Updated Sales List

Feel Free to make offers, I'll be getting pictures up as I am able.

Pictures of Rabbits can be seen here

Holland Lops

Hamilton's Mallory: Sr. Holland Lop Doe- solid black tort
Mallory is a gorgeous brood doe. She's a BUD, but she is beautifully put together and has a lot to offer any herd. $45 *price reduced*

Rogers Judas- black tort holland lop sr. buck.
This guy has made beautiful babies in the past. I've decided to severely cut my holland herd, and I have a buck I like the smallest bit better. Not easy letting him go, he's gorgeous and always places well for me! Love his bone, love his mass, hard to fault him. $100.

Keep's Flippa- black tort holland lop sr. doe
Out of Hamilton's Fendi x Leprechaun's Tommy. I think she's so cute, tiniest bit slipped in the crown, very poofy crown, great ears/head. Awesome bone, very nicely put together doe, is a bit on the larger side. Very nice lineage, would make a good brood doe, she's a young senior. $40



Huckleberry's Misses Lady- smoke pearl Sr. Doe
Out of Mtns and Mary's lines, goes back to BBF's Yankee Doodle Dandy. Very typey, slightly slipped in the crown, so she's good at pulling those ears back and making them look long. Possibly bred, so not available until after her due date or after she weans a litter. She's had 1 DOA litter before, but tried to take care of them. Would be a great asset for getting some color in to your herd. Nicer looking doe that my picture does her credit. $75


Jersey Woolies:

Daisy's Zoey- Siamese Sable Sr. Doe
I hate selling this rabbit, she's very cute and throws nice babies. Nice H/E/C, nice body, she's not oversize and is a good mom. I like her width very much. Is split almost 50/50 with Mckie's and Lynch's lines. She's only a tad over a year old. $35

Daisy's Princis- Broken Black sr doe
A nice looking doe, she's got a nice looking head and good short ears. Comes out of good lines, Lynch and BB's for example. I am unsure as to if she's proven or not, I've not tried to breed her. $20 *price reduced*

Mini Lops:

Howman's Funky- broken lynx Sr Buck (yes, true lynx, out of chocolates and everything)
Funky is SO nice. He's about to turn 5 years old, so I'm letting him go way cheaper than his quality would suggest. He has 2 legs and has won more classes, but we're always an exhibitor short, or a rabbit short of the leg amount. Lines are half Howmans, half Minichs. Beautiful H/E/C package, he's lost some of his beautiful body due to being 5, but was still winning classes at 4 1/2. Father to GC Keep's Super Fly, would be a great way to get nice lines, or a great starter buck. Will breed anything that moves- and it doesn't even have to move. $20

Justin's Unique- broken black Sr Doe
Out of Fatboy's Oreo and Fatboy's Trixie. Oreo was a tremendous buck that has so many Youth BIS to his credit I don't know where to start counting.
She has a nice H/E/C package, has never been shown ( I have no idea why, she just fell through the cracks of the rabbitry). She's 9 months old, has had 1 dead litter. A really nice looking little doe. Price reduced because she is not proven $25

Keep's Eve- broken GT Steel Sr. Doe
Out of GC Baraba's Abby & GC Keep's Super Fly. Needs more width throughout her body, has a fairly nice Head, great E/C. Was very promising as a junior, many second place finishes in her carrier. Always in the top half of the class. $25

As always, will discount on multiples, all animals are priced to MOVE.

When things go wrong.

Wish destroyed her nest.

Oh yes. All the babies are dead. A breeding that can not be repeated- and she destroyed her nest. She ate half her hay and most of the fur. ATE.......the fur.

I have one baby left. I fostered it to Miss Muffet. Yesterday, I thought "I should move it back", but something held me back. So it stayed.

We checked on them- she's pulled more fur, made her nest better. All her kids are fat and happy. More than fat- obesely round and happy, including her mini lop foster child. Had they looked like this yesterday, I'd have been tempted to give her another one on a trial basis.

What was it I said a few posts ago? "If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all?"

I'm considering making it the official rabbitry motto.

"Welcome to Keep's Rabbitry...if I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. Thanks for visiting".

Has the ring of truth, doesn't it?

When I found the babies, one solid was at the front of the nestbox. No chance for that one. Another of the solids was stretched out strangely with it's mouth open. Again, no chance. The two brokens were huddled together in the back of the nestbox, still with a little stuffing around them. I snatched them up and ran in to the house.

I filled the sink up with warm water and put them in that, making sure to keep their heads above the water. Meanwhile, I was scanning the bathroom.

Dry Towel? Check.
Hair Dryer? Check.

Let's get to work.

I pulled them out of the water once the chill was taken off, toweled them off firmly, but gently, and made a little towel cocoon. Covering them with a single layer of the towel, I turned the hair dryer on and held it close to the top of the towel. After a few seconds, I shifted it to the underside of the towel. Back and forth. Back and forth. Occasionally I flipped open the towel to check the warmth and the babies- very warm, no life in the babies.

After getting the babies up to a decent warmth, I popped them in to my bra. Guys, you don't have bras, and unless you wear bros, you're gonna have to figure out a new step here. Cup your hands, spend more time with the hair dryer, put them on a heating pad or under a heat lamp- something, I dunno.

After 20 minutes, I've finally admitted defeat. I knew when I found them they weren't going to revive. I know too much for my own good, sometimes.

I've gone slightly numb now. It's an amazing breeding that CAN NOT be repeated, with the buck that was 2nd in the '06 Convention in open- and I have only one baby, just a few days old. It may not make it to opening it's eyes. It may not making it to weaning. It may not make it past weaning. It might never hit the show tables. It could never reach breeding age. I could lose the entire breeding if it draws one bad breath, one pellet goes the wrong away...

I'm not going to sleep well for 6-8 months. Starting tonight.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Black Friday Rabbit Shopping

You're gonna have to forgive this post- musings of a strange mind :).

As we went Black Friday Shopping (at 1am when a nearby mall opened), I was struck with a thought.

What if we could do Black Friday Rabbit Shopping? Can you imagine? Lines queuing outside of the homes of the top breeders in the nation. Guards at the door, pushing and shoving to be the first to burst inside and grab anything that moves in a desperate attempt at getting a bargain.

Or maybe they were smart- only pairs are allowed inside at a time, when one person comes out, another is allowed to go in.

Sitting around the table the night before making "game plans"...

"Ok, we'll hit Lil Bit Farm's first- I've sent Malena to the Coin/Nelson base of operations, and Tim is waiting in line at Velotta's Rabbitry for the mini lops... what else do we need? Someone has to go to Leslie Hobb's place, I have fuzzies to buy for friends! How much money can we spend? Do you think they'll take credit?"

Don't even get me wondering about the lines in front of the Bass Cages warehouse, or KW cages- people knocking each other out with metal J feeders, wrestling over a three hole stacker, while someone else sneaks in behind them and snatches it from both the original "finders".

When you're lying in bed tonight, you'll be thinking about this post and imagining folks you know doing these things...then you'll appreciate the more normal things that run through my head- like all the uses of poop.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Updates :)

Just a short note to let everyone know that the website has been updated for Christmas/winter (I'm not sure how long I'll leave the background up the way it is past Christmas).

Any comments or opinions are welcome, you can leave them here or email me :)

Thanks guys!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

It's all about the luck..

So you'd think this post is about the luck of breeding/culling/showing....you're wrong.

First, let me share the news- The Nature Trail's Miss Muffet kindled 3 healthy babies last night! More about her later ;).

We decided to move one of my bucks out of the house, back to his spot in the rabbitry because it was decently warm today. While out there, I thought "Eh, I'll try to breed a few girls". So I'm piddling around, and we find out that Nerissa had a second baby, out of the nestbox- dead of course. *sigh* Her first baby was a giant. Poor girl.

I heard this odd warbling sound, kind of like two hamsters fighting, but I couldn't figure out where it was coming from. I wandered around looking for it, but it stopped, so I gave up, assuming the mice were back (I saw one today- first I've seen in weeks. Bah).

Tim was talking to me when it started again so I said "SHHH" and followed the noise- STRAIGHT to Wish Upon A Star's cage. She's a chinchilla mini lop doe I got from Sarah out in California.

She was pregnant, bred by Sarah for me, but I didn't have her due for another few days. She was due for a box tomorrow. Well she decided to have her babies right then and there- with no nestbox. She didn't even pull fur!

Oh.........no.........

So I scoop up all FIVE of them (3 broken, 2 solids) and yell for Tim, he grabbed the babies, I made a nest, threw in some of my "saved" wool/fur (it definitely saved my butt!) and moved her to a new cage, because of COURSE the box was too big for her to easily get in, in the cage she was in (because of her weird poop corner).

We warmed the babies up, who were like, SUPER fresh. Poor Tim got blood all over his shirt, we're working on getting that out right now. After they warmed up some, I chose one to put in with Miss Muffet, in case Wish doesn't take care of her kids (if she does, the baby will go back with it's siblings). I gave Alexis and Morning Mist their boxes, stuffed with hay, in case they decide to go early too.

Man, sometimes it's all about luck! If we hadn't moved that buck right then, or if we hadn't hung around to breed a few, if I hadn't been paying attention and heard the babies squeak...we'd have had 5 dead babies.

As it is, I'm hoping all five make it, and that Wish is a good mom. I'm going to keep a regular check on her babies, as well as Miss Muffet's, since I'm taking a chance asking her to raise this mini lop baby. She's been a good foster mom for me before though, so I don't anticipate problems! I'm just so glad it was warm today!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Back to Bunnies

I hope everyone had a good Thanksgiving!

Ugh. Where to begin.

Thursday morning, we were about to go visit my mom. I had a doe due on the 21st, she OF COURSE went over, had her babies about 10am on the 22nd. We had to check them before we left, because I didn't want to leave dead babies in the box any extended period of time. Oh the sight I saw.

To begin with, the doe was a Jersey Wooly. She'd had litters before, so she was doing her business in her nest like a good girl. When we managed to get in to the nest, we found 4 babies. One was alive, two were DOAs, and the fourth- the fourth is going to haunt me. I found my first Max Factor.

For those of you who don't know, a Max Factor kit is born deformed. In the case of this baby (as is often the case), it was born with it's eyes open and no top of it's skull- yes it's little brain was exposed. Thankfully, it was already dead. Max Factors can be born alive, and can live several days, though living is very rare.

I had to clean the three dead babies out of the nestbox- oh it was the stuff of nightmares. They were all still warm, having literally been born maybe 5 minutes before we checked- maybe less.
I could still feel their little warm bodies on my finger tips an hour later- the max factor really bothered me, and it's never easy to remove DOAs- I don't think I've ever found DOAs this fresh.

Of course, the little singleton didn't make it. My two does that were due on the 22nd still haven't had their litters, though one has pulled fur. My next doe is due today (24th).

If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all. I get a litter born, but 3 are DOAs, and the singleton froze in it's nest.

It's VERY cold outside. I gave the does that are expecting a lot more hay for their nests. I just hope they managed to have their babies during daylight hours, when it's slightly warmer. They won't, but hope is always nice.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving!

Happy Thanksgiving to all my bunny buddies :)

Be careful if you're out driving tomorrow, good luck on those Black Friday shopping deals, and we'll resume the blog probably Saturday :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Big Plans- Update

Wow, we smell delicious. The kind of delicious you can only get when you spend 3 hours outside moving poop around.

I'm proud of us! We did about 75% of the pans- we'd have finished them all, but unfortunately we ran out of daylight. My arms are so tired, but it's nice to look at all the pretty, clean shavings.

We got our dividers cut. Tim did some creative cutting, but all in all, they'll work out great. Unfortunately, we couldn't put them all up, because the zip ties went mysteriously missing. Ah well, we'll have to make a run to Walmart tomorrow to grab a new bag. Then we'll be set :).

I managed to get a J feeder up, switched cages on a few of the mini lops, and a rotation of 5-6 does got to spend some time outside in the fresh air and grass. During that time, Keep's Gorgeous was bred back to her dad- HOORAY! I'm so excited for these babies. :)

Speaking of babies, I got 4 nestboxes in. Of those, 2 does are already nesting! WEEEE! Fingers crossed for babies! Both does nesting are great mamas. The two that haven't started nesting are first timers, so I'm trying not to get my hopes up.

I forgot to move my insiders back out- so they'll get to stay in the house a little longer. I'm sure they are crushed!

I enjoyed working outside today. I bonded with one of my mini lop bucks from CA. He didn't want the head rubs to stop. What a big ole teddy bear! :).

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Big Plans- Little Rabbitry

Wow, gonna be a late post from me today! Unless I can drag my feet until midnight, and it'll be an extremely early post for tomorrow! ;).

Tomorrow (Tuesday), we've got big plans in the works. With an unseasonable high of 71 degrees being forecasted, we're getting down and dirty for what could be the last time this year.

I bought some perforated particleboard-esque stuff. It's time to put my $2 circle saw to good use. I'll be measuring cages and cutting pieces off to put in the hanging cages, as well as my 4 hole stackers that are attached (2 rows, 2 cages per row). Hopefully, this will cut down on neighbor-on-neighbor chewing matches. I get so sick of going outside and seeing a nearly bald rabbit!

We're going to be doing an extensive cleaning of pans! Scrubbing cages, burning wool off the ones holding woolies- the whole nine yards! After all, this could be the best weather we have for it.

I've got tons of nextboxes going in tomorrow! Wish me luck with that, they are mostly jersey woolies, but I do have one holland girl hopefully pregnant. Thankfully I bought two more boxes from Brandi and her husband, otherwise my list would include going back to Lowes for more particle board.

I have a pair of rabbits in the house, both very small, young senior bucks, that were taking the weather change hard. Both are back in good condition, and will probably be rejoining the herd outside for a second try tomorrow.

I've got a few breedings to do- mostly does that missed this last go round.

I've also noticed some of my water bottles are starting to leak. *sigh*. It's probably about time to pull them anyway and replace what I can with crocks. Hmm, that reminds me- I did a test knitting on my new circle loom- and I have nothing to do with the little bit of cloth I made. Maybe that will work to cover one of the large bottles? *Note to self- check that tomorrow*

Hey, maybe we'll start a whole new business- Keep's Knitted Bottle Covers! Ahaha, or maybe not.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Taking pictures of rabbits

This is definitely a post I'm going to need to put in to practice. My difference is I know what I need to do to take better pictures, I just don't do it all the time! :)

When taking pictures of my bunnies, I like to make sure the camera is on a motion setting, if it has one. This way, if they move at the last second, I'll generally still get a decent picture- although maybe not the exact one I wanted.

I've recently started taking my animals outdoors for photoshoots- which means pretty soon, I won't be taking anymore! But the natural light makes the pictures much clearer!

I've also taken to piling up carriers (or you can use a table, steps, etc). I drape a towel or sheet over them, and then I've got a nice set up to take pictures on, that is closer to my height. That way, I don't get pictures that are two angled- you know, pics from looking down and to the side, that doesn't really show off the rabbit.

As a background, you can use the side of your barn or house. Or, if you have the set up, something that can be draped with a cloth makes a good background. I like our backyard- there are plenty of trees, so I get a nice green or orangey look to the back of the pictures, with minimal work.

Take a lot of pictures! I take probably 15-20 per rabbit and usually get one or two that I like- or in some cases, are acceptable. I try to snap a few as SOON as the rabbit is on the table. Then, they are going to inevitably sniffle around a little, so I let them go for it while I check out what I just took. Some folks prefer to let them explore for a little while when they are first on the table, others don't let them explore at all. See what works for you :).

If I have a rabbit pee on my towel or sheet, I have to change it out very quickly, otherwise the rest of the photo shoot is going to be an exercise in irritation. The bucks will have to sniff and either pee too, or poop, or spray, or just have their noses permanently glued to the pee stain.

Be careful of overposing or underposing your rabbits! I know I'm terrible about getting pictures of my mini lops, because I worry too much about overposing them and not enough about underposing! Consequently, even the BIS & RIS minis don't look as good as they do in real life!

Happy Picture Taking :)
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Bunnies and the Holidays!

Thanksgiving is so close! Is it just me, or can you almost smell the turkey and hear the family spats? :)

If you are going out of town for the Holidays coming up, there are several things to consider.

First- who is going to feed my bunnies?!

If we have to be gone for an extended period of time, we ask Malena to feed and water for us- or, a friend from one of Tim's churches. A responsible neighbor is a great idea too. Try to minimize the work load for the folks helping you out. For example, I wouldn't ask anyone to add in oats or to feed hay while we're gone. That just adds to the time they have to take out of their day to do me a favor! I also try to make sure there are no babies due around that time, so they don't have to check on little ones, give hay, or clean up DOAs.

If we have to be gone from- let's say Thursday through Sunday, I make sure we feed earlier on Wednesday. Then, Thursday morning we feed and water. We also make sure to let our bunny helper know we'll take care of feeding Sunday night when we get home. So, we cut two days off the favor!

If we are going to be gone just overnight, we don't even bother with a bunny babysitter. We just follow the plan above- feed and water before we leave, and then again when we get back.

Do not...I repeat, Do Not, post on your website or say in your emails that you will be leaving from X day to X day on a trip, especially to someone who knows where you live. No one needs to know this except you and whoever is helping you care for your animals. I know a lady who let it slip she was going to be gone overnight to a show- came home and her son's baby rabbits had been STOLEN! How sad is that? Of course, there are certain friends who know where I live that I wouldn't mind saying "oh yeah, we'll be gone a week". Your average joe wanting to buy a pet rabbit- nope, they do not need that information.

I'm going to visit Goodwill soon and look for some nice thick woolen socks. I've been told slipping those over your bottles will help to keep them from freezing! An inexperienced rabbit person might not pay attention to the ice in the bottles, or realize it IS ice and not water. Unfortunately, they may also be lazy and not feel like trying to defrost the bottles. A week without anything to drink will be detrimental to your rabbits. If you have crocks, I'd recommend putting them in before you leave- that way if they DO freeze over, they can be easily dumped and refilled.

Good luck guys! :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Apron

I did something in Taylorsville I've never done before- I wore an apron around.

At the last Sandhills show, Keep's Basheba took BOB, which earned me a nice little white apron, with "BOB" on it and the name of the show. So, I decided what the heck, it's nice, and I usually come home covered in fur. I'll wear it this go round.

Man, am I glad I did!

It started out when I picked up my broken black junior mini lop buck from the table- he'd just taken his class, and managed to pee ALL OVER ME! What the heck rabbit? No idea where it came from, but it wasn't the only time that apron saved me!

Fast forward a few hours- I'm standing with Joni taking a look at her cutie holland babies. She puts down her black buck, on the table with her little tort doe and he takes that as a sign to spray- he manages to hit her, AND me- again, saved by the apron!

It also accumulated the bits of wool one tends to get when holding woolies.

At the end of the day, my poor little white apron was a distinct shade of light yellow! I hope it comes clean in the wash! However, I think I'm going to invest in another one- after all, if I hadn't had it Saturday, the day would have been distinctly LESS pleasant!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Juniors Growing up!

Ahh, it's November- starting to get cold, the holidays are upon us, and the rabbit show season is winding down.

There is a show in Sanford that I won't be able to attend- it's too far to go for a single show, sadly.

The first of December there is a show in SC that isn't too far, but who knows if anyone will be in coat for that show?

No, I think it's safe to say that the shows are at an end for Keep's Rabbitry this year. It's harder to get babies in the winter, the rabbits are in prime coats for no shows, and they get increased food because of the cold. Fun times ahead.

What makes me the saddest, I think, is that it's the end of time for my juniors. Lil Bit Farms Zapp, my broken sable point holland buck, is the one I'm regretting growing up the most. Now that he's only a short time away from hitting six months old, he'll have to lounge around the barn with the ladies for at least six months before I'll even consider putting him back on the tables. It'll probably take a year before he's competitive again.

With the mini lops and jersey woolies, the wait for competitiveness isn't quite so long. In fact, I've had young seniors place well before- Basheba proved that just this past weekend.

Still though, time marches on. I look at the rabbits in my barn and I remember when some of them were born. Now I'm looking forward to 2-3 months from now for show season to start, and it's like wishing time would jump forward.

Ahh well, "You're older than you ever were and now you're even older". The babies have to grow up sometime :(.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Just a quick note-

Just a quick note to let everyone know my website has been updated, though it's far from being finished

Check out the Bucks, Does, Does 2 and results pages! :). More photos to be added soon!

Thanks guys!

www.geocities.com/keepsbuns

-Kristen

Showing someone else's rabbits

I recently saw a post on Rabbit Habbit asking- Do you show other people's rabbits? Do you want other people to show yours? And it got me thinking- a much more indepth answer than the one I posted, that's for sure.

I absolutely show someone else's rabbit. Now, if it's a G.C., I may take it for a spin around the tables only a few times, just to get opinions on faults, grab a couple extra legs, that kind of thing, then it retires to the barn.

If it's not a G.C. I will absolutely show that rabbit! I reserve the right to show it until it can't compete any longer! After all, if I bought it, I must think it's nice. Who doesn't want to see another G.C. next to a rabbit's name, even if it isn't a homebred? It also makes it worth more money if I should decide to sell the animal and it does make the offspring more valuable.

Of course it's a sweeter win when it's a homebred, but take a look at my abysmal breeding record lately- I'd have very few hollands to show, thanks to culling down and poor birth rates.

I would like to say, homebred or purchased, I don't like showing does past 3 legs. I LOVE to say, I'd rather have a doe with 2-3 legs home making babies, than a doe with 15 legs that won't have a litter for me. Now, when she has a litter, if she can bounce back to condition, I've got no problem putting her up on the table a time or two before her next litter :).

Now do I mind if someone shows a rabbit I sell- NO! I sell all animals knowing I could compete and lose to them at any given time. I LOVE to hear that an animal I had does well- it proves to me I made good breeding choices and it's a warm fuzzy feeling to hear that a Keep's rabbit granded!

Now, some folks won't show rabbits they buy- good for you. I understand not wanting to only buy GCs, but to breed them insteand, but really, any animal I buy is going to produce for me, or it won't stay. You don't have to be a GC to live here, but you do have to produce nice animals.

Some folks don't like you to show their rabbits, especially if you compete against them. Again, that's absolutely the decision of the breeder. I personally feel if I sell it, I don't have control over it anymore.

Rarely, I will ask for right of first refusal- if you buy it from me and decide to sell it, please let me know so I have first dibs. I ask this rarely, but I know I would be upset if someone ignored the request.

When buying a Keep's rabbit, it is yours. PLEASE, take it, grand it, put 70 legs on it, even at my expense. I promise to be the one standing right behind you applauding. :) After all, you get the trophies, but I get the pleasure of knowing I produced an excellent rabbit.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Ahhh, the after show doubts

It's started, and anyone who has gone to more than one show knows what I'm talking about-
the dreaded after-show doubts.

You look at that rabbit that was promising, that you loved, admired by all- the one that the judges hated, threw off first, grudgingly gave second to last to, or finished mid-class. And you wonder.

"Am I losing my touch? Do I know what I'm talking about?"

I tell people I love to go home and cull after a show, because comments are fresh in my mind, and I don't fool myself with "barn blindness". But that's not always true. I try to remind myself it's only one opinion, or two opinions. I try to remember comments in the past on the rabbit, previous placings and who they were under (trust me, the who matters a lot!). If I remember that a particular rabbit always places low in a class, then yes, that rabbit will be culled.

If I'm on the fence about an animal, I try to go to other breeders for opinions. My favorite for mini lops is Trent, because he really knows his stuff and won't hesitate to tell me, very honestly "This rabbit has no HQ. This rabbit has this list of problems". And I love that! It's helped me not waste time on crap.

I think too often as breeders we're too hesitant to list out faults, because we're afraid someone will think we are mean, or we'll hurt someone's feelings. We don't want to "tear down" the rabbit that is the product of someone's breeding and their hope for the show table.

Consequently, breeders get frustrated with judges and judging, because "well, everyone said he was cute". I've learned that at least 50% of the time "Cute" as an overall statement when evaluating a rabbit means "It sucks". I say 50% of the time, because I know a breeder who describes her own rabbits as "a really cute" buck or doe, then they go on to grand. If you're wanting more specifics in an evaluation, ask for them! Make sure they know you're not going to be mad at your fellow breeder to hear a laundry list of faults (worst case scenario!)

I need to identify problems I am making as well- for instance, I noticed my woolies tend to be small. I like em small. But when I showed Elm, he was the smallest senior buck on the table! Maybe I'm breeding them too small! It happened with hollands, I was getting tiny little 2 1/2 lb balls of adorable, but they couldn't compete, because they always seemed to be dismissed as "too young." With Jersey Woolies, I need to find out the preferred size and try to breed that way, still with overall type in mind, because none of the rabbits on the table were super huge!

And now comes the worst part, where I go outside, run my hands over my animals and decide "what is it about you? Are you going to help my program or would you work better for someone else?" Ahhh After Show Doubts- you make it harder to sleep at night, but so much easier to cull!

*EDIT* I feel like I should add- "when someone says "oh what a cute rabbit", that's not insulting your animal. Or one of the instances I was referring to above. It is when you go through feeling the animal, etc and the only word you get is "um...cute". I realized earlier how often I say something is cute when I really mean it! LOL That's what I get for blogging.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Taylorsville Show Results

Wow, I'm exhausted. These shows are too durn early!

To begin with, AGAIN my alarm didn't go off! Must be something about setting it for 5:00am, because I made Tim set BOTH alarms on it just in case. Luckily, Malena had been picking on me for days about it, so I had her call us.

We were only a few minutes late meeting up with her and Nita, it's amazing how many times you can be stopped by red lights in one stretch of road.

So we transfer my four carriers to Malena's van, and put my grooming box in with Nita- away we go! Tim had to perform a renewal of vows, so he wasn't able to come :(.

We roll up to Taylorsville around 7:30am- and no one was there! The doors were shut and locked, and we were freaking out. It's always in the same place! I had whipped out my cell phone and was about to call Tim, when one of the other breeders opened up the front doors. There were 4-5 breeders on the other side of the building! HOORAY, we weren't crazy!

We set up in a room that was actually colder inside than it was outside! I met up with Dennie, a ND breeder and she taunted me with an adorable VM dwarf that Tim wouldn't let me have. Oh he was so cute, and I wanted him!!! Luckily, he found a good home with a little girl before the end of the day. :)

After setting up, I did what I do best- chattered away with anyone and everyone in the vicinity. I had Trent go over my new mini loppers. Sadly, these guys suffered a lack of condition because of the airplane flight, but despite that, my results were pretty good!

Finally, the show was started! I'm going to give the short version of my results, if that's ok everyone.

Keep's Basheba took her class (SSD), earning her second leg! YAY! I'll probably try to breed her during our lack of shows, though I hate to do that, since I do think she could grand. She placed second in her class in the second show- SO CLOSE! :)

SSB's unnamed mini lop took his class (BJB) in the first show, and placed second in the second show!

The results were reversed for SSB'S Goober (BJB) who took second in the first show and first in the second!

My woolies didn't do a lot to write home about this go 'round. I was only able to show two. Keep's Gorgeous got 2nd once and 3rd once, as a young, molty senior doe.

Lil Bit's Zapp, my holland broken junior buck, placed 2/3 in the first show and 1/3 in the second. He was faulted on "too light of a pattern". What the crap? He's a broken sable point, how dark should his pattern be? I wish I had asked the judge to clarify, but I was tired.

The most embarrassing part of the day had to be when I ran out for food with Alison. As we pull back in (and this took less than 10 minutes), Janet Canipe is standing outside looking for me! Mini Lops, in Show B had started! Luckily, the mini lop folks are GREAT and after searching for me, they took my rabbits to the table, and Malena found my check in sheet and put my senior doe up on the table! *WHEW*

Another hilarious moment: Apparently the Holland Lop won BIS and the American Fuzzy Lop won BRIS in the second Show (and I apologize if I got these results backwards). However- the holland obviously knew a quality rabbit when he saw one, because he tried to "do his thing" with it! Luckily the judges were able to seperate them quickly, but it makes you wonder- what in the world would have happened with those babies? I bet they'd have been cuties! ;)

I managed to chatter myself hoarse, but I had a ball! I got to talk to all kinds of different breeders, evaluated a few bunnies and generally enjoyed myself.

I also sold several bunnies! We bid a fond farewell to NGF Foxie, Hamilton's Fendi and Keep's Champ!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Tattoo Woes..

I just tattooed the two jumpiest rabbits I've ever had the misfortune to have to work on!

Usually, my method is pretty simple. Lay a blanket or towel across my lap, wrap the rabbit in it, leaving only the left ear sticking out, and go to town. Whoa, not this time!

To begin with, they are two bucks. Two...almost senior bucks.....mini lop bucks. They went nutso! One scrabbled backwards as soon as the Rabbitat touched his ear, managed to pee on the blanket (yum, thanks for that guy!) and I ended up having to have Tim come help restrain him, while I buzzed through the rest of his THREE LETTER TATTOO! Thankfully I didn't want to write a book on that one!

The next guy was much better, but then again, we were prepared. He was pinned to my legs and I tore through his tattoo at a speed that I'm sure even Flash would have envied.

I just hope their tattoos turn out nicely! Ahh well, doesn't have to be perfect, as long as it's readable, though I guess I'll have to take my tattoer to Taylorsville just in case. Though- I do think I will start charging for doing tattoos for folks. I don't mind the practice, but it can be time consuming! Especially when I have 3 breeds on the table!

Tim won't be coming to this show, sadly :(. So it'll be me by myself! Any hollerin' at me to get my rabbit to the table will be much appreciated!

I've got one holland, two woolies and five mini lops to show, plus a ton of NICE sale rabbits! I'm doing a nearly-holland sell out, so please stop by to see what I have! Mention my blog for a special deal :-p

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Taylorsville Sales List

Holland Lops:

Hamilton's Fendi: Sr. Holland Lop Doe- solid black tort
Fendi is a great mom, and a beautiful doe. Quite a looker, she manages to throw better than herself and it's amazing. Keeping her daughter as a replacement. $45

Hamilton's Mallory: Sr. Holland Lop Doe- solid black tort
Mallory is a gorgeous brood doe. She's a BUD, but she is beautifully put together and has a lot to offer any herd. $50

Rogers Judas- black tort holland lop sr. buck.
This guy has made beautiful babies in the past. I've decided to severely cut my holland herd, and I have a buck I like the smallest bit better. Not easy letting him go, he's gorgeous and always places well for me! $100. Picture can be see on my Bucks page on the website, or in my blog.

Keep's Flippa- black tort holland lop sr. doe
Out of Hamilton's Fendi x Leprechaun's Tommy. I think she's so cute, tiniest bit slipped in the crown, very poofy crown, great ears/head. Awesome bone, very nicely put together doe, is a bit on the larger side. Very nice lineage, would make a good brood doe, she's a young senior. $45


Jersey Woolies:

Daisy's Princis- Broken Black sr doe
She's got a cute head and ears, nice body. Comes out of good lines, Lynch and BB's for example. Definitely worth taking on chance on, I think. I just HAVE to clear some animals out! $25.

Mini Lops:

Keep's Champ- chinchilla sr buck.
This guy is out of Velotta's Joe, who has about 14 legs at this point, and Under the Pine's Bertha, 1 leg. Has absolutely no butt whatsoever, the best fur ever, a beautiful H/E/C package. Would be a great pet, $5 no ped, $10 ped.

