Let's talk about chicks, man.

Yesterday, I caught the Brahma hen in the nestbox looking quite broody.  I didn't have the camera with me, of course.  She hadn't laid an egg at that time.  After I finished chores, I went in and got the camera, but she had already got out of the box and I found this.

This is the 1st egg I've been able to say who laid it.

The Brahma is also the largest hen out there.  She fit in the box with room to spare so my judgement on using this rig was right on.  Now I know what her eggs look like.  They're the darkest brown (so far) with a rough matte finish.  I've got 3 more just like it in the egg carton I'm holding eggs in until I have enough to start incubating.  Got 7 so far.  The others are shiny and white or beige.

So this morning, I stuck the camera in my pocket when I went out.  I now have a clue when a hen is going to lay an egg.  This morning the Rhode Island Red was fussing and cackling, couldn't seem to decide what she wanted to do or where she wanted to go.  

I'm sure she's ready to lay but didn't while I was out there.  I'll check again pretty soon.  At least I know the nestbox is a hit and they will use it.  So far, I've found eggs late morning or early afternoon so I make a point of looking then.

Since I had the camera in my hand, here's the rest of the flock all growed up.

Black Mottled Cochin roo with RIR hen & roo and Buff Laced Sebright hen.

The other Mottled Cochin roo and Buff Cochin hen.

Self Blue Old English and Buff Laced Sebright hens.

Rhode Island Red roo.

Just went out to check for an egg, and found a beige one on the ground.  I thought RIR laid dark brown eggs, but since that was the only hen that was fussing, I'm assuming it was hers.  It also seems she changed her mind about laying in the nestbox so I put fake eggs in there to see if that gets them to lay there.

In the rabbitry:

On a sad note, I lost the heaviest marked kit in the new broken litter.  I'm calling it failure to thrive.  Yesterday it was obvious it hadn't fed so I knew it was a matter of time.  There also seemed to be something wrong with it, the way it moved.  I've seen that before and figure it was injured or maybe brain damage.  It happens.  The other 3 are growing fat and healthy.

And apparently I miscalculated a bit on when Chevette was due.  She started nesting today.  I had her as due yesterday, but until today, she was just sitting in the box like they sometimes do if it's a miss.  So I'll be on baby watch with her today.

We got a little snow last night, but it didn't get real cold.  It was only about 1/2" but it stuck to everything and was very pretty.  It's sunny and warming up nicely now and most of it has melted.  They say it could be 70 by Thursday!  

28 days until Spring!

tnt

2.18.12

Lots to talk about!  With pictures!

In Nestbox News:

Dreamspinner finally gave me a nice broken litter!  This doe has been giving me fits.  She raised a litter of 2 her 2nd try but I didn't keep either of them.  They were both bucks, and the solid (I hardly ever keep solid blacks) got the type I wanted on the broken.  She's failed every time since then, and this was her 6th attempt.  All with Smith's BL4 in hopes I'd get a better outcome than that earlier litter.  I finally got it!

Look at all that beautiful pattern!  I'm very pleased and guarding this litter with my life.  It comes in the house each night.  This is why I don't have a strict "3 strikes and out" policy.  I'm usually rewarded for my patience.  Hopefully, with this many to choose from, the type got to one or two of them.  Some does would be real nice, too.

The heavier marked kit on the far left is looking suspiciously lighter, but I'm pretty sure it's just another black.  There's a remote chance the parents carry dilute, but I haven't seen it from BL4 even when he was bred to blue does.

There's 2 more due this weekend.  The PP's broken blue was building her nest yesterday but I don't have my hopes up.  She's pissing me off.  She took everything out of the box to nest on the wire, and when I moved the box like I usually do (and which usually works), she moved the box out of her way!  She's not of my breeding, and she is coming up on the last strike.  If she'd give me a sign she will eventually be successful, I'd probably keep trying, but I haven't seen it yet.

Chevette is due on Sunday.  I have more confidence in her, she's pretty reliable.  She's bred to Sugardaddy.  I don't recommend breeding himi x broken, but I want something blue and this should give it.

Baroquen's broken litter is about 4 wks old now and of course very cute.  I'm having trouble identifying one's color. This is the one with the most showable pattern, what I would call 50% or maybe 55%.  It's much lighter than the black tort kit.  I hoped it might be blue tort (possible), but the brown eyes are now showing it's not dilute.  I have a sinking suspicion it's a chocolate tort.  That would be a drag.  I looked back in the parents' pedigrees and yes indeedy, there's chocolate on both sides in the 4th and 5th generations.  With the super heavy patterns on the other 2, this litter is not looking as promising.  One of those others better be a doe.

In Chicken News:

I'm starting to get eggs almost everyday and have started collecting them to hatch.  I finally got the nestbox finished and hope they will start using it.  Currently, the eggs are found on the ground near the gate.  I hope I don't have to move the box over there.  I don't want it there.

This started out as a home judging coop that I acquired in a trade.  30" long x 15" deep.  It's been kicking around for a couple years because I couldn't decide where to use it.  My grooming table isn't big enough for it, and I didn't have any place to hang it.  The holes looked big enough for bantams so I pulled it out and studied it for a bit to figure out the best way to modify it.  This is what I came up with.  It had no bottom and I had to buy a board for that.  Everything else I had on hand.  The legs are leftovers from the metal rails I used for the rabbit cages.  I knew those short pieces would come in handy someday!  I added the 1x3 board across the front to make the holes deeper and to serve as a landing for the hens when they enter the box.  Here's hoping they like it and use it.

The eggs are various shades of white, beige and brown and I still don't know who's laying.  I think I've learned how to tell when an egg has been laid.  Hens announce it!  Loudly.  So now when I hear that distinctive cackling, I go out and look for an egg.

In Other News:

I have a driveway!  I didn't have a driveway at all.  I've lived here for going on 8 years without it.  I was finally able to handle the expense, and it was built in about 4 hours this week.  My favorite contractors are great for just about anything I need them to do.  It's the same company that put in the public water for me a few years ago.  The fact that I just paid off that hefty bill made this new project possible.

I probably could have gone on without this, but there is a seasonal issue that made it necessary.  As you can see, the yard goes down to a low spot just before the road.  Run-off collected there and it got real soggy after heavy rains.  The water comes down from the higher ground to the east (left) and off the road itself.  I needed a running start to get my car through the water and up the incline and the low spot became rutted.  My place is the mail carrier's last stop on this road and she turns around by my box.  Last year, after extra heavy spring rains, she left a note in my box asking for some gravel there.  That made me feel bad.

The estimate for the job called for 2 loads of gravel and we figured it would only go just to the incline.  After the guys got into cutting and laying it, they thought there was enough gravel to go all the way up and there was.  I never thought I'd get a complete driveway out of what I had to spend.  Now even my car is parked on gravel!  It got pretty muddy under the car because of the grass dying underneath it.  And I don't have to move the car to cut the grass.

For more flood control, we decided a catch basin might help.  So the guys dug this small water hole to the left of the drive.  It will also serve as wildlife habitat.  I had a seasonal water hole in MI and loved it for the wildlife it attracted.  It was amazing to see robins and mockingbirds descend on the freshly bared dirt almost as soon as the guys left with their equipment.  

I also called the road commission to dig out the ditch across the road.  It was blocked and greatly responsible for the bad flooding last spring.  The water came out of the ditch and directly across the road to my low spot.  I was a little worried they would come out while my contractor was here, and they'd get in each other's way, but it worked out perfectly.  They came out later that afternoon after my guys were long gone.

I shouldn't have to worry about heavy rain anymore.  Got a little rain the next day and the hole caught some.

Weather is still really good.  Had a brief cold snap and a little snow earlier this week but it was over before the litters were due.  Daffodils drooped from the snow and cold, but they are raising their heads again.

30 days until Spring!

tnt

Pet breeders breed more pet breeders.

