Finally I have time to post this. School is really hectic these past couple of weeks. We are now in full swing.
Top News: Show Results and New bunnies! An Otter doe, a silver marten doe, and a Vienna Mark doe!
Breeding News: Still waiting for Bonnie's babies! She is due this Friday and has been digging in her nestbox like crazy! This is her trying to dig a deeper "burrow" at the back of her nestbox.
Also, Tootsie's babies are getting bigger! Unfortunately, so are their ears. This is what happened with Navidad also, her ears stayed small and cute until she was 4 weeks old, but then they ballooned and became huge. I will have t ait and see. I am certinly thinking about keeping the little doe because her head is just awesome. The two little boys aren't quite as good though. Here they are cuddling in their cage and the nestbox:
And lastly, I bred Stormy on Monday to Navasota so that I can see of he carries dilute, and one of my new does, a silver marten, to Henry because her HQ is extremely pinched and his is just about the opposite of that.
Show News: Navasota, our little hopeful, didnt do as well as I had hoped he would. He started into a molt because I wormed the rabbits a couple of weeks ago. That certainly didn't help him. There was another junior buck there that beat him both times he went up against him. I will show him again in December once he gets out of the molt and has some more time to develop. He will be almost six months old then. Here he is after we got back:
Medical News: Navidad is doing much much better and I will be giving her another dose of Ivomec very soon. She has learned to eat out of her feeder and drink from her bottle even with that horrible condtion that her head is in. Here she is in her cage wondering what I am doing taking a picture of her:
Ins & Outs: Finally the moment you have all been waiting for! Let me introduce you to the new Ladies of Natty Dwarfs Rabbitry!!
This is Tank's Eris, Black Otter. She is a very very pretty girl, I love hertype but her coat is definitely not in condition right now. Beautiful ears and eyes, fairly good head, and nice short body. She is a great brood doe. She has had a litter already and produced a sable marten. Her father is a Silver Marten and a very good one at that. He beat Martin at our county shows. I am very excited to have her here but I unfortunately can't breed her yet. It appears that she has vent disease. Gladly it is fixable with Penicillin which I still have a lot of from the last time I had to deal with this disease. I will certainly have to be careful if/when I have any further dealings with this breeder.
This is Big Valley's CU, Black Silvver Marten. She still needs an official name. All she has is her tattoo right now. Are there any girl names that start with Cu or can you think of the name of any river that starts with Cu? She is a fairly nice typed doe, I am hoping she will make good babies with Henry, whom she was bred to today. Aside from being extremely pinched in the hindquarter and being morbidly obese right now, she should be a pretty good brood doe. I hope her having such narrow hips won't affect her ability to make babies. I can't wait to see what she produces!
And last but not least, this is Babbs, Black Vienna Mark. She was given to me for free by my cousin who couldn't keep her anymore and of course knows me as the rabbit girl. She is very big and very broody, but at least she is a Netherland Dwarf. She is very good in type. I especially like her head and eyes. she does have a pretty short body too, though that is affected by her being a BUD. The only bad thing about her is that her ears are too long, but they are thick. I will have to borrow a BEW buck to breed her to and see what she can produce. There is no chance of me selling her though for sentimental reasons, plus she doesn't have any trace of a pedigree. I used to wonder why everyone had at least one BEW in their herd even if they don't raise that color,and now I've got mine, Haha.
I don't know when she will get bred, but for right now she is keeping Navasota company. He was getting lonely after hishalf-brother nephew left and was sold to an FFA kid, and that was the last cage open that I could fill up.
At the show this weekend we also said a bitter-sweet goodbye to Santee:
She had been in my rabbitry since she was six weeks old. Now I have her daughter here, who will hopefully be her replacement once she gets better from her illness. Santee is going on to be a brood doe with another breeder. I will miss her but I am glad she will be helpingsomeone else.
Also, Stormy will be leaving us in December. I am selling her to a very good friend of mine who I know will take very good care of her. Until then, so that she doesn't get fat, I have bred her again, to Navasota so that I can see if he carries the dilute gene that both his mother and father do. I can only hope that her last litter for me will be her best yet.
That's all for now,
Lela
