Empty nest boxes...

Well...after getting nest boxes in all the cages we only had two does kindle. It was quite a disappointment. We have another group of does due on February 10 so maybe we will have better luck.

Walking through the barn today, in actual daylight, we still have some nice rabbits. The litters we do have are progressing nicely, knock on wood, and we will have a few to show at the upcoming shows.

The first show will be the Portland Triple on Valentine's Day. I am looking forward to seeing how a couple of the juniors do even though they are on the younger junior side and more importantly it will be nice to see friends I haven't seen since December in Mt. Vernon. I guess the first Rabbit Show marks springtime for me!

If all goes well, Emily will also be attending. Depends on pass conditions coming home from Idaho.

Have a great weekend!

January Update - Breeding and 2009 Showing

Well, the weekly commitment didn't really work here. The New Year started off very busy. I traveled across Canada -- 5 cities (Calgary, Edmonton, Vancouver, Winnipeg, Toronto and back to Calgary) in 8 days. I saw the very best of Canadian airports and weather.

Takes a week to catch up...and now it is nestbox duty. Emily breed every doe in our barn over the Christmas holiday. Now it is the waiting game to see how many took, how many deliver, and how many survive. After our battle last summer, we were pretty low on stock and didn't have a great fall breeding season. Our first round of winter breeding didn't deliver a lot of litters but the last one did much better. Now, we are entering the test time again...see if we can make it past the 3 month age where we lost many in the summer/fall breedings.

From the people we have talked with who have experienced similiar problems, we are "normal". It has taken them 7-9 months and longer to get to regular breeding, litters and overall production. We are on the cusp.

Cold weather continues to be a challenge for many here in the NW. We are not used to the heavy snows, cold and rains. We are not used to flooding in January! Our rabbits seem to be doing well and all have great fur.

Our focus seems to be the color BLUE...must be some significance there. We have some very nice blue Mini Rex litters now and more on the way. We have some nice blue and blue chin Mini Lops peaking their heads around nestboxes. Emily's breeding focus was to create more blue chins so this will be fun to watch and see how well the genetics program works for us.

I was sad to miss the IERBA show. I had truly hoped to make it this year. We had a great time at the shows they hosted last year. They are definately on our summer show list. We have also added the Sandpoint, ID show to the definate list. It was a great show last year and look forward to seeing all the Idaho/Montana/Washington friends we made last year.

We will be doing a MRFGNW Speciality show there this year which means we should have some bunnies working extra hard -- showing 5 times in two days!

Have a great weekend!