I'll be doing my second round of Convention breedings soon!
Oh I'm so excited! I've go so many nice matches I want to make, I'm kind of torn as to who I should breed to who!
As I was feeding today, I would look at a particular doe and think "Hmm, if I breed you to Buck 1, I can get a doe and breed her to buck 2, and then breed her daughter back to Buck 1, then to buck 3..." These poor girls! I'm planning 4 generations out! Of course, it will depend on what faults I need to fix, so that will keep me calm and not going nutso with excitement.
I'm really lucky in my hollands right now. I've got a beautiful TINY buck with NO shoulders, who is an absolute brick. He's for my BIG girls and anyone with shoulder issues.
I've got a good mid range sized buck with BONE and MASS and a KILLER head. Just need to bring his crown the tiniest bit forward and add a tiny bit to his HQ.
I've got a larger buck with a perfect crown, enormous head, good HQ- but he's a little long. Hmm- a daughter from my tiny buck mixed to him? I'll have to write that down!
I have a last buck who is beautiful. He just recently gained his GC! He's got a lot of everything I want, and he's only going to get better.
I've got all the parts I want, as well as some nice ones that overlap. No horrible anything on these bucks, and the lines mesh REALLY well.
Thus- I'm torn! All my rabbits should mesh really well- so how do I decide who to breed? Unfortunately, I haven't really mixed any of these rabbits before, so I don't know for sure what to expect! I'm just moving forward with my herd as best I can. If I get good Convention rabbits, then yay. If I get animals that are better suited for brood, well- at least I can breed them and fix the faults I hope!
On a sad note, my little sable point's head is tilted again. We're still treating her, so I hope she gets better :(.
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Thursday, April 10, 2008
Wednesday, April 9, 2008
Palpating
Some of you remember that thanks to Trent, I'm now able to palpate! *muwahahaha*
I went outside and started poking around on my does and I have to admit, I'm a little worried. Of the three I smushed, all three seem to be pregnant! I haven't had this kind of success since we moved! I hope I'm not feeling poops! :( That would be just my luck though.
I'm going to try to describe palpating for you guys, in nice PLAIN language and easy to follow steps.
To begin with, sit your doe on a table or piece of carpet, facing you.
Take your LEFT hand (always!) and put it under her, all the way back where her pelvis is. Basically, your hand should be nestled, palm up, right under the rabbit, between her legs. Do what you want with your right hand, either put it behind her butt so she doesn't scoot back, or help hold her head so she doesn't run forward.
Make a U shape with your hand by moving your fingers to just a few inches apart.
Press the U to the doe's stomach. Be willing to push firmly. This is what took me the longest to get going. You're basically trying to act as if you can touch her spine with your fingers on each side.
Move your hand, still in the U shape, towards you. You may have to widen your hand as you go. Feel anything? Something small, nickel or grape shaped, may slide through your fingers. If you can catch it and squeeze gently on it, it will be very soft. That's a baby! Poops are harder feeling, or so I've been told.
Sometimes, I have to run my hand along her belly several times to feel even one baby. Hey, I'm learning too! However, as you get more experienced, you can be like Trent. He claims he can count the babies and just by the size of the little baby tell you when the doe was bred pretty accurately!
I hope this helps somewhat! As my skill in palpating progresses, I'd be happy to bring a preggers doe to a show and help teach any local people how to do it! Like I said though, I'm still getting used to it myself, so it may be a while before Keep's Classes get started! :)
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
I went outside and started poking around on my does and I have to admit, I'm a little worried. Of the three I smushed, all three seem to be pregnant! I haven't had this kind of success since we moved! I hope I'm not feeling poops! :( That would be just my luck though.
I'm going to try to describe palpating for you guys, in nice PLAIN language and easy to follow steps.
To begin with, sit your doe on a table or piece of carpet, facing you.
Take your LEFT hand (always!) and put it under her, all the way back where her pelvis is. Basically, your hand should be nestled, palm up, right under the rabbit, between her legs. Do what you want with your right hand, either put it behind her butt so she doesn't scoot back, or help hold her head so she doesn't run forward.
Make a U shape with your hand by moving your fingers to just a few inches apart.
Press the U to the doe's stomach. Be willing to push firmly. This is what took me the longest to get going. You're basically trying to act as if you can touch her spine with your fingers on each side.
Move your hand, still in the U shape, towards you. You may have to widen your hand as you go. Feel anything? Something small, nickel or grape shaped, may slide through your fingers. If you can catch it and squeeze gently on it, it will be very soft. That's a baby! Poops are harder feeling, or so I've been told.
Sometimes, I have to run my hand along her belly several times to feel even one baby. Hey, I'm learning too! However, as you get more experienced, you can be like Trent. He claims he can count the babies and just by the size of the little baby tell you when the doe was bred pretty accurately!
I hope this helps somewhat! As my skill in palpating progresses, I'd be happy to bring a preggers doe to a show and help teach any local people how to do it! Like I said though, I'm still getting used to it myself, so it may be a while before Keep's Classes get started! :)
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Monday, April 7, 2008
"Would you take my rabbit?"
Every once in a while, I get random emails or calls with people wanting me to take in their pet rabbits.
To begin with- that's dangerous for my herd. I don't know the history of the rabbit, where it comes from, the conditions it lived in, etc. etc. So, to take in a rabbit, I have to look at housing it either in the house, in the basement, etc for a quarantine period. Then, I have to spend my time looking for a new owner. So it's a large investment for me.
All right, then my favorite part. It usually goes something like this:
Me: "Do you have a cage for it?"
"Um... no."
"You don't have a cage?"
"*insert excuse here*"
"Do you have food for it?"
"It just ran out."
"Do you have any accessories to go with it?"
"No..."
"Have you tried to rehome it?"
"*insert excuse here*
Ahh- so you have no food, so I need to use mine. No cage, so I need to have one. No accessories like a food dish or water bottle, so I need those too...
Contrary to popular belief (apparently) I don't have a basement full of items waiting for "hard luck cases" where the "doting" owner needs to rehome Fluffy and doesn't want to put any work in to it.
A cage, accessories, food, etc. help so much in rehoming an animal. You don't even know. Well, if you've been breeding any period of time, I take that back, I'm sure you do. You've probably gotten these folks too.
My new policy is- if you don't have a cage, etc- you will pay me a minimum $10 per rabbit fee to rehome Fluffy. Because it's a cage I have to use, feed I have to use, time I have to use, etc.
And honestly, if these folks don't want to try to rehome their own pet, I'd think $10 would be a reasonable fee to have their hands washed of poor Fluffy, whom they love so much but can not keep.
Now, with a cage and food, I'm willing to wave that fee, because it doesn't cost me anything to take in the animal and it's easier to rehome them this way.
I suggest everyone adopt a similar policy. Of course, you don't have to and you are more than welcome to handle things the way you see fit. But it's an easy way to keep from being inundated with random pet rabbits.
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
To begin with- that's dangerous for my herd. I don't know the history of the rabbit, where it comes from, the conditions it lived in, etc. etc. So, to take in a rabbit, I have to look at housing it either in the house, in the basement, etc for a quarantine period. Then, I have to spend my time looking for a new owner. So it's a large investment for me.
All right, then my favorite part. It usually goes something like this:
Me: "Do you have a cage for it?"
"Um... no."
"You don't have a cage?"
"*insert excuse here*"
"Do you have food for it?"
"It just ran out."
"Do you have any accessories to go with it?"
"No..."
"Have you tried to rehome it?"
"*insert excuse here*
Ahh- so you have no food, so I need to use mine. No cage, so I need to have one. No accessories like a food dish or water bottle, so I need those too...
Contrary to popular belief (apparently) I don't have a basement full of items waiting for "hard luck cases" where the "doting" owner needs to rehome Fluffy and doesn't want to put any work in to it.
A cage, accessories, food, etc. help so much in rehoming an animal. You don't even know. Well, if you've been breeding any period of time, I take that back, I'm sure you do. You've probably gotten these folks too.
My new policy is- if you don't have a cage, etc- you will pay me a minimum $10 per rabbit fee to rehome Fluffy. Because it's a cage I have to use, feed I have to use, time I have to use, etc.
And honestly, if these folks don't want to try to rehome their own pet, I'd think $10 would be a reasonable fee to have their hands washed of poor Fluffy, whom they love so much but can not keep.
Now, with a cage and food, I'm willing to wave that fee, because it doesn't cost me anything to take in the animal and it's easier to rehome them this way.
I suggest everyone adopt a similar policy. Of course, you don't have to and you are more than welcome to handle things the way you see fit. But it's an easy way to keep from being inundated with random pet rabbits.
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Saturday, April 5, 2008
Baby News
I've got several pieces of Baby News!
I sexed my pair of holland babies- 1 buck and 1 doe! EEEEEEEEK! It couldn't have been more perfect :).
The little broken sable point is my doe. She's also the one that has been suffering from head tilt. I'm THRILLED to announce that she seems to have made a full recovery! I can't express how happy I am to go out there and see her looking at me, without a tilted head :D.
Our barn cat gave birth to one kitten yesterday! Yep, one kitten. We've got a home for it if it's a girl, and a home if it's a boy. YAY! :). It's solid black, though Mischa, the mother, is solid white. Hmm... I think we have a hint about it's Daddy! lol
I guess I owe everyone pictures? Well...you'll just have to wait :-p. I don't have any yet, haha.
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
I sexed my pair of holland babies- 1 buck and 1 doe! EEEEEEEEK! It couldn't have been more perfect :).
The little broken sable point is my doe. She's also the one that has been suffering from head tilt. I'm THRILLED to announce that she seems to have made a full recovery! I can't express how happy I am to go out there and see her looking at me, without a tilted head :D.
Our barn cat gave birth to one kitten yesterday! Yep, one kitten. We've got a home for it if it's a girl, and a home if it's a boy. YAY! :). It's solid black, though Mischa, the mother, is solid white. Hmm... I think we have a hint about it's Daddy! lol
I guess I owe everyone pictures? Well...you'll just have to wait :-p. I don't have any yet, haha.
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
Wednesday, April 2, 2008
Babies
A breeder on Rabbit Habbit just had her first litter a few days ago. Well- her rabbit had the first litter born in her rabbitry, I guess I should say.
It's so cute- I love the excitement folks get out of their very first litter. It makes me think back to my very first. Oh I was obsessive, checking the doe constantly! She missed the first time, OF COURSE, but I got a litter the next time. I still get a little thrill when I go out and see a fluffy nest, with babies nestled in it.
Tim & I still rush around yelling for each other when the babies "have eyeballs" at 2 weeks old. He begs to hold them and snuggle them, pretty much from birth. We have to make sure we don't disturb the nest too much, so any playing with them while they are teeny tiny is done together.
She's having some problem with her doe not wanting to feed the newborns. Ahh...I remember that too. And the pain of losing your first baby or first litter. When my very first baby, Solitaire, died I came very close to just giving up then. Hopefully her doe will get her act together very soon.
Enjoy your litters guys :). The thrill never goes away for me. I hope it hasn't for you either!
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
It's so cute- I love the excitement folks get out of their very first litter. It makes me think back to my very first. Oh I was obsessive, checking the doe constantly! She missed the first time, OF COURSE, but I got a litter the next time. I still get a little thrill when I go out and see a fluffy nest, with babies nestled in it.
Tim & I still rush around yelling for each other when the babies "have eyeballs" at 2 weeks old. He begs to hold them and snuggle them, pretty much from birth. We have to make sure we don't disturb the nest too much, so any playing with them while they are teeny tiny is done together.
She's having some problem with her doe not wanting to feed the newborns. Ahh...I remember that too. And the pain of losing your first baby or first litter. When my very first baby, Solitaire, died I came very close to just giving up then. Hopefully her doe will get her act together very soon.
Enjoy your litters guys :). The thrill never goes away for me. I hope it hasn't for you either!
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
For Sale-
Sorry for the double post folks!
I am reoffering FFR's Chaos, a jersey wooley agouti (chestnut) senior doe. She had hutch burn from sitting in her soiled nestbox, but a shot of Pen G later and she's looking good!
She's a beautiful little doe from California, who has given herself (with help from her neighbor) a hair cut. Please contact me if interested!
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
I am reoffering FFR's Chaos, a jersey wooley agouti (chestnut) senior doe. She had hutch burn from sitting in her soiled nestbox, but a shot of Pen G later and she's looking good!
She's a beautiful little doe from California, who has given herself (with help from her neighbor) a hair cut. Please contact me if interested!
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
A New Day
I hope everyone had an interesting April Fool's Day! I played a few tricks myself and happily avoided the gullibility that strikes people on April 1st.
The owner of the Rabbit Habbit Forum told everyone we were going to be known as "Bunnie Talk" and made a truly hideous banner for when we moved to the new forum. Ahhh, that entertained me to no end :). Many folks fell hook, line and sinker for it.
Laurie Stroupe at The Nature Trail Rabbitry informed readers that she had written her last blog. You'll all be happy to know that she did post a new blog today lol. Very clever though, it had been a while since she had written a blog :).
It's beginning to get warm here. I'm already marking a few brood does/bucks in the wooley herd that will have a date with the dog clippers once the weather turns more consistent. I "shear" a few of the woolies simply to cut down on grooming time in the herd, and to have less wool floating around when they blow their coats. The hollands and mini lops get to dodge the clippers, lucky guys!
I wanted to thank everyone for the support with the blog-stealing issues. One person did contact me and apologize, which impressed me and I really appreciated. :)
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
The owner of the Rabbit Habbit Forum told everyone we were going to be known as "Bunnie Talk" and made a truly hideous banner for when we moved to the new forum. Ahhh, that entertained me to no end :). Many folks fell hook, line and sinker for it.
Laurie Stroupe at The Nature Trail Rabbitry informed readers that she had written her last blog. You'll all be happy to know that she did post a new blog today lol. Very clever though, it had been a while since she had written a blog :).
It's beginning to get warm here. I'm already marking a few brood does/bucks in the wooley herd that will have a date with the dog clippers once the weather turns more consistent. I "shear" a few of the woolies simply to cut down on grooming time in the herd, and to have less wool floating around when they blow their coats. The hollands and mini lops get to dodge the clippers, lucky guys!
I wanted to thank everyone for the support with the blog-stealing issues. One person did contact me and apologize, which impressed me and I really appreciated. :)
-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry
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