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