Netherland Dwarfs

My son, Brendan has some really nice Netherland Dwarfs that go back to top bloodlines-(but thats not the point I wanna make).  For some reason we have the hardest time selling them.....mostly when it comes to selling them as pets!  Seems like most people want Holland Lops, I hardly ever get emails from people inquiring about Dwarfs  :/

I thought when he switched from Mini Rex to Netherlands we'd have no problems selling his culls as pets......not sure if its because he doesn't have such a huge selection of different colors to choose from, or what?  He mostly has Black Otters.  But, every once in a while we have Brokens & Blue Otters in litters.

I dont know, it was a random thought......hopefully things will pick up at some point

-Malena

Try again....

Well, I have to admit....I'm a little disappointed, I was really looking forward to Janessa's first litter.  She was supposed to be due March 6th.  I took her out today so I could bring her inside the basement to have her babies and while I had her out, I set her on my grooming table to see if I could feel any babies.....and nope, she didnt take  :(
But the good news is, I was able to rebred her to Lars.....hopefully she'll take this time.
*keep your fingers crossed*   ;)

-Malena

Rabbit Fever!

Ever wonder about rabbit shows??  Well, check out this You Tube video:

.....its the official Rabbit Fever trailer, a documentary by Amy Do.  Looks like a great, movie, I cant wait to see it!  :)

Another snow day!

This winter has been rough, I haven't seen this much snow and low temps since we moved up here in 2001.  I have 22 hanging cages under our deck outside, which is great when the weather is nice.....its got great airflow and theres no need to clean pans, we just scoop the manure onto the gardens--its GREAT fertilizer!  People often wonder how bunnies handle cold weather, in my opinion they do much better in the cold than they do during the summertime.  Seems like the main thing you really need to keep an eye on during the winter, is to make sure the water bottles don't freeze.  Some people switch to crocks during the winter, because they are easy to knock the ice out of and refill.  At some point I think I will switch over to crocks.  But, right now I just deal with frozen water bottles.....my husband works for Coca~Cola, and when the Asheville Civic Center stopped selling Coke and switched to Pepsi he brought home one of those drink carriers that the vendors carry around drinks to sell--like you see at a baseball game. Here's a picture below:

It works great, it has individual holes that the water bottles fit perfectly into.  And the best part is, it has a strap that goes around the neck, so both hands are free to gather water bottles off each cage.  So what I do is, gather all the frozen bottles and bring them inside and thaw them out with some warm water in the sink.  Once they are thawed out, I refill them-leaving about an inch of empty space, to allow the water to expand when it freezes, so the bottles don't crack.  During the wintertime, you need to check the bottles several times on really cold days so the rabbits have access to water.

I dont know about you, but I'm ready for Spring!

-Malena

The Beginning...

Back in 1991, I got my first pet bunny when I was 18 years old. On the way to an orthodontic appointment, my boyfriend-(Mark, who is now my husband) & I were running a little early so we decided to stop by the mall and walk around. We went into the pet store....thats when I saw a glass case full of lop ear bunnies, it was love at first sight! We couldn't stay long, so we left the mall empty handed. But all I could think about were those cute little bunnies, I begged and begged my boyfriend to take me back to the mall so we could buy me a bunny, I just had to have one! I picked out a broken chinchilla mini lop doe-at the time we didnt know if it was a boy or a girl so we gave her a neutral name, Jessie. And so began my bunny adventure, I've had bunnies ever since! Several years went by and I owned a couple different pet bunnies. I remember reading in books about showing rabbits...I was very interested but didn't know where & how to get started. Luckily, when we moved up to NC in 2001 thanks to the internet-I was able to contact a local breeder named Valerie Harrell who sold me my first pair of pedigreed Holland Lops....Mtn's Phantom II, a black buck and Mtn's Punkin, a broken tort doe. I no longer have anything that goes back to them but I am very grateful that Valerie was able to help me make my dream of showing bunnies come true.

-Malena

Welcome to my Blog!

At first, I wasn't quite sure if blogging was something I really wanted to do but what the heck....I'll give it a try! I just hope I don't run out of stuff to talk about! lol

Well, lets see whats new and exciting in the rabbitry? I've got several litters of babies that I am really excited about! This past year, I've started introducing LOV lines into my herd and have been really pleased with what I am seeing....seems like things get better with every generation.

I'll try my best to keep this blog updated so check back ;)
Take care,
Malena