So hard to get good pictures

I tried to take some pictures today, to put on the website. It's so hard to get good shots of Woolies.



This is Keep's Epiphany. She's a beautiful, sweet little doe that has the instincts of a total ham.

She's VERY quick to move as the camera is taking shots. She's got her own idea of her good side, and what people want to see in photos.



For some reason, standing up right as the photo snaps equals 100 points in the bunny game of "Ruin the Picture!" I don't know WHY they think this is a good look. It could have possibly been that the dogs were playing in the distance and she was fascinated. Could have been she was enjoying the wind blowing in her face. No telling.

Finally, after 15 other pictures that look like those others, we get this one- a POSED SHOT! I'm thrilled, my hand isn't even in it.

But wait...she's a junior. I'm just going to have to repeat this ALL over again soon to get an adult picture.

JOY JOY JOY JOY.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Wooly Sweeps!

I joined the National Jersey Wooly Rabbit Club after Convention this year. Stupidly after Convention, because those result points didn't count, and it gave me only a half year worth of points.

Regardless...

The Final Results are out- I placed 26th Nationally!! I'm very pleased with that result. I can't wait to see how things go this coming year! :D

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Website Changes

Well, I'm severely overdue on my promise to update the pictures on my website. *sigh* The rain is back, joy of all joys.

If you've been to the website today, you should notice there is one addition- WATERMARKS. I've gone through and watermarked a good deal of the pictures on there and will continue to do so.

Having recently come in to contact with someone who thinks a person should be FLATTERED to have their property stolen and used without permission, it really drove home to me that I should get on the ball with that. Couple that thought with the discovery of picnik.com, a FREE photo editing service online (thanks folks on RH!) and a rainy day- well voila! An updated website.

I also finally got up the nestbox page! Sadly, it's been almost a year since I had updated it, and the page didn't even make it over until last night, from the switch from geocities. Oops.

I think I may do away with the Results page. I just don't care to keep updating it- I have lately been posting results here on the blog, with top honors going on the front page of the website. I think that's sufficient, so expect to see that link disappear soon :).

I'll continue to work on updates, but I'm limited. I've been hoping to get beautiful, semi-uniform pictures outside of the bunnies, but we may have to settle for somewhat dim ones in the rabbitry, if things don't clear up soon!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Flystrike and Fly Control

It's rained here nearly every day this month- hard, daily long, downpours. There is fungus growing in nearly every yard.

So what's happening? The flies are breeding at a dismaying rate. The trays are dirtier than usual because it's hard to clean them in the pelting rain, when the yard is half flooded.

Consequently, I've lost two baby rabbits in two days. Both got severe diarrhea for no reason (they were given hay and had no food changes. The food has been kept clean and dry, and siblings were fine).

I discovered the first animal with fly eggs on her bottom. I did the best I could to wash her off and pick off the eggs, but I could feel she was already fading fast, whether from dehydration, enteritis, or from effects from the fly.

Today, while I was at work, Tim found another baby, different age, different litter, with a poopy butt- also with what he believed to be fly eggs on her bottom. She was in a completely clean cage- it had been dumped and cleaned yesterday. He followed my idea from the day before and put Ivomec directly on the bottom, hoping to destroy the eggs. She also passed away.

I was talking to Joni from Lyle Creek Rabbitry about it and she suggested something I hadn't considered- Sevin dust. A powder used to keep bugs off plants and to kill fleas on larger animals, what if it WOULD work to help with fly strike?

Better yet, what if a thin dusting on a slightly dirty pan would help kill the flies?

I'm definitely running out to the store tomorrow to get some of it and try spreading it around. This abnormally wet year (both spring and summer wise....fall isn't shaping up any better either) is not working wonders for the herd. All we can do is keep on trying and hope we can find something to help us destroy the plague.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Wow it's been a while

It's been a while since I've posted!

We headed down to the Greensboro Triple Show this past weekend. It was great, because I'd talked my friends Melanie and LeAnne in to coming from Oklahoma and Kelsey came down from Maryland. Plus, the usual suspects were there as well.

