In Loving Memory...

Roxy Roo

January 1, 2003- May 12, 2009

http://www.geocities.com/doubledutch84/petsroxy.html

This has been a very hard week. Tuesday night, Roxy my rabbitry helper and sidekick had to be put down. Sunday evening she had gotten into the garbage when no one was home and ate stuff that she shouldn't have. Some of it got stuck in her lower intestine, which could only be removed with surgery. Roxy was my constant companion, and always by my side. I'm use to whenever I'm home, her following me everywhere. Feeding the rabbits is not the same without her constantly under foot. She will be missed...

Double Dutch's Frankie
March 17, 2001- May 15, 2009

To top things off Friday morning I discovered Frankie had passed away. Frankie passing away feels like the end of an era to my rabbitry. He goes back really close to the beginning of my line. His sire is Silver, my first Best in Show winner and his dam is Trelawn Sisqo. His grandfather is Coffelt's Scout, my first Best of Breed winner (and one of my very first Dutch!) and his grandmother is Dominque who was my first homebred Grand Champion and first homebred Best of Breed winner. Dominque then was out of Brak's Naomi (RGC/9 legs) and Brak's Lupo (RGC) from Donna Brak, who I consider the start of Double Dutch Rabbitry, all the way back in 1994. I credit both Donna and Jan Coffelt as the two who gave me my start in the breed, and Lloyd Gregg (Trelawn), whose always helped me out along the way to make it what it is. To see more pics of him, and his impact to my line, his page on my site is: http://www.geocities.com/doubledutchinfo/mrbluebuckfrankie.html

BEST IN SHOW!!!!!!!!

So this has been a really bad week (more on that in an upcoming blog), so it's nice to have something good happen! Nicole took the Martens down to Canby, OR with her today. In show A, with Julie judging Arson finally won his first Best of Breed! With BOS going to Maddy for her third granding leg. BIS judging was done by Jeff (a former top Silver Marten breeder here in WA) and Karen. Arson won Reserve in Show!

Show B was judged by Jennifer from CA. Arson was once again Best of Breed for his 6th leg. BOS went to Larry and Sharon. Best in show judging was done by Jennifer and Mike, and Arson went on to win BEST IN SHOW!!!!! Nicole said that they barely even looked at him, so she thought he was out of the running. When they announced it, they said that it was an easy choice for them.

We're just now hoping he can hold his coat for state next month!

Monroe Show & For Sale

Was just trying to update my website's for sale page and had it all ready to save, however it will not let me save the page, and now geocities is not working... Figured I'd post my Monroe results and current for sale list here in the meantime. Other than the for sale page, my website is not going to be getting many updates for a bit, as geocities has decided to close all their free sites at the end of the year. This means moving my whole site to a new provider... I'm probably going to upgrade my current site to a paid domain, but until this is done, I'm not going to be doing anymore work to it.
The Monroe show was last week. I only showed 6 Dutch, but was happy with my results. Pipsqueak was Best Opposite Sex in the first show for her third granding leg. She lost to Jean's Black buck. Show B, Pips was Best of Breed for her fourth leg! BOS went to Jean. No one else had results worth mentioning, other than my little Blue jr doe out of Cover Girl x Rodeo. She was 1st of 2 both shows, losing to Pips, however she got really promising comments from both judges. Jake says she's going to be hot! Kevin said that she should be great for state convention next month. She a very nicely typed doe, the only thing I do not like on her are her super long stops.
For the Silver Martens, Arson was Best Opposite Sex both shows for his third and fourth legs, and is now a Grand Champion. BOB both shows was Sharon & Larry with their Black doe.
Nicole will be taking the three Martens to the Canby show this weekend. Hopefully Arson can get over this BOS slump (has only gone to four shows, and has won BOS at each one) and go for Best of Breed!

Current for sale animals are (for pics go to: http://www.geocities.com/doubledutch84/dutstock.html):

Double Dutch's Desperado
Black Sr Buck
Born 12/5/06
Herd Buck
Registered Grand Champion 7 legs (BOB of 104, BOS of 55)
Sire- Double Dutch's Bentley (Blue, RGC/6 legs)
Dam- Double Dutch's Zoe (Black, RGC/3 legs)
He is a herd buck, and has produced RGC's. Has excellent markings, and a gorgeous head. Has good width, I'd just like a bit more depth to him. Is the sire of Belle Starr (RGC/4 legs) and grandfather of Pipsqueak (RGC/4 legs).

