Happy Holidays

Things have been going better in the rabbitry. Chevelle's litter is 2 sable pts and a siamese sable. Cool! Their eyes are just starting to open. Hope there's something I can work with.

Got almost all the does bred. Finally! How frustrating it's been. I resorted to shuffling the does around, putting them between 2 bucks. Had empty holes between bucks and if the does wouldn't lift that day, I switched them back and forth in the empties which finally worked. I'm calling this method "buck overload". Flood the does' senses with buckness.

The one broken doe that would not breed, turns out she was pregnant! Ohhh...ok. She dumped a dead kit on the wire after the latest attempt with the buck. Just the one and I'm sure it would have been DOA in any case. Just goes to show you, it can happen when you think it didn't. I was sure she never lifted for him. Since I'm not sure when she was bred, I can't say if it was born on time or if she was retaining it and the buck jiggled it out of her. I tried rebreeding her a couple days later, and she was VERY eager. They had much fun together that day! Now if she'd just have a live litter. She's one of my nicest broken does.

The only does still open are the new himi I talked about last time and Chevette. Her 4 himis are almost 6 wks, and normally I would have waited until this week to wean them out. When I pulled her out to breed, I realized how skinny she is. It's awful, poor darling. Someone was digging out feed so I wasn't topping off the J-feeder like I normally would. Chevette had never been a digger so it had to be the kits. As a result, she wasn't getting enough to eat. I pulled the litter out last week, and she's on hiatus until she regains weight. Now that she's alone, she's eating GOOD!

Oh and the black Smith's buck who was such a wimp finally got his groove back on. He's happily and aggressively breeding anything I toss at him. About time! I wonder what his deal was all year.

I have a very promising broken black buck from that Smith's sire. Out of Baroquen. There were only 2 brokens in that litter, just barely 10% (IMO). I kept the doe, but the buck had bad teeth and I dumped him outside in the Summer House with some other weanlings until I decided what to do about him. The teeth looked like they were going full-on malocclusion and I figured I'd be dealing with him terminally. Darned if they didn't correct on their own, and he's looking really good at almost 4 mos. Glad I didn't throw him away just yet. I moved him back into the shed so I can work with him. Since I figured he was history, I hadn't been handling him much, and he's a wild man! He's starting to calm down and behave on the table.

Here's hoping for a better new year in the barn.

tnt

Surprise Package

Some of my friends know a little about this. Here's the whole story.

It started just before Convention. Talked to my friend Brenda just before she headed to Convention. She asked if I needed anything, and I said maybe a Sable Point doe. I gave her the criteria for the doe, and told her to get Gary Smith's opinion if she found something. Talked to her while she was there (I knew right away that Blue Torts passed), and she just said Gary was working on it. I didn't know what that meant as I figured he was much too busy to put much effort into it. So anyways, nothing came of it and I didn't think about it anymore.

The Smiths called me this past Sunday afternoon. They were on their way home from somewhere up north. PA or thereabouts I think. They had gone to pick up some new chickens, visited some relatives, and apparently picked up something for me. I was to meet them in Erwin (about 30 mins from here) as they were coming down that freeway. All I knew was that I needed a cage.

I had about 3 hours to kill, so I posted that on Facebook. Brenda slipped up and gave it away that it was a rabbit. Whew! I was actually worried they were bringing me a chicken as I had mentioned I needed some Cochin hens when he had some to spare. I really can't integrate another bird into the flock right now. It's a mixed flock of hens and roosters and for now everybody gets along. I'm sure a new bird would disrupt the order, so I really don't want more until I can set up for it. I digress, but that's to give an idea of what was going through my head while I waited to meet them.

After hello hugs all around, they pulled out a 4-hole carrier.



OMG! It was full of Sable Points! 1 buck, 2 does, and a himi doe. The buck is the dark one in the lower left. BTW, I was still so rattled by the time I got them home for this photo, it didn't occur to me to open the top. I think I was worried they would try to get out while I was lining up the shot, but none moved a muscle later.

So the rest of the story came out. The Smiths knew the Zimmermans for many years and had bought lots of rabbits from them. The Zimmermans raised Sable Pts for longer than that. They were selling out due to Mr. Zimmerman's health, and had already sold what they brought to Convention. The Smiths talked them into waiting to sell any more until they could pick through them. They had already planned the trip north. Their trip was delayed a week and Mrs. Zimmerman needed them to pin it down as she had a lot of other buyers in line. The Smiths said please please wait, we are coming. The Smiths don't do Sable Point, never have since I've known them. This was all for ME! They are the best people, the best friends anyone could have!

I don't know what the deal was, but I was assured it wasn't a fortune. Gary (who is apparently good at this according to Susan) guilted them into a real sweet deal. They wouldn't take any money from me. Hell, they wouldn't even let me buy them dinner! We met at a restaurant. Oh and I had only brought one of my small single carriers assuming it was one rabbit. It was actually still in the car as I had just used it a couple days earlier to deliver a pet. So I have the Smith's carrier for now.

So more about the rabbits. They are all older, but well-proven. The buck is about 4 years. The does are between 1.5 and 2.5. The buck is Jacob's "ear#" (Mark Jacob) with pure Covert's on the dam's side. He's pretty dark and smutty but very good type. I can work around the smut. I'm just calling him Jacob since he's my only Jacob's rabbit. The does are Zimmerman's with a smattering of Covert's, Bun'nays, Blaine's, Jacob's (to name drop) and imports in the 3rd. One of the SPs is a brood doe but my taste in a brood doe as in not too big ugly. The other is a beautiful clean show doe. That's her in the upper left. The himi, also nice brood, was thrown in the deal at the last minute and she's out of the same Zimmerman lines.

I gave them a couple days to settle in and then tried breeding the does. I know that does will often breed after a major change and long car ride, and they did. So the 2 SPs are bred. MY does won't breed, but at least these would!

The himi might be a problem. Before I put her in her cage, I put her (as all of them) on the table for another look, and flipped her over for a quick exam. I noticed her hocks were a little sore. Not oozing, but bare and rough. The next day I noticed she was acting funny. It was like she had never been on a wire floor before. She seemed to have trouble unhooking her claws from the wire or something, and when she stopped moving, she held a hind foot up. So I took her out for another look and all 4 feet are sore. Poor baby! Don't know what happened to her, but she might just be one of those rabbits who don't have enough fur on her feet. Or maybe she's a picker. I gave her a resting board which she really seems to appreciate. So it might be a while before I can try breeding her. Don't want to wait too long, she's the oldest of the 3 does. Maybe I'll try some Pen G. Never tried it on sore hocks before. Haven't had many and it's usually solved with a resting board.

In other news, I think I have a couple Sable Pts in the nestbox! Chevelle (himi) x Dirty Little Secret (sable pt) had 4 (1 peanut) this morning. They were pretty cold, she didn't put them where she put her fur, but alive. They are in the heat wrap right now. Seem to have revived OK. It's possible the 2 dark ones are cold himis, but I just had a litter of those from Chevette, and these are darker and more uniform than that. And I know Chevelle carries, where I don't think Chevette does. I'm probably wishful hoping and it's been a while since I saw SP in the box so I might be seeing things that aren't there. I was kinda hoping Chevelle fumbled so I could breed her to the new buck right away, but if they are Sable Pts, I'll take it. She'll definitely get Jacob next time, so anyone waiting for her to go up for sale, you'll have to wait longer.

I got out of all shadeds a couple years ago to concentrate on the brokens. Long story that I might have told here in the blog. That included my Sable Pt lines, and I've kinda regretted that ever since. I had them for a long time, and tried for them longer than that. I missed them. They're ba-ack!

tnt

National shows

ARBA Convention has come and gone. Everyone is now planning for their breed's Nationals in the spring. If they're lucky, they have litters in the box that will hopefully produce awesome jrs for it.

National conventions are rather elitist. Don't get me wrong. I'm not disparaging anyone who attends. I'm saying it's elitist in that it's not an "every man's" event. These big annual shows are the Super Bowl of the rabbit world. Some can be there in person, the rest have to watch from afar, and it's by the very nature of the event that this is so. Only an elite group can do it.

First, there's distance. The big national shows are held in different parts of the country each year, and the lucky ones are the ones who live nearby. The rest have to go to great lengths to get there. It could involve plane flights, or a great deal of miles and time in driving.

I have never been to Nationals or Convention, and I probably never will. The main reason is simple...I can't be away for that long. The rules for these shows prevent me from even considering entering rabbits unless it's very close to me, and I doubt that will ever happen. Unless it's in my region, I can't even visit it for a day.

There's the time. Dwarf Nationals runs for 3 days (check-in to check-out), not including travel time. Figure at least 4-5 days. ARBA convention is even longer. Like I said, I can't be away for that long. The best I can do is an over-nighter.

