Ok. Got that gripe out of my system. What else?
I'm glad I have no litters due right now. Although it might be ok if I did. I moved all the buns into the shed when I saw the forecast called for all freezing nights. I've been running 1 heater, but had to dig out the other this week. 1 is enough to keep water from freezing when it's above 20, but any lower, I need 2. It's actually not bad in there with both heaters, so chances for litters surviving are better. There's none due until around Xmas, and hopefully the weather turns by then.
Allow me to endorse the electric oil-filled heaters. I highly recommend them for this purpose. They're similar to this....
It's real efficient, and most important, it's safe for a rabbit barn. You can touch the coils and not get burned. I lay my gloves on it to warm them up, and even a nestbox that needs warming. I've thawed water bottles on top of it. I don't have to worry about hay or shavings (I store them well away from it to be safer), or the wood floor of the barn catching fire. One time a kit just a few days old, somehow escaped and ended up on the floor. I found it under the heater where it stayed nice and warm. Smart little bunny! You can pick up this heater for about $40 which I think is very reasonable for the great job it does. I've had the 1st one for about 6 years and it still works just fine. Might have to replace it eventually as the surface is getting a little rusty. Not sure how that affects its efficiency.
Remember the near disaster with Infinite Detail's litter? Here's what I got out of that.
The dotty kit is as close as I've got to my beloved Dot.com. This isn't out of Dot, but ID is related to him. Cousin or something. It's iffy for showing, but if percentage of color is based on placement, it might be good to go. There are dots everywhere...even on the tail and elbow. The head markings are perfect.
Normally, the 2nd kit's pattern would turn out messy later, but knowing this broken line as I do, I think it will be pretty clean. Stunning, isn't it? The other 2 in the litter are solid black and siamese sable. Now I know ID carries shaded. I really didn't think she did as there's been other opportunities for it to show up.
This is Dot.com as a baby.
Until he began to look like a bunny, he looked exactly like a Dalmation puppy! I was so proud when Jamie Green saw him for the 1st time, and gave him the BOG leg. Brokens were still pretty new then. He said, "I don't have anything like this!". For those that don't know, Jamie is the judge who got brokens accepted. Unfortunately, Dot went over legal weight when he was fully mature so he hasn't been to a show in a long while. He's not going anywhere, he has a forever home.
I'd give anything to get this dotted pattern consistently. It's an elusive goal as the spot patterns aren't as predictable as the blankets.
Keep warm! 100 Days Until Spring!
tnt
