New Rabbits!

Wednesday my dad and I made the 5 hour drive to Lloyd's. I told my dad that I did not want anymore than 8 rabbits a week beforehand... The day before, i said defiently no more than 10... I came home with 12... I do not have pedigrees quite yet, so I only have very limited info on them all. I got 9 Blacks, which it wasn't until after picking them all out, I found out they were all his pure Blacks. I got two nice bucks. I'm very excited to be breeding TC into my rabbits. This bucks has an awesome head! Lloyd only had a handful of bucks throughout the years that he considers his greatest, and this buck is one of them. At least 4 of the does I got are daughters of his. I believe he said that TC's sire is Britton's Barry, who was a nice animal, with a Best in Show win.
I also got a young buck, who looks around 5 months old, that is nice too.
All seven of the does are very nice. Five of them have not been bred before, and a few are only 5 months old. I was looking for type only, disregarding the markings, so there are a few not so pleasant marked ones in there. My favorite doe for type is probably my split stop doe. Some of these does go back to Bazooka, and one of them is even out of Johnston's Lucky (a nice buck I got from Don & Carol when they sold out, that Lloyd borrowed).
I also got two Blue does, both are very nice.
Then I got something I did not plan on, and no she's not staying... a Steel doe. What's left of Lloyd's rabbits are going to a meat lady next week, and she was just too gorgeous to send to that. She has a huge buck head, and gorgeous type. I'm tempted to keep her, and do Steels again (probably my fave color after Blacks), but I like keeping my rabbitry small. Jan is going to take a look at her tomorrow at the show, and she will most likely go there.
So since I took more rabbits than planned, I really need to make some cuts... I just do not want to part with anyone though... Luckily I have the cage space, it's just me wanting to keep the herd down to a small easy to care for number (believe it or not, I still have several empty cages).
Currently DDLB a Black 6 month old buck, with one leg for a BOSV and DDAF a Black 4 month old doe with one leg for a BOB are both for sale.
Tomorrow is going to be a very busy day. I'm secretary of the two Dutch specialties, and will be judging in the all breed benefit show. Nicole and I also have to go through Arson x Rainy litter sometime during the day (which are really super already!).
Not expecting much for any of the rabbits. With the heat, everyone has blown their coats. The worst is probably Arson... He has no coat right now.
Litter wise, Desperado x Piper have a gorgeous litter! They'll be 8 weeks on Monday, but I have a gorgeous typed and marked little Black buck. Also have a nicely marked Black doe and Blue doe. They're both a bit on the runty side, but show promising type.

Heat Wave

Hope everyone here in the northwest is doing alright with all this heat. Yesterday it hit 105 degrees here! I had to dunk all the rabbits, which helped them some. Have fans going, and the freezer is working overtime freezing water bottles. We have AC in the house, which if anyone is really suffering, I can bring them in. I'm trying to avoid this, as it'll be hard to get them back outside in this heat after adapting to the house.
I had three litters born at the end of last week, all of which I've taken all the fur out of their boxes, so they don't overheat.
The litters born last week are:
Rodeo x Cover Girl
Desperado x Sasha
Rodeo x Ladybug

A week from Saturday is the Clusters of Specialties. I'm secretaring the two Dutch specialties. In conjunction, there will be an all breed show this year, which is a benefit show for judge Kevin. He fell and hurt his back last month, and has been having quite a few complications due to this. My dad is working on several projects to put in the raffle, including one of the fancy grooming tables, and two gardener tool boxes. I think he has a few other things he's putting in too...
I'll be entering 7 Dutch in the shows. Then Nicole and I will have 5 Silver Martens entered.
My dad and I will be making a trip to Eastern Washington, to Lloyd's place, sometime next week. Lloyd is selling out of rabbits, due to health problems. I'll be picking up several new rabbits, including a pair or trio of his pure Blacks (only produce Black, no matter what they're bred to-- Zoe is one).
Hope everyone stays cool in the meantime. It's suppose to be 99 degrees today....

Bella

The newest member of my family just joined us this last Monday.... Bella. She is a Doberman Pinscher, who we suspect is a gladiator, because of her long limbs and body (what Harley was). She's very slim, and has floppy ears. She's close to two years old. She will only be with us for a year though, as I'm only babysitting her, as her owner leaves for Iraq next month. It'll be hard to give her up, but it's for the best, as it solved some stuff for me. She already fits in great with our family, and is a sweetheart. She loves to play outside (we have a very large backyard). She's very curious about Callie, my mom's cat, and all the rabbits. She's a very quick learner, and already knows to not go in the rabbit buildings without me (a few of the rabbits have forgotten about dogs...).

Another big win!

Nicole and I had a great day with the Silver Martens last Saturday! Arson won BOB both shows, and in show B he won RESERVE IN SHOW! Jake was the judge. He is now up to 9 legs.

Maddy was BOS in the first show, and went on to win Best of the Best Opposites! Floyd was the judge. Not sure yet if there were enough does for a leg, but I don't think there were...

The Dutch did really well in show A. My Black jr doe was BOB, with her brother, a Blue jr buck being BOS. Both get their first leg. Show B, I had BOV and BOSV Black, however there were only two breeders, so no leg. Jan was BOB with her awesome little Blue jr doe, and Jean was BOS with her Tort buck.
I didn't plan on it, but end up selling the Blue buck who was BOS. I had a breeder who really wanted a Blue buck.
I do have a Black junior buck for sale. He has one leg, for a BOSV at state. He's a near perfectly marked Dutch, gorgeous head and head markings. He's just weak in the shoulders, pinched, and lacking width. He has good depth though.

Upcoming Litters

Current litters:
Born June 15-
Desperado x Piper- 7, both Blacks and Blues
Stryker x Zoe- 1 Black mismark

Born June 19-
Silver Streak's Arson x Silver Streak's Rainy (the Martens)- 3 Blacks, 3 Blues


Upcoming Litters:
Due July 23-
Desperado x Revlon
Bazooka x Ariel

Due July 24-
Rodeo x Cover Girl
Desperado x Sasha

Due July 25-
Rodeo x Ladybug

Due August 14-
Stryker x Jill's Wild Blue Venus
Stryker x Trelawn Ruby D
Bazooka x Pipsqueak


Hopefully I get a few really good show rabbits out of all these litters!
This Saturday is the Monroe show. Found out last night that there are only 19 Dutch entered.... 8 of them are mine.... Am also taking two of the Silver Martens, Arson and Maddy.

Washington State Convention

Last weekend was state convention, which was a lot of fun. I went with 17 rabbits, and came home with only 11. It's nice having a lot of empty cages! Here's some of my results:

Saturday Results:
Judge Scott Williamson
DDLB (Black Jr Buck)- BOSV, 1st of 8
DDAE (Black Jr Buck)- 3rd of 8
Pipsqueak (Blue Sr Doe)- 1st of 4

Sunday Results:
Judge Connal Addison
DDLB (Black Jr Buck)- 2nd of 8
DDAE (Black Jr Buck)- 3rd of 8
DDSE (Black Sr Doe)- 2nd of ?
Pipsqueak (Blue Sr Doe)- 1st of 4
Paisley (Blue Jr Doe)- 2nd of 6 (to the Best of Breed rabbit-- judge went back and forth between them!)

Big congrats to Jan on her Best of Breed, and Reserve in Show both days with a gorgeous little Blue jr doe! She said the grandma is a doe she had gotten from me. She also had a gorgeous little Blue jr buck from the same litter as the doe that did well for her. Jean was Best Opposite Sex both days, with two different Tort bucks.
For the Silver Martens, Maddy was Best of Breed both days. Arson was Best Opposite Sex on Saturday. Maryann was BOS on Sunday with a Black buck.
I do not have any show rabbits for sale right now, however do have some pet quality rabbits available. Come this fall, I should have more breeding stock for sale.
Next show is in three weeks in Monroe.

For Sale

Keep meaning to put up some for sale rabbits, but things have been really busy here lately. Here's my current for sale list:

DDPF a 4 1/2 month old Black buck. Really nicely typed rabbit, he just has a few marking flaws. I'd like his saddle to be a bit straighter, and he has a small drag off the back of his neck. He has a super sweet personality! Always insists on attention at feeding time. He's out of Revolver (RGC/4 legs) and Piper (RGC/3 legs).

DDAG a 3 month old Black doe. She's nicely marked, just a bit small, and hasn't really developed for type yet. She's out of Desperado (RGC/7 legs) and Sasha (RGC/3 legs). I don't have a picture of her yet, but can take one if requested.

DDCB a 4 1/2 month old Blue doe. A really nice doe, super type, and really nice markings, other than her stops, which are really long. Stops are a marking that I'm picky on, but everything else on her is really super. She's already been to one show, and got excellent comments. I just have another Blue doe the same age that I like better. She's out of Rodeo (Reg/2 legs) and Cover Girl (Reg/1 leg).

All three will be with me at State Convention this weekend. I'll be showing nine Dutch, all of which are juniors except two. Nicole and I are showing three Silver Martens. I was going to post pics of my upcoming juniors, but when I try to make the pics smaller, it changes the look of the pic, and makes them all flat, even though they are not.

Venus and Ruby D both have litters that are at weaning age right now. Piper and Zoe just had litters last week. Rainy the Silver Marten had a litter of seven (4 Blue, and 3 Black) to Arson, our recent BIS winner.

Over the next couple of days I'll be breeding several does. Desperado is leaving this weekend, so he'll be bred to several does. Him and Sushi are going to go live in Vancouver. Maybelline and Aurora will be going to live in Ellensburg.