There's the rules. Entered/cooped rabbits have to stay for the duration, and even sale rabbits have to be cooped unless you can get around that by keeping them in your hotel room or vehicle. In my opinion, this is the most unfair rule. If my rabbits are done, as in they didn't go any further than variety or group (likely scenario), why can't I leave? If I could leave when I'm done like a local show, maybe I could figure out a way to swing it. But no. No rabbits are allowed to leave until check-out the morning after the last events of the show which is just the awards ceremonies and banquet. The rabbits were all judged the day before that so they don't need to be there any longer, but they can't leave until the designated check-out. I've never seen that, but I'm sure there's a lot of waiting in line and mix-ups and everything. I hear that this show or that one was pretty good for check-out, but that has to be relative. There's no way it goes very fast. I imagine how much easier and faster it would be if exhibitors could leave in their own time. The check-out people would have more time to avoid mistakes and deal with problems. So until that rule changes, I doubt I'll ever enter a national show. Unless it's so close, I can run back and forth from home as needed. Which isn't likely.

Then there's the expense. It's very expensive to attend a national show. The entry fees are at least 4 times higher than local shows, and local shows don't make you "enter" sale rabbits that you wouldn't enter any other time. There's the hotel, the gas, or the plane ticket which costs even more if it includes the animals. Breeders inflate sale prices to help cover these costs, so you will pay a lot more for a rabbit than you might normally. Again, it's an elite group that can afford all this. I'm certainly not one of those. Maybe I could if I could avoid some of the other costs, like an unnecessarily long hotel stay, which goes back to the rule that keeps my rabbits there longer than necessary.

I suppose I could enter and send a few with a trusted friend (many breeders do that), but I just can't justify it if I can't be there with my bunnies. I'll say it again. I'm not putting anyone down who lives and breathes for the big shows every year. I'm just telling you why you probably won't ever see me there.

tnt

December

I've been feeling the urge to be creative so I decked the halls. I also created a new logo and theme for the main pages. The piece above was the inspiration for the holiday theme. I created this a few years ago as a forum siggy. I love it, and don't think I can top it so I just keep using it. A light bulb went off above my head and the idea to decorate the homepage for the holidays was born. I'll save this page for each December. I'll return to the regularly scheduled homepage after the new year.

Hmmm. For some reason, the piece above isn't displaying right. Blogger limitation? You can see the true display on the site.

Not much happening in the rabbitry. Several does failed in the last few weeks. I have 1 measly litter of 4 himis out of Chevette, now going on 3 weeks. It's too early to tell if there's any keepers. I don't see anything as promising as Chevette was at this age, so not terribly optimistic about this litter. It was also supposed to give some color, but that didn't happen.

So I have several open does and no one will breed! Grrr. The Smith's buck who wouldn't actually wants to now, but now the does don't wanna. Same for the other 2 bucks I'm using (or trying to).

I've been trying to repeat Dreamspinner x Smith's BL4 that gave the 2 jr bucks I really like, but that's been a bust. She missed the 2nd time and dumped a DOA litter this week. 2 were peanuts and 1 of those was the only broken. It also took forever to get her bred because of unstudly BL4.

So feeling kinda discouraged right now, and I'm not sure what to do about it. The plan to get more color in the barn isn't working out very well either. The most colorful litters were the failures. I'll keep trying to get these stubborn does bred, but I find myself not all that fired up about it or shows or anything. I've already cut shows to the closest ones, and even then, I opted out of going to the last one. At this time, Spartanburg is the only concrete date (I'm obligated), but I know I won't be excited about that either. I only have a few jr bucks who will be sr by then. No, I'm not getting out, but I'm not really in right now.

It's been really mild so far this winter, and I hope it's finally going to be the winter I moved down here for...like the 1st 2 years I was here. I'm trying something different this year since it's been so mild. I'm leaving some bucks outside in the Summer House. There's 4 out there now, and I might move the other jr bucks out as well. I can easily keep up with frozen water bottles this way. I'm keeping extras for them in a pail in the barn, and when theirs are frozen, I can just switch them out. We'll see how this goes. It might get tiresome. One reason is that I have the 2 himi bucks out there who don't have great color. I know it's mostly due to their sire, but they are coming back from the summer heat. Keeping them cold might help, and maybe they'll be presentable by Spartanburg. And I have to go out there everyday for the chickens anyways.

The birds are doing fine. So far, I don't think the waterer has frozen, or at least not solid. It's been open by the time I get out there. So that might be ok. I haven't figured out a better way to give them water if it turns out it will freeze too much.

2 of the free range roos went gone. I assume the resident fox got them or maybe a hawk. That leaves Spiffy and REW Roo the Japanese. REW stays in the backyard fence (probably why he's still around) but Spiffy comes and goes as he pleases. That's why the others disappeared...they stayed outside the fence.

Tanner is gone. I couldn't take it anymore. He was just too destructive. The last straw was when he ripped the lattice skirting off the shed. I don't understand why he did these things. He couldn't be bored, he had Whipper who likes to play, lots of room to run, toys of his own, lots of interesting things going on, and plenty of attention from me. He didn't want his toys, just my stuff, and I couldn't break him of it. I'm also positive he was responsible for many of the bird and bunny deaths earlier this year, and I knew they'd never be safe. I tried to get through what I hoped was just his puppy phase, but at over a year and a half old and neutered, saw no sign he'd outgrow it. Whipper was never like this. I literally couldn't take my eyes off him for a minute, and I couldn't take being so pissed all the time any longer. I found him a nice new home, and have been so relieved and serene since he left. I can actually enjoy my porch again. It was a chaos of blocked-off spaces in a futile attempt to keep him out of things, but now it's nice and neat again. I even planted some pansies in a porch pot. I usually have several pots of flowers on the porch which makes it that much more enjoyable, but I couldn't do that with him here. Many things out in the yard had to be blocked, too. Yes, a huge sigh of relief when he left.

Well, this blog is kinda depressing, isn't it? Sorry bout that, but sometimes it feels good to get it out.

Happy Holidays

New Varieties

Blue Tort's recent acceptance as a showable variety has me remembering when Brokens were in the process. I watched as the COD holder nailed it in the 1st 2 presentations. I was lucky to have a good friend who had some in his barn. He sent me some starter stock after that 2nd successful presentation. It wasn't all that great for type, but I had the broken gene and I bred it aggressively. I had broken entries ready to go when they passed the final presentation the next year and became officially showable the following Feb. I was one of the 1st to put them on the table in the south. I was also one of the 1st in this region to earn AOV group legs on the Brokens over Himis.

I have always bred for pattern. You have to if you're serious about Brokens. I cull anything with less than my personal standard for pattern. Of course, my standard is within the official standard, but I go beyond that. I learned that 10% (or less) Brokens are just going to give more of the same. I want more pattern consistently.

What is my standard? This is for spot patterns.

1. They must have full bold head markings. Both ears fully colored (white spots on the ears is a fault). Full butterfly. I don't keep half butterflies (fault) and definitely not if it's missing completely (DQ). Bold spots around the eyes. I won't keep any that have all the required head marks if the marks are too light, like a tiny spot on each side of the nose and eye spots reduced to eye liner. If the body color is as light, I consider them 8% and not good enough. I learned early on I will get more of the same and often less from 8%ers, and culling has pretty much removed that issue. Now they either have breedable markings or they don't. Period.

2. They must have enough color on the body. On the back, usually a stripe or series of spots. The bolder this spinal stripe is, the better. Spots on each side. I prefer more than 1 spot on each side, but I'll consider keeping less if the type is worthy, or if the side and spinal spots are bold. Especially if it came from better marked parents.

3. They must be recognized color. That's required in the SOP. I've only seen 1 judge DQ a Broken for unrecognized color, and I've seen quite a few get placed. It can be hard to tell on a 10% Broken if you don't understand how color is changed on a Broken.

Spot patterns are very unpredictable. They don't produce consistent pattern. Blanket patterns are much easier that way. I have a pretty good line of blankets that I can count on for showable pattern, but the blankets have their issues, too. The pattern can be feathered and messy, and some judges call it scattered white. It's not, but that's what the judges see, and since it's the judge's call, can't do much about that. Except to try and breed for cleaner pattern. Another issue blankets can have is too much color - over 50%. I don't worry about these too much, and will keep them for breeding. I usually get less color on their offspring.

Because I focused so hard on pattern, type fell by the wayside. Now that I have the pattern somewhat stablized, I'm trying to catch up on type. I know the rule...type before color...but with some varieties you have to work on both at the same time. Bringing in new type can actually set you back in color.

So after a few starts and fails trying to bring in type via varieties I didn't normally raise, I was set back. I don't have or want otters, but that's where the type is. The broken otters I brought in to help didn't help much. My brief attempt at broken agouti didn't work out either. The stock I bought (chestnuts) was carrying undesirable color genes. I got junk color in litters, and not enough improvement in type to make it worth the trouble. OK, it was half my fault. My brokens also carry a lot of stuff and it meshed badly with the agouti gene. Up until then, my brokens were all selfs with the shaded gene here and there. Not good with agouti.

So back to the drawing board. I wasn't getting any dilutes any more. I had moved out older broken blues and then I had none. Most of the brokens carried it but it didn't show up in litters. I was pretty tired of nothing but black. I rarely keep or show solid blacks. They're a side affect of my broken program. Blacks have to be really good to compete these days, and since my broken type is still a work in progress, I knew I didn't want the solid blacks from those litters. I wanted other colors in both broken and solid.

Last year, I brought in a couple Torts. This worked out pretty well. One of the things many of my Brokens and Himis carry is non-extension, so I immediately had Torts popping up all over. However, I haven't kept a broken tort. Got a couple but they either died or were unacceptable for type and/or pattern. I did keep several broken blacks positive for non-extension (a parent was tort).

Now I have a broken blue doe and with her have proven a broken buck to carry dilute. This buck also carries non-extension. That means Blue Torts in the near future, and I'm very glad they are now recognized. As I mentioned in the last entry, I'm not all fired up for Blue Torts. I don't care if I'm not one of the 1st to show them so I haven't gone out of my way to get any. To tell the truth, I'm not really all that crazy about Tort, black or blue. But they make pretty Brokens and that's my goal.

So here I am. A greatly reduced herd in yet another color direction. See you at the tables when I have something to put up.

tnt

11.6.11

The fall colors peaked here in the last couple weeks. They're starting to fade now as leaves fall off. My computer desk is next to a living room window, and I have a great view of the front Bird Garden. Right now a crape myrtle and nandina are strutting their stuff. The myrtles give a lovely varigated show. The colors on one shrub range from bronze to gold with hints of red. The nandina is covered in bright red berries and dark green leaves all winter. I heard a local refer to it as Christmas decorations, and that's just what it looks like. The grasses took a beating from some heavy rains, but most are still upright. They add gold and buff to the palette. And freezing mornings have highlighted it all with heavy frost.

In Bunny News:

Not much. Himi doe had 4. Died cold. She's usually one I can count on, but she didn't build a good nest, and only put 1 kit in the box. The rest on the wire. Oh well.

The new broken blue BUD x Sugardaddy had 4 DOA on the wire. Happily, some were blue and all were nicely marked brokens. Unhappily, (besides being DOA), there were 2 hippos and 1 even odder that looked like a hippo peanut, but that wouldn't be possible so I guess it was just smaller than the others. Only 1 was normal and it was probably BU. That's not good. I'll try this again in hopes it was just a bad roll of the dice. This doe came to me at about 8 mos old and as far as I know she hadn't been bred before. I thought she was a miss, but turns out her instincts didn't kicked in. No nest building or anything.

It's good to confirm Sugardaddy carries dilute. Since he also carries for tort, there could be blue torts in my future sooner.

Sugardaddy wasn't my 1st choice for that doe. The borrowed black buck still won't breed. Grrrr. I repeated the pairing that produced 2 keepers, but she missed. I know he got her, but apparently not well enough for her to take. After many frustrating attempts, he finally got her again this week. Oh and many times, when he IS up for it, she isn't. #$&*!!!

So litters haven't happened a lot lately. I have a couple due next week.

Not many weanlings, either. I just weaned out a batch of 5. Broken buck and doe from one litter, and 3 himi-carrying blacks from the other. The broken doe is my only keeper. The blacks are all bucks, and I have another black jr buck I like more.

Kachina's litter is so cute now at going on 4 wks. Broken (80%) Black buck and solid black doe. I'll see how they develop but I'm calling them keepers for now since they look promising and carry non-extension. Oh and what a sweety she has become since becoming a mom! This little doe was a spaz! She raced around the cage when I tried to touch her, and catching her was even harder. Now she begs for attention and likes being petted. I'll rebreed her with the others this week. Maybe I'll have better luck getting a round of does bred since I'm not planning on the unstudly black for any of them this time.

In Show News:

Convention has come and gone, and the excitement has died down. Congrats to all the winners and high placers. I've enjoyed all the pix people who attended have posted. I didn't have anything new brought in. I shopped a little but didn't really know what I wanted. Didn't see anything I was willing to pre-buy based on a photo.

Blue Torts finally passed and will be officially showable in Feb. I'm so happy for Donelle Bomben as I know she put a lot of blood, sweat, tears and years into getting them passed. Now she can relax and enjoy their new status. I'll get them eventually, but I'm not in a big crank to have them. It's just good to know they aren't automatically culls when they show up in the nestbox. I've got them before but never kept any.

There's a show in Taylorsville this weekend, but I think I'm sitting this one out. I usually do T-ville since it's one of the closer shows and I just like it. I looked at what I had for entries yesterday, and decided no one was worth the trip or fees right now. My young srs are out of coat. Even my favorite jr buck is looking rough. I don't have anything to sell or deliver or pick up...another reason to go to a show. Soooo....

In Bird News:

Nothing new really. The birds seem to be handling the cold mornings OK. I feed them poultry pellets and cheap cracked corn mixed bird seed. They also get the seed bells, and I think I'll give them suet cakes when it's cold more often than warm. I can sometimes find those at Big Lots for cheap. My wild birds don't really eat the suet. A few will visit it but more often than not, the cake hangs there all winter. The chickens might as well enjoy it. I'm sure they will.

One thing I'm worried about is water. I'm using a gravity waterer. This is much better than an open bowl. The water isn't fouled as much. I had to rinse out bowls twice a day. Pain in the arse! Why do chickens have to stick their feet in EVERYTHING? So anyways, I'm not sure how the plastic waterer will stand up to freezing, or even if it will still work as it's supposed to. We'll see.

At least the days have been real nice. It's been sunny and mild after the cold starts. I'm really hoping for a mild winter this year. I say that every year because I expect (want) it here in the south.

Happy Daylight Savings Time.

tnt

I'm a bird watcher (sing it)

Look it up. It's an old song from the 50s or 60s. But I really am a bird watcher. It's always been about wild birds but now I have the poultry for another way to watch birds.

I call these guys the 3 Amigos. They're 3 of the free-range roosters, Blue, Spiffy, and Owly . They spend most of the time in the front yard, and stick close together. They have learned the bird feeders in the front Bird Garden are a good place to hang out. The wild birds drop a lot of sunflower seed.

The other free-ranger is the white Japanese but he prefers his own company and has never left the backyard fence. I don't know if he can't or just doesn't care to. Seems like he could, he's not a heavy bird and has what looks like strong wings.

A hawk has had its eyes on the 3 Amigos. Maybe more than one hawk. It's hard to tell because it's difficult to ID hawks unless they are perched in plain sight. I believe I saw one that was bigger than the other. I had just read somewhere that Game chickens are very self-sufficient and wise to predators. I've seen this is true. I heard a ruckus, including the guineas, and looked up in time to see a hawk make a dive at the birds as they all scattered to cover. Owly surprises me how fast he can move. He's not the most graceful chicken with his big feathered feet.

These 3 now roost on the front deck at night. Lately, they're kinda noisy. I can't see what they're doing without opening the door, but it sounds like they are fluffing their wings while trying keep snuggled together, and in the process they thump and rattle the siding. There's also a lot of dark crowing. By that I mean crowing in the dark. Roosters aren't supposed to do that, right? Well, they do. A lot. I also read that Games are noisier that way. They crow all the time. Spiffy crows at me whenever he's near or hears my voice.

Speaking of crowing. I can recognize some of the roos' voices. The OEs and the d'Uccle have the same voice and I can't tell them apart. It's a clear high pitched crow. The Buff Cochin and RIR have deep rough voices, and they don't crow often. I don't know that I've ever heard the Jap's crow.

There's been a little bit of cock fighting going on. Blue and Owly have been getting into it under the feeders. The guineas are often the bouncers that break it up. Spiffy stands by as referee, or maybe to challenge the winner?

Another thing these roos do is to peck the grass around my feet. Don't know why they do this but it seems to be some sort of communication with me. I've also seen this when garden bunnies, usually bucks, dig near my feet. Showing off?

In bunny news, I have 1 new litter. Not exactly exciting, but good enough. Kachina x Dot.com has 2. She's a 1st timer and has already proved herself a great brood doe. She only had the 2, 80% broken and solid black. I thought Dot carried for tort, but maybe not. Too bad the broken has so much color. I sure didn't expect that from Dot. I won't keep the black from this match, but I'll see how the broken turns out. Hope it's a doe.

