Resolutions

2009 has come and gone. I thought overall it was one of my better years, I definitely learned a lot and had some amazing, once in a lifetime experiences. Now, the time has come to plan for the future and set goals which I hope to attain.

I think this next year will be a year of new beginnings for me. Some things will leave (or, I shall leave some things) and others will enter to replace them. I am trying to think of it as a the ending of one era and the formation of a new one.

Rabbit wise, I am being extremely indecisive. I know that I will most likely not be remaining here for college, but I still haven't decided which college I would like to attend (or rather, which schools will accept me). CSU Fresno & CSU Long Beach are two that I would like to attend. Based on the college, rabbit raising will probably be no longer be a possibility. I need to be realistic and acknowledge this.

Regardless of that, I am still planning on pursuing my ARBA Judge's license. I think judging would be fun and definitely worth all the studying it would involve! Plus, it would keep me involved in the rabbit world while I concentrate on schooling.

Jessa's babies are doing well. They opened their eyes a few days ago and are just the cutest things. Very adorable and well fed! :D

I need to breed a few days, since neither Bella or Pudge took. :( Grrr.

Happy New Year!
- Michael

Finals

Well, once again I have succeeded in neglecting this blog. I'm sure any readers are so disappointed in my lack of routine in posting that they quit reading long ago.

Anyway, I would just like to give some small updates on me before I forget what I've been doing the past two months.

School. school. School. SCHOOL. I'm constantly fretting over it, like some twisted, obsessed stalker. I really wish I could get it out of my head, but I can't. Finals are this week, so after that I should have two weeks of sanity, at least. The only class that is bugging me is Calculus, since it's ridiculously hard to comprehend when I have a less than stellar teacher.

The bunnies are good! I did well at my last show in Lancaster, picking up Triton's first leg for BOSV and "Wanda" ( hate that name, I need to change it) got two legs for BOG. Not bad! My next show is sometime next year. Wow, that sounds odd thinking it's already going to be 2010. No babies, but to be truthful I haven't really been trying to get anyone bred. haha.

Well, hopefully the next time I post something it will be slightly more coherent and I won't be forming an stress ulcer.

- Michael

'09 ARBA Convention

Well, we have been back from Convention for over a week now and things are starting to settle back down. We had so much fun at Convention, meeting great people and all the exciting things to do in San Diego!

I was very pleased with how my rabbits placed. Here are some of my top placements.

Silent Spring's Triton won 8th out of 24 Solid Jr Bucks!
Silent Spring's Jana won 8th out of 39 Solid Sr Does!!
Silent Spring's Pearl won 3rd Self Jr Doe!
Silent Spring's Diamond won 4th Self Jr Doe!

My Senior Breed Judging Team took 2nd, which I was thrilled out! The competition was very tough so I am ecstatic about that placing! (:

I also got my foundation for my Jersey Wooly herd, you can see them on my website. Additionally, I still have some bunnies available, which you can see on your for sale page.

Congrats to everyone on their Convention placings!

- Michael

Convention Entries

Okay, everything is all entered. Here's my list. I entered 5 Mini Lops and 3 Jersey Woolies. :)

Mini Lops:
Kitsemble's Gus - SSB *Sold
Silent Spring's Triton - SJB
Silent Spring's Jana - SSD *Sold
Silent Spring's Faith - SSD *For Sale
Kitsemble's Sidney - BSD *Sold

Jersey Woolies:
Wooligans Atticus - Shaded Sr Buck
Silent Spring's Pearl - Self Jr Doe
Silent Spring's Diamond - Self Jr Doe

Atticus is coming from my good friend, Lisa of Wooligans Rabbitry. I can't wait to get him! Thanks Lisa. :)

In other news, Jessa kindled a few days ago to one healthy broken baby. :) Can't tell yet if it's a steel or a chestnut, thought at the moment I'm leading towards steel...

Hanford Results

Show A:

Silent Spring's Pearl - 1/2, BOG, BOB - 1st leg on a homebred wooly!
Silent Spring's Diamond - 2/2
Silent Spring's Triton - 1/1, BOSV, BOSB
Velotta's Bella - 1/1, BOV *4th leg!