Double Dutch's Sushi
Black Sr Doe
Born 5/29/07
Proven Brood Doe
Registered Grand Champion 3 legs
Sire- Double Dutch's Bazooka (Blue, Reg/3 jr legs)
Dam- Double Dutch's Sage (Black, RGC/5 legs)
An excellent mom, I'm just cutting down on my brood does. Is a nicely typed doe.

Double Dutch's Aurora
Black Sr Doe
Born 1/27/08
Proven Brood Doe
Registered
Sire- Double Dutch's Bentley (Blue, RGC/6 legs)
Dam- Double Dutch's Sushi (Black, RGC/3 legs)
An excellent mom, I'm just cutting down on my brood does. Has really good hindquarters, just a bit long in the shoulders.

Double Dutch's Maybelline
Blue Sr Doe
Born 1/27/08
Proven Brood Doe
Registered
Sire- Double Dutch's Bentley (Blue, RGC/6 legs)
Dam- Double Dutch's Sushi (Black, RGC/3 legs)
An excellent mom, I'm just cutting down on my brood does. Nicely typed, could just use a bit more depth.

A Visitor...

So for the last month, my rabbitry has been getting a visitor.... Someone's pet rabbit that must have gotten loose (or was set free...). He's a chestnut colored crossbreed, with a white stripe down his nose, so he either has Dutch or the vienna gene behind him. The little mooch has been enjoying the feed that drops on the ground, and all the hay under my hanging cages. He's also made several borrows under my hanging cages. He's even accidently gotten locked in with my rabbits over night a few times, as he hides behind the cages till we're gone. He's also been driving my dog, Roxy, crazy, who keeps trying to let me know that there is a rabbit loose.
Today, while I was feeding, I saw him hop into one of my buildings to escape the snow (yes, it's April, and it was snowing here today...). I quickly shut both doors, and got a flashlight. Took me a bit of manuvering, however I managed to catch him! Since he's been on his own for the last month and really wild now (has been chased numerous times by Roxy), my dad took him not far from our home, and set him loose in the woods.

ERBA Show

The ERBA show in Yelm was last Saturday. Other than it being freezing cold, it went well (took forever to unfreeze from it!). My rabbits did a lot better than I was expecting! I was not expecting anything with the Dutch, and only took four of them, but was very happy with their results.

Rodeo (Black Sr Buck)- 1 of 2 both shows
DDSC (Black Jr Doe)- BOSV of 3 both shows
Ariel (Blue Sr Doe)- Not sure what she placed in show A, I think she was third, but in show B, she was Best of Breed for her third granding leg!
Pipsqueak (Blue Sr Doe)- my biggest surprise of the day, in show A she was Best Opposite Sex (second leg), and show B was 2nd to Ariel. Not bad for a doe who was just skin and bones two months ago!

Then the Silver Martens also did very well, which Nicole and I have three really nice ones coming up.

Arson (Black Jr Buck)- Best Opposite Sex both show for his first two legs
Maddy (Black Sr doe)- I think she was 1st of 2 in the first show... Show B she was Best of Breed for her second leg!
Flame (Blue Jr doe)- Not sure how she did... I think she might have been second both shows.

For only taking 7 rabbits, not bad getting 2 BOB's, and 3 BOS's! Since this was the 60th anniversary show for the ERBA, they had cool prizes. BOB got glass beer steins, and BOS got glasses.
I judged the youth show during show A (and partly into show B), so saw several breeds. BIS went to a gorgeous White Mini Rex (not sure of the owner's name), with RIS being a really nice Black Polish of Jessica's (Jan's grand daughter). Show B, I judged a bunch of smaller breeds. I was extremely impressed with the Florida Whites that I judged, and it was really cool to see the one I picked go on to get BIS in show B, owned by Maryann. RIS show B went to the Silver that I also judged, which was also really nice. It was owned by Patsy.

Baby wise, I have four litters due on March 23rd, they are:
Stryker x Jill's Wild Blue Venus
Rodeo x Revlon
Desperado x Sasha
Bazooka x Zoe

Current litters are doing well. Looks like there are some nice show prospects for state convention :)
Next show isn't until May 2nd, the NWRB, which I'm judging at. The next day there will be a Dutch specialty. After debating over it for quite awhile, my dad and I decided to skip the Yakima show, including the specialty the next day.
I know it's been awhile since I've updated my website (so much easier to just update this). An update should be coming hopefully in the next week.

Baby Explosion!

With all the recent problems here, I was afraid that none of my does would take. I'm happy to say of my 8 does that were due this last Friday, 6 of them took! These are going to be my older juniors for State Convention (will be almost 5 months old at the time). There are several nicely marked rabbits, so hopefully I have a few big winners! The litters are:

Born on 2/5/09
Sasha x Desperado- 2 Blacks, 2 Blues
Ladybug x Stryker- 4 Blacks, 1 Blue
Piper x Revolver- 3 Blacks, 5 Blues

Born on 2/6/09
Maybelline x Stryker- 7 Blues
Cover Girl x Rodeo- 2 Blacks, 3 Blues

Then Zoe had 3 Blacks, however they all dead. Sushi and Aurora are both due in a couple of weeks. Hopefully come May, I'll be able to get my show Dutch numbers up. Hope everyone else's nestboxes are full!

Updates

It's been awhile since I've updated this. Things have been busy here. Reading my last blog, quite a bit has happened since then.
Starting with bad news, sadly, Bentley is gone. This is a big set back for my rabbitry, as he was my best herd buck, being the sire of Stryker (RGC/20 legs, 3 BIS), Brody (RGC/9 legs, 1 RIS), Ladybug (RGC/6 legs, 1 RIS), Desperado (RGC/7 legs), Ricochet (RGC/5 legs), Sophie (RGC/5 legs), Shadow (RGC/5 legs), Blue (RGC/4 legs), Spice (RGC/3 legs), etc. A couple of his more noteable grandchildren are Vixen (RGC/12 legs, 1 BIS, 3 RIS) and Rimfire (RGC/14 legs, 1 RIS).

He'll be remembered in his numourous offspring that he has here in the NW (and a few over in New Jersey) for my rabbitry and many others.

For more on Bentley, his page on my website is: http://www.geocities.com/doubledutchinfo/mrbluebuckbentley.html

For the feed problem, after switching feeds, and letting the effects of the other one wear off, my rabbits have not had any problems. I did lose three Silver Martens recently, a week after they came to live here, however they were on the brand that I had problems with up until they came here.

Purina labs have confirmed that it was indeed pig food mixed in. As this was one of their lesser used brands, I do not know many people who use it, only two others. One of which lost 9 rabbits at the same time as me. After I started losing rabbits, I was told of a breeder who lost over 100 rabbits last summer on this brand. One of Purina's other brands had issues with chicken food mixed in it, which it was said that there was a hole in one of their mills. Not sure if this is the same reason for the pig food or not... However to be on the safe side, I will be sticking with a different brand. I did really love the brand that I had problems with. I've used it for 8 years, and always had great condition on my rabbits, and the rabbits loved it too.

Everyone else is doing well. Pipsqueak is back outside, and starting to fill in quite a bit. She looks like she might be able to go to the Yelm show in March.

I had stopped breeding for awhile with all the feed issues going on, so will not have anything to show for awhile. I finally just got back to breeding all the rabbits. The following does are bred:

Due February 6th:

Zoe x Stryker

Jill's Wild Blue Venus x Bazooka

Ladybug x Stryker

Sasha x Desperado

Maybelline x Stryker

Cover Girl x Rodeo

Revlon x Revolver

Piper x Revolver

Due February 20th:

Sushi x Bazooka

Aurora x Stryker

My only litter right now is about 4-5 weeks old out of Trelawn Ruby D x Bentley. There are only two, and both are showable. I have a nice looking little Black buck, other than being close to having tied elbow (doesn't quite touch) and a little Blue doe with a narrow blaze. I will be keeping both, since they're the last Bentley babies. When I rebreed Ruby, she'll be bred back to her sire Bazooka most likely.

I do not currently have anything for sale, because of the lack of litters. I sold my last two for sale rabbits a few weeks ago.