Productive Day!

Wow, we had a productive day today- Tim cleaned up some cage pans while I scraped wire to remove any stray hair and poo balls.

Then, I groomed eight of the woolies- one who was matted things to her goofball brother, several that just needed to be checked for mats because they are little and a few I was going to sell and though "eh, why not?"

Of my six wooly babies, 2 were bucks and 4 were does! I definitely don't need more bucks right now lol. I need to move a few out as is.

I've got a few for sale right now-

Sable Point Jr. Buck
Wooligans Arabella (siamese sable) x Keep's Tryon (siamese sable)

Beautiful CLEAN sable point coloring. 2 1/2 months old and in the uglies. Looks like he's going to be a VERY cute buck, would like to see more thickness to ears at the current time. Has a rip in one ear- I'm not sure if it detracts from his overall appearance or not.



REW Jr. Doe
TB's Shadow (siamese sable) x WWR Little Steps (smoke pearl)

3 1/2 months old. Not currently showable due to chopped wool. I LOVE the shape of her head and ears. Looks like she might be a little more brood than show.

I'm definitely moving out a self buck soon as well.



I also accomplished some breedings! HOOORAY :). I didn't get many done, just a few woolies, but something is better than nothing! :)

I've got to leave for a rabbit club meeting soon. I'm so tired though! Ah well, it's a day dedicated to bunnies :D.

-Kristen

A Good Kind Of Lazy

Sometimes I'm really lazy. "Groan, I don't wanna tattoo! I'll do it in the morning and I'll groom then too."

Sometimes it bites me in the butt- as it did in Columbia, SC where I was frantically trying to tattoo a rabbit who's class had just been called to be put up. I pulled it off, but WHOA.

Sometimes, it's a good kind of lazy.

There have been several rabbits I've decided to sell that no one seemed interested in. I put them back in their cages, intending to pet them out or let them go for meat and for one reason or another it just never happens. So I end up feeding these culls.

Such is the case with Keep's Poplar. Not a bad little buck, he was by no means a stunner. I showed him once or twice and he got some meh results from the judges- he wasn't first off the table, but he didn't earn any junior legs either.

I put him for sale, no one wanted him. It happens. Junior bucks seem to be harder to move out than junior does anyway.

So, poor Poplar was going to go for meat. I had no use for him, he didn't wow me, he's not the best candidate for a pet (an older junior wooled breed animal? Most people run screaming in horror) - so why not let him go for a purpose? However- time marched by and it just didn't happen. No room to take him to the show to be culled, no meat person going to be there, no purpose in getting Joni's skinning knife out for one small rabbit... no pet person calling, begging me for a 5 month old REW wooled buck pet.

And so he stayed and he ate- but most importantly, he grew.

I was out grooming today. It was the first time I'd had any kind of chance to do it. Most are fine, but some of the juniors were matty and I decided to pull Poplar out for giggles and pose him up, then see if he needed any grooming.

Let me just say, he's got a few little side mats from changing out his coat.

Next let me say........uhm..WOW?

I knew his head had filled out well, but when I posed him up, I just have to say... wow. My little pretty decent duckling has turned in to the Golden Goose. I'm very pleased with him!

Thankfully, I was striken with a good kind of lazy, because I'd hate to have culled this guy for a pet or meat. He may be making an appearance at Nationals, along with his father.

So if you find yourself a little slow or lazy culling a decent little animal, maybe it's some sixth sense telling you "WAIT WAIT WAIT!"

That's what I'm going with, anyway- intune with nature... not lazy ;)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Raffle!

I'm hoping to raffle a few items to help me make it to JW Nationals in April. The raffle is starting today and will run through January 23rd. All items can be shipped, but it would have to be at the cost of the winner.

I can get these items to PaSRBA or to JW Nationals, or any NC show, so feel free to buy a ticket even if you aren't local . Or just give me monies because you love me LOL.

I am accepting cash, check, MO or paypal.

Tickets are $1 each, please specify which item you'd like the ticket applied to. All items are NEW and kept in a smoke free home. The yarn has been kept in an air tight container as well.


Other pictures can be provided. Please message me privately or email me for mailing address or paypal account information .



200 yards of hand spun yarn. 80/20 Shetland/Angora. Made by Deb Snyder, who has won several awards for her yarn. Not sure of retail value.





Brand New Isabella's Journey Madeline style ID Wallet. In the beautiful off white and red coloring, has a pocket for your ID and money/change. Retails $10.



Brand New Beanpod Candle- 100% Soy Wax in Apricot scent. 16oz, smells amazing.
Retail: $17.00




Brand New Bunny Pan! Oven, Microwave and Dishwasher Safe, it comes from Celebrating Home, who recently bought out Home Interiors. Retail Value $15.

*This is a picture of my PERSONAL pan. The one on raffle is in an unopened and most definitely unused.*


Everyone who purchases a ticket will be entered into a second chance drawing for a $10 "giftcard" to Celebrating Home on your choice of item(s). Since I am a representative of CH, I do ask that you shop via a link I'll provide for you, so the discount can be given . No expiration, no minimum purchase required.


Items will be on display at the January 23rd Show in Mocksville, NC .

Any help would be greatly appreciated!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Saying Goodbye

One of my favorite hollands is going to her new home today.

Talk about Depressing.

Barbi doll is going out to help another herd and I've brought her in for a last hour of cuddly before her new owner gets here.

It's so hard to let the special ones go- Barbi was a doe I spent a LOT of time working with as a baby, we nearly lost her and if not for Barbi Brown's expertise and encouragement, she'd have died.

She's such a sweet doe and makes such beautiful babies... I'm keeping her daughter Amelia to replace her in the herd, but there is just no replacing her in my heart.

There are always a few special animals in the herd who you just can't let go. Were something to happen tomorrow that caused me to sell out, I just don't know that I could let a few of them out there go.

I'm really just wallowing in misery. I should have probably told you that beforehand.

Barbi is going to be a productive member of a new herd though. Hopefully I'll be in a position to buy her back as a beloved pet when she's done.

Ahh well, they say you shouldn't show your pet bunnies or pet your show bunnies and for the most part I follow that. That doesn't mean you can't love on your show animals, it simply means Don't Get Attached!!

Unfortunately, sometimes it happens.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Trying to Evaluate

Have you tried to evaluate your herd lately? I have.

BRRRR it's not easy when your fingers are about to fall off.

I think one of the important things to remember when you're evaluating who to stay and who to sell is what your herd as a whole looks like. It's easy to get caught up in moving out this one and that one- and the next thing you know, you've culled out your best crowns because of bad HQ, or your best wool because of long ears. You trade one herd prevalent fault for another

This is something I have to keep in mind, especially when I pre-sale woolies and hollands. For instance, soon I'll be without Forest, so I have to evaluate what he brings to the herd and make sure I don't kick out someone with his particular strengths.

Keep in mind- you do NOT have a herd of perfect animals. You just don't. That's what rabbit breeding is about- balancing faults here and faults there and hoping in the end you get something that comes close...and, dare we dream, can throw that near perfection with consistency. Just try to not get so blinded to being slightly undercut that you throw out the baby with the bathwater- it is NOT helpful to keep a herd buck with a nice HQ when he doesn't have the ear length, wool, head, shoulders or depth to ALSO help your herd.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

So Cold!

We had the first ever New Year's Show in Taylorsville on Saturday- it was actually on Jan. 2nd, but hey, still the New Year's Show! :).

We got there right around 7:30am, in the FREEZING cold. I'm not kidding folks, it was in the teens with the windchill. We found out the club wasn't allowed to turn the heat on in the building until 7am that morning, so it was obscenely cold. So obscenely cold, it was nearly impossible to force my hands to do the touch ups on the tattoos I had meant to do the night before. Procrastination: 1, Kristen: 0.

Tim made a run to the nearest Walmart for Hot Hands and Gloves- it really made ALL the difference. I don't think I could have made it through the day otherwise.

The first show we didn't do a lot as far as results in the woolies. Keep's Cairo did take BOG for his second leg (he's a shaded senior buck, my beloved Tryon is at home looking icky LOL), WWR's Little Steps took second in that class. Keep's KTLM, a shaded jr doe, took BOSG and was looked at hard for BOB (though it went to a beautiful broken black doe from Tresia Burleson). Keep's Burlington, owned by Joni at Lyle Creek, did take 2nd in the Self Sr. Buck class, losing out on wool to the first place animal. Poor Burlington, he needs to finish growing out that coat!

In Hollands, in our first show as a Co-Op, Lyle Creek's Quizno earned his first leg, taking BOSV against some EXCELLENT competition.


Show B looked up for me as far as woolies, with Keep's Forest (the self sr. buck) taking BOSB, again to Tresia's broken doe... do I sense another DD on the rise? lol. Cairo again took BOG for his granding leg, KTA a jr. shaded buck won his class and KTLM won hers again as well. Keep's Tar Heel, my self jr. buck, also won his class, but no legs on any of the class wins :(.

By this time, we were ready to get out of dodge! It was now tolerable in the building, but it wasn't warm enough to remove our gloves or put down the hot hands by any means!


One cute moment of the day- the club decided to give out a prize to the first DQs and first BOBs of the New Year. Leave it to the wooly table to produce the first DQ, with a lack of tattoo on a doe. *Ding Ding Ding*, we rang the bell and the "winner" accepted her sparkly "DQ" pin.


We came home find more snow on the ground and frozen water bottles- oh joy. After the windchill got in to the negatives last night, we're up to a whopping 6 degree windchill, with a 19 degree actual temperature- and it's coming up on the warmest part of the DAY! They are calling for this all week, so I guess we're going to have to get used to our new watering and feeding routine. Bah

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Holland Co Op!

I'd been getting tired of the hollands. I love the breed but I was just missing the excitement I'd had.

I talked to a fellow breeder who was feeling the same way and we tentatively started talking about the possibility of a co-op.

Months went by and recently I emailed her and very simple said "If you want to do a co-op, let's do it. Otherwise, I'm selling out."

She emailed me back with "Let's go for it."

After a lot of pedigree comparing, rabbit evaluating & dotting the i's, crossing the t's, etc-

We'd like to introduce you to KLC Hollands- a NC co-op between Keep's Rabbitry and Lyle Creek's Rabbitry!

Joni and I are maintaining separate JW herds and our own websites, but all babies born to us from today out will fall under the prefix KLC's

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry