This is also the Chinese Year of the Rabbit. Best of luck and happiness to all bunny breeders born under this sign. I was born in a Year of the Snake. Specifically the Water Snake (I just learned there's more than one kind of Snake), which coincides with Pisces in making me a double water sign. What does that mean? I don't know, and this blog isn't about astrology so it's just a thing.
It's been a rough new year here in the south. Many of us (myself included) were stricken by the "Taylorsville Flu" after that show Jan 1. Some unusual storms the past 2 weeks kept us covered in snow, and some areas hadn't seen snow in decades. It snowed here almost every day last week, and it was so cold, none of it melted. It just kept piling up. I had 7" or more on the ground by the time it was over, and some of it still lays there. A lot of southerners get off on the novelty of snow, but I moved down here to get away from that kind of winter. I didn't appreciate it. Well, maybe a little for a short while. It was very pretty.
It's finally warmed up to more normal temps in the 40s. I hope it stays that way. I'd hate to miss the Triple Crown at the end of the month. Again. Last year, we had to cancel it due to a threatening snow storm.
The first news for 2011 is that the website has been overhauled with a brand new design and layout. Some pages were left as is (with some fine tuning) because I like their current layout, but the main pages are the new design. I'm still working on the Articles. I've added some new ones, and have a couple more to rework or create, but most of that section is up to date now.
I eliminated a couple pages that I decided were unnecessary. One of those being the Nestbox page. I'm aware that some of my regular visitors kept up with it to see what I'm breeding and getting in litters, but it was a hassle to maintain. From now on, nestbox news will be posted here in the blog. Without further ado....
Nestbox News:
There's really not a lot to report. I lost some, and am down to just the 1 litter from Shadowland's Honeycomb x Raspberry Run Messenger. 2 blacks and 1 tort. They're going on 4 weeks, and so cute. I revisited the "teat sexing method" for this round of litters. I had all 3 as does, but it now looks like 1 black is a buck. I believe I was tentative about one of them, and maybe this was the one. I hope I'm right about the tort being a doe. I really need her to be a doe.
Teat-sexing method? This is a way of determining sex in the first days of life. You look for teats before the fur comes in and this is supposed to indicate doe. Whether it's reliable is still up for debate. It's been pointed out that male animals also have teats, and this is true. I've used it in the past with fair accuracy, so my new theory is that does have bigger easy-to-see teats. The kit I was tentative about upholds that theory.
I had a few litters due this week, but all failures. Foxy Lady x LB92 delivered a live litter of 4 brokens (1 good pattern), but they were dead of cold by the time I got to them. I'm going to rebreed her to Whiskey Mac to see what happens. There's a good chance she carries non-extension and that could make orange. Not that I want to do orange, but broken orange is so pretty it could be a fun addition to the broken program.
Nova x Messenger failed. Not surprising for a 1st-timer. I'm confident she'll do fine eventually. The litter of 2 was DOA but she built a lovely nest. In any case, I decided to pare the himis down, and she is now for sale.
Nyx x Dot.com (also 1st-timer) also failed. She didn't build a nest although she carried hay around. She just didn't figure out what she's supposed to do with it. She had 2 DOA in the box with no nesting material. 1 was broken with a nice spotty pattern and the other was a peanut.
Don't have any more litters due until around Feb 2.
Food for thought:
A friend posted about this in her blog a while back, and I think it's worth repeating.
Sell-Out vs Herd Reduction. There's a big difference. Sell-out means selling off the entire stock of a breed or variety. Keeping 1 or 2 as pets is one thing. Keeping a breeding pool is another and that's not a sell-out, it's just a herd reduction. Calling a reduction a sell-out is false advertising, and it really annoys other breeders. Call it what it is.
In fact, why label it at all if it isn't a complete sell-out? Breeders are constantly reducing their numbers. It's a perpetual herd reduction that doesn't need a fancy title. Now, if it really is a large special sale list with reduced pricing to move quickly, then yeah...it could be called a "herd reduction sale". Such a sale implies good deals are to be had as in the retail business. If lower prices aren't offered, it's not really a "sale", is it?
59 Days Until Spring!
tnt