Show B:

Silent Springs Pearl - 2/2
Silent Spring's Diamond - 1/2, loosing to the BOB winning doe.
Silent Springs Triton - 1/1, BOSV
Velotta's Bella - 1/1, BOV, BOB *5th Leg

I was really happy with how my Woolies did, and even more excited that Pearl won her first leg! She really is a pretty doe, I'm excited for her. Bella also did really well, I will be breeding her in a few days to Gus before he leaves for Convention. Everyone liked Triton too, but he has a major molt line and really isn't able to compete right now. Hopefully he'll be done by Convention.

In other news, Jessa is nesting and is due on the 5th. I'm hoping she kindles successfully....I want babies!

Sweeps Results Out!

I just got my Mini Lop Advocate with all of the Sweepstakes information in there. Considering I went to very few shows, and when I did go I hardly showed anything, I am pretty please with how I did! I was 33rd overall in the Nation! That is a significant jump from last year and my 50th overall spot. Wooohoo! I also had a few animals on the Top Lop list. I know Sidney was, and I might have had another animal or two on there as well.

Gearing up for Convention!

Convention is definitely upon us with entries closing in the next few weeks! Right now, my entries are up in the air...hoping to have 5-6 really nice ones to show.

My next show is Hanford on the 3rd. I am planning on showing two Jersey Woolies and maybe two or three Mini Lops. The fair is also approaching with exceding speed, I think check in is next Friday. I only entered two Mini Lops and an educational poster.

School has been hectic, but not overwhelming. I was elected President of the Interact Club, Captain of my Academic Decathlon team, and Treasurer of the Key Club. That's all I really wanted, so I'm pleased. :) College applications come right after Convention, so I will be busy for the next few months.

Hope all of my readers are well! I've missed these lack of shows (and bunny babies)

- Michael

Refocusing

After contemplating for many months, I have decided that I no longer derive the same joy for the Mini Lops that I once had. For the past few months now, a new flame has captivated my mind, and that is with the Jersey Wooly rabbit. Their smaller size is more complimentary to my cages, and the wool is a new experience that I am constantly amazed by. Of course, I will retain a small number of my Mini Lops, but will just cut down to 5-6. Watch out for the sales list, which I will be posting within the next two weeks.

With all this extra room, I will be venturing further into Jersey Woolies. I already have BEWs but would like a new group to add as well, one that is less time consuming that the BEWs. That being said, after lots of thought, I have decided on pursuing Broken & Self/Shaded groups. I know, you're thinking "That's 3 groups!", but all the colors are harmonious together and they will not hinder one another. I have already selected a buck and am in the process of acquiring two does. I will post pictures soon. Speaking of pictures, I also need to get pictures of lots of new bunnies. Hopefully tomorrow.

My first week of school sped by rapidly but not unpleasantly. I will be busy this year, more so than ever before. I am anxious to immerse myself one last time in high school activities, I will try to savor the experiences, since I will no longer be able to repeat them.

- Michael

San Bernadino Show

The show was TONS of fun! Very relaxed and enjoyable. I went with the Votaws (thanks for the ride! :)) and went with 7 bunnies and came home with 5 so that was nice. My rabbits did okay, my sjb, Triton, was really liked by ARBA judge Linda Bell and Casey, my BEW Wooly senior buck, won BOB in one of the shows for his second leg. In the other shows he was 2nd to the BOB/BOSB winner. :) I also got to see lots of people that I rarely get to see (like the wonderful Teri Reymann and Berlena Reynolds!) and since I didn't have any bunnies to sell I got to do a lot more socializing/clerking than normal. :)

Today Jayden, a BEW Wooly junior buck, left for his new home! I hope Laura and family enjoys him. Now that means I've got rid of all of my for sale animals, I won't have anything available until Convention. :( While there, I am planning on a HUGE Mini Lop herd reduction, so watch out for a sales list.

- Michael

You can always tell....

When school is about to start you can always tell with me. School takes up SO much of my time with all of my extra curricular activities and social outings it's hard not to put some things on the back burner. Unfortunately, this normally means my blogging negligence. It's hard enough just taking the time to care for the animals, not to mention coordinating sales, so I don't ever really feel like posting!

So be warned, this blog will probably be silent soon unless my classes are easier than I am anticipating (which I highly doubt). School starts on the 24th, so one of the last updated will probably be after the San Bernadino show, which is on the 22nd. I can't believe I'm a senior!

Speaking of the San Bernadino show...I think all of my seniors are hating me since they decided to start molting a few days ago! Some of them don't look too bad yet, I'm just not going to touch them too much until the show, LOL. I'm showing 5, a few jrs and several seniors.

