Entertainment Blog Directory

Friday, October 30, 2009

Halloween

It's almost Halloween! I just wanted to take this opportunity to say- lock your animals up good!

I think Halloween is especially important to take extra precautions. I LOVE the Holiday, don't get me wrong, but the animal shelters around here won't even let you adopt black animals in the month of October.

There are BAD people out there- bad people that do bad things and unfortunately, animal murder, sacrifice or just torture can be part of some people's "festivities". So remember to lock up the rabbitry good, make sure all the outdoor animals are inside or in a safe place and enjoy your holday!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Learning New Things

This is a very old blog I started and never finished---- I thought I'd post it now anyway, just because it's a good reminder to me that I don't know as much as I think I do sometimes :).

I'm always learning new things- and I love it! It helps keep my ego in check :P.

Some of the things I've learned recently about rabbits-

English Spots can have solid babies, marked babies (what you're hoping for) and charlies! I had no idea!

English Angoras are shown in "Colored" and "White". Not to mention, "white" encompasses REW, BEW and pointed!

If you use a blower on your wooled breeds- this weird white powder comes out- even if you only miss 1 day of blowing!

Belgian Hares come in Black, Black & Tan and White, as well as Red! You just may have to go overseas to find them!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry


Sunday, October 25, 2009

Little Bunny Foo-Foo

There is a great rhyme for children that goes "Little Bunny Foo-Foo, I don't wanna see you, scooping up the field mice and bopping them on the head."

Right now I'd give a lot of money to have my own little bunny Foo-Foo to go around scooping up these field mice and popping them a good one. In fact, that service might be worth a carrot or two.

This year, we've got a new variable in the rabbitry- Patience. She's an older holland lop doe who runs loose. Most days she hangs out in the rabbitry, going out to lay in the sun or graze in the yard.

Because of Patience, I can't put down poison. I don't like poison anyway, I don't want these little devils getting in to unreachable places and dying, rotting away a little at a time. I don't want them dying in trays or in food dishes.

But I sure don't want them eating and spoiling the food that belongs to my bunnies!

We've started an aggressive program of little furry mouse death. I purchased 4 snap traps, to be loaded with cheese and put in areas that Patience can't reach. I've also got 4 glue traps. These guys are going in the storage room where the mice can get to them but Patience can't. The good news with the glue trap is that even if she manages to get on it, vegetable oil will turn her loose. These traps are actually what I had the best luck with last year.

I like to keep the traps varied though. The first generation of mice will get nearly wiped out by the snap traps. The survivors learn to avoid them, which is when we swoop in with the glue traps.

I also need to catch the outdoor cat. She's being fed by someone up the road (SIGH, why can't people mind their own business SIGH) and doesn't come home very often anymore. I need her back to lock up in the rabbitry at night, so she can do her job. Thankfully, she doesn't mess with the rabbits- she knows they are mine, though I did see the gift of a full grown wild bunny she brought us.

So yeah, that's about it- snap traps alternated with a vicious mouser and glue traps. Hopefully we can keep the mice at bay!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry




Saturday, October 24, 2009

PUPPIES!

I know we usually talk about kits here but-

Yesterday we had 4 AKC mini dachshund puppies born!


Meet the pups!

The black and tan is a female that Tim calls "Wrongway" (she was a breach)
The red dapple is "Camo", a male.
The 3rd pup is called "Stretch" because he was very stretched out when born. We're torn as to his color, he looks awful like a chocolate and tan sometimes, and others he just looks like an odd red.
The last pup, the reverse red dapple is a little female that Tim calls "Wrinkles". Can't imagine why?

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Just a little update

I'm doing a quick update via my laptop in sunny Nashville TN! I'm out here with my sister in law, who is at a conference. I'm just bumming along to keep her from being lonely or otherwise overly stressed out.

So far, Nashville reminds me a lot of Louisville KY, where Convention was held in 2008. I expect to see signs for the Derby Museum, or to meet up with Katie & Susie at any given point in time. It's a bit of disappointment to think it'll be over a year until I can attend the next Convention.

At home, I've got two does due- Pokey, my first breeding age Barbi baby, and Arabella, one of my Wooligans does. I'm hoping Arabella gives me a nice big litter this go round, it will probably be her last litter here with me.

I updated my sales page, though I have others that need to be moved out. I need to make my final decision on Barbi's youngest litter. I also need to get down to the nitty gritty on Little Mama's litter. SEVEN babies I have to choose from and I know I can't keep them all!

So that's really all that's going on with me. We're starting to see the field mice because of the low temperatures, so it's time to get aggressive with them- I'll tell you about that later!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Saturday, October 17, 2009

COLD

Oh man, it's getting cold here! I feel bad for the poor half naked woolies like Forest- it's 43 degrees here, with a windchill of 37. The weather forecast is calling for snow in higher elevations- yet he is sporting a newly molted and yet to start growing back coat. BRR.

It seems like we've skipped fall this year. Fall and Spring are my favorite times to have bunnies- you don't have to worry as much about high temps or young babies in the freezing cold. Water bottles don't freeze either. You can pick up leaves for munchy toys, or fresh greens for the bunnies.

The winter though- fresh greens have to be purchased at outrageous prices. Water bottles get frozen, babies have higher chances of ending up as "kitcicles"... it can be a really miserable experience getting out there to feed and water.

*sigh*

Oh well, the seasons aren't going to stop changing just for us bunny breeders!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Wednesday, October 14, 2009

Shipping Out

I had an interesting experience yesterday! We got up at 3:45am to head to the airport to ship out some bunnies to California!

Yep, Keep's bunnies are now officially coast to coast hehe.

It was a huge mess, the airport didn't do the paperwork and didn't have a knowledgeable person checking in the cargo. In the end though, after an hour and a half of waiting and fussing, we got them ready to get on the plane- with a whole 19 minutes to spare!

After getting them on the plane, Tim and I came home to crash for a little while. Then came the next scary part- hoping everyone made it safely! They did though, and the new owner seems to be pleased with her shipment!

I hope they do really well for you Katie!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Monday, October 12, 2009

Busy Busy Busy

I spent a good part of yesterday letting several does play in the grass with each other. Randomly, one lady would disappear out of the pen (to be bred), but the girls never seemed to care unless it was their turn to be kidnapped. I happily have 4 does in this round bred, and another 3 does just a few days ahead of them.


This morning Friesian, a black holland lop doe from Joni, had EIGHT Rory babies for me!! EEK!! I'm also waiting on a doe from my friend Melanie to kindle- she's pulled a ton of fur and made a nice nest. I'm keep an extra close eye on her, these babies are going to be very special.


So far though, with the two does that HAVE kindled, I've got 9 babies! I'm so, so thrilled to be getting so many babies this year- each new litter is so awesome, especially after that baby drought.

I'm keeping up an aggressive breeding program even through the winter, in hopes of keeping the animals producing!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Saturday, October 10, 2009

Tractor Supply and Purina

I had printed my Purina coupon and drove up to the nearest TSC to get myself a few discounted bags of rabbit feed.

When we got there, much to my surprise, there was ONLY Purina "Green Bag"- the pet feed. After a 10 minute wait for an associate (I hate TSC so much, you'd think they could bother to employ people who GAVE A CRAP about their jobs...), we find out that Green Bag is the only thing they carry. Not only that, they have no idea if they will ever carry any of the other feed. Gee, that's helpful.

So, it was a wasted trip up there, a waste of printer ink to print the coupon, and a waste of my time thinking TSC could be anything more than useless.

I'm a little irritated. I don't understand the rational- they carry Manna Pro show feeds. Why not carry Purina too? Obviously they know about the Show Breeder Market.

Ugh.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Thursday, October 8, 2009

Terrible News

We will NOT be attending Convention as planned. There has been an unavoidable schedule conflict that popped up at the last moment, and I can NOT fly alone due to a crippling hatred of airplanes lol.

I'm so, so, so sad.

We will be attending Jersey Wooly Nationals in April in Kentucky.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Wednesday, October 7, 2009

Coupon For Purina Feed!

Billi, a friend and fellow RH'er, posted the following coupon recently!

Tractor Supply Company is letting you print out a $2 off coupon for any Purina or Nutrena feed! This is only good until the 13th of October, so get on out there!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Saturday, October 3, 2009

California, here we come!

We're OFFICIALLY HEADED TO CONVENTION! I'm so excited. We're offering transport to and from Convention- $25 a hole per way. This holds true for dwarf breeds, I don't have the carriers for larger breeds. I *can* adjust the hole size, but this will result in larger fees.

I'm so thrilled and so unprepared. We've got to book flights, a hotel, figure out who to enter and figure out how we're going to ship the animals.........not to mention the packing!

I can't wait though. We've decided we will attend JW Nationals in Kentucky, but will probably end up missing the Minnesota Convention- that is, unless we hit the lottery.

I'll probably end up picking up a few extra days at work now and again to help finance the trip- it's going to be VERY expensive, but well worth it in the end.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry