Freaking out! lol

There's a big show this weekend, and I am freaking out!  I thought I had perfect timing with some of my juniors, I thought I'd have several to choose from to bring but guess what happend?? Most of them are molting-very badly >.<  and one buck I was really excited about, Captain Caveman hurt one of his back legs :(   It doesnt look too bad, I think it will heal up just fine, but in the meantime I am keeping a close eye on him.  I think the big cleaning day might have spooked him, and somehow he got hurt....maybe while in the carrier??  I'm not sure  :/   Another buck that I was looking forward to showing decided all of the sudden to go off feed, so I'm having to nurse him back....he's getting better, especially since I moved him back indoors.  So yeah, its been one thing after another *rolls eyes* lol   Oh well, maybe next year will go better...

So, the only bunny that looks pretty good is Amor.....hopefully he'll stay that way! lol  I really wanted to show Tristan too, but he just turned senior today so yeah, I dont think he will be able to compete with the big boys so he's gonna stay home.

One thing I'm really excited about is, I will be bringing home a few new bunnies to add to my herd.....I will write about them when I get back  ;)

-Malena

nice & clean!

 Today ended up being a pretty nice day, so Brendan helped me clean and rearrange the indoor part of the rabbitry.  We pulled out all the cages, scrubbed them down, put up plastic along the back wall, bleached all the toys, nestboxes and water bottles, took out an old shelf and rearranged a new one, and moved some stuff around.....it took us almost all day but its nice and clean now and boy does it feel great!  I usually like to do a big cleaning twice a year, in the Spring and again in the Fall.

-Malena

Maybe next time....

Well, it looks like Twyla's first attempt at having babies was a bust.....sometimes that happens  :/
I was a little concerned that she didnt do much nesting beforehand, she kind of waited until the last minute.  But she dug a hole in the nest, plucked fur and had 2 dead babies, and 1 live peanut  :(  Good thing was, they were all in the nestbox and not on the wire.  She keeps getting in and out of the nestbox, so I'm not sure if she's finished yet.....so, I'll keep checking.

Looks like we might have to try again....

-Malena

Herd Reduction

Just wanted to give everyone a heads up....I will be having a herd reduction soon, I need to make room for upcoming juniors that I want to keep and grow out.  A list of available bunnies will be posted soon.  If there is a certain bunny that you like, feel free to inquire--who knows I might be willing to part with it.  ;)


-Malena

My wish came true....

I just checked Holly's babies again, and it looks like the 2 lighter ones are Sable Points.....thats awesome, I was really hoping they would be Sable Points!  :)   So it turns out, she has 1 Tort, 1 Broken Tort with a really nice, big blanket of color on its back, and 2 Sable Points ♥  
Holly is being such a great mom, I am very proud of her.....I cant wait to watch these babies grow up.

My Black Doe out of Kenzie & Toro, named Twyla is due in a couple days.  She's a first timer....I hope things go well, and we have a nestbox full of nice healthy babies.  *fingers & toes crossed*  lol   I'm hoping she has some Broken Blacks, I'd really love it if I got a really nice Broken Black Buck.....thats a tall order, guess we'll have to wait and see if this wish will come true also. lol

-Malena

okay.....maybe not! lol

Another baby boom??  Hmmmm....maybe not! lol   Today, I took out the Does that were supposed to be due in the next couple days and it looks like only a couple will have babies, not all of them took.  Holly already had her litter, and I'm pretty sure Twyla is full of babies.  I didn't feel any babies in Pepper, Cynabun or Marie so I tried rebreeding them.  I was able to rebred Cynabun & Marie but Pepper wasn't quite in the mood! lol
So now, I gotta update my nursery page again.

Okay, this might sound weird but I'm gonna give it a try.....I've heard that its possible to tell the gender of newborn baby bunnies just a couple days after birth.  When you flip them over, if you see rows of nipples-its a Doe and if you dont see any-its a Buck.  I took a look at Holly's babies, and if this works I am pretty sure she has 4 little Does.  As soon as they are old enough, I will check and see if I'm right or not.  I'll keep you guys posted  ;)

OH mini Convention is soon, and of course my juniors are molting on their heads!  >.<  Great timing, if you ask me! lol  Oh well, thats just my luck.  If they dont look too terribly bad, I'll bring a couple to show.....either way I'll be there!  I am bringing back a couple really nice Hollands to add to  my herd.....I'll post more about them when they arrive.

-Malena

More babies!

Well, we're on our next baby boom in the rabbitry! lol  Holly had a litter of babies yesterday sired by Toro....there were 5 but one was a peanut, so we have 4 healthy babies in the nestbox.  She had 3 solids & 1 Broken, not 100% sure on colors right now but they are probably all Tort & Broken Tort--although 2 of the solids are a little bit lighter in color, guess I'll have to wait a few days to know for sure.  If I'm lucky, maybe they'll end up being my favorite color--Sable Point ♥ 
I'll keep you guys posted  ;)

I have a few more Does due the next couple days, a lot of them are first timers except Cynabun.  Holly was a first timer, and did a great job.  Hopefully thing will go well with these girls too  :)

-Malena

2010 Holland Lop Nationals

This weekend in Loveland, Colorado they are holding the 2010 Holland Lop Nationals.  Unfortunately I am unable to attend, so here I am sitting at home waiting to hear results.  I will try my best to post results as they come in....so, check back throughout the weekend as I update.  Best of luck to everyone that is attending, I hope to see lots of pics on Facebook  :)

....the 2011 Holland Lop Nationals will be held in Columbus OH--I am almost 100% sure I will be attending.  I've never been to Nationals before, so I am really excited about next year  :)

-Malena

Updated...
Here are the results I've heard so far:

Open

SSB-Dwayne Scott

SSD-Sam & Shari Albrect

SJB-Stephanie Valentine

SJD-Allan & Becky Ormond
BOV-Ormonds
BOSV-Stephanie Valentine

BSB-Linda Jinings

BSD-Rachael Roehe

BJB-Rachel Roehe
BJD-Sharon Pelham
BOV-Linda Jinings
BOSV-?

BOB went to Linda Jinings with her Broken Senior Buck

BOS went to the Ormonds with their Solid Jr Doe

Congratulations to everyone!!!

Youth

SSB-Philip Ediger

SSD-Ty Gordon

SJB-Ty Gordon

SJD-Kel Swanson
BOV-Philip Ediger
BOSV-Ty Gordon

BSB-Katherine Lewis

BSD-Karrina Yoder

BJB-Kylie Donovan

BJD-Harley Butler
BOV-Kylie Donovan
BOSV-Harley Butler

BOB-Kylie Donovan
BOS-Ty Gordon

Congratulations to all the youth breeders!!!

-Malena

Surprises are great!

I went out to check the mail today and found our show reports from the show this past weekend.  I opened the envelope and saw a wad of legs, and said out loud to myself:  Geez, how many legs did Brendan win?!  Upon further inspection, I was baffled when I saw "holland lop" on one of the legs.....I was so confused! lol  I didnt think there were enough Hollands on the table to win legs, so I wasnt expecting anything but it turns out Amor won a leg for his BOV win!!!!  What a great surpise!  :)

-Malena

Taylorsville show

Today we went to the Taylorsville show....not too many people were there, seems like most people were attending either Jersey Wooly nationals in KY or Netherland Dwarf nationals in KS.  Holland Lop nationals is right around the corner so there weren't very many Holland people either.

Here are our show results:
Brendan won Best of Breed in show A & show B with Yogi.  He also won Best Opposite Sex in show A & B with Audi.  Yogi went on to win Best Reserve in Show in show A and Best in Show in show B!!!

There werent very many hollands, I took Tristan & Amor.....Tristan placed 1st BJB in show A and 2nd BJB in show B.  Amor placed 1st SJB in both show A & show B.
Here are a few pics of Yogi & Audi with their trophies....

pictured above....Audi and her 2 BOS trophies.

 

pictured above.....Yogi and his 2 BOB trophies, and his BRIS & BIS trophies

We had a lot of fun....Congrats to all the winners!  :)

-Malena

Finally!

Some of Brendan's Netherland Dwarf Does seem to be late bloomers, we usually try to breed them soon after they turn senior-(6 months old) but some of them are not interested at all, and are very stubborn.  Last year at the OH mini convention, I picked up 2 Nethies for Brendan.....Yogi & a REW doe, we named Spazz! lol  If you ever see her, you'll know why we named her that! lol  She flips out and runs really fast circles in her cage, and is very hard to catch.  Spazz is one of those late bloomers, we tried several times to get her bred-with no luck.  She turned 1 year old Jan 27th.  Since Spring is in the air, I took her out yesterday to check her and noticed her vent was bright red-which is an indicator that she is ready to breed.  Since she runs in circles, we decided to try table breeding.  Table Breeding worked, and we were able to get her bred several times!  YAY, finally!!!! 

Hopefully things will go well, but I also made sure to breed one of my Hollands....just in case we need to foster.

-Malena

Blah, blah, blah

No too much exciting going on around here.  This past weekend we had a neighborhood Easter egg hunt at our house, for all the little kids.  It was a lot of fun.  I took a kiddie pool down and put a couple bunnies in it for the kids to pet.  It started out cloudy, but warm.....after a while, I noticed 2 of the 4 bunnies I took down were getting too warm, so I took them back up to the rabbitry.  We put up a big umbrella for shade, and took a couple ice packs down to help keep them cool, I also rubbed cool water on their ears-that seemed to help. 
You really gotta keep an eye on bunnies during the warmer weather, they can overheat very quickly!

I checked Charlotte's babies to see what colors she had, turns out she has....1 Tort, 2 Broken Torts & 1 Broken Sable Point.  And Janessa has 3 Torts & 1 Broken Tort.  In the rabbitry, I am overflowing with solids!  So, I am glad I have a couple young brokens in the nestbox to choose from.

-Malena