Can't wait

I'm so excited and I can't wait until the Greensboro show on September 18th. I haven't decided how many I'm going to take yet. I am defiantly going to show some of my oranges but I'm not sure about the others. I want to take all the juniors!

I just got 2 junior does yesterday. One Chocolate Otter and one Broken Orange doe. I think I'm going to show the Chocolate Otter doe (CE3) at the Greensboro show. The broken orange doe (named Partly Sunny) is actually from Fanta and Barely. I sold Barely while she was bred to Fanta and she had 4 kits. I was able to buy one of her babies back. :) Barely and Partly Sunny look nothing alike because Partly Sunny has much more color.

More later.... I can't think of anything else to talk about. LOL!

Oh yeah, one more thing: I have several does bred. It was a little bit cooler so I bred all of the does that were stubborn in the last blog (Blue Moon, Oreo, Abbigale, Comet, Quinoa, and Peanut Butter) and a few more. I can't wait for them to kindle. It seems like it's been forever since we've had any kits!

No luck

It was a little bit cooler this morning, so I tried to breed a few does. Unfortunately, it didn't go according to plans... I tried to breed Blue Moon, Quinoa, Peanut Butter, Abbigale, Comet, and Oreo and NONE of them wanted anything to do with a buck! Out of all 6 does, I thought surely one of them would have gotten bred. Oh well.... I'll keep trying.

It's been about a week since I last blogged. School started on the 16th so I just haven't had time to do much of anything but homework. From now on, I'll mostly be blogging on Fridays or the weekends.

I plan to reorganize and sell some of my orange bucks. I have waaaay too many right now. Well it seems like it anyways. A few are already listed on the For Sale page but more will be on the way once I decide which ones to part with and take pictures.

That's all for now! I may blog again before the week starts.

Almost over

I keep telling myself that summer is almost over. Only one more month. :) I can't believe it's already Friday, August 13th! Good luck everyone! :D

I'm not sure when I'll be able to start breeding again. It's too hot to do much of anything. I usually breed in July for our local county fair but it looks like I won't be going this year. I like to go because it gives me a chance to display my bunnies and cull some if needed. Not this year though. I won't have any juniors to sell. I may decided to sell a few just for the fair, but more than likely they'll be seniors.

Right now, I'm trying to plan the "who to breed to who". I'll only be able to breed Absolute this fall because Avalanche is too young. Which leaves me with 3 bucks that I can breed. Tempest, Zip, and Absolute.

Fanta had a heat stroke about a month ago, and I forgot to blog about it. Which means he's absolutely useless for breeding. :(

More later ... stay cool!

Sorry everyone

Sorry everyone.... Our Internet is down due to a recent storm so I'm very sorry if I'm not updating the website regularly or replying to emails on time. Our computer works, just the Internet is out so I'm using a friend's.

I've decided to keep a few more orange bucks (for now) so that doesn't leave much of a choice. Right now, I only have a broken Chinchilla junior doe available, my Hotot buck, and the blue banded senior Hotot doe for sale.

The Internet should be back to normal soon. I'll blog more then. :)

Herd thoughts

Since I'm selling out of Dwarf Hotots, I thought that it was about time to organize my herd plans a little.

I've decided to make Oranges and Sable Points my main varieties (I've probably mentioned that in previous blogs but this time I'm positive). I will be using some of the other shaded varieties such as smoke pearls and Siamese sables to breed to them. I will also continue to breed torts and a few Himalayans to help the sable points' color. Although right now, I don't have any torts other than my blue tort, Blue Moon. :( But I'm working on it. :)

I'm hoping that if I breed Blue Moon to a sable point buck that they might produce black torts but I'm not sure though. Blue torts seem to be good sellers so I'm keeping my fingers crossed that she'll produce more of her, but only in show quality size. :)

That's about all for now.

Selling out of Dwarf Hotots

I'm sooo sorry for not updating the blog! I can't believe it's been almost 2 weeks! Within the 2 weeks, I've have some time to sit back and think....