Not much else. The weather has been wonderful. If only it would stay this way. Sunny 70s/80s during the day, and 50s at night. Yeah, this is my perfect climate. Is there a place that's like that all year round? I want to live there!

tnt

Mowing Day

The birds love when I cut the grass. They get a big pile of clippings. In between mows, I go out with shears and cut some for them. It was a good opportunity for a photo shoot.


Such a colorful flock. Just what I wanted.




Big Red is the Rhode Island Red. I didn't capture the full beauty of his feathers, and the bright red head gear makes him even more striking. I think he might be the boss of everybody right now. While I was taking these photos, the buff Cochin roo grabbed and attempted to mount one of the RIR hens (I think that's what he was doing) and Big Red dashed over to defend his lady.


This is the Light Brahma hen with the Buff-Laced Sebright (Lacey) and Blue Old English (Madame Blue) hens. A name for the Brahma hasn't come to me so I just call her Biddy.


The 2 Black Mottled Cochin roos. Loosely named Poochie because they remind me of fluffy puppies.


Buff Cochin and d'Uccle roos. The buff and his buff mate (in the top pix) are Fluffy and Buffy. The d'Uccle is Millie for lack of a better name.

Besides greens and the seed bell, I also bought a canister of dried meal worms. It was kind of expensive but it's lasting quite a while as I give it out as a treat every few days. They get so excited when I pull out the canister. I toss the worms out one at a time to make sure everybody gets some. It's fun to make them dash around to catch them before someone else does. They also hang close when I'm feeding the buns. They snap up any dropped pellets and I throw the older pellets in the feed dishes out for them, too. They also love when I push out the chutes every few days. They scratch through the manure looking for pellets and bugs.

I've found a few more eggs since that first one. One every 3-4 days or so. Same size and color so I assume the same hen is laying.

9.14.11

Awww. My first egg!

I don't know who laid it. It was so small, it would take 3 to make a decent frittata sandwich. The oldest hens are the Blue Old English and Buff Laced Sebright, and they're also the smallest so I'm guessing one of them.

Oh yeah, I finally identified that buff laced hen. I noticed yesterday that she does a have a rose comb so most likely definitely Sebright.

Maybe you're asking what a frittata sandwich is? It's my invention sorta. I like fried egg sandwiches and omelets. A frittata is the lazy man's omelet. The first time I had one was in a restaurant. How easy is this! Chop and brown your favorite omelet ingredients and then pour lightly scrambled eggs over them. Cook until egg is firm, flip, sprinkle grated cheese on top, and cook for a few more minutes to melt the cheese. No fumbling for a perfect omelet fold (mine rarely fold perfectly). My favorite ingredients are sausage and onions with sharp cheddar cheese, and it makes a great sandwich. BTW, a fried egg sandwich is the ONLY time I put ketchup on eggs, or any sandwich for that matter.

Haven't found any more eggs since that one. I haven't set up nestboxes yet. Still thinking about how to do it. In the meantime, I don't expect fertile eggs in any quantity until spring. I'll collect them for hatching then.

If I needed any proof chickens are bird-brains, I got it last week. There are 4 free-range roosters. Spiffy, blue OE, mottled black d'Uccle, and white Japanese. All but the Jap are going over the fence as they please. The blue returns at night to roost with the Jap under the carport outside the Summer House. Spiffy roosts with the d'Uccle but comes back in the fence during the day sometimes. The d'Uccle does not want to be there. I got him back in shortly after he got out, and he immediately went back over. So their domain is the front yard.

Spiffy and the d'Uccle began roosting on the bird bath in the front garden. I don't know why that was a good place. There's a deck out front that would be a higher more comfortable roost. They've been on the deck, but for some reason didn't "think" of it for a night roost.

Then Hurricane Lee's rains came, and the bird bath filled. They realized they could get a drink there, so that was cool. I had no idea where the d'Uccle was getting his water, but he didn't seem inclined to come in the fence where there's water bowls all over the yard. My best guess was that he was drinking dew in the morning. I figured they would find somewhere else to roost when the bird bath filled. Not. Stupid birds spent that night with their butts in 2" of water and under non-stop rain.

So I set the bird bath on the ground next to the pedestal, and put a bowling ball (garden art) on the pedestal to keep them off it. There was still room for one of them on the pedestal, but they couldn't grip the ball. I was trying to force them to look somewhere else, like the deck, for a roost. Nope. They spent that night in the bath on the ground, again in the rain. [rolls eyes] The next day, I moved the bird bath over near the deck in hopes they'd notice it and the higher deck. Nooo. They hunkered down under the pedestal with their heads in the daylilies. [shakes head] So after they settled in there, I went out and PUT them on the deck. That's the easiest way to catch chickens...they go into a stupor at dusk. The next evening, they ran around in a worried way for a while and finally FINALLY went to the deck. Jeez! Bird brains. I think all is well now. They're going there every night. I'll put the bird bath back pretty soon, and since they insist on staying out there, I put a small bowl of water out front as well.

The guinea question was answered. The last 2 keets went gone and now there's just the 2 adult males. So that's it, I'm not buying any more.

Haven't talked about the rabbits in a while. There's 2 due tomorrow, and I got a couple bred the other day. Lost 2 of Chevelle's, leaving 3 blacks. Looks like 2 bucks and a doe. I'll probably keep the doe. Dreamspinner's black and broken black are both bucks and the most promising of the bunch. I'm concerned the black might go too big, but right now, I like him a lot. I don't feel that way about solid blacks very often. He's also clean so far. No white spots or hairs. His sire has a few white hairs on his back but that's not a big deal. I can live with that on a black.

Dreamcatcher's adorable little broken is a doe and almost 7 weeks. Sadly I'm struggling with her teeth. I don't know what happened. They were good, but then went bad. That's not good. Bad at first might correct on their own, but usually not the other way around. She spends a lot of time working the water bottle so might have wrecked them on the metal spout. I'm giving her one clip and file to get right. I almost lost her to what I thought was fading last week. The brood holes have J-feeders at cage floor height so the babies can easily reach it. There began to be a lot of feed under Dreamcatcher's cage. She's never been a feed digger before. Turns out it was the kit, and she was starving herself! When I saw her fading, I moved her to a carrier. The cup is raised so she can't dig so easily. She immediately began to gain weight and seems fine now. Except for the teeth. It's going to kill me if I have to cull her. Not only is she really promising, but she's the sweetest friendliest little thing. I always get kisses. She has a small carrier water bottle so if that was the cause, the smaller spout might help.

One of my problems right now is the borrowed buck. He's not very studly. He will only mount one day in a row. The 2nd day - 2nd doe, it's like he doesn't have a clue. That's making it hard to get a round of does bred in the same time frame. I usually leave a pair together overnight, but for him, it works better if I take the doe back in the evening. Then he's interested again when I bring him another the next day. But not always, and for some reason, he doesn't have a lot of enthusiasm lately. The does were eager and mounting him, but he just wasn't rising to the occasion. I could use the other bucks, but really want these does bred to him.

It's been so nice out! 80s with lows in 50s and 60s, and clear deep blue skies. Just perfect! The AC is off for good and the windows are all open during the day. Just perfect!

tnt

What about the Guineas?

Has the guinea project run its course? This is one of those decisions I mentioned last time.

I've been trying to decide whether to go out of my way to preserve the ones left. There's only 4. The 2 adult males and 2 half grown keets. Out of the 10 color keets I bought in the spring, there's only a royal purple hen and a blue. I'm not sure what sex the blue is. Until recently, there were 2 blues and one was a hen for sure. Then one of those disappeared, and the other hasn't made any noise to ID it. I'm trying to decide whether to start penning them up at night to maintain a breeding pair. The blue will have to ID itself as male for that to be worth the trouble.

Or do I just let the population die out. I've lost so many this year. I'm assuming the fox is still around and responsible for many of the losses. The 2 adult males are...well...not that nice to have around. They're really mean to the little chickens! I released 8 excess roosters to free range and all but 4 of those went gone. I've seen them grab the chickens by tail or wing and race around while the poor little bird tries to escape their grasp. Everyone gathers around when I'm out tending to the rabbits and chickens in the Summer House in case I toss some corn out to them, and they beat the bantams up. I'm sure that's what happened to the one I found dead out there. I quit tossing feed out to them so they don't crowd around so much. They don't really need it right now anyways.

There's pros and cons to having guineas.

Pros:

1. Insect control. I've seen very few ticks since I've had them. It's hilarious to watch them go after the Japanese beetles. They're very good at it, and there's much less damage in the gardens.

2. Income. There's a market for guineas and I'd have no trouble selling them. Especially if I had a variety of colors. Guineas don't cost much to raise, they take care of themselves very well.

3. Watch dog birds. They have very sharp eyes and ears and not much gets by them.

4. Snake control. I haven't seen any snakes in the yard since I've had guineas. I haven't actually seen the birds go after a snake, but there was always a large black Rat snake in residence before guineas.

5. Comedy relief. Guineas are funny looking birds and do amusing things.

Cons:

1. Loud. Really loud. That watch dog thing? Not necessarily. Often they go off for no reason that I can see, and they go on and on and on. They don't go off when they should.

2. Difficult to maintain a working population. They do best free range (that no-cost factor), but it's impossible to keep the population replenished unless penned. I got no eggs to hatch this year because I could never find the hen's nest. She set at least 3 clutches before she went missing during the last one.

3. Annoying. They do annoying things. Like come up on the porch and leave unpleasant packages all over. The poke weed berries are ripening and that means big gobs of purple yuck. Like going up on the roof of the house. I wonder if they are damaging it. They're pretty hefty birds to be constantly bouncing around up there. Like attacking the little chickens.

4. Smelly. Don't notice it much on the free range birds unless you're close to them, but you do if they're penned. They smell way worse than chickens.

5. Dig holes. They make wallows all over the yard for their dust bathing. I don't really mind that, I'm not a "lawn care" person, but you do have to watch your step or where the lawn mower tires go.

5 for 5. So how do the pros and cons balance?

Insect control is the main reason they are here, but maybe I have a handle on the tick problem? I treat the dogs with flea/tick drops, and they don't go out of the fence where they'd come in contact with other dogs and the overgrown areas where ticks hang out. The free-ranging chickens have learned Japanese beetles are tasty, although they aren't as efficient as the guineas at it. They aren't quite as fast. The confined chickens go after any insect that enters the pen. Since chickens are much more pleasant to have around, maybe they can take over that job?

Maintaining a population of guineas has become harder. At first I'd just lose a few here and there, but I got plenty of eggs to hatch. This year, it's pretty much every one that leaves the fence, and eventually, they all leave the fence, and no eggs. It doesn't make sense to buy new keets every year as they continue to disappear. It only works if I get hatching eggs, and that requires confining them. I'm not set up for it, and I'm not sure how or where to do it. I'm set up for the chickens, and have an idea for individual breeding pens. The small bantams will be easier to maintain in that respect.

The noise pollution. When they are content or begging, they make pleasant little whistling sounds. When they go off near me, I want to throw something at them. Bantam roosters can be pretty loud, but it's not a sustained loud. They can only crow once at a time, and the hens don't make that much noise. The guineas (both sexes) can go on for a long long time without taking a breath.

I guess I am leaning towards giving up on guineas. It's really hard to let the last blue and purple go as they wish since it took so long to get my hands on colors. But maybe it's time. I know I don't want to buy anymore to replace them.

tnt

Summer's End

NICE days! I'm not sure if Hurricane Irene is responsible or what, but I'm so glad for the coolth. Although, it's only supposed to last for a few days and then heat up again. Hopefully not as bad as it's been. The only thing missing is some rain. I was hoping Irene would bring some, but not. It was a huge storm stretching all the way to here as it went up the coast, but all we got was the dry outer clouds. We can use some rain.

The media is having a field day, and the Weather Channel is happier than flies on cow pies to have something to go on and on about. I'm glad the hurricane turned out to be less dangerous than expected, but it's funny to watch the media milk it.

I'm addicted to AC now. I'm good until 85 degrees, and then I'm too uncomfortable. We've hardly seen below 85 all summer. The heat ran me inside well before noon, so the yard and gardens got minimal attention. It was too hot to stay outside for long or to do anything much. Saturday, I was able to open up the house and turn off the AC for the first time in I don't know how long. There was a lovely breeze to sweep out the stale air. I spent a good part of the day outside, playing catch up in the yard. I didn't have to turn on the fan for the buns.

It really improved my mood. I love outside. Right now, it's the season of the saw flies. You know, those things that sound like a buzz saw. They're annual cicadas, BTW. Dog Day Harvest Flies to be exact. Their name says it. They buzz during the dog days of summer and the harvest. And the birds...there's always bird song. My point is that I love hearing the outside and I can't if the house is closed up for AC. I like the outside inside.

In my less than content state of mind while avoiding the outside, I'd been attempting to make some decisions. Not the best thing to do when in an unhappy mood. More about some of that later.

I haven't attempted to release the rest of the chickens for daily free-range yet. There's a few problems in the yard and I don't want to risk the few hens I have. One being the roosters out there. I don't want to give them access to the pen again since they won't be part of any breeding program. Training the birds to return to their current roost at night means those other birds will get in, too. Then there's the guineas. They've become very territorial about the chickens and since they are so much bigger, they hurt them. It might be why some went missing. I also don't want the guineas in that pen and keeping them out will be just as hard.

It might be hard to keep some of them inside the fence. I clipped the roos' wings when I turned them out, but a few still managed to get over the fence. Spiffy is one who comes and goes as he pleases. He's such a light-weight bird, he learned to fly without full wing feathers. I'm afraid he would teach the light-bodied hens how it's done. I'm sure he taught the other roos that got out.

Another problem is Abby the cat. She stalks the birds out there and might be responsible for a few of the deaths. The guineas are big enough to stay out of her reach, but the little chickens are more vulnerable. I've begun feeding her a little more so her predator instinct isn't so driven by hunger. I still want her to hunt rodents.

I'm seeing the first signs of fall around here. Leaves are turning and thinning out. We also need some rain for a full fall color show.

tnt

Earthquake?

No, didn't feel it here, and I was bummed I didn't. There was an earthquake here a few years ago, and I definitely felt it. Just a little rattle and I wasn't sure if I imagined it. I actually tested the item that rattled to see if I bumped it. Earthquakes in TN? Turns out it was real and centered in NC just the other side of the mountains.

I have felt 3 other earthquakes in my life, and there was another that I didn't feel because of where I was at the time. All of them in Michigan while in the same house. Earthquakes in MI? Yep.

A little setup. It was sometime in the early 80s and I was living in a single-wide in a park. My place was at the back of a cul-de-sac with a wetland area behind it. The edge of the lot dropped off into this wetland depression. I began to think of that place is being on a "nerve line", maybe partially related to the lay of the land.

The 1st one, a friend was with me. I was doing something in the hallway and she was in the living room. I felt the shake which felt very strange, and came out to see if she felt it. She did and said my dog went on alert at the same time. I said, "Wouldn't that be weird if that was an earthquake?". A few minutes later they announced it on the radio. Wow.

I can't remember the time frame, maybe a few years later, but a friend was also with me for the 2nd. We were standing on either side of the kitchen bar talking. There was a large aquarium on the living room wall to his side. The water began to slosh around. We both looked at it in surprise. Again, the radio confirmed an earthquake.

I was at work in the factory for another shortly after that one. It would have been impossible to feel a tremor there. It was reported that it shook the stands at Tiger Stadium (Detroit) during a ball game. I have no doubt I would have felt it had I been home.

I was alone for the 3rd and that one was the eeriest. I was literally shaken awake at about 2 am. The bed shook that hard. I jumped up and the hairs on my arms stood straight up. I looked out windows to see if maybe there were kids messing around or something. I couldn't go back to sleep and turned on the TV to see if there was anything. There wasn't. I couldn't stand it and called the local police station to see if they had reports of an earthquake. They didn't and said it would have come over the ticker tape. I'm not sure if they thought I was a nutjob calling like that. I asked at work the next day if anyone had heard anything about an earthquake. Everyone teased me for dreaming things. A couple days later, there it was in the paper! It was centered in Ohio and I felt it all the way up in mid-MI. I knew I wasn't crazy!

Of course, if you live in an area in danger from a strong quake, it's reason to panic. I understand there was quite a bit of property damage in the vicinity of the VA quake because of its strength. But if you're in an area not known for it, a small tremor is kind of exciting and fun. So yeah, a little bummed I missed it this time.

I discovered a cool site shortly after the TN quake. Recent Earthquakes in Central US. You'd be surprised where and how many earthquakes are happening all the time. They're actually pretty common in TN.

tnt

How to buy a Netherland Dwarf.

I've seen a few discussions lately about disappointment in purchased stock. Heck, I've had my own disappointments. Sometimes, it's a risk you take. But there are things you can do to minimize the risks. Convention is coming up and sale lists are going up, and a lot of people are shopping. So I thought I'd blog about what I've learned from experience and others' experiences.

Everyone should know this, but I'll start with the basics. Thoroughly examine the rabbit for health and soundness. Check teeth, genitals, eyes, nose, legs, toes, nails, spine, tail. Check for color DQs such as white spots, or incorrect nail or eye color. Also make sure the ear number (if it has one) matches the pedigree.

What if you're buying the rabbit sight unseen? This is not the wisest thing to do. Unfortunately, it might be the only way to bring in fresh bloodlines from outside your region or from breeders you admire. You have to trust the breeder to be honest with you, and you have to know the questions to ask. If the breeder is vague or evasive about answering your questions, consider looking elsewhere.

Here are some questions to ask.

Start with the health and soundness questions. It's possible for a breeder to forget to examine their rabbits regularly, and something could get past them. I don't think there is a breeder who has not been surprised by a DQ on the judging table. Asking will make them think about it.

Since this is about Dwarfs, let's talk about weight and ear length, 2 very important features. If you're buying a brood doe, weight and ear length are not as important, although, the longer and thinner the ears, the more you will struggle with it later. If you're buying a buck you want to show, it is. Even though the standard says 2-1/2" ears are allowed, no Dwarf looks good with ears over 2" unless he is also overweight. Ask for an ear measurement and current weight. The limit is 2-1/2 lbs, but if it weighs that much at 5-6 months, it will likely go overweight when fully mature.

My personal experience with overweight bucks wasn't good. That's pretty much what I got from them. When someone says this hefty bunny with ears over 2" will make a good brood buck, that raises red flags for me. The selling point that it has big bone is only slightly a consideration. While a massive buck can bring in heavier bone, he can also bring in weight issues that will hold you back.

It's a risk buying young jrs. Ears grow until about 3 months so that's the youngest you should buy a dwarf. Different lines develop differently and what looks good at 10 weeks might look awful at 6 months. It goes the other way, too. Some lines are horrendous at 3 months and come into themselves by 5 months. Ask the breeder what to expect from their lines.

Now let's talk about buying bucks and does for breeding stock.

As I said, it's a risk buying young jrs, and especially young bucks. It can be a year before they are fully developed. It's better to buy bucks 4 months or older. You should see their potential by then. If you need a breeding buck right now, of course, look for one that is already old enough to breed. That's usually 6 months. Older bucks are usually not a risk, they can produce much longer than does. Although, after 4 years, he might not be as studly as he used to be.

Now let's talk about does. Does can make or break your breeding program. If you can't get a litter, you aren't going anywhere. There are a lot of questions you should ask about sr does, and even jrs.

- How old is she? Be leery of anything over 2-1/2 years, unless you know and trust the breeder, and maybe even know the full history of that doe. While there are dwarf does producing past 3 years, it's the exception rather than the rule.

- Proven? Is she really? Some people call a doe proven if she had a litter, dead or alive. In my opinion, and reputable breeders agree, she's not proven until she raises a litter to weaning.

- How many litters, and what were the results? Dead, alive, weaned? A new breeder might also want to know about any Max Factors or hippos. Knowledgeable breeders aren't concerned about this, but it can be startling to someone who wasn't expecting such a thing.

- When was her last litter? This is an important question, especially if considering an older doe. The longer it's been since her last litter, the harder it will be to get her producing again.

- Has a show doe been bred before she's a year old? Most breeders retire a doe from showing by 8 months. If you wait any longer, you risk failure. One of the things to understand is how a doe distributes fat. If she's kept on show condition rations, she will begin to accumulate fat around the reproductive organs as she approaches her 1st birthday. This will affect conception and kindling. This is why you rarely see a doe with very many legs, unless she earned them all quickly. If she's still going out to the tables after 1 year without ever being bred, she's a risk. Unless you just want a show doe.

- Temperament and skills? Is she calm? Overprotective? Is she good about building a nice nest and putting the babies in it?

- If it's a jr doe, ask about the line's reproductive skills. Was her mother a good brood doe? This is a trait that can be inherited, and poor skills and instincts can be inherited as well.

Some other things to consider when buying unseen.

Price. Remember...high price does not guarantee high quality, or success in your breeding program. Some breeders base their prices on their show results and reputation. Sometimes it's valid, sometimes not. A buck with an impressive pedigree and show career can command a high price, but that doesn't always mean he's worth it. That can only be proven in his offspring. He could be a complete bust in your herd. A doe's price should reflect her success (or lack thereof) as a brood doe, and her age is a factor, too. A young proven doe is worth more than one that is getting up there in age.

I avoid breeders that don't state sale prices. They might say "inquire" or nothing at all. I wonder why that is. Is the price so outrageous, the breeder is embarrassed or afraid to state it openly? Is the price going to depend on who asks? Actually, that's my 1st thought. I want to see a set price for all. If it's not in my budget, I won't bother the breeder. For myself, I don't want a bunch of emails asking a question that can be answered before the buyer contacts me.

Buying a photo is risky. A good handler can make a rabbit look better than it is and minimize its faults. Usually, you'll only see one view (the profile) which doesn't give you the whole picture. You certainly can't tell how big it is, or how long the ears are. Research what a proper dwarf pose is supposed to look like, and how to spot faults in a photo. Ask questions about the things that concern you.

One last thought. Climate and environment. I've talked about this before and it bears repeating. Some rabbitries use air-conditioning, and sometimes to extremes. It's one thing to cool a barn so the rabbits are safe and comfortable. It's another to keep the barn abnormally cool at all times. Some breeders even state their rabbits are raised in a controlled climate and may not fair well otherwise. If your rabbits are kept in a more natural environment that fluctuates with the seasons and temperatures, a bunny raised in a constantly cool climate might not be a good choice.

Happy shopping.

tnt

Aah, August

Here in the south, I no longer dread the end of summer. The last few years, it's been so hot, it's a relief to get past it. September brings more perfect weather that will last almost to the end of the year.

Nestbox News:

I got a surprising litter from Chevelle this week. Sire is the borrowed black, Smith's BL4. I expected black selfs with a slight chance for dilute. She had 6 (1 was peanut), her biggest litter yet. 3 blacks and 3 not-black (the peanut was one of these). I can't call it yet. Kind of odd color on all of them. The blacks aren't deeply black, and the not-blacks really look like chocolate. I don't see that coming from the himi. A better guess is siamese sable but they're pretty dark for coming out of a himi. So I'm waiting for more clues. I'm documenting the color development with the camera and will post that later.

There was a recent forum discussion about self chin, and thanks to a knowledgeable member, I now understand what the heck that is. I fear this litter may be that. BL4 has mostly otters in his pedigree, but there is a silver marten back there. As a rule, a self out of himi x self is about as close to "pure" self as you can get. Meaning it doesn't carry shaded unless the self parent does. If it does, you're likely to get shaded. In the past, I used "clean" blacks with the himis with good results. This silver marten ancestor could throw a glitch in that. From the self chin discussion, I learned that it's not a "pure" self, and it's affected by the "chd/chl" gene from silver marten or shaded. It can cause off-color fur or eyes. Turns out all self blacks are not created equal, and not necessarily the all-purpose color I thought them to be.

So what do I do with this litter? I'm not working with shadeds and really don't want them. If the blacks are self chins, I shouldn't keep them either. Chocolate doesn't fit in the program anymore and they could also be self chins, so I kind of hope they are sables. At least I know what to do with shadeds. Darn. All I wanted was to bring BL's type to the himis. I suppose I can keep the best of the litter for that purpose, and breed back to himi. Only keeping himis from that next generation will remove the chd/chl gene.

In the other litters. Dreamcatcher's broken baby (x BL4) is so special! I love it, and it gets a lot of attention. Still haven't sexed for sure yet, but I'm leaning towards buck which is what I want. It's a drag that my eyes are getting old and I have a hard time focusing on a small kit's parts. Here's a couple photos I took last week.



In the one on the right, I'm holding the ears against the crown fur. This is a pretty good gauge for ear length at this age. If the ears are the same length as the fur, they will be good. I also wanted to show off the width on its round little head! Hindquarters are promising to be full and straight. Time will tell if there's improvement in shoulders and body length. Yeah, I'm pretty excited about this one. I was going to sell Dreamcatcher after this, but I think I'll repeat this one more time.

Dreamspinner's black and broken black are just opening their eyes. The broken is going to have a messy pattern. Very feathered on the head. That's too bad, but I hope type will make up for it.

Bird News:

All the chickens got their wings clipped the other day. I'm going to be turning some out to free-range and don't want them going over the fence. There's 3 roos who have been out for a while, and I'm thinking about kicking most of the roos out. I'm leaning towards just keeping the Cochins, the Rhode Island Red, and maybe a d'Uccle for breeding roos. I might have to import some Cochin hens. There's only the 1 buff hen. I'll include the Brahma hen in that group.

Spiffy will probably be one of the ones that gets kicked out. He's getting too cocky. The little dink won't fly up to my arm anymore, and he comes at me sometimes. I think I don't want to breed the Old English, although I'll keep the blue hen for her color.

I also managed to catch 3 of the guinea keets to clip theirs. The little trout fishing net I got this week really helped with that! Still have to catch the other 2. There's at least 2, maybe 3 hens. That's good, and one of the blues is a hen for sure.

Gorgeous pink sky this morning! It made the pinks of the crape myrtles and altheas intense, and a slight haze made it look ethereal. Uh oh. Red in the morning. Guess I better check the weather to see what's coming at us.

tnt

Very pleased.

I have a few kits out of the borrowed black buck. So far, they look very promising.

Dreamcatcher x Smith's BL4 has a lovely broken black. Almost a week old now. Dreamcatcher is great about raising singletons. Even during winter and without my intervention, she raises them successfully. My intervention is taking the nestboxes in the house at night. If I don't really care about the one she had, I just leave it to her devices. Anyways, the kit has a big round head, good size (not too big) and definitely showable pattern. Looking forward to how it develops.

Dreamspinner x BL4 had hers yesterday. This is her 2nd attempt (1st time fail). A black and another lovely broken black. I wasn't sure if Spinner was a BUD or not. She looks a little broody, but isn't all that big. That's typical for my BUDs. She also had a peanut (of course it was nicely broken) which proves her as a true dwarf. Cool. I like her type (big head!), although her pattern is borderline over 50%. I showed her a few times and she earned a leg. I really look forward to her litters. I might not have allowed the solid black, but her type and heritage (import otters) and BL's type (also out of otters) make it worth growing. She's taking very good care of her babies.

I'm still waiting on Chevette, also 2nd timer and due yesterday. Also bred to BL. Yeah, I've bred him to EVERYTHING! I'll keep him busy for as long as he's here. I expect all blacks from the himis, but that's ok. That worked out very well in the past. There's a remote chance BL carries dilute and it would be wonderful if Chevette who IS blue, throws it.

Got a few more litters due in Aug, and several does will be coming of age then.

These litters disprove the theory that bucks go sterile when it gets over 85. It's been 90+ in the shade for most of this summer. To my knowledge, I've never had a case of buck heat sterility. BL came from a barn cooler than mine. The Smiths are higher in the mountains and the NC side of the mts is shaded more from the afternoon sun. Their property is more shaded by trees as well. Normally, I'd keep a borrowed buck in the shed, but I didn't think he'd fare well in the heat in there. So he's been in the Summer House and apparently that's enough to keep him virile.

Elsewhere, all is well. Chickens are growing, keets are free-ranging, and dogs are hiding from the heat all day long. I don't like it, but their "cave" is under the back deck. I had it loosely fenced off under there, but they've gotten through. I have a plan to fix that when I get the deck redone. It's badly in need of redoing. I'll incorporate a cave into the new design so they aren't laying in the dirt under there. No point in giving them a bath. Whipper is molting and his white parts aren't white. Tanner is still surprisingly white. If he molted, I missed noticing it. Maybe because his hair is shorter.

Wicked hot and humid still. Overnight and morning rain (like today) makes for very muggy mornings. It's a bugger for sure. I don't like to leave the shed door open when it's rainy. The wood floor gets wet if it's the least breezy. Most of the wind comes from that direction. But I really need to leave the door open when it's this hot. Thought about an awning of some sort, but doubt it would survive the big winds I get back here. One good thing about the heat. Don't have to worry about kitsickles. It's plenty warm enough for litters to survive.

Hang in there. One more month of the worst of summer.

tnt

It are hot!

It's rough. 95 today and the barn was hotter than that. I've only got 7 brood does in there, and they're all on the one wall. The fan is dedicated to them. That wall is shaded by the garden trees outside which I hope helps keep that wall a tiny bit cooler. They're handling it. Everybody else is in the Summer House and it's not too bad out there.

The litter of torts is about 2 weeks old. They came out of the box as soon as their eyes opened and seemed to have no desire to spend any more time in it. I don't blame them. I took it away yesterday and gave them a resting board. They like that. I think mom appreciates the box being gone. More room and air flow for her, too.

Almost lost one of the Blue OE roos. He slipped out before I could clip his wing. The adult guineas startled him to fly over the fence along the field. And there he paced back and forth along the fence. It's overgrown with brambles and I couldn't get to him. Even if I could get over there to try and herd him out, it wouldn't have done any good. He would have just ran back and forth along the fence deep in the brambles. He had to back away from the fence in order to fly back over it, and he didn't have that much sense. He was there for 3 days. I thought he was going to die there without water. Then he was gone but I didn't see the body. He showed up in the front yard. He finally decided to follow the fence out. Whew. I was able to herd him back into the fence then cornered him so I could clip the wing. Hopefully that will keep him from going over the fence for a while.

Went to the Taylorsville night show last weekend. That show is always pretty fun. Even though it was hot. It was actually better than last year. You could find a breeze and the humidity wasn't as bad. That's my last show until at least Sept.

Keep cool!

tnt

Chicks, man (again).

I sat down to commune with the chickens yesterday. Haven't done that in a while. Raising these little birds from unidentified chicks has been an adventure. Their IDs have changed as they grew and I still don't know if I have all of them correct. I tried to capture the ones that have new IDs, but chickens aren't always cooperative so some of these shots aren't the greatest.

The latest discovery is that some of the ones I thought were Cochins are not. They're Belgian d'Uccles. I've been wondering why some were feathered differently. The Cochins are round, soft and fluffy. It's referred to as "soft-feathered". The others are sleeker with longer stiff upright tails and hard feathers. This includes the 2 oldest Black Mottleds and the 3 gold/black (shown below) that I haven't identified the color for sure yet. Yesterday, I realized that the scruffiness on the heads of these was the d'Uccle "beard".



This shot shows one of the Buff Cochins with the 3 newly identified Belgian d'Uccles. These 3 have changed from Gold-Laced to Mottled Buff Columbian (when they were Cochins), and now I believe they're Mille Fleur since that's what this color is called in d'Uccles. The Feather Site says the breed is affectionately referred to as Millies because of this common coloration. I think that's what I'll call them.



This is a Buff Cochin and older Mottled Black d'Uccle to show the difference in body style and feathering. The next photo is a close-up of the Mottled to show the "muff" on the face.


I've been calling these 2 blacks "Owly". Yeah, both of them. The markings on their heads reminds me of an owl and has since they were new chicks.


This Cochin is till up for debate on color. I thought it was a Silver-Laced but now it's looking like Columbian. Actually still up for debate on breed as well since it came from the same source as the others. It's looking more hard-feathered so I'll have to wait a few more weeks to be sure I guess.


I was trying to catch the 2 little Mottled Cochins (positive ID) but Spiffy decided to join the shot and sent them scurrying. These are the cutest little things! They are the youngest of all, and I have to watch where I'm going. They dart around and between my feet like little puppies. Their black feathers are displaying the green iridescence like Spiffy's tail. The Mottled d'Uccles don't have this iridescence, they're flat black.

I mentioned in an early post that Spiffy likes to sit on my arm and surprised me when he flew up on his own. I've now trained him to do it on command. Sorta. It's still depending on his mood. I hold my arm out, call his name, and wiggle my fingers. He eagerly flies up and then crows proudly.


This seed bell was a big hit! I found them for $1.50 each at a discount store and bought several. Rigged a way to hang it yesterday. I'll pick up some more the next time I hit that store if they still have them in stock.

In this shot: Self Blue Old English Games, Rhode Island Reds, Black Mottled d'Uccles, and Spiffy the Spangled OEG. The light colored head to the far left behind the Blue is the one that's still unidentified. I'm going with Easter Egger until proven otherwise. She's a mottled light buff color.

So all in all, I got the pretty and varied flock of bantams I wanted. How or if I raise them for specific breeds remains to be seen. For now, I'm just enjoying them.

tnt

A fine litter

Baroquen x Whiskey Mac has 4 beautiful babies. 3 torts (one is broken) and a broken black. Cool. Proves her as another non-extension carrier. I am definitely set for tort. When I first pulled them out I thought they were all solids which would have been a drag. Pattern is so heavy there's very little white on the topside. Not what I expected from her, but I'll take it. This is Baroquen's 2nd attempt so she's doing a fine job. Didn't pull much fur but it's so warm, it wasn't necessary. Do does know that sometimes? I added a little from the bag of fur to soften the nest under them.

Still waiting on Flashdance. She's nested but hasn't pulled fur yet. If she's successful, I'll update this blog entry.

In other news:

I made a big mistake and tried to release the guinea keets. They should have been big enough and I think they were. But they couldn't defend themselves against the forces in the yard. That being Tanner and maybe Abby the cat.

It's a longer story and I won't go into it here, but Tanner was kicked out of the house to spend all his time outside with Whipper. I've been so frustrated. He is so damn smart and eager to please, but he can be sooo bad! Anything left out where he can get to it is forfeit. And he knows he's bad. I don't even have to say anything. If there's something out of place and chewed, he slinks off with a guilty look as soon as I see it. I've tried to fix it so he can't get to things and he still manages to do it. The problem is that he only does it at night when I can't catch him. They both hole up during the heat of the day, and become active at night. That's always been Whipper's thing, it's his night job.

Back to the guineas. I needed to move them out of the Summer House. With all the chickens in there, it was getting too crowded and smelly. Guineas can smell really bad, way worse than chickens. So out they went. I also released the white Japanese roo to see how he does free-range. What a disaster!

The first thing I saw when I looked out the window at sunup was a rabbit that had been culled to yard bunny and a blue keet dead in the grass. Dammit. Some of the keets were hanging around the poultry pen. Just 5. 2 blues and 3 purples. I found the feathers from the other purple but no sign of the other 2 blues. The other yard bunny was hopping around in the front yard safely out of the fence. I saw white feathers and assumed the Jap roo was history as well. Then I heard him. He was hiding deep in a garden. He came out and followed me when I went out to feed in the Summer House. He looked rough. Most of his tail feathers are gone and he was dirty and wet. I herded all of them back into the Summer House.

I have to blame Tanner. Abby might have killed and eaten one of the keets, but she doesn't usually bother anything that big, and I doubt she would have eaten more than one. I should have known how risky this was. I've corrected Tanner when he went after the adult guineas and I thought he understood. Wrong.

So now what do I do? I'm so tired of being mad at him. I had to rehome a Sheltie that was too prey driven, but I'm not willing to give up on Tanner. He just has too much going for him. He so smart, he learns commands in 2 or 3 tries. When he's good, he's very good. He responds so well, and I love that. My only option is to confine him when I can't watch him. That was a problem. I couldn't tie him up and didn't want to anyways. There's no good place to tether him. A dog run was an option but expensive and again, no good place to put it.

I looked around online and found a small dog run that might fit on the porch. Kinda pricey but I kept it in mind. Then I looked at crates. Lo and behold, saw one pictured with a Great Dane standing in it. That might work. I didn't want a normal house-breaking size crate. He has to spend the whole night and anytime I'm gone in it. I wanted him to have plenty of room to stand and stretch. It would fit on the porch and in the house during winter. I figured out the size I needed and priced some online. Found it at TSC (their biggest crate) and for less than $100. Beat the heck out of everybody else for price. I had just got a 10% off coupon for TSC, too. Called them as soon as they opened and they had just one. Mine!

He spent his first night in it last night and so far so good. He didn't fuss. Except he's not used to having to control himself at night and there was a mess to clean up. No biggy, just hosed the tray out. I think (hope) he'll eventually get it. He has to by winter when I bring the crate inside. I was going to get another dog house for him, but this way I won't have to. It has the housebreaking divider that I can use if necessary. I gave him a water pail, but now I'll save that for when he has to spend a longer time in it. Not drinking water should help him control his bladder at night. He's fed early in the day so there shouldn't be that much effort to control his bowels at night. Just gotta keep him from eating anything late in the day. Like birds.

Oh and another little trick he came up with. I can't imagine why it would even occur to him to do this! A few nights ago, after I went to bed, I heard an odd noise but just assumed it was Whipper and Tanner romping on the porch. My bedroom wall is right there. Then I heard water running. WTH? The last time I heard that, a pipe had broken under the house. Crap. Took the flashlight out to see what I could see. He had been chewing on the outside faucet's handle. That was the noise I heard. It's covered with hard plastic, and it only takes a slight turn to open the tap full blast. Water was running out the hose. My quick fix for that was to attach some scrap cage wire over the handle with "spikes" sticking out. Now I have to be careful I don't get stabbed when I turn on the water.

Jeez!

tnt

Heat, AC, and Rabbits

A dear friend just lost a devastating number of valuable rabbits to heat stroke in an air-conditioned barn. I won't give details. That's hers to tell to the ones she chooses to know it. I will say it wasn't due to loss of electricity. I'm writing to bring awareness of the risks to others who have or are considering air-conditioning.

I know some who rely on AC in their rabbit barns also have back-ups for it. Generator for power outage, or some sort of system in place to get notification of a power outage if not at home when it happens. But these only help if AC failure was due to loss of electricity. There can be other causes, and if there is no one on site to act quickly, it will be a disaster.

The main thing to remember about AC is the basic requirement for it to be efficient. That being a tightly sealed and insulated space to keep cool air in and hot air out. This is why AC failure will become so devastating. There is no air exchange and the space will heat up very quickly. Imagine being in a sealed box when it's 80 degrees or more outside. The inside of the box will be much hotter than the outside air. If the box is exposed to the sun...well, you get the picture.

Is AC in the rabbitry necessary or even advised? It depends. A hot climate may make it necessary. The breed may require it. I have the smallest breed and they have normal fur. Dwarfs can take the heat better than larger or wooled breeds. A long-eared breed can take it better than short furry ears. Rabbits vent some heat through the blood vessels in their ears. If there is no other option to keep your rabbits from over-heating, you may need AC.

BUT. A whole bunch of buts here. Have a back-up system for power outages. If you don't have that, you should only rely on AC if there is someone at home most of the time. Have a plan to deal with AC failure quickly. If you can't do any of those things, you might want to think of something else.

As I said, my little rabbits handle heat pretty well. Of course they wouldn't in a sealed space, but they get by without AC. I tried it the first summer I had the shed. Hated it. My barn isn't insulated, and the window size would only accept the smallest of AC units. The barn was fully exposed to the sun all day long. At the time, I had stackers and pans, and the smell was awful. There just wasn't enough moving air. And that little unit barely kept the barn the same temperature as the outside, let alone cooler. About all it did was lower the humidity. Not to mention the electric bill. Hated it. It didn't last long.

Here are some things I did to keep the bunnies safe. My shed was ordered with southern summer in mind. There's a window on 3 sides. I keep the door open during the day and there is air flow from all sides. It has light colored siding and roofing to reflect solar heat. I planted the west side with a garden that included shade trees. Those trees are mature now and I can really see the difference. I wanted to plant the south (door) side but haven't figured out the best way to do it without it being in my way. I hung shade cloth in that opening, as well as blinds on the sunny side windows. When I had stackers and pans, I cleaned more often. Manure and urine generate a lot of heat, and that heat is directly under the rabbits. And of course, fans. The barn is wired for electricity so I can run fans or heaters. I use oscillating fans. This seems to work better than a fixed position fan to keep the air moving around all the cages.

I added the carport Summer House which doesn't even need a fan to keep the bunnies comfortable. Heck, I'm very comfortable out there. It's like being under a shady tree. I realize this isn't something everyone can do, but any open-air pavilion-style structure will work nicely, like a tent canopy or even a covered porch. The winds I get here required a sturdier structure than a temporary canopy, so I went with the metal carport. It was cost-efficient as well. At the time the 12 x 20 carport was installed for less than $700. They're probably a little more now, but still cheap enough to make them worth looking into. I know of rabbitries in climates hotter than mine using this type of open air setup and it works very well.

Moving as many rabbits as possible to the Summer House meant less body heat in the shed. I only keep working does in there during the summer. There are plenty of empty holes so I can arrange them in lower tiers where the air is cooler.

That brings up a related subject. If every inch of the barn is packed with cages, and every hole is occupied, you have no options. You can't arrange the rabbits so they can benefit from wherever the coolest air is. The closest I came to losing one to heat stroke was when I was in that situation. She was in the top of 4 tiers, and the stack was tightly fitted in the corner farthest from the door. The air stagnated and heated up there. I caught it just in time to save her. I didn't have very many empty holes at the time, and the best I could do was vacate the top holes in as many vulnerable stacks as possible. So it's wise to keep your options open going into summer, and I'm afraid that means keeping fewer rabbits.

I want to talk about another aspect of raising rabbits in AC, and it's one I wonder if some breeders consider. Where they go when they leave your possession. I've seen more than one seller state that their rabbits are raised in AC and won't fare well in heat. Anyone who doesn't have climate control is taking a big risk buying from that breeder. Those same breeders avoid shows that don't have air-conditioned facilities. Their rabbits couldn't take it if the building heated up enough to make humans uncomfortable. My bunnies acclimate to the heat as do their offspring. I see they're hot and uncomfortable (so am I), but they handle it with what I'm able to do for them. We can do summer shows.

If you are considering AC in the barn, look at all the pros and cons. If the cons outweigh the benefit, look into other options. There are more ways to cool a barn without AC, even more than I've done for my rabbitry. It isn't necessary to keep a barn at "room temperature" at all times. It's ok if they are hot sometimes. You actually make it harder for them to get through heat if they never experience change. The main thing is that your bunnies be safe at all times, even when you aren't there. If AC can't guarantee that, think of another way.

tnt