Don't breathe

Shhh! Don't breathe. We've got some happenings here at Keep's Rabbitry and even the slightest thing could upset the apple cart.

I was despairing yesterday- only one doe kindle and half the others either ate all their hay or pooped all in the box.

Today I wandered in to the rabbitry to check on the lone baby and, to my surprise, Keep's Dreamer waltzed up to the front of her cage, past her hay-empty nestbox. In her mouth- the few pieces of hay she hadn't eaten.

Oh yes...she's nesting! I panicked and filled her box full, then placed some on the wire so she can continue to nest. So...EEK!

Could it be? TWO does kindling?! They happen to be side by side! Perhaps these are magic cages! Both does (Ash & Dreamer) are REWs I was considering selling at the Ohio Mini Convention, IF they kindled for me. So hey! It might work out!

I hope I didn't just jinx myself by sharing this news. Fingers crossed for me guys! I need it!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

I can't believe it

I am in shock- a doe kindled! Keep's Ash had a single baby today! That's great and surprising news. I say surprising because I thought she palpated negatively and she was rebred about 2 weeks ago- and she was very eager and willing to be rebred.

Ergh. That might not be good. Hopefully someone nearby will have a litter of a similar age and I can foster this little guy off.

Thanks so much for the encouraging emails, messages and comments guys! I promise I wasn't always this gloom and doom regarding the breeding of the rabbits. In fact, I can trace it back directly to this awful rabbitry :lol:.

We get to go see Brandi and Pete in a bit over a week! YAY!! Pete is going to put together a hutch for me out of my hanging cages. MUWAHAHAHAHA!

I'm trying to go to the Dalton show on March 7th. I NEED a show! Of course, the conditioning is still off on the rabbits. They are all on supplements right now until we run out of Fibre3- then I'm running straight back to Purina Show (the blue bag)! I am definitely not happy with my condition right now.

Ahhh the world of show bunnies- we always attempt to get something just a little bit better and can massively screw up something that wasn't broken to begin with. Awesome lol!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Which Way To Go

Hmmm, what to do, what to do.

You ALL know by now that I'm not getting any freaking babies- ever. The one baby I had just died, the one doe to kindle had two DOAs and I KNOW the problem is no light in my crappy makeshift (whoops, left out the "f" the first time around- Freudian slip?) rabbitry.

So, what to do?

I've been debating two approaches.

First: Converting both my sets of hanging cages in to hutches and having 6 does outside soaking in the sunlight. Downside: only 6 does at a time. Upside: Cheap, highly move-able hutches.

Second: Canopy! Yes, getting a large outdoor canopy and setting up an outdoor rabbitry for does. It'll house both hanging cages plus 3 single cages. Downside: Considerably more expensive, will need wire around the outside and extra tarps. More visible, less secure. Upside: More does can be outside, could be the first step in the official rabbit when we have to move.

So- on paper it seems like the first option is far and away the best option, so I'll probably go with that.


Thanks guys :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Next Show

I'm hoping that the next show I attend will be the Dalton, GA show! We'd only be able to stay for the triple on Saturday, but that would still be fun!

My plans on working on the outdoor hutch I'm trying to cobble together have been put on hold- it's SNOWING if you can believe that. SNOWING.

My last two does bred, the California girls, didn't kindle. *sigh* That's all right though, because even though they were willing to breed, they had a huge shock to their system in the form of completely new side of the country. I'd have been amazed if they'd had live litters.

A box is in with Wooligans Raleigh right now- I REALLY hope this girl kindles. She throws such beautiful babies, but what a pain to get bred!


We'll be getting our new Thrianta doe soon! I'm so excited, it's such a gorgeous breed! Pete & Brandi will have to help me decide who to choose :lol: I'll have to read up on my T standard.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Won't be around

I won't be around for a few days- I've got to go back to my hometown for the funeral of a guy I went to High School with :(. So, please be patient, it may take me a few days to get back to you.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

What a week.

We lost Wooligans Nerissa about two days ago. The REW doe was one of our foundation stock and she will be greatly missed. The biggest shame is that her only litter to survive to weaning were killed by a bag of bad feed :(. Thankfully, her nephews Burlington and Tryon are here to survive her. It's hard to walk past her empty cage, she's been with me so long.

Our AKC Mini Dachshund Roxy gave birth to her second and last litter yesterday. We have four BEAUTIFUL little boy puppies. It was rough going though, her last was born breached and involved Tim pulling it out after I cut the umbilical cord. We literally rubbed the life back in to the little guy and are so thankful he pulled through! It was a hair-raising event, definitely.

Speaking of "hare raising", Bandit and Jasmine, the Belgian Hares, have had their first date- they are currently living together in hopes of Jasmine getting pregnant! EEK! How exciting!

We have two does due on the 18th. I'm hoping they kindle! They are the new gals from California, Vixen and Constant Comment. WOO HOO!

If anyone is looking for some nice woolies, Brandi over at BL's Bunny Barn has been lucky enough to experience a massive baby boom! So check her out! Her husband Pete also makes beautiful Rabbitry signs and excellent, sturdy nestboxes. You can see the sign made for me on their "For Sale" page.

That's all from me right now! I'm wishing March 21st would hurry up and get here so I can show! Oh wait- I need my rabbits to finish out their molts...so maybe it doesn't need to hurry just yet lol.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Productive Saturday

Today is going to be a productive day.