I've decided to sell out of Dwarf Hotots for various reasons. I only have 5 Hotots that I need to sell (1 Black Banded senior buck, 1 Blue Banded senior doe, 1 Black Banded junior doe, 1 Black Banded junior buck that looks to be show quality, and 1 beautiful Mismarked kit that hasn't been sexed yet). All of the following I just listed will be available.

I really hate to sell this beautiful breed but I've decided to sell out of Dwarf Hotots, because in order to expand in Netherland Dwarfs, I will need more room. I plan to make Orange and Shaded varieties my main colors in Netherlands with a few random colors such as BEWs, Chocolates, Otters, etc. I've also recently decided that I would like to experiment with the Agouti group as well. So, with that said, I am selling out of Dwarf Hotots. I may sell them individual but would love to sell all 5 together if possible. Please contact me if you are interested in anything I have for sale and I will give you more info and prices!

Dog days

Well, these are the dog days. I don't think we've gotten rain for at least 2 weeks already. The grass is absolutely fried and bone dry.

The poor bunnies have to stay in the heat all day.... :( They have fans and ice packs but they only last for a few hours. I had to bring Heartfelt Sunkist and her 2 babies inside the sunroom today because they were looking a bit lethargic and I was worried about them. They were wet around their noses (which can be a sign to heat stroke) and they just sat there with their eyes closed. They haven't quite figured out how to get in and out of the box yet. I just brought their whole cage inside and they seem to be acting normal. :)

The other bunnies look fine though. They're hot as ever but they're doing good for the most part.

I think I've changed my mind about going to the Saluda show this weekend .... Most of the other breeders in my area won't be able to attend so what's the point of going if I won't have any competition? It seems kinda stupid to me. :D So anyway, I probably won't be doing much showing in the near future.

I have lots of bunnies for sale! A few seniors and lots of babies! Just no pictures.... I have a couple of pics of random babies but not of everyone. For sure I have the following available: 1 Dwarf Hotot senior buck, 1 sable point senior buck, 2 broken chinchilla junior bucks, 1 broken chinchilla junior doe, (possibly two for sale) and about 2 or 3 orange junior bucks available but I haven't decided which one/ones to part with yet.

That's all for now. Hope you and your bunnies can stay cool in this heat! ;)

Cool down

We've had a cool down over the past few days. It hasn't been near as hot as it was. The humidity is going down and the air feels so refreshing which is unusual here in the summer time. It was 60 degrees last night and it felt sooooo good! The bunnies loved it, too!

I'm super excited to start breeding again in the fall. I've probably already said this before though. Lol! I might breed some does in August that way they'll have their babies in September (when it's cooler). I have some does that are at breeding age: Vixen, Oreo, Abbigale, etc and can't wait to see what they produce.

I updated the website and added more bunnies to the for sale page. Ebony is available because she just hit 2 years old. I like to sell my bunnies right at 2 yrs or sometimes later because personally, I normally don't but rabbits that are 2-3 years old. That's just me... I know a lot of breeders who buy older rabbits. ;) Now, if it's something that I must have, then I'll go for it. :) Anyway, I really hate to sell Ebony. I would love to see her go to a pet home especially or to a breeder. She is one of the sweetest rabbits I have and a great producer for her size.

Ajax is available again. I would really like him to go to a wonderful pet home or a home that will show him. He is very friendly. I think he would do well on the show tables if he had more competition. Ajax has an AWESOME head and body but his ears are just okay.

More blog updates coming soon along with more additions to the herd! ;) And hope everyone has a Happy 4th of July!

What's new

Sorry, I let the blog slip away from me again. :) There's a lot to talk about so here it goes....

Fanta x After the Fox - she had a total of 4 kits! One was a DOA on the wire but I'm still glad because this is the most that she's ever had. :D It looks like she has 2 fawn/lynx and one orange but I can't tell.

Tempest x Opaline - had 3 DOA kits... 1 was in the nestbox and 2 were on the wire. They were all normal sized, no peanuts. I thought Opaline did good since she has a broken leg. It's coming along great by the way. She is finally starting to put pressure on it.

