Updates

It's been a quiet week as far as the buns go. We've been dealing with a bunch of sickies in the house and had to make a few trips to the ER & Urgent Care. Everyone seems to be on the mend now, so hopefully we're nearing the end of this nasty cold.

There's only 4 babies left available out of Daisy's & Brianna's litters. 2 of Daisy's babies and 2 of Brianna's babies. All are does. There are pictures of Brianna's does that are available on my litters page, but I have to get pictures of Daisy's two available does. Brianna has one doe who is very promising! The other doe has some nice qualities about her, but she's not my favorite. Daisy's two babies I'd say would be best as pets. Although, the solid doe doesn't have a bad body, but I'd like to see a better head.

I got Britney bred last week to Brad. Hoping for some nice chocolates & lilacs! That'll be fun :). The first of the April litters are due in a week. I can't wait to see what the girls all have! I just have to breed Jana now. Just am waiting for her to seem a bit more receptive. The weather this week is supposed to be very "springy", so hopefully she'll get in "the mood" ;).

I'll be getting a chocolate baby back from Pam over at Redneck Rabbits. I gave her one of my beautiful chocolate does, Clara, a few months ago. She told me if she ever was able to get anything out of Clara, I could have a baby back. She bred Clara to a chocolate chestnut buck I sold her, Hoppin's Tennessee Mud and got a nice litter of chocolates. So, I'll be getting one of the little chocolate does, which is exciting. I'm glad to be able to have a chance to have something out of Clara. Hopefully she'll mature to be a gorgeous doe.

Qadoshyah

Insulation, Babies, & Snow

Friday was a beautiful, warm spring day with temps of about 70 degrees. I spent all day emptying the buns & stuff out of the barn and then putting them all back in. Why? Because my brother got the barn insulated with the spray foam insulation I had ordered. It is quite a messy process and the fumes aren't safe for the buns to breathe.

The barn needed to be sprayed for fleas/bugs anyways before they (bugs) all started coming back out with warmer weather anyways. So I got that done too since the barn was empty. This insulation should make a huge difference in the winter & summer.

Snow was predicted on the weather forecast for Saturday & Sunday. Since it was so warm on Friday, I highly doubted there'd be a storm. But, sure enough, it was a good 40 degrees colder come Saturday morning and freezing rain was coming down. Oklahoma's weather is so wild! 70 degrees one day . . . 30 degrees & an ice storm the next day. We got a good 8 inches at least of snow, since it snowed all night long & through much of today. Praise the Lord!

The buns will probably all start blowing their coats now. It's supposed to be back up into the high 60's by Tuesday.

I got pictures of Brianna's 6 week old babies on Friday and finally got them up on the website on Saturday. You can see the pictures here. I really like most of her babies. They are turning out very nice! I think I'll be keeping the sable chinchilla buck at this point. He is a gorgeous little guy and has an amazing personality. Sooooooo calm.

Kadence & Amanda palpate positive. Jana doesn't, but I'll retry her in a few days. Britney didn't take either. I wasn't totally sure she palpated positive a couple weeks ago, but it was iffy. So, I will rebreed Jana & Britney soon here. The other 6 does are all bred though and hopefully will have a plethora of colors and typey babies :).

Here's a couple pics of the insulation process:

My brother all suited up

Starting the spray

Qadoshyah

Construction

Sunday was a nice day, so I did my weekly tray dumping. And did any reorganizing the barn needed.

I also got this crazy idea to put taller legs onto the grooming table I use (it was an old antique desk that I had to kneel down at to take pics . . . kind of annoying). Since we have loads of scrap wood from all the construction that goes on around here with a small shed business my friend has, I was able to find 4 nice sturdy legs. Then attempted to put them on the table by myself. Mistake 1 of several ;). I realized I needed someone to help hold the table top while I secured the legs, but in the meantime the table top dropped and broke. Praise the Lord for the trial ;)! So, I had to either fix that table top or start from scratch. And I decided to start from scratch. I was able to get a nice, sturdy, heavy, tall, table built, but it took me probably about 3x as long as it would have taken my brother to build. Haha! I'm horrible when it comes to construction. But, it's nice to have something that is tall enough so I don't have to bend down on my knees to take pics or pose the buns.

So, here are a few pics. It's bigger than the other table I had, so it'll be easier to pose & take pics and also do any table breedings if need be.



And the previous table I had, got turned into a short little table/bench. Not too shabby ;).

Britney palpates positive. Molly, Megan, Cori & Kaylee also all palpate positive. I'm excited, hopefully they'll all have gorgeous babies. And a variety of colors. I'm hopeful Cori will have a lilac pointed white with Justin. If not, at least more chocolate pointed whites. We'll see. Just have 3 does left to palpate - Amanda tomorrow, Jana & Kadence in a few days.

Sarabeth's two broken sable bucks went to a photographer yesterday. She had reserved them when they were little babies. So, they'll be at the photographer's studio for a couple weeks and then come back here and be for sale.

Oh and to close, I'll post a couple pics of Bumfuzzle. He seriously has the funniest personality. If someone gets in the x-pen with him, he'll chase their feet around and try to find a spot to mount. He needs a doe BAD, haha!



Qadoshyah

Bred.

The last couple does I needed to get bred are bred now - Kadence & Jana. I got Kadence bred to Cameron yesterday and Jana bred to Brad today.

Hopefully all 7 does took :). Britney palpates positive and she's due the end of the month.

Brianna's babies are sooooo adorable! I did a quick peek at posing one of her babies and if they stay looking like they do now, they are going to rock!

I plan on keeping two out of Daisy's litter at the moment. A solid buck and a broken doe. Although, if Brianna has a buck that is nicer than Daisy's, I may decide to keep one of her's instead. Unless, I think it'd be best to grow a couple out. Which does sound like a good idea, we'll see.

Not much else to report on at the moment. Hopefully I'll get new pictures of Brianna's babies on the weekend, if Sunday is nice, like the forecast says.

Goodnight!
Qadoshyah

Our Rabbitry

There are lots of new pictures and information up on the rabbitry page on our website. Since I get asked every so often how we built my rabbitry, etc, I figured I'd put a bunch of info up. So, if you want to know what we've used to build my barn you can see everything at www.hoppinherdofhares.com/ourrabbitry.html.

Qadoshyah

Herd Health & Management: Part 2

This is the second part of a post I did a couple weeks ago that can be found here.

..:Herd Health & Management Part 2:..

There's a lot that goes into maintaining a healthy herd. When it comes to breeding rabbits, there's even more that goes into that.

The phrase "they breed like rabbits" won't be true if you do not have a healthy herd, adequate nutrition for your does (in particular), etc.

A doe that is too fat will not produce well, if she even gets bred at all. If a doe is fed too much or fed a feed which contains too much fat, the fat will build up around her ovaries and make her not able to produce. Once you get a fat doe, it can be difficult to get their weight back down. But, it can be done. Reduced feed, less or no treats and more hay will help bring the doe's weight down.

I hear complaints from breeders quite frequently that their does won't breed. Some of these breeders are newer to rabbits and may not necessarily be doing everything perfect, so that adds to the problems, I'm sure. Or, being new, they may just not think of something that an experienced breeder would think of right away.

Weather can cause does to not be very receptive to the buck. Lack of lighting, cold weather and drastic temperature changes can throw the does receptiveness way off too.

A doe who is thin and not getting enough nutrition may also not be willing to breed. And it wouldn't be wise to breed a doe who is not getting enough nutrition either. That's just asking for problems and puts too much stress on your doe.

Strange noises, new environments or stress can also make it so that a doe does not want to breed.

Bucks don't seem to be as hard to get into the "willing to breed" mood, but there can be hard-heads there too! Or bucks who are slower to learn :). I've had my fair share of slower bucks. They just take more patience.

Giving treats ~ My rabbits all LOVE treats! I think most rabbits, particular those who are spoiled and used to getting treats, go bonkers over anything extra ;).

Treat should be used in moderation though. If you give too many sunflower seeds it'll add too much fat to the rabbits. Just like with everything, it's is good when used in moderation.

In the winter I typically give my rabbits an 1/8 cup of a mix I use - oats/barley/sunflower seeds - every day. They like it a lot and it gives them something extra! In the summer I only give it a couple times a week.

Hay is very important in a rabbits diet too. My rabbits typically get it a couple times a week, unless it's cold and then I may give it every day.

The other treats I give are any fruit & veggie that is safe and we have on hand, papaya, alfalfa cubes and the mix I mentioned above.

Qadoshyah

Updated site!

The website is updated with new pictures of Daisy's babies at 6 weeks old and Brianna's babies at 3 weeks old. Brianna's babies are 4 weeks old now, but I finally had a chance to get the pictures that I took of her babies last week up. You can see Daisy's babies here and Brianna's babies here.

At the moment there is at least one of Daisy's that I plan on keeping. A buck, of course! But, I could definitely use a buck or two in the herd. This little buck is by far my favorite out of Daisy's litter. He's so short, deep & thick! He feels so well put together.




There's another baby I have my eye on in Daisy's litter too. A cute little broken chinchilla doe. But, we'll see. I'd really like to keep a doe from Daisy's last litter here, as she will most likely be going to Washington in May :).

And for the surprise that I said I'd post about . . . we have a pair of Fuzzy Lops in the barn now :)! Thanks to Annabelle from Award's Bunnies. We got them through transport to the Neosho show a couple weeks ago. I got the pair for my 9 year old sister. She was so surprised and excited about them! She totes the little buck around all the time :).

Introducing Award's Bumfuzzle . . . a broken orange. He wouldn't sit still for half a second in these pictures because he was very antsy after the buck next door to him bred a couple does ;).



The little doe is an adorable lynx - Award's Buttercup. She's been a bit stressed out since we got her, so I am keeping her quarantined still under a watchful eye. But, Bumfuzzle has settled in quite well and will be a great little buck for my little sister :).

And I'll end with a picture of Daisy & her babies running around in the x-pen this morning. I hadn't let the bunnies run around on the ground for awhile, after the flea issues we had last Summer. But that has been under control for awhile now since I sprayed some bug spray that kills the fleas. I plan on doing that twice a year so that I never have to deal with fleas like I did last year again. They are so nasty & pesty! But, the buns have enjoyed taking turns running in the pen again.

Qadoshyah

The Rythms of Spring . . .

The rhythms of spring finally seem to be coming. The birds are out and chirping, the frogs making noises from the pond and the sun shining. It was so warm and gorgeous today. About 70 degrees. Friday was also so nice and warm. Saturday was cooler & overcast, but still starting to feel like spring.

The buns seem to be feeling spring coming too. My does are being so willing to breed, it's great. Praise the Lord! I got 4 does bred on Friday and 1 doe bred today. Only have 2 more does to get bred and I'm hopeful they'll be willing soon.

Friday I bred:

Megan X Kyle
Cori X Justin
Kaylee X Kyle
Molly X Justin

Today I bred:
Amanda X Cameron

Just gotta get Kadence & Jana bred . . . hopefully both to Brad.

The babies are all looking great. There are several in Daisy's litter that look super promising! I'm hoping to type them and take pictures tomorrow. I didn't get to it today, since we were just enjoying being out in the sun.

I went on a walk with some of my siblings and they helped me collect some pine cones for the bunnies. The buns haven't had any pine cones for awhile, so they seemed to enjoy them this afternoon.

We also have a new "something" in the barn . . . a surprise that I will share with pictures soon hopefully ;). It's getting late and I don't feel like putting pictures into this post at the moment.

Goodnight!

Qadoshyah

Pictures!

I spent pretty much all day Sunday outside in the barn cleaning it (dumping the trays & rinsing the big tray off) and organizing it. Also got pictures of Brianna's babies who are now 3 1/2 weeks old.

Kadence isn't preggo and Jana doesn't palpate positive either. Very frustrating! Hopefully my does will start to get the jive of spring into them and will all take (since the weather is ever so slightly warmer lately). So, no more babies for at least another month. I got Britney bred to Cameron on Sunday, so hopefully she will take. In the meantime, I have Daisy's & Brianna's babies and can't wait to see how they all turn out.

I posed up soem of Daisy's babies on Sunday and there are several that are looking nice. I didn't make any decisions as to who to keep or anything, since they were just over 5 weeks old. They'll be 6 weeks old in 2 days though, so I'll type them again soon hopefully.

Brianna's babies are the chubbiest, cutest little poof balls! It's amazing how different babies can look when you breed two half sisters to the same buck (Daisy is Brianna's half sis).

Here are a few pictures of Brianna's babies. I'll get the rest of the pictures put up on the website soon hopefully.






Took all new pictures of the barn set-up also. I'll add all of them to the website soon, but here are a few for the moment ~




And here are a few random pictures of the buns & barn kitties







Qadoshyah