This is something I've been thinking about writing for a while.  In this day and age of Facebook and all, things come to light more readily.  With breeders of all animals coming under attack from animal rights groups more and more, a breeder should really think about what they're doing.

My point here is going to be about selling pet quality.  I know I was guilty of this back in the beginning.  I remember an incident vividly.  I bought a pair of breeding dwarfs.  Back then, brood quality went for around $20 tops.  In hindsight, the buck wasn't very good, actually pretty bad.  When I got the first litter from the pair, I sold some.  Since I was sold pedigreed rabbits from a well-known breeder, I assumed I could sell the offspring as pedigreed, too.  Later on, I got a very angry email from that breeder.  Apparently, a boy who had bought a buck from that litter (looked just like his sire) showed him, and the judge was convinced it wasn't a purebred dwarf.  After being shown the pedigree to prove it, the judge contacted the breeder.  She went up one side of me and down the other about her reputation being sullied by a rabbit of this caliber with her name behind it.  You better believe I was afraid to sell any more pedigrees that came from her lines.  When I didn't want to give a pedigree with a doe and had to explain why, that person told me she was way out of line in the way she handled my inexperience.  He later became one of my best friends in the hobby, and I learned more from him and his circle than the "clique of top breeders" she belonged to.

When I look back on that, I realize it really wasn't my fault.  If this breeder was so worried about her reputation, why did she sell me pedigreed crap?  I was a newb, I didn't know any better.  Back then, the internet wasn't as helpful as it is now.  The only way to learn was to visit rabbitries and go to shows.  I went to as many shows as I could, but there weren't that many rabbitries local to me.  And that clique wasn't very helpful at all.  I felt like I was bothering them if I asked questions.

Oh yeah, my point.  There seems to be quite a few breeding solely for their pet market.  Apparently they have a healthy pet market to fill.  That's fine and dandy, I suppose, more power to ya.  I don't have that.  My pet sales are few and far between, and most of my culls end up going gone in other ways.  I've watched (online) as these pet breeders seem to be selling pedigrees to other wannabe breeders who then do the same thing thinking there must be money in it.  Hence the title of this blog post.

One of the things that makes me label someone a pet breeder is their practices in regards to color breeding.  Netherland Dwarf is one of the breeds that are shown by variety, and there's so many different colors allowed, the genetics are almost unlimited.  We have to pay attention to the genetics to avoid the undesirable colors.  When a breeder says they are trying to produce an unshowable variety on purpose for no reason other than they like it, I can't help but think they are not serious about the breed.  Most of these unrecognized colors have no use to a reputable breeder who doesn't want the hokey genetics haunting their lines.  They don't seem to understand that if they sell pedigrees, the next gullible newbie is going to assume they can breed and sell (as I did), and those bad genetics are going to affect someone eventually.  The other thing that says pet breeder to me in conjunction with that is when they don't seem interested in actually entering shows, and ignore whatever they've learned about type.  It's still type before color.  They keep breeding those rabbits because they produce pretty pets.

Maybe some of these pet breeders have the lofty dream of seeing a new variety accepted when they start an unrecognized color project, or at least that's how they rationalize it.  In the meantime, those genetics are being passed around.  One of the genes I'm seeing newbies seeking lately is Harlequin and the related Tri-color.  It's highly unlikely this will ever be accepted and the gene will cause bloody havoc in any breeding program.  In fact, to even get the gene, you often have to look to a different breed, and that will set type back for many generations.  If you must breed them, do so as pets only and don't sell them with pedigrees to newbies who want to get serious about raising quality dwarfs.

Serious breeders know that pets will always be available in their culls.  Our goal is a better rabbit and anything that doesn't get us there is pet quality.  The integrity of that rabbit's color genetics is part of that.  We don't have to breed pets on purpose, nor do we want to, and many breeders have stopped selling pets altogether.  Not flooding the market with pets helps keep the ARAs off the backs of reputable breeders.


39 days until Spring
tnt