We had a GREAT show, with Mel and LeAnne picking up a BOSB in hollands against amazingly tough competition. Pete and Brandi took BOB and BOSB in the first show in woolies, while Joni took BOSB in the second and I took BOB- with another BOB in the third show (yay Tryon!). I was pretty pleased with my results, considering the coat conditions were awful! I hope they get better by October's show, but with the constant rain, I'm doubting it! >.<

Melanie and LeAnne came back to the house with us and put up with a whirlwind day and a half, being dragged all over the mountains to look at rocks and caves :D. They've just headed home recently- I'm gonna miss them :(.


My idea is- all my bunny friends should move nearby. NC/ northern SC/ southern VA/ Eastern TN.............it'd be great :D. So get to packing folks.

I picked up several animals for a friend who is wanting to ship some out to California. I've got to head outside in a bit and see what woolies I've got available, several folks are wanting to take a look in honor of the shipment. :) Exciting!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Goals

I really, really want to win a BIS or BRIS with a homebred animal.

Really, really bad.

I've taken RIS with a mini lop I traded for, BIS with a doe I picked out at 8 weeks old (she was a senior when she won), BIS with a mini lop I got as a young junior and BIS recently with Rory, the Holland Lop I purchased from Melanie because she loves me.

I've done my fair share of winning "the big prize". Never with a homebred, though I'm getting closer, I think.

I'd also really like to take BOB with a homebred doe. I think I tend to retire my girls too quickly once they hit senior. I'm of the opinion that I'd rather have babies than wins, but I've got a really promising little girl out there now...if things fall right, maybe I'll hold off on breeding her immediately and see how she does as a primed senior on the table.

I'm so thrilled with my current herd- the woolies are all looking great, the holland juniors are making me excited for the breed again, and I can't wait to see how the belgian babies shape up!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Fletcher NC Results

Jersey Woolies- Show A

Keep's Forest Self Sr. Buck- 4/4
Keep's Spazzoid Self Jr. Buck- 1/3
Keep's On A Lark- Self Jr. Doe- 2/2

Keep's Tryon- Shaded Sr. Buck- 1/1 BOG
Keep's Cairo- Shaded Jr. Buck- 1/2
Keep's Epiphany- Shaded Jr. Doe- 2/6


Hollands:

Lil Bit Farm's Rory- 1/2, BOV, BOB, BIS!


Show B:
Keep's Forest Self Sr. Buck- 1/4, BOG, BOB
Keep's Spazzoid Self Jr. Buck- 2/3
Keep's On A Lark- Self Jr. Doe- 1/2, BOSG

Keep's Tryon- Shaded Sr. Buck- 1/1, BOG
Keep's Cairo- Shaded Jr. Buck- 1/2
Keep's Epiphany- Shaded Jr. Doe- 2/5


Hollands:

Lil Bit Farm's Rory- 1/6, BOV, BOB


I was teasing Tresia in Show A that we'd let her BOB wooly take BRIS, and I'd take BIS- then we'd switch for the next show. It's something we do just to be goobers. Imagine our surprise when her wooly DID take BRIS! We were tickled to death.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Drenched

We're drenched. After repeated assurances that there would be no rain today, guess what happened? All five belgians were outside, along with 7 woolies, while their cages were being scrubbed when the pitter patter started. Several cages were dry, but most are sopping wet, which means the woolies are in some kind of odd contrivance.

Meanwhile, thanks to the constant rain the past 2 weeks, some dirty cages are staying very dirty. We did manage to scrape a stacker in the pouring rain, but that's just not going to work for the rest of the cages. If it stops, maybe we can at least get the last 3 of the dirtiest ones scraped and cleaned. I hope so anyway.

The good news is I also sterilized another cage, so I've got just a little more room :).

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Rain Rain go away!

How exactly can I clean cages like I want to, when it is thunderstorming every day?! HOW I ask you, HOW?