My plan is to clean out some junk that has accumulated in the middle of the rabbitry floor, do some grooming on my molty little junior bunnies and clean out some pans! We put an ad on Freecycle for free rabbit manure to anyone who wants to drop off a container, so I've got one outside waiting to get the "black gold". Our garden is as fertilized as it needs to be right now, and I hate dumping the stuff in the woods- seems like such a waste! We've filled in countless holes in the yard with the poop too. I've offered to share in the past, but people seem to feel that because they are doing me some huge great favor (?) I should bend down on one knee and clean trays when they want me to- regardless of my plans. *sigh*

Bluebelle's baby is doing beautifully! My suspicion is a smoke pearl (yay!). It's fat and happy, and Bluebelle doesn't seem to mind only getting to see it twice a day.

It appears she's going to be the only one to kindle, as Still Fly looks bored with her nestbox. That's all right though, the tans can make their way to their new owner soon. I'm going to miss them- especially Yup, though Maybe So's frantic dives in to the food bowl (we never feed him, ya know LOL) always cracks me up.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Aww, don't get old!

I was playing in Evans today and looking at my wooly information- and it's depressing! So many of my original stock from Lisa at Wooligans are getting old- I guess I need to be thinking about if I'll be moving them on or retiring them to pet homes or what. These rabbits were my foundation stock, and if I'm to be completely honest, Lisa's rabbits were the reason I got in to woolies. I wasn't that impressed with them in person, but when I saw her post her the babies she was getting, or the adorable pictures of her adults, I was hooked.


It makes me sad- I wish they could stay young longer. It's funny to think- I've still got half of the ones that made the original journey here- Aspen went on to Joni to help her get started and Chester is with Krys, but Raleigh, Leesa, Arabella, Nerissa- they are still here!

I only recently moved out Tula's Place Krys- a baby that arrived here as part of my very first set of woolies, thanks to Krys. She went back home to PA, to the breeder she hadn't seen since she was itty bitty.

I can't believe how fast these years have flown by. It's almost like the end of an era. Admittedly, these woolies haven't been shown in years and I have offspring by them- but...wow.

*sigh* Don't get old guys!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

It finally happened!

I HAVE A BABY!

BL's Bluebelle kindled two babies while I was at work today- the stupid doe built her nest on the wire, but thankfully Tim found them. One didn't make it, I suspect it was a peanut anyway, but there may have been something else wrong with it. The other is living in the house right now and will be visiting it's Mama twice a day for feedings until I judge it's safe to leave it outside.

YAY!! I'm so thrilled my baby-less drought is over. This is also my first Tryon baby! I haven't been this excited since my very first litter. Now I just have to hope the baby turns out beautiful!

:) I had to share my excitment with you guys- maybe this will be the first of a long line of babies on their way!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

The Nature Trail's Miss Muffet

The person that was going to get her has had to back out, so she is available again.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

BRRR!

It's cool tonight! No where near how cold it has been though, thankfully!

Tomorrow, I'll be palpating the bred does, hoping to feel a few babies kicking around in there! I'm also going to be attempting to breed a few first timers. That's always fun >.<

I'm also hoping to take some pictures of my new additions! I have several senior animals that need to be listed on the website, or have their pictures updated.

The Belgian Hares will be breedable at the end of this month! EEEEEEEK! I'm so excited, I really hope everything goes well! The interest is definitely up in this area, so we can hope that the babies all turn out nice- and that there will be plenty of them! It's an excellent matchup- Bandit and Jasmine compliment each other almost perfectly! EEK! But I'm getting ahead of myself, as usual.

Bluebelle, the former house doe, now has her nestbox- she's due soon, after losing her first litter, so I hope she has a successful litter this go round!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Few Updates

Miss Muffet has been sold. *sigh* It's not going to be the same without her. Thankfully, she'll be hanging around until May, so she gets one last date with one of my lucky bucks! :D. Now I've just got to decide WHO!

It's snowing here- you know what that means. Frozen Water bottles! Oh joy.

Today, while feeding, Tim found a large, dead baby in the middle of the rabbitry floor. We're puzzled- none of the does due had any blood or placentas in their cages/nestboxes. None had other babies. It's clear someone kindled, but who it was and why this baby ended up where it did, we have no idea. How sad and very bizarre :(.

I purchased three new woolies. I wasn't intending to purchase any, but unfortunately Marlee Hamilton is selling out. Marlee is a youth breeder who has some VERY nice animals and I couldn't resist. I brought home a HUGE siamese sable brood doe, a very pretty little REW doe and ......*sigh* an AOV.

I don't like AOVs that much. I don't WANT AOV. But this guy was so, so nice, I couldn't resist. It's an added bonus that his mom was Keep's Charlotte, sister to Tryon and Burlington! I nearly brought home his sister instead, but...no, at the end of the day, it was all Stewart!

Thankfully, he can be bred to both self and shaded animals, unlike the tans who could only be bred to the selfs. That's how I justified it, anyway. ;)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

The Nature Trail's Miss Muffet For Sale

The Nature Trail's Miss Muffet- black tort proven sr. doe- 1 leg
The Nature Trail's Navaro (2 legs) x GC The Nature Trail's Hilary (4 legs)

Muffet is a beautiful doe who has thrown killer babies in every litter. She's produced my three favorite Keep's Hollands- Barbi, Zephrim and the late Keep's Future. She's a double Merlin granddaughter who produces a LOT of milk and is an excellent mother and foster mother- she's raised almost as many woolies as she's raised holland babies.

Muffet will be 3 in May, but she has been kept in production.

Barbi:



Zephrim still as a junior:


Keep's Future:


Muffet is $100 firm and I can hold her until Ohio Mini Convention for a small boarding fee.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry