CC's Rabbitry - Rabbits From The Mountains

Surprise - Tans Are Smart

2008-12-08T16:27:00.000-08:00

So I've found out how smart Tans really are. I'd read online about them being able to learn to open cage latches, but wasn't expecting it to happen in my own rabbitry, and definately not so soon. Upon entering my apartment today after work, who was there to meet me right at the door but a certain little Tan rabbit dubbed Rusty, just hopping around and happy that somebody has finnally come home to play.

When I went into the roomwith the rabbit cages (the "rabbit room") the spring and latch that was supposed to holding his cage door shut was in two pieces in the floor, the wire the spring was made out of bent all to hell. Mhhhmmm...

So, after attaching a sturdy rock climbing clip to his latch, I can rest a little easier. I'd like to see him manipulate that. Not really.

This is the second time he's excaped, we just happened to be home the last time. My mini rex have either never figured such a thing out or not cared enough to try. These Tans are pretty smart and fun, I'll give them that. Hasn't been a dull moment since I got them.

I've decided to go ahead and find Pipkin, Rusty's little runty sister, a very nice pet home before I get too attached to her. I'm not sure if I want her traits passed down to litters, and I am fairly certain, with her hindquarters chopping off like they do and the quality of her fur (though it is getting better!) that she will never really be show quality. But I will gladly keep her as long as I can, because I looovvveee her! She is sooo friendly and sweet. I'll just hold on to her little butt and hold her every day until I find her the perfect pet home with an older child or adult who can understand the breed.

So I was relaxing after classes and work this evening and came up with a cute little logo for my rabbitry. Since I am CERTAIN at this point that I WILL be raising Tans, I've went ahead and included them in my rabbitry title. I don't raise them yet, but I will be showing Rusty and any others I may find in the meantime. I just drew it on Windows Paint for fun.

The Tans Are Here!

2008-12-06T12:32:00.000-08:00

Say hello to the Tans!

My two Tans have been here for about two weeks now. I picked them up right before leaving for a week in New York City, and then went straight home to Charleston for Thanksgiving. So as one might imagine I've had an insane two weeks and am just now finding time to update.

They are doing great! Randy from 6thdayRabbits even gave me a free doe along with the buck I wanted, since she isn't developing as well as her siblings. She is however very cute and sweet, so I am of course hopelessly attached to her. Her fur isn't coming in as it should; it still looks and feels like kit fluff. So, I've been supplementing her with various foods such as sunflower seeds and some light fruits and yogurts to see if we can at least get that shiny Tan fur to come in. She's a little project right now, though she probably will never be a show rabbit. If nothing else, she may have a litter or two for me and/or I will make sure to find her a VERY loving pet home, because she is as sweet as pie.

I am very much in love with this breed now. They are inquisitive, outgoing, very intelligent. They're always at the cage door wanting attention, and the little doe, who I've named Pipkin, even binky's around after I pet her. She's a happy little thing. It takes a lot more to freak them out then it does with other rabbits I've had. They are very open-minded, that's for sure. Thye never run away from a person approaching their area. They never cower or are nervous. They are just going with the flow, ready for anything. That's my kind of rabbit!

I named the buck Rusty, and man he is gorgeous! He is so spunky. I've been running him a bit, and he needs to get the move on a little bit more on the table, but I think after he gets over all the new sights and smells he will be more at ease to run the table. I've been using treats like oats to bribe him from one end to the other so far. When it comes to the Tan standard, the only main things I can find wrong with him are is eye rings. They only seem to partially be there, but they may grow in as he gets older. He's only about 12 weeks old as of now. His ears seem a bit on the long side, but again he's so young it's hard to judge things like that until he grows into himself. We shall see!

Either way, they're going to be a lot of fun to show and I'm excited. I think I will definately be breeding them later on, maybe after I move in June this year. Once we get settled up in PA (where I've decided to move to go to graduate school), then I will probably begin a small Tan breeding program.

With the mini rex, I *think* we may FINNALLY get a litter soon! Lacey seems very pregnant, and with one week left to go she began pulling fur last night. SO that's a good sign for sure. I gave her a nest box early to see if she would go ahead and make a nest, but she will probably use it as a litter box. She LOVES using litter boxes, but I can't let her have one because she is quite the playful doe and loves to knock them over and dig litter out all over the place. Since she is once of the indoor bunnies, that ain't ganna fly, needless to say. So until I can find her something that cannot be knocked over, she has to settle for the corner of the cage.

So, I'll update soon with that. Hopefully CC's Rabbitry will have a full nestbox next week! In the meantime, here's some more photos of Rusty:

Cooper's Neuter

2008-11-16T09:46:00.000-08:00

I've been meaning to post a blog on this, but kept forgetting.

Well, two or three weeks ago I bit the bullet and got my Flemish Giant, Cooper, neutered. He was bought to be a house pet, after all. The cheapest vet in my area did it for about $75.00, and it came to around $95.00 after a pain shot. It's expensive, but not out of this world expensive. Not too much more then a dog or cat operation.

Cooper came home, rested for awhile, and was his old self before the day was even over. Since then, he is noticably calmer, and his litter box habits are now flawless. He was pretty good before with the box, but once in awhile would get lazy or hormonal and pee beside the box. Well, that planted his butt outdoors in the hutches until the neuter. Now he is back inside, enjoying climate control and baby talk all day ever day.

If he gets out for a little run at least once a day, which he generally does, he exhibits no boredom, anxious, or neurotic behavior in his homemade cage (which, by the way, is plenty large enough for him!) If he doesn't get out one day, he may chew his cage door a bit, wanting some attention, but nothing more then that. Even then he usually only does it if he hears us near his cage.

Honestly, I couldn't be more pleased that I finnally altered a rabbit. This is the first time for me. Before, I'd either had rabbits to breed or had them as pets as a child before altering rabbits became such a fad in the pet world.

It really does just make sense to do it if you only want your rabbit for a pet. Rabbits can be such hormonal little creatures, that when you think about it, it's the fair thing to do for the rabbit. Plus it helps us humans out! Cooper is now more fun to be around, easier to handle, and as flawless as a cat with his litter box habits. He is also less destructive. Therefore he is a happier animal living in captivity. I encourage altering pet rabbits, especailly indoor pet rabbits, and will definately be doing any old bucks I choose to keep from my breeding program when they are retired.

New Pages on Site

2008-11-15T07:06:00.001-08:00

Just wanted to do a little blog entry on the three new pages I put on my bunny site. I put one up about my philosophy on meat rabbits, an informational page on pet rabbits, and a page on my personal breeding ethics. Just some interesting stuff to muse on! :)

2008-11-14T17:11:00.000-08:00

New news in my rabbit world!

Next week is going to be a busy week for me. Monday, John and I are heading up to Charleston WV to stay the night with my parents, then over to Columbus Ohio (abuot a 3 hour drive) to meet a friend from a rabbitry called 6thdayrabbits. I'll be buying my first black Tan rabbit from him! I'm really excited to have a new breed around, and have been trying to research everything I can about the Tan standard. First chance I get I'll be trucking him off to a show to see how he does.

I will also be getting a proven broken black doe from another breeder in WV, so needless to say the driving is going to get old quick for us. But I'm sure I'll be happy once I get them all home and settled in. After this doe, I'm done buying mini rex for awhile and will be concentrating solely on breeding and producing my own winners.

I've been breeding the two does I have now, several times for Clover. So far, no taking. I'm not sure why, it could be any number of things. I seriously doubt all four of my rabbits are sterile though. It's more than likely something with the cycles of the does or inexperience with the bucks. Both bucks are young and overly-eager, and I think they may just not be hitting the mark ;). I've got patience though, and read all about the usual missed litters with dwarf breeds.

I bred Clover in what I think to be a successful transition, lol, on October 31st, so we shall wait and see.

I bred Lacey today to Huck, because I REALLY want kits from them. She's very full and a little on the large side (but not too large) and Huck is tiny with some really nice features, like head and ears out of this world. So, hopefully she took. He got her several times, and I'm putting her right back with him early in the morning, hopefully after some ovulation through tonight. I'll get a litter one of these days and really start my rabbitry!

Once I get the broken black doe, she's instantly getting bred to Bluebell. Then I will more than likely keep one or two of her kits and sell her, because she is missing one side of her pedigree and I want all fully ped. rabbits in my rabbitry.

It's still slightly tough for me to think of selling a rabbit that fast, but I'll make sure she is treated well. The people at Lucky Clover Patch Rabbitry are sooooo nice, they've been holding her for over a month now for me since it's so difficult for me to get out of town, what with this being my senior year in college and all. I'm definately going to offer them a little more then they said she costs for the boarding.

After coming back to town tuesday night, I will be leaving VERY early the next morning to go to New York City with an art class! I'm super excited, and will update on the new rabbits when I return on Thanksgiving! Until then, happy breeding to the rabbit world!

New Breed?

2008-11-01T16:29:00.000-07:00

Well, I've been talking to some one I know on Rabbit Habbit (the forum I frequent) and I think I'm going to be getting a Tan from him. It will be a black, which is my favorite variety in the breed next to blue. They also come in chocolate and lilac. I will just be getting one to start out with so I can make sure I like them enough to breed and show on a regular basis, like the MR.

I've always liked the breed, and have never had a running breed before. The author of my favorite rabbit breeding book, Bob Bennett, breeds Tans up in Vermont if I'm not mistaken. They are a striking and attractive full arch breed that generally doesn't exceed 4 1/2 lbs, which is good for me.

A part of me says no, don't get into another breed yet, get your mini rex herd off the ground better first. Then another part says, eh, what the heck, you are doing this to have fun. A running breed will be a nice contrast with the little meaty mini rex, and their sizes will be almost identical. There is hardley any Tan competition at the shows I have been to, so it will be nice to add to that if I decided to breed them.

I've heard and read that you never get an "unshowable" tan in litters due to mismarked babies. You do however have to pay close attention to body type and arching. They have larger litters than other small rabbits, so it will be nice to have plenty to chose from, and I always have backup for getting rid of rabbit I cannot sell - dog and human consumption.

I am definately going to be getting the first Tan. After that, we'll see what I think. It kind of comes down to whether or not I would like to start another variety of MR or get the tans. I think I would rather get the tans. I've got opal and blue MR right now, and will be getting a proven broken black doe soon from a breeder friend in WV. That's enough for me to work on right now, for sure.

State Fair Results

2008-09-12T14:24:00.000-07:00

I've slacked on the posting I know. The fall semester just started up for me at school, and things have been hectic. The State Fair show went great!

Lacey (sr. opal MR doe) won BEST IN SHOW! They called me to inform me of the win, and it just made me feel great. I knew she was a high quality girl, but I did not expect BIS!

Bluebell (jr. blue MR buck) won BOV, as did Cooper! It was great, everything I entered won something. Also, I got the results back from the Taylorsville show back in July and Lacey got a BOV! I don't think there was enough entries for her to get a leg, but she still have her BIS leg. I'm going to send away fro a best in show certificate, just because it's my first one. Very exciting!

My last show for the season is this month, on the 20th. It's in Greensboro NC. I'm very excited to see how Lacey does, then she will be bred when we return home. Her litters are going to be a strong foundation for my mini rex herd, which is great because my numbers will always be small. I don't want so many that keeping rabbits becomes a chore, I'm keeping it as carefree and fun as possible. It's not something I'm going to be making a lot of money or anything with, so if it ceases to be fun, then there is absolutely not point in doing it.

So far I'm having a great time and am glad I've started out correctly, with quality foundation stock and good equipment. My prior rabbit breeding experiments in high school really set the stage for me now.

Not too much more to post on now. I'll post results if any from the Greensboro show afterwards.

Queen of Brood

2008-08-02T05:08:00.000-07:00

Clover was born to be a brood doe.

She has only been pregnant for around ten days, and she's allready nesting. Early this morning I caught her trying to shove as much hay as possible into her mouth, pushing it up against the bars of the hutch to fit more in. She carried it around the hutch for awhile, then went into the boxed in nest area of the hutch and starting digging around and arranging hay. I peeked in and there's allready a burrowed hole. She hasn't pulled fur yet at least! You'd think she has been 4 weeks pregnant the way she's acting! I've never had a doe so excited to have a litter! Her temperment has allready calmed down a lot too, she came up to see me instead of cursing me to hell (literally) and just seems much more satisfied with life in general.

She's like a little kid who packs a week early to go to disneyworld.

I'm glad I put her in the hutch with the built in nest box area. Otherwise I wouldn't have a nest box in for her yet and she'd probably be aimlessly carrying around a huge mouthful of hay. What a good mom she's going to be. And if she's this eager to breed and have kits, what a great high producing brood doe she's going to make! Can't wait to see how many kits she has and how healthy they are. I'm strongly crossing my fingers for healthy live kits. If she were to lose her litter, I bet she'd be so upset!

And It Begins...

2008-07-22T18:44:00.001-07:00

I bred my first Mini Rex pair today! I decided to go ahead and breed Huck to Clover, as Clover has been a little miss hormonal grouch for the last few weeks.

They did awesome too, couldn't have been more efficiant had I asked them. She was of course more then ready. I did so this morning, and I swear, in all my years of breeding rabbits, I've NEVER seen a doe act like this!!! She and Huck did the usual preliminaries, then he very efficiantly and quickly did his job and she lifted right on up for him just as quick. He would have fallen over but the side of the hutch was there so he just leaned on it, and then Clover started *rolling* around on her back. Back and forth. I swear it was so ridiculous looking. That was a very happy doe.

My rabbits have always "bred like rabbits", but these two acted like they'd done it a million times. I think when she was next to him before I moved her, they disscussed how they were going to do it in great detail late at night. And she never shut up the whole time. I've never had such a vocal rabbit. She squeeked and squeeled like some kind of swine the whole time. She just kept rolling around and throwing herself on her back like a dog that found something gross in the grass. It was hallarious. She let him take her again, then she was done and wanted to go back to her own hutch. It was wild. She's going to be a heck of a brood doe.

It's exciting though. I'm sure she took, and will palpate in a couple of weeks and hopefully there will be babies wiggling in a nestbox by this time in August! It's been so long since I've had a litter and I can't wait. It's hard getting totally out of rabbits for awhile, as I did 4 years ago, then getting back into them and having to wait things out. I've gotten impatient! But soon enough I'll be rolling again.

Taylorsville Show, July 19th

2008-07-21T14:10:00.000-07:00

Well I had a lot of fun at the show the other day! We got started about 7:15 (actually got there around 5:30) and didn't get out of there until about 2 AM. I hung out with some very nice friends I've made in the rabbit world, and I am learning more every time. My rabbits actually did very well! they didn't win anything yet of course, but they got a lot of good comments and it makes me feel encurouged to keep on truckin with the whole thing.

In show B, Lacey, my junior opal doe, won over a senior opal doe. The judge held her back with his other favorites of each variety, then went over each one again, giving the best of breed to a broken castor. It was close and exciting! I was very proud of her, she did the best in show A and B over the other two rabbits I took. The judge from show A said she was extremely promising and will surely have wins as a senior.

Clover (broken castor junior doe) got good comments on head, ears, fur texture and density and hindquaters, but is weak in the shoulders. Cooper (light grey flemish jr. buck) got good comments on fur texture and density, roll back, length, and ears. He was noted twice with not having quite enough width to balance out the length, so we're going to see if we can get him to gain some weight. He weighs 10 1/2 right now at around 5 months.

After the show, John and I went to a friends (Joni of Lyle Creek Rabbitry) house to stay, and we are both very grateful for the hospitality she afforded us. There was also two others who stayed. The next morning, we decided to try our hands at processing meat rabbits. Wow, was that ever a learning experience!

Kristen (of Keep's Rabbitry in NC) had three mini lops that were of ill-nature and poorer quality, so they got the axe. Well, rather, they got the broom handle. Malena of Hamilton's Hoppin' Lops taught us how to humanely kill the rabbit by putting them on the ground, placing a broom handle over the back of their neck and stepping on each side, then pulling up quickly at a 90 degree angle to quickly break the neck.

It was a little disturbing the first time we watched her do it, but it happened to fast and you knew the rabbit felt next to nothing and was gone in no time. It felt no pain, we made sure of that. Kristen gave it a try the second time with success, and surprisingly enough I did one the thrid time - a mini lop. John did the forth, and Malena did the last. She also had two netherland dwarves that she needed done.

Joni dressed and cleaned each rabbit, showing us the steps along the way. We sprayed off the pelts and Kristen is going to try to tan them. We cut up the meat in quarters, soaked it in salt water for awhile, then threw it on the grill.

It was my first time eating meat in years. Since I am a vegetarian because I am against factory farming and the use of inhumane and artificial hormone treatments and housing techiques, I don't eat meat. However, I am not against the actual act of eating meat at all. These rabbits were raised with care in great conditions, and got to live their lives in health and comfurt. They were killed humanely and with respect. I am perfectly fine with that, so I tried the meat.

It was really good and a lot like chicken, though I think better. It was pretty tough in spots since we grilled it, so I am going to take the two pieces we brought home and try to slow cook them a bit more in the oven. I might try and cut most of the meat off the bones too. I want to make some rice and veggies to go with it, and season it some more.

It was really a pretty exciting and eye opening experience. Besides having children, the most important thing to me to look forward to in my life is living as self-sufficiantly as possible on my own land with my own animals. I intend to raise some rabbits for my family's consumption, along with chickens for eggs and goats for milk. So this was a major step in my learning to live the way I dream to one day, and that ment a lot to John and I both.

Our vegetable garden is also going great, we picked a cucumber the length of my forearm when we got back to ol' WV. So I am well on my way to learning to live the way I want, and rabbits will be a big part of that.

Getting Ready For the Show...

2008-07-04T23:52:00.000-07:00

Well, I think despite my current setbacks including very high gas prices and hectic summer school schedualing, I will finnally be able to go to another show! There is a show down in NC the 19th of this month. It is a night show, beginning at 7:00 pm, and a very kind friend who lives that way has offered to give me, John, the bunnies, and my two dogs a place to stay for the night! We live about 2 hours away, so that is a blessing!

I am going to take Lacey, Clover and Cooper. Bluebell is still a bit too young.

My mini rex herd is coming along great! My rabbits are ready to breed and developing better then I expected. My two does are restless and fidgety, both just weeks away from becoming young seniors. I am planning to breed them directly before taking them to the WV state fair in August. They will be cooped there for about a week, along with the new buck (whom I've named Bluebell after the good natured Watership Down character) and Cooper. Huck won't be going, his one white toenail will only get him DQ. :( Plus he's in the molt of his life right now, and looks simply wretched.

It will be so weird only having one bunny at home to take care of. I'll probably bring him inside for the fun of it. He can have Cooper's enclosure until fair time is over.

I know it is surely overreaction, but the more I think about the more paraniod I become over the thought of all of my rabbits being cooper at a fair open to the public. I have horror ideas of them coming home with sniffles and in fear of everything. I'm sure they'll be fine, I know people who do it all the time and their rabbits were fine. The idea of my rabbits being out of my care and control just doesn't sit well with me though, I put so much effort into them and care so much about them! I'm sure I just need to get more used to the world of showing...

The state fair rabbit show is finnally ARBA sanctioned at least! I always wondered WHY they weren't...If it isn't too expensive, I'd like to get both of my does registered. I'll just have to wait and see.

Just so this isn't text only, here are some recent photos I've taken of some of the little furballs:

Here is Lacey taste testing a leaf...

Here is Cooper enjoying the evening sunlight. He's getting so big and handsome!

New Buck!

2008-06-27T18:53:00.000-07:00

I have finally found another blue buck! I have been searching for one for ages now it seems, and that's not a rare variety! Anyway, I got a good one! He is only 7 wks old as of yet, so I am growing him out. He is just the sweetest little thing in the world. I forsee a difficult sale in the future! His color is lovely and deep - my favorite range of blue. I can't wait until he's ready to breed. I have no idea what to call him yet...

I am also set up to buy a proven lynx buck...Yay! A buck for Lacey! And they are a perfect match. Lacey is heavy on the lilac tipping, and Chester (the buck) shows a lot more fawn. I can't WAIT to get him.

So the race is on to build room for these two guys! Little boy Blue is in a junior cage right now in the kitchen. I am planning on building my owner stacker-ish hutch with two holes. The framing will be 2x2 's and the cage space will be 24x24. I allready have one tray ready and some wire cut. I need to go get the wood though!

After a little period of silence, I've finnally found what I was looking for. The WV state fair has their rabbit show ARBA sanctioned FINNALLY this year, and I am super excited. I am going to get two does registered at least. Cooper will be going as well for the duration of the show/fair. I am going to do some breeding RIGHT before the show, so that when they come home they will be around a week into pregnancy and ready to settle down. Good things to come!

It's Been Awhile!

2008-06-09T10:21:00.001-07:00

Ok, I've totally been slacking on updates. Spring and Summer got started, including the ending of the spring semester at school and the beginning of summer courses, plus visits to my family in Charleston WV, so I've been on the run.

Lacey, the little "opal" doe is, well, not an opal but in fact a lynx. I knew the second I looked at her with her mother at her home rabbitry that she had lilac tipping - not blue, but I decided to take her anyway. Her pedigree is packed with winnings, most on her dam's side, and her type is pleasing. She gains weight quickly and easily, is not hippy in the least, and has more depth at her young age than any of my other MR.

Her color banding definately lives up to a lynx, though she is heavy on the lilac tipping. You do not see quite as much fawn coming through as you do on some other lynx mini rex, but that's ok. So I am on the quest to find her a good buck, as I don't want to breed her with opal. Opal can ruin the lilac undercolor in a lynx, making it dark blue which is apparently incredibly difficult to erase once you've put it there. I may do a test breeding however, as I only have opal bucks right now, and see how the babies type is. Heck, maybe I will get a good opal to keep out of it.

I name the doe Lacey. She was very nervous and shy at first, unlike my other more outgoing MR. Her dam is quite feral almost, so I think a lot of it is learned behavior, watching her dam quiver in fear every time a human walks by. She's been a brood doe since she was 1, never touched unless to be moved out of the way to get a baby, so I can understand her fear.

Lacey however has come around a good deal, and now comes to me when I open her hutch and is inquisitive rather than fearful. She still throws tantrums on me sometimes, but we're working her out of that. She's really beautiful, I am glad I got her. And I still have Clover (broken opal) to work with.

I want to find a good lynx buck to pair her too, and would like a chocolate or lilac doe to pair with him also. But for some reason I am having the hardest time finding mini rex I want to buy! A couple of raisers in WV have some terrible looking MR, long and racy, with patchy terrible looking fur and long ugly ears. I found a couple that are good, and one that are awesome, but go figure, they aren't returning my emails! Hoepfully I will find something worth my while at a show!

High gas prices (around 3.80-4.00$ at this point) stopped me from going to a couple of shows so far this summer, so I am not looking forward to the WV state fair show. I am planning to enter only Huck, Clover, Lacey and Cooper.

Cooper is developing into a really nice flemish giant! His head and ears are near perfect in shape, his length is awesome. His color is an odd darkish shade, apparently called a "tweener". I've been taling to others on the subject and researching it myself some. He is technically a light grey - his color banding is correct for that. However his tipping is darker than the udual light grey, but not as dark as a steel. I've been told that they are not DQ for this since it is quite frequent now. I wonder why? Probably too many people outcrossing with black and steels on the lights instead of keeping the colors together as they should.

So I am building more wire hutches right now for indoor use. The heat is out of this world - allready into the lower 90's in early June. I am not used to that in WV, so I am anticipating bringing kindeling des and new litters indoors this summer. I have plans to make my own stacked hutches - two stacked. And I am redoing my largest outdoor hutch with new roofing and siding. I sure can't wait to get more settled an get a barn for them all! I will sleep better every night.

Show Updates

2008-04-14T17:06:00.000-07:00

I've got my new Mini Rex site off the ground and running! Here's a link:

http://www.freewebs.com/cjanimals/

I am going to pick up the little opal doe early next week. By the time convention comes around, she will be a perfect age for showing, and I will have taken her at least two WV shows to see how she is fairing by then.

I allready have a name picked out for her unless something in her personality grabs me: "Joplin". If you know me, you know who that's after! My hero Janis Joplin!

I have decided to go ahead and breed Clover in mid June when she is ready, and have a litter of 3 month olds to sell at convention. I am considering asking Pam over at PJ's Rabbit Farm if she would stud a buck to me for Clover, since Opal (Huck) and lynx (Clover) are not top choices for a match. According to Cottonwood Farms Mini Rex Color Crossing Rules, http://mr-colors.tripod.com/, which is a great help, this would harm both colors, causing too heavy of a blue surface on the Lynx and very poor ring band on the Opals. I don't want that! Lilac isn't a top choice to match with opal either (what I originally thought Clover was) but it isn't the worst match as they are both dilutes - lilac of chocolate and opal of castor. It seems that the only really good matches for lynx are chocolate and another lynx, neither of which I was planning on geting lol. I do want another buck though, and will now consider where to put another hutch for one if I plan on keeping Clover. I wouldn't mind having a good solid chocolate. I think it's a gorgeous color.

Whatever happens, Clover is being bred in June. If I get any outstanding juniors from her first litter (which I probably will not) then they will be just old enough to put on the junior table at convention if I am feeling adventurous...or if I am just feeling like getting my butt kicked lol. They would be younger than most of the 5 1/2 month olds I'm sure will be there, but that's ok! I can get comments and it would be fun to have more rabbits to put up. Then the rest of the kits who I want to sell will hopefully find new homes there and I can get back some of my gas money!

It is actually only 3 1/2 hours away from my parents place in Charleston WV, so that's why I can't stand the thought of not going. I'm sure it won't be close enough for me to go for another 2 or 3 years at best, and by then I am going to be quite busy with grad school and god knows how broke lol. If I was a REALLY logical person I wouldn't have taken up rabbit raising again just yet, but I just couldn't wait any longer! It hit me when I got Huck, and now it's simply too late to turn back lol.

I predict that soon after I get my breeding off the ground, I may be retiring Huck and neutering him. He's got the head, the ears, the personality and the fur texture, but he is lacking in depth, his shoulders are long, and his fur needs more density. PLUS, he isn't fully pedigreed, and that hurts lol. But I will never sell that rabbit, I don't care what anyone says, he stays with me for the rest of his days. I don't think I've ever felt such a strong affection for any rabbit I've ever had, (besides Cooper!). I am planning on neutering him, giving him a month to clear out the hormones, then bringing him inside to live and hopefully bond with Cooper to save cage space. That way his hole in the outside hutch rabbitry is ready to be filled with a new fully pedigreed buck with better type. I am definately going to want to replace him with another opal though, because I am just in love with that color. Possibly blue too though.

Well, here is the tentative list of shows I may attend this season. The ones in WV I will for sure attend, and it's safe to say I will be at at least one more of the Taylorsville shows, because since we are in the southern part of WV we may actually be closer to Taylorsville NC then some of the others in WV.

~ May 10th - Mineral Wells, WV - Blennerhassett RC - 2 shows: Open MR and Open.
~ May 24th - Taylorsville, NC - Open
~ June 14th - Charlestown, WV - Blue Ridge R&CC - Open
~ August 8-16th - WV State Fair - Open
~ September 6th - Charlestown, WV - Blue RIdge R&CC - Open
~ September 20th - Greensboro, NC - Open
~ October 4th - Taylorsville, NC G.A.A. - Open
~ October 26-30th - ARBA Convention - Louisville, KY

By some of the later dates, I will be at least showing Clover, Joplin, Cooper, and possibly Huck again (but probably not unless he improves drastically).

-Celeste
http://www.freewebs.com/cjanimals/index.htm

No Convention Breeding as of yet

2008-04-09T09:33:00.000-07:00

So unless I get a new doe of breeding age in the next week, which isn't going to happen, I'm not going to have anyone to breed for the upcoming ARBA convention in KY this October. I'm dissapointed, because god knows when the next time I will be able to make convention will be, but that's ok! I've jsut gotten started into raising again, and it's always slow in the beginning. I have to wait for my little does to grow up. I will always have what I have bought to show. I am excited for Cooper, as he is a high quality Wooley Boogers rabbit, which if you know are high quality flemish. Both of his parents come from them.

Clover will be ready to breed in early June. I am debating whether or not to wait until after Convention to breed her though, so that she can be shown there as a new senior. She would have had the litter and could still go, but her type will probably be spent and I would like to show her at least a couple times. Her body color is sparse, but its balanced, and I think her body type is going to be good enough that she won't be DQ for the lack of much color. I will probably wait and breed her right afterwards, that way she can also go to the WV state fair in August. All of my rabbits, including the flemmie Cooper, will be at that show.

BTW, turns out that yes, Clover is definately lynx! I have contacted her breeder about changing her pedigree, but have not yet recieved an answer.

My opal baby will be a good aged Junior by Convention, just at 5.5 months. If she holds true to her breeding, she will be looking awesome by then.

I REALLY want another buck. I just have to wait and see how the hutch space comes in to play. I may keep one of Huck's baby bucks and use him, he iwll only be related to one of my does, and breeding back to the dam is a pretty common practice as long as there is no problem in the gene pool. Seeing as how I am completely cross breeding right now and making up my own lines, I don't forsee any issues.

I am still living in rental apartments, and will be moving within the next year after I graduate to another such living situation. I am lucky right now, my landlord is amazingly nice and loves animals, and we're out in the woods. They do make moving and finding landlords who allow animals more of a challenge, but it's worth it to me. At least they all stay outside! People usually dislike the idea that I have 3 cats much worse than the rabbits. I just tell them that I wouldn't tolerate a cat who isn't hosue trained any more then they would, I've gotten rid of one recently due to that issue (tried every trick in the book) so I won't put up with it. I can be quite a clean freak, clutter makes me irritable.

Can't wait for the opal baby! She should be ready soon.

New opal baby and Clover Updates

2008-04-06T15:30:00.000-07:00

My breeder sent me pictures of the new opal doe I am going to be getting from her. She shuold be ready to go in about 3 or 4 weeks. I have been looking for an opal doe since I got Huck. They're really adorable. Their pedigree is impressive as well, with at least one GChamp.

I also got Clover out today to access how she is developing. She's around 12 weeks old now, seems to me to be doing pretty well. I think she might be a bit long in body, but shes filling out really nice, better than my little Huck ever will lol. Her back feet are positioned incorrectly inboth of the photos, but it was her first big posing session so I didn't want to burn her out on it all. I'll try more with her later this week.

It's funny, I am starting to think that she is actually lynx colored instead of lilac. It's hard to tell, as both colors are there. I think she might be lynx with a lot of lilac tipping. As she gets bigger and her color becomes more vivd, I think I am really starting to notice eye rings. Also, she definately has white undercolor, and that is perfect for a lynx.

It would make sense, as her dam was broken chocolate and her sire was blue and fawn tri color...personally not two combinations that I would have put together as chocolate is not a dilute and blue and fawn is. The rest of her pedigree also holds true for lynx to come out somewhere.

I've read that breeding opal (Huck) to lynx is not a totally good idea either, but at least they're both dilutes, and I will see what I get. If it's not good, I won't do it again.

Cooper

2008-04-05T11:53:00.000-07:00

We decided to name the new flemmie Cooper. He is so awesome! He is allready as friendly and outgoing as can be, crawling into our laps and laying with us and nudging our feet for pets. Never had a sweeter rabbit, besides Huck. Here are some photos of him playing outside, he's about 6 1/2 wks now.

Taylorsville Show and New Rabbit

2008-04-01T20:08:00.000-07:00

Well the show was a lot of fun. I was tired from getting up at 5:00 am to leave, and the building was chilly and drafty and the roof was leaking, but it was fun anyway! I got a lot of good tips with Huck and MR in general. His shoulders are low and long, yep I was expecting that, his head and ears are very nice, his color is fine, his fur texture is OK but it is lacking in density. His hindquarters need to fill out more, which I also noted, and will be keeping him on alfalfa and oats with his pellets. Thankfully, Pam let me know that she got her hand tatoo kit. We went down to her place the night before the show and I did Huck's ear. It was really easy and I liked doing it. He behaved very well. His number is CCM97...CC are my initials, M for Male, 9 for the months he was bron (Sept) and 7 for the year; 2007. Clover's will be CCF18, once she gets big enough for me to get into her ear.

Breeding him to Clover, who has ridiculously dense fur, is going to make some nice babies I think. It was fun though, and I met some really cool rabbit people. Man, it's so nice to be able to talk endlessly about raising rabbits without the other person changing the subject, staring off into space, or shaking their heads at you lol. The more integrated I become in this world of rabbit showing, the more it seems that you either love it or you just plain don't care about it, and that's fine!

One breed that I really enjoyed watching shown was the Rhinelander. Wow, they were handsome rabbits, and I love that tri-color! I am getting into the full arch rabbits, and am considering these guys when I am more settled. I have always wanted to raise tans, I think they are such a beautiful little rabbit, and they would fit nicely in alongside my mini rex. Belgian Hares are also catching my fancy, now there is an elegant rabbit. I am seriously going to consider them later on in my life, as they are becoming increasingly rare and hard to find. Ironic, as they once were the most popular rabbit to breed and show.

When John and I went to tatoo Huck, we also picked up our new Flemish Giant! Remember that little guy in those photos? Well yeah, he's allready huge. He's six weeks old now, born Feb. 19th (between mine and John's birthdays!) and we love him to death. He is allready climbing into our laps for pets and rubs, and hopping arund the bedroom and having lots of fun. His pedigree is actually quite impressive, with several BOB, BIS, BOV, and other such winnings in his parents and grandparents lines. His dam won first place at the WV state fair last year, you can see her picture on Pam's site, PJ's Bunny Farm. If I remember correctly, his grandsire has a Grand Champ as well! I am definately going to show our little guy before neutering him. He will be a good sized junior by the time of the WV state fair this year. Any shows in between I can make he will go to as well.

We Don't know what to name him yet. We are going back and forth between Cooper (after Agent Cooper in Twin Peaks lol), Holden (after Holden Caulfield in Catcher in the Rye), Blake (William Blake!) and random names like Otto and Aven and Hazel. I'm leaning towards Cooper...just not sure yet.

Getting ready...

2008-03-28T09:45:00.000-07:00

So I figured out some of what I was doing wrong with posing Huck. I had it looking like his butt was too far up, when really his back feet were wrong. I have new photos, but I am at school right now without my flash drive.

I'm excited for the show tomorrow. I will also be driving to Fayetteville this afternoon to Pam's house (Clover's breeder) to tatoo Huck and get my flemish baby! I am REALLY excited for him, I don't know how long I've wanted one.

Huck's first show

2008-03-23T19:28:00.000-07:00

So Huck is attending his first show this saturday and I am so excited. It's in Taylorsville North Carolina. We've been working a lot with him every day, practicing posing and getting flipped upside down and having his feet and belly poked and prodded, he's doing really well and is probably the most tolerant rabbit I've ever known.

We took some photos of me attempting to pose him correctly. From what I can tell I am putting his back feet up too far, and therefor his front legs are up too far and they are making his shoulders look too long. I think he still has just a bit more weight to put on too, he's always been on the small side, but that's a good thing with mini rex. I'd rather him be small and have good small ears then be DQ for getting outside of the weight standards.

He also tenses up a good bit when being posed, and this affects how he is set up. He's not used to it, bad me. I didn't pose him enough since I've had him, thought he's handeled daily. He just has to get used to being put in that position, and I think by the time saturday rolls around he will be much more relaxed. I'm kind of nervous because he isn't tatooed yet, and I am going to try and get it done asap at the show before everything starts. A friend told me there are always people willing to tatoo at a show, and I have read that the registrars will usually do it too, so I don't think it will be a problem. I just like having EVEYRTHING ready beforehand. Plus I don't want to overload Huck with too much crap on his first show. When I took him to Pam's when we picked up baby Clover a few weeks ago, we had him out showing him to her and he started shivering a bit from being in a new place and being nervous. Poor little guy!

Anyway, here are the photos of Huck posing, I'm going to try and get it better tomorrow and take some more.

I think this last one is the best pose, and the angle shows his nice hindquarters. I'm sure I just have a lot to learn, and that is going to be my main goal while at the show.

Feed Store Woes

2008-03-23T06:49:00.000-07:00

I live in southern WV. I feel like I am in southern Mississippi or something...no offense to any one individual, it's just the mentality of this place...oh jaysus it's driving me nuts. Yeah, I'm just here to get my bachlers.

There are cattle farms EVERYWHERE around here. Many people have goats, and horses are in every other field on Rt. 20. But no feed store in the immediate area. There used to be a corporate southern states in Princeton, but no, it shut down about a year ago. The one feed/gas station where I get my rabbit pellets carries hay, but not pure alfalfa or timothy, which is of course what I need. And of course they're selling out! Hopefully to a similar establishment.

There is also at least 5 churches on every block. This place is an economic disaster and a social nightmare.

Now if you like the outdoors, which I do, it's a good place. Three are three state parks within a 25 minutes drive from the college. Even though Pipestem cares more about their golf course than their hiking trails and Bluestone doesn't have enough money to reblaze and their campsites are 2 feet from the road and right next to eachother...New River Gorge Park is closeby too though.
But, I also enjoying listening to live music (not country), talking to intelligent people (not just college professors), looking at art gallaries (not reproduced crap at wal-mart)...

My social psych professor told us about how her husband, who has lived in Mississippi, said that this particular area, even though it's not really in the "south", is just as unprogressive and narrow-minded as many a place down there. Wow.

I digress. My complaint is the lack of a feed store in a farming area. I need alfalfa! I'm out! My rabbits are eating grass hay exclusively, besides the remaining afalfa cubes, and I have one growing youngster and a buck who's preparing to show in a week. Thank god for oats.

At home in Charleston, there is the infamous Green's Feed and Seed. What a heavenly place. I can get all the medium-sized bales of alfalfa and timothy I want, good pellets, meds, hutch building materials...you name it they have it. Very rabbit friendly. They also have anything you would need for horses, wild birds, gardening, hunting (besides gun stuff), and even more. It's huge and its family run. I am usually in Charleston to get more hay before I run out. This is the first time I have actually RUN OUT. It sucks. I'm going to check the yellow pages, may have to drive into Beckley.

I actually went to a pet store friday to go ahead and buy a ridiculously small bale of over-prices alfalfa to tie the buns over. I have a sour taste in my mouth from this particular pet store. Numerous times, as I would go there to get filter replacements for my fish tanks, somethingbad has happened. Their prices are ridiculous on everything, they keep their feeder rats in TERRIBLE conditions, I mean really inhumane (I know because I still have two feeder rescues from them). Actually, if you can believe this, a year or so ago at the old location of this same store, I went to get a pet rat from the feeders (because that's all they had) and the worker (a large discruntled idiot of a man) actually said to me that he questions the mentality of anyone who would want to keep a rat as a pet. But yet, he sits around surounded by 50 pound snakes who could give a shit less whether or not he feeds them a rabbits or his left arm. Jesus...

Not to mention, they have some incredibly rare and exotic reptiles that came from god knows what rainforest, (This is the managers main area of interest) and same thing with birds. I have actually stood at their register, ready to shell out some sickeningly huge amount of money for something that would probably break in a week, and nobody was even in the store. Nobody was there for me to even ask to ring me up. They even have cameras...I set the product on the counter and left.

Ok, so that is the place I was actually going to give money to, against my very best judgment. Here is what was on the little cardboard hay shelf: 2 tiny bales of the brownest alfalfa I've ever seen in my life, 4 VERY overpriced small bales of timothy, and then a larger different brand name bale of timothy and clover. John turned over one of the alfalfa's to check the date...april 2007. ...yeah.....

I picked up the larger bale of timothy that looked at least edible. There was no price. I found a worker, a guy who has annoyed the hell out of me past times in the store by following me around and attempting to make conversation about things I don't care about numerous times, and he took it to the back to ask somebody what it was. "Make sure and yell at us before leaving if we aren't up front!" He says in a disgusting carefree way. Wow...

