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

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

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