- Michael

New Bunnies

I picked up my new rabbits from Rebecca last night! Thanks so much for transporting, Rebecca, you did a wonderful job!

I got two new rabbits, one is a new herd buck and the other is a doe that I'll be showing for a while before breeding. :D Both are GC's, the buck has 7 legs and the doe has 3 legs. Thanks Tricia and Nicole for giving me such amazing animals! No pictures yet as they are still settling in, but soon! I also need to get pictures of the Wooly babies, which are growing like weeds! I've got my eye on a few of them, they are all very promising!

- Michael

The last are leaving...

The last of the sold bunnies are finally leaving, yay! Casey, Jinger, and James will be leaving this Saturday. James will be heading over to MGM and Casey and Jinger will be staying there for a few days until they can go up to Jessica in Norcal. Steve is also leaving on tomorrow to go to Kansas with Liz.

The wooly babies are growing like weeds, I really like three of the four! I think I will be keeping those three until Convention, but I'm not entirely sure yet. . .

- Michael

Tatooing Systems

Since yesterday I went over different styles of tattooers, I thought it would be nice if I shared my tattooing system with everyone! I find this the be the most simple way of me being able to identify who the parents of certain animals are as well as a general idea of their age without having to dig out pedigrees. Another reason I like my system is that it is very hard to look at the ear numbers and tell right away that the animal was bred by me. I think judges are very observant and will usually catch on to tattooing systems of exhibitors so I try to make things as neutral as possible.

For my tattooing system, I start with the first letter of the sire's name followed by the first letter of the dam's name finished with a number. I usually start with one and go up to however many were in the litter. For example, I had a litter of seven out of Sundance and Sidney. Arista, a doe out of the litter, has the ear number of SS6. 'S' for Sundance, 'S' for Sidney, and she was the 6th one I tattooed. I used to number them in order of quality, but then I realized all the one's I kept had '1's in their ear numbers.

Everyone's systems are different, so I am definitely not trying to say stop what your doing and listen to me! I've seen some other systems that I really like and would do but they don't really work for my needs.

Have fun with tattooing for Convention hopefuls! :D

- Michael

Tatooing. . . a necessary evil.

In order to show any rabbit at an ARBA Show, they must be legibly tattooed in their left ear. Without it your rabbit will be disqualified. Their right ear's are not to be tattooed unless it is going to be registered. But, how do they get the tattoos? Surely they don't appear out of thin air? I don't think so, even though I'm sure they disappear often enough as the ink fades. Here are several common methods that people use to tattoo rabbits.
- an electric tattooer
- a clamp tattooer
- a needle
Of course, you will also need ink. India ink is highly desirable because it is less likely to fade than the ink that sometimes comes with your tattooer.

The needle is the most crude form of tattooing on this list and I don't like it all that much. It is highly time consuming and meticulous work. You have to poke individual holes into the ear until you form a symbol and continue this until you have finished the tattoo (which is generally several symbols long).

The clamp is a step up from the needle and is popular with many breeders. They are typically metal and you slide the symbols that you want into a slot. You then position the clamp in the rabbit's ear and press down - hard. Afterwards you lather ink into the holes that you made with the clamp. Several things could go wrong, such as you hitting a vein, which would involve a large mess for you to clean up. I have also heard of stories of the rabbits breaking their backs from this. It is thus recommended that you do not try to restrain them too much while using the clamp.

My personal method of choice is an electric tattooer. There are numerous different brands available since every breeder needs one. I personally chose the Rabbitat for it's affordability and quality. For those with legible handwriting you will probably find this option the best for you. You simply dip the tattooer into ink and then 'write' the numbers in the ear. I like to place them in lap and cover them a towel with their ear sticking out. If they get freaked out them I just stop for a minute and then begin again. I just did seven juniors yesterday and it only took me a few minutes!

The photo above is of a litter I had a few years ago when I still focused on breeding chocolates. Does anyone see any familiar faces in there? (:

- Michael

All Sold

All of my for sale bunnies have been sold! Thanks everyone!

And to continue to the good news, the little BEW baby appears to have made a recovery! Yay, go Pearl! (: I need to get updated pictures soon.

- Michael

Weanling Problems

These Wooly babies can be really hard to raise at times! As babies they seem to be much more fragile as a whole than my Mini Lop babies ever are. Maybe this is because they are a dwarf breed, but that's just a guess. I had to let the runt have extra feedings for the first few weeks of it's life and now one of the BEW's (my favorite!) has diarrhea . :( This is normally due to babies going from an all-milk diet to beginning to eat solids. While my Mini Lop babies hardly get this problem the wooly babies seem especially prone to it. This can disrupt their systems and cause them to get sick. This girl got sick on Tuesday and I've been feeding her yogurt to give the good bacteria in her stomach a chance to bounce back. Besides that I'm also giving her oats and hay, but she's not that interested in those. She actually did get better but for some reason she relapsed yesterday.

Normally I don't intervene this much since I feel that letting nature take it's course is the best thing to do, I really want this girl to survive since she's probably going to be the best one in the litter and I was looking forward to showing her at Convention later this year. :(

Business Cards!

Since I changed my website I needed to make some new business cards. My original business cards were from Vistaprint and I was so pleased with my original cards I decided to go with them again! I personalized mine with the logo that Lauren Nicholas of LILBun Designs made for me that I love! Since I did customize mine I had to pay a little extra and the original price for 500 of the cards was around $40 without shipping. I did a bit of online digging though and found an awesome coupon and I managed to get all that I wanted for only $19 WITH shipping! It was a great deal! (: I can't wait to get them in a few weeks.

As far as bunny news, Sundance and Steven will be leaving for Washington and Kansas, respectively, in a few days. I'm sad that Sundance is leaving, I'm going to miss his mug! Oh well, I know he'll get lots of attention as his new place. (:

I'm also getting two new bunnies from Washington! From Tricia I'm getting Velotta's Blake, a gorgeous buck with 7 legs! He throws amazing babies so I hope he'll do the same for me! I'm also getting Velotta's Bella, a RGC doe with 3 legs, from Nicole! I can't thank either of them enough for parting with these beautiful animals, it means so much to me! I feel these bunnies will act as a catalyst for the quality of my herd.

- Michael

Update on the BEW's

Here are some three week old pictures of my Wooly babies! (:

Here is my favorite baby of the bunch, a really cute doe!

The doe again

The whole gang.

Enjoy!

- Michael

Owww.

Yesterday I decided I had to clean the cages since I hadn't done it in a few months and they were covered in molty bunny hair. I also cleaned all the water bottles and crocks and gave a few of the bunnies some little cat toys which they are enjoying. Anyway, I started at about 7 am and ended at 11. The high was 104* and silly me forgot to put on sun screen. Yeah, I am hurting today! Ouch. I also have a very unattractive 'sandle burn' which is annoying.

While I was cleaning cages I decided to seperate Sidney's litter. All the ones I'm selling are in a big weanling cage but my keeper's have been seperated. I still have 4 empty holes, with 1 leaving, 2 on hold, and 5 for sale? Pretty good! (: I am keeping a BJD, SJD, and SJB. The buck is a bit iffy, but I'm not showing much at Convention and figured I might as well grow him out. I absolutely LOVE the BJD, she's very promsing!

Oh, the picture at the top is of Silent Spring's Jessa, a very pretty steel doe with 2 junior legs. (: Hopefully she can get her 3rd!

BEW Cuteness

Here are some pictures of my Wooly babies! (: Enjoy!

My favorite baby.
The whole litter! The little black is the runt.

Microscopic ears. :P

- Michael

CA Judging Team

I'm sure the local CA youth who have participated in the judging competitions this year know all about what I'm about to type, but I thought I'd share my experiences up to this point on trying to get on CA Judging Team with those who did not get a chance to participate in it.

Since I'm fairly certain a majority of my readers are active in the rabbit community, most of you know that the '09 ARBA Convention is in San Diego, CA this year! Due to this, the number of Judging and Breed ID applicants have soared, which resulted in the organizers of the team selection to make 'judge-off' competitions, where all potential applicants were seperated into our respective age groups and given 3 rabbit classes and one cavy class to go over and place. The classes had previously been judged by a licensed ARBA judge and our placements were compared to theirs, with a maximum possible score of 200. There were multiple judge-offs at shows throughout the year, though if you were planning to apply to get on a team you were required to participate in at least two. If you participated in more than two you would keep your two highest scores. The last competition was at the San Bernadino show this past month. I personally participated in the March Hanford and April Bakersfield judge-offs.

If you had done the minimum of two competitions, then you had to fill out a questionare in which you described why you thought you were qualified to be on the judging team. This was the last requirement and was due at the end of June.

From this, several people will go over our scores and answers to questionare and pick 4 people from each age group to represent California at Convention this year. We should be hearing back from them in the next one to two weeks.

Anyway, I thought that some might find this interesting. (: This is just a very rought overview, I could have went into much more detail about the judge-offs themselves. I'd like to personally thank Jennifer Munoz, who was kind enough to answer all of my questions and organizing the judge-offs. This would have not been possible without her! I'm crossing my fingers and toes that I scored well enough to make the team! Lots of worthy youth applied and it's a shame that some will have to be turned away.

- Michael

100th Post!

This is a huge accomplishment for me, considering my posting record has been sporadic at best. :D

Jinger's litter is finally opening their eyes. I can't wait until they get to their cute stage in another week or so! (: They still need a bit more fluff before they become adorable, and then I'll post some pictures.

Jonah, a broken blue buck out of Faith, left with Rachael and Karen today! Jonah is a really cute buck that I was going to keep, but the buck I'm getting is broken and I didn't think Jonah is going to be as nice as him.

Who is this mystery buck? I'll let you all know in due time!

- Michael

Summer Shows

The first reason I dislike summer is because the bunnies don't handle the heat well, which stresses me out trying to keep them alive! The second reason is that I don't go to any shows, because heat + traveling = stressed out bunnies! This year another reason I'm not showing it because with my herd reduction I don't have many bunnies to show. I think I have two newly turned senior does, which will take a few months to mature anyway until they get more competitive.

Besides those does, I won't have much to show for another 3-4 months. :( I guess this is a blessing in disguise though, because I really do need to be saving up for Convention! I think the only show for me before Convention will be the Santa Maria show on 9/20, so I intend to get as many comments as possible while I'm there! Then it's Convention 11/1/09 - 11/5/09! I'm so excited to finally go to a Convention! You can't even imagine how bummed I was I had to miss ML Nationals earlier this year.

- Michael

More Bunnies Leaving Soon.

All six of the bunnies left for their new homes yesterday. It was so nice meeting Kara, Jennifer, and Jennifer's sister! They were all such great people. I'd like to thank Kara again for transporting for me, she's a lifesaver! The rabbitry is much more empty without them! I am now down to 23, including my 10 babies.

Heather is coming down on Tuesday to get the broken smoke pearl chinchilla buck. He's going through his gangly stage but I think she'll like him! I know he'll like not having to deal with this insane heat anymore!

Karen and Rachel will also be coming down on Tuesday to pick up a bunny to show at the local fair. I think they will either get the remaining steel buck from Hope's litter or my keeper from Faith's litter (a broken blue buck). With my herd reduction, I'm pretty sure the animals I'm selling are going to beat me at the fair. (: It doesn't matter though, because it feels just as good to see a friend win with a rabbit you bred than winning yourself.

Casey and Jinger are also on hold until I can wean Jinger's current litter, so they should be leaving sometime in August. Sundance will also be leaving in August! :( I'm sad I'm selling him because I've had so many babies out of him. He's such a reliable old man.

Speaking of Jinger's litter, they are getting cuter every day! The BEWs now have enough fur to look white. :D The little black baby is a runt, I've been letting him nurse individually with momma since I don't want to loose him! His sibling are much larger than him. :( I'm crossing my fingers with a little TLC he'll pull through though. I'll keep you all updated on it.

- Michael

Bunnies Leaving.

Well, I guess my herd reduction is finally coming full force. Until now I'd just sold mostly juniors but today a lot of bunnies are leaving! :( It's kind of sad since I've had some of these bunnies since they were born and kept them, sometimes for years. I just need to remember that in the end this will do improve the quality of my herd in the long run.

It's really funny when you do a herd reduction, because when it comes down to it, you are capable of getting rid of most of your bunnies. But when push comes to shove, a few of them never cross my mind. I couldn't ever let some of them go. And surprisingly, those animals are normally not the ones that show amazingly well. They are usually from your first litters, your really sweet brood does, etc. They are the ones that have some sort of sentimental value to you.

Anyway, onto who's leaving today!

I just dropped off Cody an hour or so ago to Kara. He's molting horribly which is really embarrassing, but I've been trying to keep on top of it. Heck, Casey looks part lionhead right now, lol. Darn summer!

Jennifer should be here any minute. She's going to be picking up Jim Bob, Hope, Michelle, Joy-Anna, and Gizzard. I hope she likes them! I think she will.

So, that's 6 bunnies leaving today. After this I'm only going to have about 10 seniors left! I'm super excited. (:

- Michael

Website Is Finished!

I finally finished moving my website over to my new domain today! I still need to figure out how to make a guestbook and still add all my links to my links page. Check it out!

www.silentspringsrabbitry.com

Nothing going on today. . . . I am going to clean cages tonight and print out some pedigrees for babies! I also need to order some new business cards, I might do that tomorrow.

- Michael

Mini Lops Available

I'm still in the process of reducing my herd for the summer and while most of them have been sold, I still have several nice bucks for sale. Here they are.

SSR's Sundance Kid (RGC, 5 Legs) - Opal Sr Buck
(Velotta's Raymond (RGC, 6 Legs) x Hoppin's Cookiesn'Cream (2 Legs))
Sundance is a gorgeous buck that throws gorgeous babies. I have granded three of his offspring myself and one has gone on to win a BIS! Past his show prime now, he'd be best used as a herd sire.

Silent Spring's MF2 - Broken Smoke Pearl Chin Jr Buck
(DeSurra's Morgan (GC, 7 Legs) x Silent Spring's Faith (RGC, 6 Legs))
Promising buck in a gorgeous color! I love his head! Just starting his to go into his ganglies, but I'm expecting him to turn out nicely.
Hold for Heather?

Silent Spring's GH3 - Black Steel Jr Buck
(Kitsemble's Gus (Reg, 1 Leg) x Silent Spring's Hope (Reg))
Very sweet buck with amazing fur! Gus has really thrown this fantastic, plush fur to most of his offspring! Very full, would like to see a bit more depth to balance out the width.

.....I am also contemplating selling Casey, my BEW Jersey Wooly senior buck. Contact me if you'd like more information on him.
email -
ssrrabbits@sbcglobal.net

I'm working on getting pictures up right now!

- Michael

Blue Eyed White Genetics

Since I just had a litter of BEW Woolies, I thought I'd blog about the genetics of the BEW, or Vienna, gene. First, let's start with the basics.

VV - Non-vienna carrier, or in other words an ordinary rabbit. Will not be able to throw Blue Eyed White babies.

Vv - A vienna carrier, also known as a 'VC' or a vienna marked, 'VM'. VC's show no signs of carrying the vienna gene and can still be shown. VM's sport tell-tale signs of carrying the gene, wether that be blue eyes on a normal colored rabbit, or white splashes on a normal colored coat. They are sometimes referred to as 'sports'. Both of these will throw BEW when bred to another 'Vv' or a 'vv'.

vv - A Blue Eyed White Rabbit.

Here are the different kinds of combos you can do with those three different versions of the gene.

VV x VV = 100% VV
VV x Vv = 50% VV, 50% Vv
VV x vv = 100% Vv
Vv x Vv = 25% VV, 50% Vv, 25% vv
Vv x vv = 50% Vv, 50% vv
vv x vv = 100% vv

When I first started my BEW breeding project, I got a BEW buck (vv) and a Blue Doe (VV). The resulting litter consisted of 4 Black Otters, all of them Vienna Carriers (Vv).

I then retained a Black Otter doe (Silent Spring's Jinger) and upon reaching breeding age she was bred back to her BEW sire. That would be a Vv x vv breeding. The expected outcome would have been 50% BEW and 50% VC/VM offspring. The actual litter was three BEWs and one Black VC. Luck was on my side that time! But each one is the luck of the dice, I could repeat the breeding and end up with an all BEW litter, or a litter of just VC/VM's.

The next step in my breeding program would be to keep a BEW baby and repeat the whole process over again. I know, it's a very slow process! That's why someone who breeds BEWs needs to know what they're doing or if they're planning on breeding them on a larger scale, be prepared to have lots of extra holes for unshowable Vv offspring.

- Michael

Unbearable Temperatures

So far this week every single day has been triple digit heat! I like summer because I don't have school, but I hate having to take care of the rabbits! Thank goodness they only get sunlight in the morning hours, and not during the hottest part of the day. The misters have been doing a great job, much better than at my old house. I've also been going out there several times a day wetting their ears. Since rabbits don't sweat, they have to rely on other means to cool off. If you wet their ears or rub ice on them, it will cool the blood in the veins and be transported to the rest of the body. The effect will be a cooler bunny.

