Happy New Year!
Monday, December 31, 2007
Wednesday, December 26, 2007
Cinnamons
I hope everyone had a great holiday and is preparing for the new year. As I previously posted we have been doing serious culling and planning for 2008. After going through our Cinnamon rabbits several time, Emily has decided to cut back even more and has put a very nice trio up For Sale.
We are hoping someone wants to get into this great breed and this would be a fanstastic way to get started. Fred is our initial buck from Nationals 2005. He has consistently produced nice litters. He has excellent coloring. He is registered also.
Along with Fred, we are putting up for sale two of his daughters -- Pebbles and Ivory. Both are registered and proven does. Pebbles has consistently had large litters (10+) and has raised them all. Ivory has had 2 litters and we have kept her daughter Sonya. Sonya has held incredible color and has extremely nice commercial type.
We have one unrelated buck, Benton's Desmond, and will breed one of the does as well.
Working with a Rare Breed is both a joy and a frustration. We are truly using the 4-H motto of Making the Best Better and our competition is really with the standard as opposed to other rabbits. Most shows we find we are the only ones showing Cinnamons. :-(
Initially, we often took 5-7 to each show. However, with the higher costs of gas and entry fees, we have recently only taken 2-3 to each show. We have done this to save cost but to still keep the breed out in front of the judges and other breeders.
Our 2008 Goal with the Cinnamons will be to produce Cinnamons for competition for ARBA Nationals and hopefully a Cinnamon National Speciality.
We are hoping someone wants to get into this great breed and this would be a fanstastic way to get started. Fred is our initial buck from Nationals 2005. He has consistently produced nice litters. He has excellent coloring. He is registered also.
Along with Fred, we are putting up for sale two of his daughters -- Pebbles and Ivory. Both are registered and proven does. Pebbles has consistently had large litters (10+) and has raised them all. Ivory has had 2 litters and we have kept her daughter Sonya. Sonya has held incredible color and has extremely nice commercial type.
We have one unrelated buck, Benton's Desmond, and will breed one of the does as well.
Working with a Rare Breed is both a joy and a frustration. We are truly using the 4-H motto of Making the Best Better and our competition is really with the standard as opposed to other rabbits. Most shows we find we are the only ones showing Cinnamons. :-(
Initially, we often took 5-7 to each show. However, with the higher costs of gas and entry fees, we have recently only taken 2-3 to each show. We have done this to save cost but to still keep the breed out in front of the judges and other breeders.
Our 2008 Goal with the Cinnamons will be to produce Cinnamons for competition for ARBA Nationals and hopefully a Cinnamon National Speciality.
Sunday, December 23, 2007
Friday, December 21, 2007
Thursday, December 20, 2007
Fair Superintendent
Hello -- As it was announced today, I have decided not to return as the Pierce County Fair Rabbit Barn Superintendent. It was a tough decision to make, however, after being at fair everyday for the last 8 years, I decided to give it a break this year and be able to take a nice vacation back to Wisconsin to visit my mom.
As many of you know, last summer my husband was in a serious motorcycle accident and I had to cut short my trip to my sister's wedding. I basically flew in and flew out. I also own my own business and it does have perks...but it also means when I'm not working, I'm not making money. :-( Money isn't everything, but I do need it to pay the bills. This now includes college tuition and saving for a second one in college in another year.
I am hoping this summer to be at fair to support my club kids in ALL their projects. I would like to see Robotics, sewing, Fashion Review and more. I have heard that there are more than rabbits and cavies at the Pierce County Fair!
As many of you know, last summer my husband was in a serious motorcycle accident and I had to cut short my trip to my sister's wedding. I basically flew in and flew out. I also own my own business and it does have perks...but it also means when I'm not working, I'm not making money. :-( Money isn't everything, but I do need it to pay the bills. This now includes college tuition and saving for a second one in college in another year.
I am hoping this summer to be at fair to support my club kids in ALL their projects. I would like to see Robotics, sewing, Fashion Review and more. I have heard that there are more than rabbits and cavies at the Pierce County Fair!
Wednesday, December 19, 2007
Yes...a girl and her chicken.
This is the little chick that Emily and I helped to hatch on Father's Day this past June. He was totally exhausted and stuck in the shell. We spent over half an hour misting him and plucking away the shell with tweezers to save him.
He lived in her room for quite a while and then moved to the barn. He is a cross between a Barred Rock hen and a Partridge Cochen rooster.
His name is "ChicChick" and he does answer to it....lol
Helping Out
Today's blog entry is not so much about rabbits, but about helping those in need. Emily and her Dad are volunteering in the Chehalis area with clean-up. This is Charlie's 4th day down there and Emily's first. Our church, Wabash Presby., in Auburn has been sending volunteers since it happened.
The devastation is amazing and unimaginable. Today they are helping a family move out of their home. They have basically lost everything. Anything that is salvageable will be put into storage and the rest into giant dumpsters.
Sadly, this is almost typical. Families who lost everything facing the rebuilding of their lives.
For those in this area, we wish you a very joyous holiday -- filled with friends and family and peace and know that we are thinking of you and are more appreciative of what we have.
And, for those who lost rabbits, especially 4-Her's our club is willing to donate pedigree rabbits to help get you back started. We will be coordinating this with the County Extension offices.
To everyone, have a great holiday season!
The devastation is amazing and unimaginable. Today they are helping a family move out of their home. They have basically lost everything. Anything that is salvageable will be put into storage and the rest into giant dumpsters.
Sadly, this is almost typical. Families who lost everything facing the rebuilding of their lives.
For those in this area, we wish you a very joyous holiday -- filled with friends and family and peace and know that we are thinking of you and are more appreciative of what we have.
And, for those who lost rabbits, especially 4-Her's our club is willing to donate pedigree rabbits to help get you back started. We will be coordinating this with the County Extension offices.
To everyone, have a great holiday season!
Tuesday, December 18, 2007
He is here...Lanakila
We picked up the English Angora tonight. He is about 9 weeks old and a fawn. His name is Lanakila -- Hawaiian for "Victorious". He is very sweet and friendly.
We may take him to one or two shows just for fun and to get some comments.
New Bunny Coming Today!
We are very excited to be adding a new bunny to our Rabbitry. We are adding an English Angora from one of our 4-H families. At WSRBA convention in 2006, we took a "wish list" from several people and found a great English Angora for this family. Well, this fall they bred her and we are getting one of the bunnies.
We will post pictures as soon as possible. :-)
We will post pictures as soon as possible. :-)
Setting Goals
Well, as 2007 draws to a close, we are thinking about 2008. Today was barn cleaning day and yesterday was "auction". Even with several rabbits going to auction, we still have a barn full! As we evaluate each one, hard decisions must be made.
Cutting back is never easy but it is a necessity. Limited cage space, time and money face everyone. So, in light of that, we are making the tough decisions. Also, this is the time of year to be breeding for our state competition. You want to breed the best and be sure to have the cage space to separate them out when the time comes.
What do we consider in the culling process? TYPE. Yes, although your favorite rabbit maybe a tad long, when cage space is at a premium, Type must be a key consideration. Those that have and reproduce it are keepers. Then comes those that can reproduce it. A Best In Show winner is no good in a breeding program if it can't reproduce that quality of TYPE.
In looking at this, we have several excellent Mini Lop bucks. However, if they are not carrying on this good TYPE we must look at this buck as a possible cull from our barn. It could be that it won't carry on this type or it could be that we just don't have any genetically compatible does.
In looking at does, mothering skills also come into play. Having excellent type but never having a or raising a litter is not going to benefit your rabbitry either. Tough decisions must be made.
Now, as we also raise Mini Rex, FUR is a top consideration also. Great type with no fur quality isn't always a keeper for the Mini Rex. Our focus on blue, opal and tort leaves us needing to maintain color as well. So in evalutating our Mini Rex litter today, we looked at TYPE, FUR and COLOR.
In our Mini Lops, fur and condition have not been a problem. So, in culling these, we do not place much emphasis on this. We do, however, look at color. Although it is only 5 points, if you are raising, showing and paying to feed something you might as well enjoy looking at it also.
Our hardest culling today was the Cinnamons. This is hard because there is no competition in our area and we find that regionally what the judges look for varies slightly. We have strong commercial bodies with a darker coloration. We have found at Nationals, the lighter coloration is winning.
In looking to cull, we are maintaining our commercial bodies but looking for the lighter coloration. As a commercial breed, these bunnies eat a lot and take up more cage space. We are leaning toward cutting back on our Cinnamons to only 2 Trios. This would optimize our breeding stock and cage space.Like with the other breeds, type is the first consideration.
We will review our cutting back selections several times as we will also review breeding records and where we can go with the rabbits we keep. As we all wrap up this season, it is a good time to evaluate your breeding program and your rabbitry in general.
Well, as 2007 draws to a close, we are thinking about 2008. Today was barn cleaning day and yesterday was "auction". Even with several rabbits going to auction, we still have a barn full! As we evaluate each one, hard decisions must be made.
Cutting back is never easy but it is a necessity. Limited cage space, time and money face everyone. So, in light of that, we are making the tough decisions. Also, this is the time of year to be breeding for our state competition. You want to breed the best and be sure to have the cage space to separate them out when the time comes.
What do we consider in the culling process? TYPE. Yes, although your favorite rabbit maybe a tad long, when cage space is at a premium, Type must be a key consideration. Those that have and reproduce it are keepers. Then comes those that can reproduce it. A Best In Show winner is no good in a breeding program if it can't reproduce that quality of TYPE.
In looking at this, we have several excellent Mini Lop bucks. However, if they are not carrying on this good TYPE we must look at this buck as a possible cull from our barn. It could be that it won't carry on this type or it could be that we just don't have any genetically compatible does.
In looking at does, mothering skills also come into play. Having excellent type but never having a or raising a litter is not going to benefit your rabbitry either. Tough decisions must be made.
Now, as we also raise Mini Rex, FUR is a top consideration also. Great type with no fur quality isn't always a keeper for the Mini Rex. Our focus on blue, opal and tort leaves us needing to maintain color as well. So in evalutating our Mini Rex litter today, we looked at TYPE, FUR and COLOR.
In our Mini Lops, fur and condition have not been a problem. So, in culling these, we do not place much emphasis on this. We do, however, look at color. Although it is only 5 points, if you are raising, showing and paying to feed something you might as well enjoy looking at it also.
Our hardest culling today was the Cinnamons. This is hard because there is no competition in our area and we find that regionally what the judges look for varies slightly. We have strong commercial bodies with a darker coloration. We have found at Nationals, the lighter coloration is winning.
In looking to cull, we are maintaining our commercial bodies but looking for the lighter coloration. As a commercial breed, these bunnies eat a lot and take up more cage space. We are leaning toward cutting back on our Cinnamons to only 2 Trios. This would optimize our breeding stock and cage space.Like with the other breeds, type is the first consideration.
We will review our cutting back selections several times as we will also review breeding records and where we can go with the rabbits we keep. As we all wrap up this season, it is a good time to evaluate your breeding program and your rabbitry in general.
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