Will have a broken buck available, I'm just not sure which one yet, please be sure to stop by and take a look.

As always, will discount on multiples.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Worming

I've got a junior holland buck who is tiny. Insanely tiny. And he eats like a pig just constantly. We all have some of those- the "OH MY GOD, I'm STARVING even though you just fed me 10 minutes ago" rabbits. In his case though, he's skinny! A metabolism most of us would die for.

I've decided to worm him. We ran out to TSC and bought some Wazine 17. I've seen different ways to administer it- some say dilute in water, others administer it orally.

The dosage seems to be 2 tablespoons of wazine per gallon of water or 4 drops orally per pound of rabbit. *Note, I'm not a vet, this is what I've found in research*.

Hopefully, this will solve his weight problem, though I'm unsure as to how he would have picked up worms in the first place! He hasn't been playing in the yard, none of the other rabbits appear to have them- bizarre! I've decided to go on and just treat the entire barn though. So we'll be mixing the wormer in their water for the next 3 days.

While doing this, I've got to draw up my list of for sale rabbits and show rabbits! Right now, I know I definitely have a broken Jersey Wooly doe for sale, as well as a solid mini lop buck. :)

Breeding Cages

I don't have a specific set of breeding cages, used only for does about to kindle, or who are raising their litters.

I should, but I don't- especially for the mini lops.

This bites me in the butt sometimes. Take now for instance. I had a jersey wooly doe in a small cage. It's fine for her and her alone, but putting the nestbox in there was quite cramped. She kindled 2 healthy little babies and then I got to thinking (uh oh). "Is this cage going to be an acceptable size for her and two babies?". Of course not.

So, I had to do some cage shuffling to get the three of them into a nice large cage. No problems!

But wait. I've got the same situation- another doe, in a great sized cage for her. With nestbox, it ain't so great. So, I'm gonna have to shift her around as well.

It's really a big disruption on all our lives (people and bunnies). Larger breeding cages would be great for growing out a litter if none of the does were due to kindle.

I've had 12 mini lop babies born to a litter and the only thing than saved me (other than the stupidity of the babies) was my one huge 36 x 36 cage. It was a little cramped as it was, but since a few babies popcorned out of the nest and died of various things (broken necks, kitcicles, etc), we were able to work it out.

I think my solution will be to put my teenies (like my 2lb wooly buck and just weaned juniors) in to the smallest cages. Brood does will go in to the largest cages, with mini lops getting priority, and then show stock will fill in from there.

In certain cases, my teenies will get larger cages, for the simple fact I have 6 hanging holes. I don't know if you have ever seen a holland have a violent attack of the binkies, but imagine a mini lop doing it. Then imagine the cage is held up by four small chains. It's the stuff of nightmares.

Now I just have to find a solution to keep the rabbits from chewing on each other. It's always something, isn't it? :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

What day is it?

We went to Atlanta yesterday, to pick up my new shipment of mini lops. I purchased 5, 4 from Sarah at Sarah's Bunny Barn and 1 from Michael at Silent Springs Rabbitry, both located in CA. Sarah also threw in another buck! So that brings us to 6 new rabbits! 3 bucks and 3 does, with the 3 does all bred to VERY nice bucks belonging to Sarah.

I am so excited about these guys, they are very nice rabbits, short with nice depth. Morning Mist, one of the chinchilla does, is a definite fatty, but she's here to live the good life making babies :D. All of them are so friendly and in such great health and condition (MM brought her own dewlap pillow for the journey! LOL).

I'm so lucky that in all the cases of shipping I've done (Lisa from Wooligans Rabbitry in CA, Sarah, Michael and Melanie & her mom LeeAnn from Lil Bit Farms in OK) have been awesome breeders. They've honestly evaluated their rabbits, provided nice pictures and have just been 100% amazing, despite any problems with shipping that arose, due to the airplane carriers.

Shipping is something that is iffy at best. Pictures lie, breeders lie (not always on purpose though!), and in general you're not always happy with what you get. Not to mention, it's a little pricey. I had to spend $103 including all taxes, plus drive 6 1/2 hours round trip to Atlanta to get the rabbits. Had I used Delta, we'd have been able to drive 20 minutes, but we'd have paid over $200 in shipping.

I'm just so happy that through Rabbit Habbit, I've come to know breeders all over the country very well and I've never been disappointed with my purchases. So, if any of my shippers read this, THANKS SO MUCH FOR BEING YOU!

To anyone considering shipping in the future, good luck! I hope all your purchases are as great as mine have been! :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry