I have some Xmas babies. Yay!
Shadowland's Honeycomb (tort) x Raspberry Run Messenger (himi) had 3 on 12/26. 2 black, 1 tort. The tort program is off and running. She made a lovely nest and is taking good care of the litter. I'm always a bit nervous about does I didn't raise, but she's a pro. She's even accepted the cold weather routine where I take nestboxes in the house at night. Have to safeguard this litter. There was also a peanut but I don't know what color it was. It was lighter than the tort so maybe blue tort, or dare I say sable pt.
I was hoping for more torts, but I'll take it. Black carrying for tort is almost as good, and they're also carrying himi which I can use in that program. She kindled early in the morning, and I'm calling the birth date 12/25 since it was so close. Is it a terrible lie to say they were born on Christmas Day? I think not, and I can give them holiday names.
New thoughts about Messenger. I've been calling him "tort himi". His color is rather light, and when I bred him to sable pt, I got all sable pts. So I assumed he was in fact tort, but I guess not. The blacks prove he isn't or there would have been all torts. I guess he's really "sabled himi". He's out of sable pt which explains his light uneven point color that often happens to himis out of shaded.
Flashdance (broken black) x LB92 (broken otter) had 2 on 12/27. 1 black, 1 black otter. Alas, no brokens, but I'm very pleased with this little girl! She's so small, I didn't know if I'd ever get anything from her, and this was just her 2nd attempt. I was taking a big risk giving her to LB because he's so big. He maintains at around 2.10 or more, but he seems to mesh well with does smaller than him, and this litter proves it again. I won't be keeping the otter, and normally I'd cull it right away. Since she only has 2, and I don't have a foster to give her, I'll let her raise both to keep the black safe. I'll definitely repeat this match.
The other does didn't do so well. Dreamcatcher x Artisan had 5, but only one was born live. I don't know what happened. She's 60/40 for reliability. They were all broken, too. The survivor is a cull as it has no butterfly or ear color, and it might be a sable chin. Fugly. I gave it to another doe and don't really expect it to survive in that nestbox. If nothing else, it proved Artisan for his new owner.
That other litter would be Chevelle (himi) x Dot.com (broken black). She had 2, but only one was alive. At least that's a good sign for her future success. But I don't like her kit either...it's charlie-marked. I gave her the Dreamcatcher kit and left them in the barn last night. It's wicked cold this morning at 11F so I won't be surprised to find them dead when I go out there. The heaters can only do so much.
Rayven (black) x LB failed again. She just dumped a DOA peanut. I don't know what her deal is. She was such a good doe, but now not so much. I don't think it's due to LB (she's another small doe). Her last litter with him failed too, but the one before that was fairly successful in raising one to weaning.
Voodoo Chile also failed. Again. I guess it's time to give up on her. She's so gorgeous, it kills me I have nothing from her. She was due today but dumped a peanut on the wire 2 days ago. Didn't pull any fur. I hadn't given her a nestbox yet because she hadn't asked for it. Just in case she has more coming I gave the box. If she does drop more today, I don't have any hopes. Remember I said how cold it is.
In other news, I think the blue w/brown eyes is a fader. Didn't look good yesterday. It's going on 5 weeks. Darn. Even though it had those odd eyes, the blue color was real nice, and I probably would've kept it for the dilute gene. Oh well.
The south enjoyed a white Christmas. Some areas hadn't seen it in decades or ever. I got 6" or 7" here. Surprisingly, areas south and east of here that rarely get snow got a lot more. It was a steady fine wet snow that went on for a good 2 days, and stuck to everything. Very pretty, but I don't appreciate the novelty of snow the way most southerners do. I moved down here to escape it.
They're calling a major warm up for the new year...50s and even 60s. I can't wait for that! It also makes it more possible for me to do the 1/1/11 (how's that for a cool date!) Taylorsville show. Here's hoping that easier winter I've been waiting for will happen for the rest of the season. Although, a fast snow melt and the rain they're also calling is going to make a big muddy mess.
Today I'll be tattooing some jrs, and making final decisions about what to move out. I've been on the fence about a few.
tnt
