We were very excited yesterday to see that our first-time mama, Penelope kindled 4 healthy little kits (+ 1 peanut) Sunday during church. She pulled fur and made a nice little nest and everything. We're very proud of Penelope. This is also somewhat of a landmark in the rabbitry because she is the first we bought as a junior. I suppose the next milestone will be when we are able to breed one that was born here, and I think we're getting real close with Houston...he'll turn senior in 2 days.
Speaking of Houston, we went to the Spartanburg Triple Crown last Saturday. There weren't a whole lot of people there, but it was still nice to socialize with fellow breeders. Houston placed 7th in the first and last shows (out of 11), but pulled out a 4th place in the second show...so not too bad for one from our very first litter. He sure is a sweet little thing, and I'm looking forward to seeing what he'll offer to the herd.
Monday, April 26, 2010
Friday, April 23, 2010
Never gets old...
Zebbie had her litter this morning. Four healthy little squirmy things. It never gets old pulling healthy kits out of the nest box for the first time.
We had a round of bad luck last week...unlike any we've seen before at our rabbitry. For the first time we had kits that were more than a day old crawl out of the nest box and chill on the wire. That happened to two of Fudge's, and (of course) they were a couple that I was really excited to see what color they were going to turn out to be. Then, we had one of Barbi's that managed to crawl into a neighboring cage, and subsequently lost three limbs. Poor thing was still alive when we found it, so we had to put it down. Also found the remains of another that had crawled out of the box and became a meal after it died. Four kits within three days--that's a pretty good sized litter that we had lost!
Just when we thought things wouldn't get any worse, Geri was vacuuming the rug next to a couple of Jr's in the house. She didn't want to freak them out with the vacuum, so she "just for a second" put them out on the deck. It was a very hot day with no shade on the deck. A couple hours later I heard one of them squeaking and bouncing around inside the cage like mad--apparently having a seizure or something right before it died. She had forgotten they were out there, and I never knew they were out there to start with until it was too late. That was a hard one...it was completely preventable.
Fortunately, everything seems to have stabilized and everybunny appears to be healthy and fat. Hopefully things will continue in that direction, starting with our new litter from Zebbie!
We had a round of bad luck last week...unlike any we've seen before at our rabbitry. For the first time we had kits that were more than a day old crawl out of the nest box and chill on the wire. That happened to two of Fudge's, and (of course) they were a couple that I was really excited to see what color they were going to turn out to be. Then, we had one of Barbi's that managed to crawl into a neighboring cage, and subsequently lost three limbs. Poor thing was still alive when we found it, so we had to put it down. Also found the remains of another that had crawled out of the box and became a meal after it died. Four kits within three days--that's a pretty good sized litter that we had lost!
Just when we thought things wouldn't get any worse, Geri was vacuuming the rug next to a couple of Jr's in the house. She didn't want to freak them out with the vacuum, so she "just for a second" put them out on the deck. It was a very hot day with no shade on the deck. A couple hours later I heard one of them squeaking and bouncing around inside the cage like mad--apparently having a seizure or something right before it died. She had forgotten they were out there, and I never knew they were out there to start with until it was too late. That was a hard one...it was completely preventable.
Fortunately, everything seems to have stabilized and everybunny appears to be healthy and fat. Hopefully things will continue in that direction, starting with our new litter from Zebbie!
Friday, April 9, 2010
I don't bother counting anymore...
Several people now have asked me how many rabbits I have at my house now. My answer is starting to be the same...I really don't know. We just had several litters born in the past couple of days: 4, then 6, then 3. We also just sold 3 over the course of the past week, so it makes it harder and harder. I guess we're at 33 as of today, which is starting to sound a little crazy, even to me.
One number I am happy to report is "2". That is the number of bunnies that are currently in the house. That's down from the 9 we had in our house until yesterday. Our room has a strange odor about it...the smell of "not ammonia". We finally finished the upper tier of my Mickey Mouse Quick Flush system under the deck, so all bunnies except the two currently for sale are down there under the deck. It's been nice to have the house back.
One number I am happy to report is "2". That is the number of bunnies that are currently in the house. That's down from the 9 we had in our house until yesterday. Our room has a strange odor about it...the smell of "not ammonia". We finally finished the upper tier of my Mickey Mouse Quick Flush system under the deck, so all bunnies except the two currently for sale are down there under the deck. It's been nice to have the house back.
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