With so many does having babies, I've been taking great pains to foster off singleton animals, or moving around babies that were born to huge litters.
My preference is to not foster together the same breeds, just because it's easier to keep track of a holland baby in the midst of a litter of woolies, than two black tort holland kits from different litters. I shoot for minimal involvement.
However, today I had a wooly doe produce 1 REW baby. I popped it in with another litter of woolies, one of which looks to be a REW as well. I liberally marked it's ears with a sharpie and I'll have to recheck it every few days to make sure the color stays. I've also heard of folks using nail polish, but I didn't have any of that on hand.
Thankfully, 90% of my does are EXCELLENT foster mothers. I even recently moved a wooly baby from it's 6 siblings and put it in with another doe who only had 4. All these babies are bouncing around out of the nestbox, but since the wooly baby was the smallest of 7, it was being nudged out of the way at feeding time and getting dangerously thin.
Amazingly, the foster mom accepted it without a second glance! I guess she figured at this point, what was one more mouth to feed?
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Wednesday, July 29, 2009
Monday, July 27, 2009
Keep's Photo Shoot
I took a some shots of a very few of my up coming babies! Enjoy!
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
A VERY ticked off little Siamese Sable wooly buck!
A funny little broken chin doe. I may have to name her Radar or Antenna!
A broken blue point doe
Frosty buck! My first frosty ever :)
A shy little sable point doe
A GORGEOUS sable chinchilla doe
Yep- it's a NONE tort holland :lol:
I love this little buck so much! I do wish one of the babies
had been a doe though- *sigh*
had been a doe though- *sigh*
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Saturday, July 25, 2009
How to Ship Rabbits
I've done several shipments of animals and I wanted to make a little short guide to help out folks considering shipping.
Pre-Shipping
*Decide the breeder you want. Sounds like a duh right? Seriously, know what breeder(s) you want to purchase from and make sure there is an opportunity to coordinate getting all the rabbits together right before the shipment.
*Decide how many holes/rabbits you can afford. You can usually put together 2-3 carriers to count in one shipment. However- remember you will have to buy those carriers! So, you could fill up 18 holes, but think of the cost of 18 rabbits + carriers + carrier cups + shipping. If you plan to sell holes in a shipment, you'll want to have a firm number on how many are available before you start advertising the holes for sale.
*If you are selling holes get the payment in advance. Also set up when the animals are to be picked up by and be prepared to have to hold them at least a few days.
*Get the full dimensions of the carriers- L x W x H. Estimate the weight. I prefer to go OVER the estimate, that way there are no surprises.
*Decide what airline to use- this involves convenience for you and the shipper. They will not want to drive 10 hours to get your animals to a Frontier shipper and you won't want to drive 10 to get the animals (more than likely- if you do go so far, so be it, but remember to add in gas to your costs!)
*Make sure you have the address and the phone number of the breeder who will be doing the shipping.
*Call the airlines and find out several things a.) Are health certificates needed? b.) what is the cost estimate- this is where your LxWxH and weight come in to play, c.) when do the animals need to be at the airline and d.) when will they arrive at the airport. If everything works out for you, book your shipment!
Shipping
*Make sure to have the phone number of the person shipping for you- and make sure they have yours as well! You never know when a flight will be canceled at the last minute.
Post Shipping
*Check the animals over IMMEDIATELY. This means putting your hands all over them. You want to know as soon as possible how they handled the flight.
*Keep a very close watch on the animals for the next few days after the shipment. Check water intake, how much they are eating.
That's basically all there is to it! :D
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Pre-Shipping
*Decide the breeder you want. Sounds like a duh right? Seriously, know what breeder(s) you want to purchase from and make sure there is an opportunity to coordinate getting all the rabbits together right before the shipment.
*Decide how many holes/rabbits you can afford. You can usually put together 2-3 carriers to count in one shipment. However- remember you will have to buy those carriers! So, you could fill up 18 holes, but think of the cost of 18 rabbits + carriers + carrier cups + shipping. If you plan to sell holes in a shipment, you'll want to have a firm number on how many are available before you start advertising the holes for sale.
*If you are selling holes get the payment in advance. Also set up when the animals are to be picked up by and be prepared to have to hold them at least a few days.
*Get the full dimensions of the carriers- L x W x H. Estimate the weight. I prefer to go OVER the estimate, that way there are no surprises.
*Decide what airline to use- this involves convenience for you and the shipper. They will not want to drive 10 hours to get your animals to a Frontier shipper and you won't want to drive 10 to get the animals (more than likely- if you do go so far, so be it, but remember to add in gas to your costs!)
*Make sure you have the address and the phone number of the breeder who will be doing the shipping.
*Call the airlines and find out several things a.) Are health certificates needed? b.) what is the cost estimate- this is where your LxWxH and weight come in to play, c.) when do the animals need to be at the airline and d.) when will they arrive at the airport. If everything works out for you, book your shipment!
Shipping
*Make sure to have the phone number of the person shipping for you- and make sure they have yours as well! You never know when a flight will be canceled at the last minute.
Post Shipping
*Check the animals over IMMEDIATELY. This means putting your hands all over them. You want to know as soon as possible how they handled the flight.
*Keep a very close watch on the animals for the next few days after the shipment. Check water intake, how much they are eating.
That's basically all there is to it! :D
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Thursday, July 23, 2009
More Babies!
Two does kindled yesterday and this morning! Imagine that- right on time!
Zora had a total of 5 babies yesterday, but she had them on the wire without nesting. I suspect labor came quicker than she expected. All the babies were born on the wire, one half eaten (ew). She began frantically nesting afterwards, then collapsed exhausted. So I helped her out with her nest and warmed up the babies. Tim found two crawling around on the floor and thankfully they made it! Even the one we just found this afternoon! Two are missing a hunk of their ear, so they'll have to go as brood, but I'm still expecting them to be very nice!
A tort doe that is on loan here kindled two this morning! I gave her a Zora baby to foster.
We're still waiting on Keep's Angel, a beautiful little sable point doe, to kindle.
Meanwhile, we lost Barbi's baby due to a sudden onset of diarrhea. I'm very, very sad about this, but she has been rebred, so we can hope the next litter is more successful.
We've got four does due in four days and one is already wanting to nest! I take this as a very good sign.
I seem to be buck poor lately- unfortunately my litter of 7 woolies seems to consist mostly of little boys. ERGH!
The hare babies have eyeballs now! HOORAY! One is definitely a runt and will be petted out at the appropriate age :).
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Zora had a total of 5 babies yesterday, but she had them on the wire without nesting. I suspect labor came quicker than she expected. All the babies were born on the wire, one half eaten (ew). She began frantically nesting afterwards, then collapsed exhausted. So I helped her out with her nest and warmed up the babies. Tim found two crawling around on the floor and thankfully they made it! Even the one we just found this afternoon! Two are missing a hunk of their ear, so they'll have to go as brood, but I'm still expecting them to be very nice!
A tort doe that is on loan here kindled two this morning! I gave her a Zora baby to foster.
We're still waiting on Keep's Angel, a beautiful little sable point doe, to kindle.
Meanwhile, we lost Barbi's baby due to a sudden onset of diarrhea. I'm very, very sad about this, but she has been rebred, so we can hope the next litter is more successful.
We've got four does due in four days and one is already wanting to nest! I take this as a very good sign.
I seem to be buck poor lately- unfortunately my litter of 7 woolies seems to consist mostly of little boys. ERGH!
The hare babies have eyeballs now! HOORAY! One is definitely a runt and will be petted out at the appropriate age :).
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Wednesday, July 22, 2009
A decision
We decided not to work with Thriantas. Thankfully, there are several breeders of these beautiful animals and my exit shouldn't cause any problems- after all, I really only owned a single animal. However, I need that space for the woolies and the hollands and can't devote much time or effort to the breed.
So, we're saying farewell to the Thriantas! If you're looking for some stock to get started with, let me know and I'll pass on the information of the breeders working on them here in NC!
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
So, we're saying farewell to the Thriantas! If you're looking for some stock to get started with, let me know and I'll pass on the information of the breeders working on them here in NC!
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Taylorsville Show
I'll have to share my post-Taylorsville Show experience later but right now, just the good stuff- RESULTS!!
I took 11 animals- 2 hollands, 1 thrianta and of course, 8 woolies. It's really the woolies that I was the most excited about, 6 of them were babies at their first show!
My Tryon finally took a BOB in Show B! He won BOG both shows, and his daughter, Keep's Epiphany, took BOSG!! WOW, how awesome for a 3 1/2 month old baby?
Forest was beat out for BOG by a really cute black doe, so he had to settle for BOSG in both shows :).
Keep's Spazzoid (self junior buck) took a first and a second- I'm thinking he'll get a leg!
Then, in Show B my two black junior does On a Lark and High Spirits pulled off a 1-2 finish!
Even Keep's Cairo, Epiphany's brother, got in the act- winning his class in Show B. I want to say he won in show A as well, but I honestly can't swear to that, it was a very late show!
:D. I'm thrilled with how my juniors did! I also managed to sell 7 animals, which gives me TWO EMPTY CAGES! Everyone happy dance with me. That's not going to last long though, I've got many, many babies around 3-4 weeks old that will need their own place soon.
The only sale rabbit I still have is Keep's Dallas, the full brother to Epiphany and Cairo!
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Friday, July 17, 2009
More Hare News!
Jasmine and her babies seem to have settled in to a routine- she feeds them, and they stop dying. HOORAY for a balance!
Two of the five Jazz Hands babies died. I can't say I'm surprised, the does we were forcing to feed them seem to have been able to withhold their milk or something. It was bizarre. The remaining three have all been fostered in to Jasmine's brood and are currently doing well! They are going to Joni's house today to be taken care of with litters a little closer to their own size. Thanks again, Joni! I have visions of baby wool on pine shavings and I cringe a little bit.
The Taylorsville show is Saturday evening- I can't wait! I have 11 animals to show, which is a bit above what I was wanting to spend, but it's been a while since we've had a show and will be awhile until we have another. So I guess it's ok. :)
I'm showing mostly young juniors, so I don't expect any BIS, but ya never know, right? I'll even be showing a pair of hollands- and it's be surprisingly long since I've done that. I'm excited, one is a homegrown and one is a purchased buck.
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Two of the five Jazz Hands babies died. I can't say I'm surprised, the does we were forcing to feed them seem to have been able to withhold their milk or something. It was bizarre. The remaining three have all been fostered in to Jasmine's brood and are currently doing well! They are going to Joni's house today to be taken care of with litters a little closer to their own size. Thanks again, Joni! I have visions of baby wool on pine shavings and I cringe a little bit.
The Taylorsville show is Saturday evening- I can't wait! I have 11 animals to show, which is a bit above what I was wanting to spend, but it's been a while since we've had a show and will be awhile until we have another. So I guess it's ok. :)
I'm showing mostly young juniors, so I don't expect any BIS, but ya never know, right? I'll even be showing a pair of hollands- and it's be surprisingly long since I've done that. I'm excited, one is a homegrown and one is a purchased buck.
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
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