Fanta x Sunkist - had 3 kits! One is a peanut though but the other 2 are fat and healthy. :) All were cozy in the nestbox with lots of fur on top of them.

Chocolate Chip and Orange Fiesta are due on the 28th, but I'm almost positive that Fiesta isn't pregnant. Third time - no babies. She must be one of those "slow developing" bunnies. I'm not giving up on her though. She's too nice to give up. :) She's broody but she has the head I want!

I'm done breeding for the summer. It's simply too hot. My mom and I were at a store this week and when we came back to the car, the thermometer said 116 degrees! Whew! Of course, as we drove down the road, it cooled off to 97.

Got a little bit of rain yesterday but all it did was tease the grass. It rained steadily for about 2-3 minutes... our deck barely got wet. We're hoping for some more rain soon because the grass is fried.

I posted more shows on the Shows page, but I don't think I'll be going to the Greensboro show. There is a family wedding planned on the 18th but so far, it may be postponed. So it's a 50% chance. I'm going to try to make it to Saluda on July 10th though.

That's all for now.

Two new litters

We had two new litters yesterday. I'm very excited for one, but I am a little disappointed in the other. Both does were first timers so I guess I can't expect much.

VJ x Snowdrift - they had 3 healthy kits yesterday morning! Snowdrift actually had 4 but one was a DOA on the wire. I am still very proud of her though! One kit is a miss-marked Hotot and the other 2 are correctly marked. I will keep the miss-marked kit if it's a doe because I think they're really pretty. :)

Fanta x Caramel - they had babies yesterday also, but unfortunately, she only had 2 babies.... It really surprised me because she's not tiny but she's not huge either. She's between the two with a nice head/ear and wonderful body. Caramel had one chocolate (will be keeping if it's a doe) and one DOA peanut. So I guess she might be a true dwarf. :)

After the Fox is due tomorrow so I'll keep you posted.... my sister's birthday is tomorrow, too! Uh oh, better start making a card, off the computer, since I didn't buy one. :) My sister helps me out tremendously, because she gives me advice on which buns to buy/cull and who to breed to who, and she takes me to most shows. :)

Color breeding programs

I've decided to sit back and relax on breeding until fall. I try to cut back in the summer because it's simply way too hot. It was 98 degrees here yesterday but with the humidity, it felt like 106 (says the weather channel). I hope the buns will be able to make it through the summer without over heating or heat strokes.... I've been bringing a few buns in our sunroom for the day, but what good does it do since I can't bring the whole rabbitry inside.

I've also been thinking about my color breeding programs. Since I keep getting squirrels, opals, chinchillas, etc popping up in my litters, I think I should start breeding Agoutis. I really don't care for chestnuts, but I like the rest of the varieties in the group.

I'm on the hunt for a typey broken buck to use with my new Agouti program. I think a broken chestnut buck would be best since I could breed him to my oranges, too. I'm rather picky about bucks. He must have a good pattern and I want an awesome head and body, too. Ears aren't much of an issue -- they just need to be no longer than average.

Of course, I'm going to continue working on my orange program. Right now, I'm kinda working on the color more so then type. I have a few smutty does, but I'm not worried about them because with Fanta, I might get clean kits. :) I'm not going to boast, but I'm happy with my juniors. I just don't have the superb pictures to show them off. :)

My shaded program is on its way, too. With Absolute and Aquene, I feel like I'm off to a pretty decent start. I also have Pink Ice, Avalanche, and Roxy that I think will be able to help me out a lot. I'm getting a sable point doe on Friday. She's about a year old and isn't proven yet so I'm going to try to get some babies from her. She has a leg so if I can't get anything from her, at least I can show her. :)

Stay cool.

Same old

Hot afternoon thunderstorms is what happens here just about everyday. As I type this, it's pouring down rain, thundering, and lightening. Before that, it was sticky and humid so the rain feels really good.

Nothing much is going on right now in the barn. There's only two words that can describe it. It's hot. :) I went to feed the buns at about 10:30 this morning (it's usually earlier than that) and I had to turn the fans on right away.

Better get going, the storm doesn't sound too good and I don't want it to knock our power out.