Today was pretty uneventful, I went to the Votaw's home and went through their extremely adorable Mini Lop babies! The litter was very consistant and nice! I picked one out for Jennifer that is super cute, I've nicknamed her 'Gizzard'. I also registered a few of their bunnies for them and then headed home.

Nothing much happening for the rest of the week, except for the Fourth of July! Jennifer is coming up on Friday to pick up Jim Bob, Michelle, Joy-Anna, Hope, and 'Gizzard'. I've also got to drop off Cody to Kara to go up to Emily in Sacramento. It's going to be a relief not to have to deal with some many bunnies anymore with this heat.

Jinger's litter is my last litter until I resume breeding in the fall. Hopefully by then I'll have a nice new buck to breed my does to. :) More on that later though.

- Michael

New Litters!

Today we had our first Jersey Wooly litter of the year (our last litter was the very end of last year) so I am extremely excited! Jinger had four, three blue eyed whites and one black VC! She is doing a great job for a first timer, she pulled plenty of fur and had them all in the box. I've often thought that mothering abilities run in the line....Pudge, Jinger's dam, was also an extremely successful mother. We can't wait to watch these babies grow! Our first BEW's!

In Mini Lop news, I am having a major herd reduction. Most are already spoken for, but I have a few nice bucks available. Sidney's litter is maturing nicely, there are four does and two bucks. I'm keeping my eyes on the chestnuts and the broken chinchilla. The broken chestnut was the runt and is probably just going to be a pet, which should suit him well. He's extremely sociable!

I am also slowly moving to a new domain name, due to geocities closing. My new address on the website is

http://www.silentspringsrabbitry.com/

Please update your bookmarks! It's a mess right now, but give me a few weeks and it'll look much better! :)

- Michael

Newest news...haha.

The Bakersfield Show on 4/18 was very fun. I got BOB in both shows with Sidney and BOSB in one of the shows with Jim Bob. That was Sidney's 7th and 8th legs and Bob's 4th leg! (: Very proud of them. The show was well run and I look forward to attending again next year. My very first show was a Bakersfield Show....but I'll save that for another blog. It was a good day, one that sparked the rabbit bug in me.
I've also had a few litters these past few weeks. Hope has a litter of 3 - 2 steels, 1 chestnut. All bucks. The father is Gus. I really like one of the steels, it may replace the sire and dam in my breeding program. Time will tell.
Faith also had a litter 2 1/2 weeks ago, another litter of three. She has one broken smoke pearl, one broken blue, and one smoke pearl. The sire is a white buck, DeSurra's Morgan, that our friend Kate and Heidi of MGM let us borrow. The babies are adorable, my favorite is the smoke pearl, which is probably a buck. Bucks are good though, I need some new ones!
I currently have just one Convention breeding. I bred Sidney to Sundance. Hopefully the results will be nice. She is due later this month. She palpates positive, so I'm crossing fingers! Sundance normally meshes well with any doe he is bred with.
I will be updated my website soon - I have several animals I must post for sale since I will be reducing my herd for the summer more than usual.....

Michael

SLO Show

San Luis Obispo was really fun! I was the registrar, so that was fun. I brought 4 juniors to sell and sold 3 of them! Now I only have a few left for sale.

Show A was judged by Doug King. Kaitlyn Dueck won BOB with a SJB and a BSD won BOSB, but I don't know the owner. I won the SSB class with Ryan, even with his sunburnt coat lol.

Armando Cabrera judged Show B. I won BOB with a Sidney, a BSD, and BOSB with Jim BOB, a SJB. I also won BOSV with Faith, a SSD. :) She was two weeks pregnant to top it off! They gave out really pretty rosettes for BOSB and medallions for BOB!

Hope is due any day know and she looks fit to burst! She is bred to Gus. :)

I also updated my website today - check it out!

Michael

My Keepers!

Well, I am pretty sure I'm made a good first cut from my three litters, totaling 17 babies. Of course, I'm sure as they mature I'll cull out another one or two, but at the moment all of them are very promising and I've very excited to show them soon!

From Truffle's litter of 3, I am holding back a Broken Opal Doe who I have named Joy-Anna. She has a massive head of her dam, with a very deep, typey body of her sire. Her ears are a little long to balance right now, but they have good texture. She's also got a really pretty pattern, very spotty. :-)

Out of Sidney's litter of 8, I was going to let 4 mature out but I have decided to cull one so I'm down to 3. That group consists of a Broken Steel Buck (Jedidah), a Chestnut Doe (Jana), and a Steel Doe (Jessa). All of them are very similar have have amazing coats. Jessa is my current favorite of the moment, she's very cute.

Finally, I have managed to cull through all of Silver's babies and have decided to let the Opal Doe (Jamie) grow out. I was contemplating letting a chestnut doe mature as well, but I thought it was obvious that Jamie is the best of the litter. I am excited to breed her back to her grandsire, Sundance! :)

I will try to get pictures soon, as time allows. ;).

Michael

Wow, I suck at updating.

Didn't I tell you guys I was going to be busy? I haven't had the chance to blog in a long time! Now I'm in the last quarter for school, so that's exciting. I only have one realy goal, and that's to bring up my Chemistry grade and keep the rest of my grades. I'm pretty content. I just took the SATs but I have a feeling I'll have to retake them. Blehhhh.

Anyways, the bunnies are all great! I bred Hope the other day and need to breed Faith asap. I will be attending Hanford and San Luis Obispo, so if you're going definitely let me know. I feel so 'out of it' where the showing world is concerned, I've been a hermit lately.

Anyway, just wanted to let everyone know I am still alive. . . . . ;)

Michael

Babies, babies, babies!

In addition to the three does currently on litters, Silver kindled to a litter of six a few days ago :) All are agoutis, mostly chesnuts with a few opals! The sire is Cody, so I'm really excited for this cross since his last kits were very nice.

Pudge will be leaving in a few days to go back with her original breeder, Amber of Wonder Woolies Rabbitry. She will be missed, but I'm glad to know that Amber will take great care of her :)

Speaking of Pudge, her kits are looking very promising. She has a CUTE buck, along with several nice does. The buck is spoken for to a local youth, I will be keeping two does, and the other two does are pending to Mary. I don't know which doe I want to keep. The VM and the bigger VC are both really nice. I'm going to get some second opinions at a show before I decide.

I won't be able to blog very frequently from now on, since I really have to get ready for my SAT and studying for my AP Exams. Ack!

Michael

Pictures of babies

Truffle's Babies

Sidney's Babies

Michael

Sidney has babies!

On 1.22.09 Sidney finally gave us a litter! She had EIGHT! 4 brokens and 4 solids :) We couldn't be happier!

In other news, I did a big update of the website a few days go. Mostly making the pictures smaller (I didn't realize how large they were! My bad.) and updating the litters page. We also put pictures up of our Wooly babies who are in the cute stage right now. Check it out if you get a chance.

Michael

A very welcomed surprise :)

This weekend I had Truffle out and noticed that she looked especially large. She had palpated negative when I palpated her last week and I didn't think I felt anything but sure enough I did feel some babies when I checked. I put a nestbox in there during the weekend and this morning I had seen she was pulling fur. When I got back from school and check on her and was happy to see that she had 5 babies, two of which were DOA. There are now 1 solid (blue chin/opal) and two brokens (one chesnut/one opal). I am very excited for these brokens! Also, these are my first living Ryan babies. He had a litter born in October but the doe didn't have them in the box. Just thought I'd share my excitement :)

Michael

Baby Happenings at Silent Springs.

Okay, here's a list of current babies and breedings of Silent Springs Rabbitry!

12/08 - Silver kindled to two kits by Sundance Kid. One chesnut (buck) and one chinchilla (buck). The chinchilla is sale pending to Randee and family and will be leaving once he is old enough!

12/29 - Pudge kindled to four kits by Casey. 3 Black Otter VC's (two bucks, one doe) and 1 Black Otter VM (doe). I will have my eye on the VC doe, if she is nice enough I'd like to hold her back for my BEW project.

Sidney X Sundance Kid is nesting as we speak! I am really excited, since Sidney's last litter in October froze on the wire. This time she's in the garage though and has already made a nice nest. Hopefully a litter in the next few days!

Silver X Cody has palpated positive. I am hoping for some opals/blue chins in BROKEN. I've had too many solids lately. :p

Faith X Ryan is probably not pregnant. I'll need to double check in a few days and you know how first timer's like to tense up and make it hard to palpate. ;).

Well, that's it! I hope everyone had a Happy New Year!

Michael
Silent Springs Rabbitry
http://www.geocities.com/silentspringsrabbitry07/