlies which would be expected from broken x broken. The brokens have plenty of pattern.

Do you get the feeling I don't like otters? Well, there's a lot behind my resistance to otter peer pressure, but I won't go into it. I can live with broken otters, but I'll cull all solid otters. LB92 is broken black otter so I'll get them. He's here as a parts rabbit for type and pattern, and the added bonus that he carries self and dilute. So far he throws more selfs than otters, and that works for me.

Guinea News:
Some came up MIA, and there's only 9 of the original 14 now. All the flocks (remember, there were 3) have joined into one. I can still spot the 2 original adults, but it won't be much longer and they'll all be identical. Yeah, those supposed-to-be pieds I bought from NC are not. Oh well, at least there's more genetic diversity. Next year, I'll see about bringing in more color variety.

Show News:
Next show is Fairview, NC. Don't have much to show, but it's so close I have to go. I'm down to 1 sr buck and a couple jrs. That's bad. Sr does that were doing well on the tables are now retired to breeding. Not breeding all summer meant few fall jrs. Sr bucks are off the show string for this reason or that. I'll get some litters out of them and then decide what to do with them.

Sadly, in the last couple months, 3 local dwarf breeders were forced to sell out due to personal circumstances. Seems to be a lot of that going around. We'll miss them and their lovely bunnies at shows.

Oh and one last thing. Dark Moon Graphix is now open. Offering custom web art design and a few freebies.



tnt