kitcicles

With winter and freezing temps, raising baby bunnies can be somewhat difficult.  I'm in the middle of a bad streak, I've lost quite a few babies recently due to them getting chilled.

LOV Bug had a litter of 4 babies sired by Mac Miller....2 of her babies wandered out of the nest at 2 weeks old and froze.  The remaining 2 are doing okay so far.

Kelly had a litter of 2 that got chilled, they werent covered with enough fur when she made the nest.

One of Brendan's Nethies, E4 had 2 kits.  One baby wandered out of the nest at around 2 weeks old and froze.

Another Nethie doe, Ferrari finally had a live litter.  She had been bred several times and most of the time she didnt take.  We were so excited to finally get babies out of her, but I went out this morning to find both babies had gotten chilled and died.

I am trying my best to keep the odds in my favor, by insulating nestboxes with cardboard, plucking extra fur from Does and covering the babies, turning on a heater but its still a little chilly in the barn :/

 Winter has barely begun but I am so ready for it to be over!  I will be glad when Spring rolls around! lol

Skippy John's photo shoot

Well, I picked Skippy John up from Lory-Ann's house Friday, he is adjusting well and doing great.  I absolutely LOVE this little buck ♥
Thank you Debra Sandoval from Brocks Fallen Ear's Rabbitry in CA for such a gorgeous buck & thank you Lory-Ann for transporting him back to NC for me  :)

Today we did a photo shoot, man does this buck love to pose! ♥
Here are some of the pics, enjoy!  :)

baby Hollands ♥

I'd like to introduce Hamilton's Tunechi....a little buck out of Spring Lake Kelly & LOV's Maestro.  I hate to admit it but I was a little late putting in a nestbox for Kelly and found him born on the wire, I warmed him up and made a nest and plucked extra fur from Kelly....he's been doing great, fat and sassy ever since.  He just turned 4 weeks old and is the cutest & sweetest little thing in the rabbitry ♥

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In other baby news, I bred Kelly's daughter~Nicki Minaj to Dexter....she had 2 torts & 2 blue torts.  The blue torts are pictured on the bottom.  They just turned 2 weeks old.

-Malena

...Coming Soon!

I am so excited to announce, I will be adding a new herd buck to the rabbitry soon!  :)
He is coming all the way from California, from Brocks Fallen Ear's Rabbitry
His name is GC Brocks Fallen Ears Skippy John, a tort buck.  As soon as I get permission, I will post his picture.....he is absolutely GORGEOUS! ♥

I wanna say:  Thank you Lory-Ann, from Ruby's Rabbits for providing transportation home from the ARBA Convention. 

I cant wait to see my new boy soon!  :)

Goodbye sweet boy :(

Its a sad day in the rabbitry today, I had to put Lars down  :(
Lars was an older boy, 6 years old....he was the sweetest bunny I have ever owned.  He loved to give kisses & get his head rubbed. ♥
Somehow he managed to hurt his back, and started dragging his backend.  After a few days of seeing him not get better, only getting worse...I knew I didnt want to see him suffer any longer so I decided putting him down would be the best thing to do.  This was the hardest one I've ever had to do, I'm usually pretty strong when it comes to stuff like this but Lars made my eyes well up with tears....I held him for a little bit, gave him some love & whispered in his ear how sorry I was & that I loved him.  I really loved that bunny, he is going to be greatly missed.
RIP Lars

Mountain State Fair

This past Saturday, we attended the bunny show at the Mountain State Fair.  It's been a while since we've been to a show so it was great getting back into the swing of things again....even though I felt a little out of the loop  :P

First, I want to say HUGE congrats to Christopher Lile~from Lile's Lops in Canton NC....he won BOB with Hamilton's Ziggy aka Humprey and BOS with Hamilton's Minnie in the Youth show.  He also did really well his Broken Senior Buck, Smith's Willie & 2 of his homebred junior does, Lile's Isabella & Lile's Candace....that is so awesome Christopher....CONGRATS!!!  :)

Our show results, Brendan won BOB with Yogi and BOS with Audi.  Aubrey showed Sunshine, her little REW doe at the fair.  This was Aubrey's first bunny show, I think she had fun even though Sunshine was the only REW! lol  Anyhow, she came home with two 1st place ribbons which made her smile  :) 

Here are some pics from the show....enjoy  :)

Aubrey & Sunshine ♥

This is a pic of the showroom & youth table in the background

 

  

Above are 2 pics of Aubrey at the show table...

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And here are some random animal pics from the Fair

Prices have been reduced!

Check out my website, I have several Holland Lops & a couple Nethies for sale....prices have been reduced due to limited cage space.

http://www.hamiltonshoppinlops.com/

too old??

It's kind of sad but I am starting to wonder if I will ever get another litter of babies out of LOV's Lars, he turned 6 years old on May 5th.  He is such a sweet loving bunny, he loves to give kisses and get head rubs ♥  I've bred him to several Does, and so far none of them have had a litter  :(  So, I'm starting to wonder if he has gone sterile & is too old to produce.  I've bred every doe to him that is old enough to breed...some, I have tried twice.  Right now, he is bred to one more doe...I'm hoping I might get lucky one of these times.  Either way he will always have a forever home here with us at Hamilton's Hoppin' Lops.

-Malena

pics of available soon bunnies

***UPDATED 6/7/11 to add more bunnies to the sales list***

If you are interested in any of the bunnies pictured below or have any questions, feel free to email me: hopnlops  @ bellsouth.net  (remove spaces) 

$75 with pedigree/$60 without pedigree

Broken Sable Point Buck, ready June 13th

SOLD

Tort Buck, Ready now....turned 8 weeks old on May 18th

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$50 without pedigree

Broken Tort Buck, ready June 19th

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$40 without pedigree

Broken Sable Point Buck, ready June 21st

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$40 without pedigree/$50 with pedigree

Broken Tort Doe, ready June 13th

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$30 without pedigree

Tort Doe-(Pet only), ready June 13th

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SOLD
$60 with pedigree/ $50 without pedigree

Broken Tort Doe, ready June 13th

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ON HOLD for Karen B.
$60 with pedigree/$50 without pedigree

Broken Blue Tort Buck, ready June 19th

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$30 without pedigree
Blue Otter Netherland Dwarf Doe, ready June 20th
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*All Pet rabbits come with a care guide, health guarantee and a baggie of transition feed*

NOTE: Spaying is recommended for Does, sold as pets

Available bunnies

Here's a list of available bunnies that will be ready soon...pics coming soon, check back


Holland Lops

Kelly was bred to Thunder

Black Doe-(keeping)

Broken Black Buck-(might keep)

these babies will be ready May 18th

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Harmony was bred to Dexter

Tort Buck-(on hold for Renee)

Tort Buck-Available  $30 without pedigree

Broken Tort Doe-(keeping)

these babies will be ready May 18th

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Lov Bug was bred to Levi

Broken Tort Doe-Available  $40 without pedigree

Tort Doe-Available  $40 without pedigree

these babies will be ready June 13th

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Hattie was bred to Maestro

Sable Point Doe-(keeping)

Broken Sable Point Buck-(keeping)

Broken Tort Doe-Available  $60 with pedigree/$50 without pedigree

these babies will be ready June 13th

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Deb was bred to Dexter

Broken Blue Tort Buck-Available   $60 with pedigree/$50 without pedigree

Broken Blue Tort Buck-(might keep)

Blue Tort Buck-(keeping)

these babies will be ready June 19th

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*All Pet rabbits come with a care guide, health

guarantee and a baggie of transition feed*

NOTE: Spaying is recommended for Does, sold as pets

-Malena

Chillin'

Bunnies are doing great, babies are getting big.  We've been enjoying the cooler weather the past couple days.  Better enjoy it while it lasts cuz its about to get hot again.  This time we're prepared...me & Brendan went to Lowes and bought an air conditioner for the bunny barn.  Running 3 fans just wasnt cutting it, it seemed to be hotter in the barn than it was outside even with the fans running & all 3 windows open.
I'm thinking tomorrow I will have to turn on the AC for the first time....hopefully it will keep things cool & I wont have to worry about the bunnies getting too warm.

-Malena

baby pics ♥

I took a couple pics the other night & just wanted to share....hope you enjoy!  :)

Hattie & her 3 babies....broken tort doe, broken blue point buck & sable point doe.  I will be holding on to all 3 to see how they turn out, its hard to pick a favorite~so far I like all 3! lol

LOV Bug and her 4 babies, my keeper is the little piggie in the bowl  :)

Available bunnies in this litter are:  tort doe & 2 broken tort does.

Another pic of LOV Bug & her babies....the little piggie finally decided to look up for the picture this time  ;)

Deb's babies....1 blue tort buck & 2 broken blue tort bucks.  I am keeping the solid blue tort & possibly one of the brokens too.  Never thought I'd fall in love with that little stinker, with all the faults~(half butterfly & milk dipped ears) but yeah his cuteness is hard to ignore! lol

Here he is.....isnt he a cutie??  :)

my 2 cuties together ♥

-Malena



>.< stupid doe!

I'm having a problem with one of my first time Does, Rita.  She had a litter April 21st, 2 sable points & 3 broken sable points.  I was so excited to have a whole litter of sable points ♥
here's the problem...
I dont know if she just isnt taking care of them or if she isnt producing a whole lot of milk (I've been giving her calf manna to help with milk production)....honestly, I'm leaning towards not taking care of them though.  So far, we lost 2 babies & the other 3 are super tiny....The past couple days I've been holding her on her back and letting the babies feed from her.  As a last resort, today I stuck one of the bigger babies in with another doe that has babies that are younger but double the size, hope its able to survive.

I'm gonna give Rita one more chance, and if she fails to take care of her babies again she will be removed from the breeding program.

-Malena

baby updates...

I have a few gender updates & a few keepers/available bunnies marked.
Here's the list:

Holland Lops
Kelly was bred to Thunder
Black Doe-(keeping)
Broken Black Buck-(might keep)
these babies will be ready May 18th
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Harmony was bred to Dexter
Tort Buck-(on hold for Renee)
Tort Buck-Available
Broken Tort Doe-(keeping)
these babies will be ready May 18th
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Lov Bug was bred to Levi
Broken Tort Doe-Available
Broken Tort Doe-Available
Broken Tort Buck-(keeping)
Tort Doe-Available
these babies will be ready June 13th
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Hattie was bred to Maestro
Sable Point Doe-(keeping)
Broken Blue Point Buck-(keeping)
Broken Tort Doe-(might keep)
these babies will be ready June 13th
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Deb was bred to Dexter
Broken Blue Tort Buck-Available
Broken Blue Tort Buck-(might keep)
Blue Tort Buck-(keeping)
these babies will be ready June 19th
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-Malena

A few pics from Nationals

I took my camera, and took a few pics....I would have taken more but the battery died! lol  I should have remembered to bring the charger *rolls eyes* lol

Enjoy...

As soon as I can gather results, I will post them...

BOB~Nancy & Larry Washburn

BOS~Jenny Poprawski

-Malena

Holland Lop Nationals

This weekend is Holland Lop Nationals in Columbus Ohio.  We will be leaving early tomorrow morning.  This will be my first time going to Nationals so I am super excited, I cant wait to see a whole room full of gorgeous Holland Lops.  I've already got my camera packed, and plan to take lots of pictures.

Best of luck to everyone traveling to Ohio this weekend...have a safe trip!
See ya there!  :)

-Malena

LOTS of babies ♥

Okay, here's a list of all the babies we have:

Holland Lops
Harmony was bred to Dexter, she has:
Tort Buck
Tort Buck (holding for Renee)
Broken Tort Doe (keeping)
(will be ready May 18th)
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Kelly was bred to Thunder, she has:
Black Doe (watching)
Broken Black Buck (keeping)
(will be ready May 18th)
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Hattie was bred to Maestro, she has
Sable Point
Broken Sable Point
Broken Tort
(will be ready June 13th)
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LOV Bug was bred to Levi, she has:
Broken Tort
Broken Tort
Broken Tort
Tort
(will be ready June 13th)
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Deb was bred to Dexter, she has:
Blue Tort
Broken Blue Tort
Broken Blue Tort
(will be ready June 19th)
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Rita was bred to Levi, she has
Broken Sable Point
Broken Sable Point
Broken Sable Point
Sable Point
Sable Point
(will be ready June 21st)
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Netherland Dwarfs
Spazz was bred to Yogi, she has:
Black Otter
Blue Otter
(will be ready June 20th)
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E4 was bred to Miracle, she has
REW
Black Otter
Black Otter
(will be ready June 22nd)

Once these babies are old enough, I will pick my keepers.....then, the ones that are available for sale will be posted on my blog/for sale page of my website.  All rabbits come with care guide, health guarantee & baggie of feed~we feed Purina which can be found at most feed & seed or Tractor Supply stores.


*Also if anyone is interested, I will probably have a couple breeding does available after the babies are weaned.
-Malena

1 more to go...

If you read yesterdays blog....
Yep, I told ya they would wait for me to go to work to start nesting! Those little stinkers! lol  When I got home, around 11:30pm I went out to the rabbitry and checked to see if there were any babies.  Camry, one of Brendan's nethies was in the nestbox after she was done I found 1 max factor & 1 DOA so we'll have to try her again next time.  My Sable Point Holland Lop doe, Rita had a litter of 5 sired by Levi....excited, hoping the babies are Sable Points ♥

Now, we are just waiting for CN's E4 to have her babies, she's supposed to be due today so I'll keep checking throughout the day.  She's bred to Miracle, Brendan's Blue Otter buck.

I dont know how many people are actually reading this but, I'll keep ya posted!  :)
-Malena

So here's the scoop....

A couple Does that I am pretty sure took are still holding out on me, shame on them for making me wait! lol  They'll probably wait until I go to work tonight to start nesting....guess I'll have to take a peek in the rabbitry when I get home, to see if they left me any surprises  :)

Spazz, the REW nethie Doe pictured with a mouth full of hay in yesterdays blog had 3 babies, one was DOA but the other 2 look nice and healthy so far.  She has 1 blue otter & 1 black otter ♥

We had to rebreed a couple nethie Does...that didnt take.  But we are still waiting on 1 Holland Lop litter & 2 Netherland Dwarf litters to be born.

-Malena

Hmmmm...

Today is supposed to be my big baby boom day....I put in 8 nestboxes a couple days ago.  So far, not a whole lot is happening!  lol

Good news, Deb had a litter of 3 yesterday....2 brokens & 1 solid, all 3 look like possible blue torts ♥

Bad news, Brendan's nethie~Esprit had 3 babies on the wire....I found them cold, thought they were already dead until 2 of them slowly started moving.  I got them warmed up and put them in with Deb's 3 babies.  I'm alittle worried they wont make it because they arent very wiggly.  I'll check them in a little while, maybe they'll come around.
Update:  we ended up losing the 2 baby nethies  :(

Hattie & LOV Bug's babies that were born on the 13th are all doing good....thats good news too  :)

If any of the Does have babies, I'll update....so check back later  ;)

-Malena

Babies! ♥

Today I went out to check on momma bunnies that were due to have babies today and as soon as I walked into the bunny barn, I could see piles of plucked fur!  :)
After I finished feeding everyone, I took the nestboxes out to see how many babies were inside....LOV Bug had 4 babies sired by Levi & Hattie had 6 babies sired by Maestro~3 of them were peanuts.  We have a total of 7 healthy babies, I'm so happy to have baby bunnies again ♥
Our next batch of babies is due on the 20th...check back for an update on how things go.

-Malena

My favorite junior right now...

Hamilton's Disney....a Minnie daughter, sired by Levi. 

She's such a sweet girl, like her momma & loves to sit up and pose for pictures.  I love this little girl so much! ♥   I look  forward to showing her at the 2011 Holland Lop Nationals, I'm a little nervous since this will be the 1st time I've ever attended Nationals...I'm not expecting to come back with a big win or anything, but I think it'll be a lot of fun  :)

-Malena



more updates...

Well, we had to rebred the 2 does that were due on the 30th & the 1st.....hopefully next time around they will take  :/   Looks like our next litters will be born April 13th

Sad news, we lost Kendra~my broken black Holland Lop doe who was due to have a litter on the 18th.  She pulled TONS of fur but never had any babies.  I took her out yesterday to check her and I could still feel babies but didnt really feel any movement.  I think she was having trouble kindling them :(  Really stinks, she was a pretty little doe...I'm gonna miss her.

-Malena

Update on babies

Well, here's an update on our babies that were born on the 18th...Harmony had 4 kits sired by Dexter & Kelly had 2 kits sired by Thunder.  Kendra plucked tons of fur but I never saw any babies  :/   I'll give her a break then try her again. 
Not sure on colors yet for Harmony's babies but she had 3 solids and 1 broken.  Kelly has 1 Black & 1 Broken Black ♥
Update:  I checked Harmony's babies, she has 3 torts & 1 broken tort....darn, I was kinda hoping for blue torts since her dad carries dilute  :/

Yesterday, we were able to breed quite a few Nethies....so, Brendan will be up to his ears in babies next month! lol

Our next batch of babies is supposed to be due March 30th, one of Brendan's does.  I haven't tried palpating her yet~hope she's got some buns in the oven....she's bred to Miracle.

One of my sable point does is bred to my broken sable point buck, Levi.  She's supposed to be due on April 1st.  I need to check her & Brendan's doe (CN's E4) to see if they took.

After that, we have a couple Does due on the 13th.  Then, a bunch of nethies and one holland due on the 20th.

I'm so happy to have babies again, after the move to the new house and with winter we haven't had very many babies.  Theres nothing better than baby bunnies to love on ♥

-Malena

Nestboxes are in!

Well, the nestboxes are in....I palpated the Does the other day & here's a list of who took & who didnt:

Pepper x Maestro...didnt take, going back to live with Janice
LOV Bug x Levi...didnt take, rebred to Levi again
Hattie x Lars...didnt take, rebred to Maestro
Kendra x Maestro...palpated +
Harmony x Dexter...palpated +
Kelly x Thunder...palpated +
 
Kendra & Harmony are first timers, hopefully they will do good *fingers crossed*
Kelly is alittle unpredictable, so I'm not sure what to expect....hope she does okay too.
 
-Malena

Can't wait for more baby Hollands ♥

Yesterday was a good day!  :)
After feeding and watering I took a couple Does out, trimmed their nails & checked their vents & to my surprise they were dark in color which means I had a pretty good chance of getting them bred. 
I was able to get 6 Does bred:
Pepper  x  Maestro...one last litter before she goes back to Janice
LOV Bug  x  Levi
Hattie  x  Lars
Kendra  x  Maestro
Harmony  x  Dexter
Kelly  x  Thunder...a repeat of a breeding I did earlier but lost the only survivor which was a super cute broken black doe, hoping for another one
*fingers & toes crossed* lol

-Malena