Attended the Taylorsville show yesterday. A lot of dwarf breeders were missing because they're gearing up for Nationals next week. Best of luck, fun, and safe travels to all who are going.
Because of the lack of entries, legs were hard to come by. Even otters couldn't pull a variety leg. Group and breed legs were all that could be earned. Chevette got the AOV BOG leg in Show A. Actually if I'm not mistaken, I believe AOV was the only group that could get a leg. I've seen that before at small entry shows where tan patterns weren't strongly represented. Oh wait, maybe Self as well, but since I didn't have any selfs, wasn't really paying attention to that group.
It was still a fun show. I like the T-ville shows. Everyone I talked to had the same reasons for liking these shows. Easy to get to because of uncomplicated directions, nice facility on the fairgrounds, usually pretty good organization, and good home-cooked breakfast and lunch from the best chef in the south.
Oh and yay. Cogburn is gone. I took him to the show and hung a "Free" tag on his carrier. Had 3 people who wanted him. The 1st's wife said no, so he went to the 2nd. He was crowing all day long which was strange to hear there when I've heard it for so long here. I'm happy and I'm sure he'll be happy. The new owner is getting him some hens. My baby birds will be safe from him.
It was a very violent day weatherwise in the south and surrounding states. I woke up to a bit of a light show which made me change my show day routine a little. Usually, I drink some coffee and do the internet for a few, then allow enough time to load up the rabbits and myself, and hit the road by the deadline. The lightening made me run out and load the animals first so I didn't get caught doing it in the rain. Turns out the lightening was actually not headed this way and the drive was dry.
Just a few miles from home, I was racing a storm. Got home in time to unload the rabbits before it hit. And it hit hard! There was pea and gum ball size hail that littered the ground like snow. I don't remember ever seeing that much hail on the ground, even up north. It was like stones falling on the roof, and it went on for quite a while. I don't know how much rain I got here. The rain gauge only goes to 5" and it's topped off! Serious runoff is flooding the bottom of the yard again. I think I'll have to call the road commission and ask them to dig out the ditch across the road that was taking the runoff down to the creek. It must be blocked as now it's coming across the road to me. Bad.
In the nestbox:
Chevelle x Stoneybrook's Jackson (himi buck on loan) has 4 fat healthy kits. Himis, I'm sure. His owner says there's REW in his background, but I have no reason to believe Chevelle carries REW. At least I hope not. On the other hand...
Anaba x Jackson has 3. It's possible she carries REW so I'll have to wait to see if the kits are himi or REW. Keeping my fingers crossed for himi.
Nyx x Sugardaddy - 1 nicely broken black fostered to Anaba, and a black. I don't trust Nyx. So far, she hasn't built a good nest and if she has live kits, they die if left with her. She did pull plenty of fur this time, but most of the other nest material had been kicked out. Good thing it was warm enough. I left her the black to see if she raises it.
Dreamcatcher x Ford's Roc - 1 nicely broken black. I might foster it as well, although Dreamcatcher is really good about raising a singleton. I've left singles with her before and they always thrive. Since I don't know if or to whom I'll breed her again, I might as well let her raise it. I could give her 1 or 2 of the himis.
Cirocco x Ford's Roc - 2 nicely broken blacks. Yay...they're not otters! This is her 1st litter and she did it perfectly. Can't wait to see how this match turns out.
So letsee. 5 new litters - 7 himis, 4 brokens, and every doe was successful. I'm very pleased with this round.
In the older litters:
Shadowland Honeycomb x Sugardaddy has 2 torts (almost 3 weeks), and I think one of them got his little ears. That would be cool!
Lady Blaque x Shadowland Whiskey Mac has 2 torts and 1 broken (75%) tort (almost 5 weeks). Their color is off so I'm not sure what I'll do with them. They're too light and not charcoal where tort is supposed to be charcoal (belly, etc). It's a creamy color. Strange. I even thought they might be blue tort, but I've got those before and know what blue tort kits look like. This is not that.
I recently chatted with Donelle Bomben, and she gave me lots of good information and theories on the cause. She said it might be due to Sable Points. There's no Sable Point in Mac's pedigree, although that doesn't mean it's not there somewhere. I believe he does not carry shaded, or I would have seen it by now, especially when he was bred to himis. Lady Blaque probably does carry shaded so it might have come from her. Another theory Donelle had was that the wideband gene from Red had been mixed into that line of torts. That makes more sense to me than the Sable Point theory. I have got properly dark torts from Mac with his other does, and lots of breeders do Tort and Sable Pt together without bad results. It might explain the odd extension (for lack of a better word) of the undercolor. I don't really know how the wideband gene works or why it would show up in Lady's litter. Research time, I guess.
In the chick brooders:
I got a 3rd batch of TSC chicks this week. Got even luckier than the 2nd batch. Picked up 3 more blues, another red, and 2 striking black & white chicks. I didn't realize until I got them home that they had feathered legs. Hopped onto The Feathersite and discovered they are Black Mottled Cochins! That was exciting because for feather legs, I like Cochins the most. Such an attractive bird, like a ball of feathers. And they're the only chicks I've been able to ID for sure.
It was all I could do to restrain myself from running back up there to get a couple more. No no no. I now have a total of 19 chicks and that's enough to start.
Not to mention a guinea is laying, and I'll be incubating those. I found a nest under a big grass in the garden inside the fence. One by one, eggs are appearing in it, but I never catch the hen on the nest. Since guineas lay large clutches of 20 or more and that's how I found the nest, I just assumed they laid all at once. I now realize it's that they lay the entire clutch before they begin brooding. Usually, I don't find the nest until the hen goes missing because she sitting all the time. Probably nature's way of making sure the eggs hatch at the same time.
It always amazes me that the day after a violent storm is beautiful...clear and sunny. It's like Mother Nature gave us the day to clean up the mess. I'm off to survey the damage and hopefully enjoy it.
tnt