"She said it's been priced," he tells me.
"Well, there's no price on it..."I say.
"I'll have to go look it up."

We stand around for about 20 minutes while he's up front hidden behind a cubicle on a computer. A woman is ringing somebody else up nearby, and he yells to her that he can't find the price on the computer. She is obviosuly annoyed, and tells him she doesn't know the price. I look at John, my face saying "Ok, screw this, let's get the $^@# out of here." I didn't want to yell into the cubicle, and the other worker was busy with a customer, so we walk out of the door, and the guy yells at us "HEY!" We come back in.

"I was trying to find it!"
"That's ok," I say.
"How much were the other ones?" He asks, as if that makes any difference, seeing as how the other ones were different brands and sizes. I tell him anyway. He stares blankly into space.

I decide to tell him about the ridiculously out of date alfalfa, so maybe the next time me or somebody else is in a hay shortage they might have what we need (yeah, right.) I'm super nice, I don't care what happened I am very rarely shitty (really, never) with people who are working costomer service jobs. I've done it too long as well...

John and I stroll out of there with this heavy silense that said , Well, we both knew that was going to happen.

I really need some before this weekend. I am going to a show in NC and I'm really excited. I'm taking Huck to show and get registered and tatooed. Well, I don't know if he can get registered because he doesn't have a full pedigree, but that's ok. I'm still going to to enter him, and I don't care how he does, I just want to learn. It will be my first time exhibiting, and I'm just excited to go to the show and learn as much as possible.

Well, I suppose I'm off to look through the yellow pages. Wish me luck!

Pictures of Huck

2008-03-15T15:01:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos of my jr. mini rex opal buck, Huckleberry, (we call him Huck). He's a great little guy. We had him outside the other day, watching him intently as we have a pair of Red-Shouldered Hawks living nearby!

Portait

Cleaning

Doing what rabbits love to do: Digging

Adding Watercolor Wash

2008-03-15T14:43:00.000-07:00

For my senior art show next semester, I am brainstorming on my main medium being pen and ink under watercolor washes. Not sure yet, but that will at least for sure be a part of it. I have one pen and ink drawing of a hare being held upside down, directly before slaughter. (That is how how hold a rabbit whose neck you are preparing to break for butchering.) I cannot for the life of me make up my mind if I should leave it black and white, because it came out rather cool this way and I went a bit crazy with the pen work, or add wash colors over it. They would be slight and light if I did. I am leaning towards yes, and may make some photocopies of it to experiment with.

Here is the piece:

I left certain areas such as the insides of the ear light and unfinnished, since I don't know if I want to exgagerate the black and white quality or not. I really do think I may add some disjointed color though, nothing really organized, to keep with the feeling of upheavel.

Here is an example of an earlier piece of pen and ink under wash:

An Indian Elephant. (I will probably be adding more texture and perhaps a little more color to this, since Asian elephants have interesting pink/tan and black skin texture and designs around their heads.)

New Flemish Baby?

2008-03-15T14:05:00.000-07:00

I have wanted a male Flemish Giant rabbit for a long time, to keep inside as a house pet. They can weigh up to 14+ lbs and have some of the best personalities you can find in any rabbit. They smart, laid back, and gentle. The same woman (PJ's Rabbit Farm) I got Clover from also raises Flemish. Well, one of her light grey does had a single baby, which is really weird, and it looks like its going to be a little buck. It also looks like he is going to be my favorite color, steel grey. The fur is light grey with black tips, giving a really cool affect. She said if its a buck for sure hes mine.

When we went to pick up Clover a week or so ago, she showed us her Flemish herd. Those are some enormous rabbits. The front legs, which are usually petite in a rabbit, are like tree trunks. It's so cool. I thought this baby looked like a female when I tried to sex it, but when they're that tiny its next to impossible to tell. Hopefully it a buck! Also, I figure that since it was born alone, it will do even better being a single house rabbit, because though I will let him see the other rabbits from time to time, I don't intend to get another indoor rabbit for him to live with. I thought about asking to wait for a baby from a different litter, but this little loner might be perfect for my setup.

I intend to get a large dog crate to house him in when John and I aren't home, but otherwise I want him to be free roam, at least in the bedroom.

Here are some pics of him that Pam took for me:

Climbing on his mom...

Mini Rex Raising

2008-03-13T18:40:00.000-07:00

I am working on beginning raising rabbits again, and have chosen the mini rex breed. They are small, interesting, and have generally great dispositions and personalities (which is the most important thing to me!) I have never had a rabbit with rex fur, and I could just pet these guys all day they are so plush and soft. I need a small rabbit since I am still in college, semi-busy all the time, and don't have the hutch room for a larger breed. I got my first one last october, an opal buck named Huckleberry (we call him Huck.) He's one of the coolest, most friendly rabbits I've ever had. He's sexually mature now and ready for a female, spraying all over my tarp, the little bugger.

I just got a new mini rex doe from a breeder nearby. She is broken lilac in color, but has too little color to show. However, her dam and sire both had around or over 50% coloring (broken chocolate and a bue/fawn tri color). I think this little girls babies will have good coloring, being bred to Huck. I'm planning on showing him soon, he's nearing 6 months of age.

She's super healthy and active, playful and inquisitive. Her nose has nice butterfly markings. I am thinking about naming her Clover. I am so excited to have babies around again I can't wait to start breeding. I am planning on having two or three females and one male-Huck. I would like two males, but am forcing myself to keep it small for now!

Going to try a new blog group

2008-02-23T17:58:00.000-08:00

I want to critique and disscuss how my artwork and photography is coming along and changes that need to be done to it. I also want to disscuss politics and social and environmental issues. I enjoy biological field study and helping to moniter the populations of amphibians, mammals and birds. I am looking for a more mature and sensible group rather than myspace or livejournal.