*sigh*

A friend of mine asked if I had a wooly junior I could possibly donate to her organization putting on a fair. The purpose is to have a raffle with some nice animals, in hopes of promoting the bunny habit while making a little cash for the group.

I'm excited about this! I've got plenty of juniors with a ton of promise. I'll just have to decide which one will have the most "cute appeal", while doing well enough to hopefully hook a new breeder in! I actually have 2 bucks in mind.

I think it's important in situations like this to pick at least a DECENT animal. I've seen folks "donate" animals (this isn't locally, by the way) that were crap. Honest to goodness crap. Considering the quality of the animals the person shows, it was surprising. I can understand not wanting to donate your absolute best, but c'mon now, let's do a little better than a pet quality animal! You won't hook someone who's animal ends up dead last every time.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Talking to the bunnies?

On Rabbit Habbit, an interesting topic came up-

One of the members admitted that she spoke to her bunnies, talking about anything on her mind from politics to the weather.

The interesting thing was she realized that she speaks to each bunny in a distinctive voice- some get baby talk, some get "valley girl accents" and others get something entirely different.

It got me (and other members) thinking- and I realized I do it too!

Barbi gets called by her nickname "Barbi Girl" and is spoken to in what can only be described as a coo.

Rory gets an exasperated but loving voice- he freaks out over getting constant head rubs and tries to leap out of the cage.

The babies all tend to get the same drawling "Heeeey bay-beees" speech.

It's there though- I never really noticed it, but I can recall a rabbit and instantly think of how I speak to him or her.

Devon was wondering if she speaks to her rabbits based on their personalities, certain physical features, etc. I know I speak to mine based on those great (and very diverse) personalities.

Aren't rabbits amazing? They can make otherwise sane people break out the baby talk.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Moving on out

My sale animals are slowly moving on out!

I've got several senior and junior animals leaving on the 19th, and three that are definitely leaving by the 12th! HOORAY! More cage space :).

I've got so much grooming I need to catch up on. Several of my junior woolies are in between coats, which kills me. OF COURSE they are looking funky with the shows about to start! SIGH

I need to make final decision on a couple of animals I have. I could always use the space, but I hate to let anything go. I always see a lot of "what ifs" in my mind- what if I should have kept her and bred her to x. What if x. What if, what if, what if. One doe in particular has given me a proven female replacement for her, and I'm keeping another daughter out of her. How many do I REALLY need? That's what I keep telling myself, but there is always the "what if I sell her and didn't breed her to x buck and that would have been the perfect match?" Maybe I'll breed her one more time then sell her (LOL)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Buyers

I'm up entirely too early for a bunny sale.

Ok, ok, so the poor guy coming to pick up the bunny is also a non-morning person. I've also only been up since 8:15, he had to get up much early then that. Still, I can grump if I wanna, it's my blog.

One of Rory's sons is going to a new home today. He's a well put together little thing. I can see a LOT of potential in him, but I can see a few worries too. He's a little big and his ears are a little long. Then again, with a dad who tops the scales under 3 lbs and a mom who isn't much over it, he's going to be a genetic freak of nature if he goes overweight.

Anyway, it's just a pre-sale "mind ramble" of mine. No matter how nice an animal is (remember Keep's Zephrim? He took a BOB recently), I always worry about disappointing the buyer.

I know others feel this way too, because we've talked about it (:D).

So, this is what I do- 100% honesty about the animal. I think EVERYONE should be this way anyway, but I tend to go above and beyond. I've had folks tell me NOT to list every fault the animal has "because it's the buyer's responsibility to ask."

Nope, not with me. If I think they need more HQ, I'm gonna tell you. If the ears are long for my taste, that comes out too. If I don't tell you about something, it's because I truly didn't notice it, or it's a recent development (like ears growing overnight...I swear it happens! Curse you uglies).

Ahh well, I'd rather be too honest and have it cut in to my sales, than to not be honest enough and have to live with that guilt (not to mention reputation!)

By the way- the new owner seems thrilled with his bunny :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry