AT Home Pets

Pedigrees and programs to make them

2012-01-28T04:28:00.000-08:00

There's the old stand by of doing them by hand.

Do you know what a pain that is?   and reading the writing of some folks is a bit of a challenge!

There are free ones : sit/stay has one.   Each pedigree has to be manually entered but you can email it to yourself. Useful only if you have a few rabbits that you need pedigrees for OR are waiting to get a paid system and don't want to handwrite out a litter as you can print off more than one copy of a given pedigree.

and there are ones that you can purchase

Kintraks is what I use. LOVE this program. It's affordable. Does what I want it to. The owner is quick to respond.   It changes and grows. ONE program handles all my livestock needs. I have it for rabbits and guinea pigs and if I wanted to add cattle, sheep, goats, spiders and what have you I could do that!   All for one measly $20!   It has on-line storage and such like as well.

Global Pedigree. This is a new program to me. I haven't really looked at it a whole lot.

Breeders's assistant. Tried it, was unimpressed. Removed it from the computer since it was a pain to work with.   I know other breeders love it though so.. depends on your needs.   It may have changed in the last four years though.

Evans. This one is highly popular among the rabbit folk.   Too pricey for my blood though.   A lot of people swear by it though.   Has a genetics component for extra dollars as well.

Cunitec. I actually have this on my computer.   I can't recall what my thoughts were on it. I just love kintraks though so I haven't really needed to use it. :)

So am I missing any?   If so let me know please.

Okay are some that I found that I know nothing about

the breeders program. seems oriented to cats. dogs. horses.
various genealogy apps work as well. :)

Rambling on a bit

2012-01-27T19:37:00.000-08:00

So tonight I had a couple people in who wanted to buy a bunny. A gal came with a friend. I thought she was coming for one, but she came for two.

She had a bunny that died recently from ovarian cancer. I learned that this rabbit had been spayed, but it still got ovarian cancer. It seems there are a couple of ways to do surgery... one that is risky but more complete, and one that is less risky but leaves a wee bit of tissue behind. THAT tissue can get hormonal and grow into cancer. Weird huh?

So sad for the gal though as she'd gotten her spayed in order to avoid some of that rotten disease.

Anyways it was kinda cute.

I had the four young boy bunnies out on the floor. Guarding them from the cats.

This young fellow was being a real charmer. He kept hopping up into the lap of the young man. He was son into him, it was really fun to see. BUT that young charmer didn't go home with them. He reminded the gal too much of the doe that she lost. As well as the face that the gal really liked the look of the broken black boy, and then the broken orange was such a laid back baby that it ended up going along with. Two brothers, but quite different in their personalities.

This lad a quite laid back kit for the most part.

This lad into EVERYTHING in life. Busy busy busy.

Anyways, it's always nice letting bunnies go into homes that are experienced with raising rabbits. And being able to chat bunnies with people. Always a good thing.

Blossom - kindles, January 27, 2012

2012-01-27T07:03:00.000-08:00

Blossom gave me seven kits this morning.

She made a lovely nest and the babies are big and they are warm.

nice to see that she did a good job.

dad is Shade.

Breed is Harlequin.

Meggie - December 7, 2011, litter pics

2012-01-23T20:30:00.000-08:00

Female, pending MC

Female, private sale

Male, pet store sale

Female, private sale

Probable female - pending private sale

Male - pending private sale

Minx's Kits - December 18, 2011 - girls

2012-01-23T19:52:00.000-08:00

here are her girls

gold tipped steel - black

solid black

Broken black

Broken Orange

Minx's Kits - December 18, 2011 - boys

2012-01-23T19:45:00.000-08:00

Eight kits in this litter, four boys, four girls

the boys

broken orange

Broken black private sale

Broken fawn - sold

Three Temporary Residents

2012-01-21T08:21:00.000-08:00

Peter: a mixed breed meat mutt. My guess is New Zealand crossed with something as that's a fairly common mix. he's a big enough boy.. 8 lbs.

Marco - booted Chocolate Mini rex Buck. Awaiting a pedigree on this lad.

Kayvin - Flemish Giant buck. This lad is apparently about 8 months old and is proven. I'm hopefully going to use him with Biscuit. I don't have a picture of him yet.

All will be for sale. I have a minimum price in mind, so if you are interested contact me for details.

Shar - Kindles, January 21, 2012

2012-01-21T08:14:00.000-08:00

eight kits born to Shar, She's a harlequin doe. I was wondering if something wasn't quite right with her kindling as it was taking a fair bit of time. When I checked after breakfast she'd had eight kits, one was born DOA (it was a larger than average kit).

Some of the kits look to be well marked. hopefully this litter will do better than her first litter.

Dad is Shade.

Betty - kindles, January 16, 2012

2012-01-16T07:16:00.001-08:00

One stuck kit.

Dead on arrival.

sadness.

that's all I can say.

Dusty - Kindles, January 15, 2012

2012-01-15T18:05:00.000-08:00

Dusty came into the house yesterday, gave me four kits this afternoon. Three alive, all look to be brokens. One teeny tiny kit born DOA.

YIPPEE!!!! I have wee polish babies! :)

dad is popper.

Kylee - January 14, 2012

2012-01-14T06:52:00.000-08:00

five kits, found them all dead.

One looks to have been stomped, another was big and looked to have been pulled out via teeth.
The poor nest building skills made for the three remaining to be scattered.

Disappointing to say the least.

A Switch

2012-01-12T10:15:00.001-08:00

Due to homeschooling needs I've made a bit of a switch in how I feed the rabbits.

I used to give them their hay/apple branch/hay cube (in rotation) in the mornings, and a small treat at night.

NOW I will be only giving them their pellets in the mornings, all treats/extras will be given in the evenings. This saves me about 1/2 hr in the morning which I can easily do at night since I'm out there anyways.

Biscuit is unimpressed with the change...she rather dislikes it.... and Bandit was doing this? BUT BUT BUT>>> don't I get hay today??? look at me this morning.

They will adjust. :)

Biscuit - November 27, 2011 litter pics

2012-01-12T08:36:00.000-08:00

the girls

the boys

Bella - January 7, 2012 kindles

2012-01-10T20:09:00.000-08:00

Bella had five kits.

She's such a sweet gal she let me poke in around her to steal one to give to Nicky before she was done and she didn't care.

She had five kits... three chestnuts, one chin/blue?, one harlequn/mapgie.. not sure yet on all the colours.

Dad is AeroBar.

Nicky - Kindles, January 7, 2012

2012-01-10T20:07:00.000-08:00

three kits, one doa.

Two chocolate kits, fostering one from Bella so everyone stays nice and warm.

Rustic has proven himself a daddy. hopefully these kits will be nice ones. Time will tell.

The boys are weaned

2012-01-06T03:57:00.002-08:00

last night I rearranged some rabbits.

I took half of biscuit's litter away...all the boys.

They ranged in weight from 2 - 2.75 lbs. They should all start doing better now that they are out of the mob. :)

Makes it easier for Biscuit to get around as well. As soon as I can I'll be getting the girls away from her as well.

These are Biscuits boys.

Sadness

2012-01-06T03:57:00.001-08:00

The guinea pig babies I had worked hard on saving didn't make it through. :(

I had expected the small one to die as it simply didn't have a lot of 'oomph' to it. But the biggest one had been eating and pooping and being all guinea pig-ish so it was coming along nicely. So I was very sad and very disappointed to see that it didn't make it.

Total bummers.

Chattering a bit

2012-01-02T05:36:00.001-08:00

So looks like we finally have some snow again. :)
Nice to have snow, it helps to hold down the tarps over the winter.

Jets' pups are currently looking good. Both are female. hopefully they will continue to do well.

Biscuits' kits will soon to need to get out of the cage. 11 kits and one big momma make for a very crowded cage.

I'll be posting Janice's kits up on Kijiji soon. Not sure as there has been lots of interest expressed in them without posting them up. I have someone interested in purchasing the kit I was planning to hold back so I need to make a decision on that.

Jet - pups December 31, 2011

2011-12-31T20:19:00.000-08:00

four pups born. One honking huge one. two were DOA.

She died as a result.

Raising up two kits that survived birthing.

For a sow that was not supposed to be bred - and came as a rescue from folks "allergic" to her, this sow was bred before getting here as running with the boar would have had her due mid-January at the very earliest. This kind of stuff angers me.

Makes me wonder what she was bred with....

anyways, her two kits are looking good. Lively, warm since they are with a boar and a sow. Both will do good at teaching the pups what to eat. :)

Feeding them hay, pumpkin with mashed pellets, will get oatmeal in the mornings. We'll see how they go.

Rosa - Kindles, December 20, 2011

2011-12-21T04:05:00.000-08:00

After a protracted pre-birth event (starting the previous day at 8 p.m.) Rosa gave birth to two bouncing darkish kits at 4 p.m. December 20. Will be interesting to see what they turn out to be.

Fostered two lightly marked broken kits from Minx to her. This will help keep her own kits warm during this chilly weather.

I'm glad this small doe did fine with delivery, she was starting to get me worried with how long the birthing was going. The kits weren't all that large either. Hopefully next time things will go more smoothly for her.

Currently available Guinea pigs

2011-12-18T09:53:00.001-08:00

this one is from Splotch. He's an active, talkative young lad. Smooth coat.

These are two boys from Connie. They have a soft, silky feel to their coats. The white face one I often call Pixie because that's what he makes me think of when I look at his face. Both are like mom and are quieter pigs.

this is OB, nice young pig. Born this summer. Kept because of his colour.
Decent pig, good size to him. Has some wispy hairs on his backend, otherwise a normal smooth coat. Bossy with other adult pigs, is good with young pigs.

Slip - November 5, 2011 - litter pics

2011-12-18T09:45:00.000-08:00

Two boys and two girls in this mixed breed litter.
Slip is one of my favourite does. Bred her to a couple different holland lop bucks. Got a bit of a mixed bag for offspring. :)

the girls

the boys

Dusty - October 27, 2011 - litter pics

2011-12-18T09:42:00.001-08:00

Buck, solid black - SOLD

buck, solid black - SOLD

doe, solid black - SOLD private sale

Kylee - October 31 - litter pics

2011-12-18T09:39:00.000-08:00

Male, broken black - SOLD private sale

male, solid black - SOLD

Wendy - October 29, 2011 - kit pics

2011-12-18T09:29:00.001-08:00

this little girl went as a trade to an established breeder home for a wee polish girlie.

I had intended to keep this girl, but sold her instead as I can't keep everything. :)
she went to private sale

this boy remains for sale

this boy sold to private home

Minx - kindles December 18, 2011

2011-12-18T09:27:00.000-08:00

Minx, who didn't look preggers, or even act preggers other than making a tunnel in her nestbox, gave me a surprising 8 kits this morning.

All but two I suspect are broken. the one is a whitish in colour, the other is a dark kit.

Time will tell what they end up being.

Dad is Blaze.

New Bunnies

2011-12-18T09:22:00.000-08:00

So I heard from a rabbit friend that a rabbit lady was selling out some of her bunnies, so I contacted her.

I have four new polish in my herd and helped another rabbit breeder get a buck. :)

I have Jade, Popper, Magic and Tara.

Jade is chocolate, broodsize, proven doe.
Popper is a lovely broken black buck.
Magic is a nice black doe.
Tara is a broken blue doe that I don't really need, but can find a good use for. :) and will add more broken to my herd which I prefer.

Jade and Tara have had no issues adjusting to life in my herd. Magic and Popper have both needed some encouragement to believe that life here will be okay (I gave them some parsley and carrots and some probiotics to give them a kick start).

They come from Diane of Sunnyheights Rabbitry.

Betty has once again missed in breeding. She gets one more kick at the can before she heads off to a pet home. It's a crying shame as she is a lovely young doe, but keeping an non-productive doe simply doesn't work long term for me.

Shar - December 15, 2011

2011-12-18T09:21:00.000-08:00

five kits

Shar is dad.

all magpies as was expected. :) one kit is a fair bit smaller.

Shar is being a good first time mom, needed some encouragement to pull sufficient fur to keep the kits warm though.

Sold and bred

2011-12-08T16:00:00.000-08:00

Sold three kits today, a rescue doe, a harlequin doe and a new zealand/harlequin mix buck. Went to a lady out in Tavistock area who is wanting to start a colony of bunnies.

Then I bred Bella to Aero Bar and Nicky to Rustic.

I took pics of almost all my kits and some of my seniors, and hope to get them up on my new website tonight. I am still trying to sort out colours on two of Wendy's kits.

thanks all I got tonight. :) I'll probably post pics of kits up here tonight as well. Litter pics and all that. :)

Bunny Chat

2011-12-07T05:44:00.000-08:00

I was disappointed this morning to see that Nicky's litter was dead, but thrilled to see Meggie's. This is unfortunately the reality in raising bunnies is that sometimes things don't work the way you want them too.

I moved some kits around to make room. Violet and Vivian live together and are getting to the age where if things are going to go poorly they will, occasionally I see tuffs of fur but for the most part they are doing well. I am hopeful to live them together for a good spell yet, but now I have a cage available should I need it.

Rustic is proving to be a total little character. He's the new buck I got from Les.

I was given a sweet little ND buck the other day. He'll be looking for a home since I simply have no need for an ND buck. Very nicely tempered. He was desperate for a nail trim so that went well.

What else??? Went over to a friends the other day and helped her with the whole breeding her bunnies thing, offered a helping hand in other ways as well. We had a nice visit.

Meggie - December 7, 2011, kindles

2011-12-07T05:42:00.000-08:00

Miss Meggie kindled last night.

NINE kits. I would not have suspected this small doe had nine in her.
Three were unfortunately dead, but we have six thriving youngsters.

They look to be magpie or harlequin in colouring which is way cool.

Aero Bar is the daddy.

Nicky - Kindles, December 7, 2011

2011-12-07T05:41:00.001-08:00

two kits, doa

One kit was somewhat stretched so suspect difficult delivery.

Mitch the sire.

looking for a home

2011-12-01T20:20:00.001-08:00

this girlie is looking for a new home.

A spring 2011 baby, she's a mini rex doe.

Opal in colour, I have to look up her parentage first to find out exactly who she is from. I'm guessing an AMR cinnamon cross donatello OR rockstar (thinking 'tello though).

Best offer, thinking in the range of $15.

Return and New Home

2011-12-01T20:13:00.000-08:00

So I sold a bunch of kits last weekend. All raised the same, all acting the same, all doing well...

Had been breathing fast the day before, but otherwise seemed fine. I'm thinking it was stress of the move or something as all the others are fine but for this one, and it was exactly like the others before it went to it's new home.

Anyways, I said okay, I can replace him. These are the two boys I have coming up, though you'll have to wait for them to mature a bit.

Person didn't like either, asked if could replace with a doe, if she paid the difference in price. Said sure, why not.

THEN I got a call from a gal who bought some bunnies in the spring. Could she return them?

Uh, sure (me thinking ACK! I have NO ROOM!) but I guarantee a return place so I figured something out... some crowding will happen for a short while and some piggies will have young bunny company.

isn't he a sweet lad?

Anyways...one of them was a black otter buck...EXACTLY what the owner wanted. Took a pic... the person said WONDERFUL!!!!!!!!!!! I want him!

So...she's getting a six month old little buck who is actually of better quality than what she bought, in the colour that she really really really likes. Really tame, really social, just a nice little rabbit. I'm tempted to use him on one of my does before he goes to his new place.

Pretty cool eh?

I think it's so neat sometimes how God works things out.

So.. I have the tent...

2011-11-30T19:42:00.000-08:00

covered over with the extra tarps for the winter.

Good to have that done. So glad I got it done last week before this mornings snow hit.

Bunnies seem to be handling the change in weather okay.

Biscuit's litter of 12 (remaining) seems to be doing well overall. One of the small ones was looking a bit thin this morning.

Wendy's kits are doing well. One is a small kit so I'll be hanging on it for a bit to make sure it is good and strong before selling it. I think it's a doe, but it's so small it's harder for these middle-aged eyes to see.

Slips kits are VERY cute. Funny how some litters just make a body smile...but slips kits do that for me. Crossbreds so I'll sell them for $10-15.

The polish kits are a bit 'busy'. interesting to see how using a different buck affects what the kits are like. Laddie's kits were always very calm and unflappable, but these guys are a bit busier. Not skittish or nutty, just busier. Will be interesting to see how they mature.

Peek's kits are per normal. Very calm, nothing bugs them kits. Wish I'd had a couple more does in the litter, just have the one girl who isn't particularly impressing me yet. But not every rabbit is impressive.

The rescue kits are growing well, blossoms' kits I think will finish out well. Nice to watch them grow and develop and see if what I think is a good rabbit as a baby actually turns out that way. I'm getting better all the time at knowing which kits will finish well.

I pretty much have it with the meat type rabbits, still getting there with the polish. The hollands I am bringing down their size all the time. :) and finding that variety in colour is a really good thing. :) I do like the colour chocolate...but I LOVE the chin look. Just don't want all chin or it's hard to tell one from another. :)

so enough of me rambling... it's just fine to talk rabbits. :)

Biscuit - Kindles November 27, 2011

2011-11-27T19:03:00.000-08:00

13 kits for miss biscuit today.

Shade is a first time daddy! :)

at this point they seem a variety of shadings, but they are brand new so hard to tell for sure.

Two are quite small.

Hard Lesson Learned

2011-11-25T04:52:00.000-08:00

see this litter box?

See the label attached to it?

Make good and sure that you remove it from your litter box before letting your rabbit use it.

Did you know that even if YOU can't get it off... your rabbit might.
AND if your rabbit possibly can get it off... it means that your rabbit can possibly EAT IT!

Don't lose your rabbit like I did.

I found a two inch piece in his tummy after I culled him for pulling the litter box label off it, going off feed really fast, and suffering.

Really really really not a good way to lose a rabbit.

NOTE: this litter box I had (quite similar to the one it the picture, just yellow) had been WELL USED by countless rabbits. I was unable to get the label off, other rabbits didn't even try so .. I assumed that it would be just fine. THIS particular rabbit was NOT just fine with it and ripped it off and in process swallowed a piece. HOW he got a two inch piece down his throat I don't know.. but he did.

So.. MAKE GOOD AND SURE that all labels are removed before letting your rabbit have it. PLEASE!

Suggestions given to me about how to get a label off:

Blast the label with hot air from a hair dryer to soften the adhesive.
Soak in hot water and scrape off.
Apply some type of oil.
Use Acetone. (Some nail polish removers contain acetone, or find it in the paint dept.)
Razor blades work well on glass surfaces.

It's done.. finally

2011-11-16T15:18:00.000-08:00

So it took a while but I finally managed to get all the racks cleaned and the plastic replaced.

Instead of replacing the one rack I ended up just reinforcing the one I have. I got it from being 8 inches off tilt to the side and 4 inches forward, to being 2 inches off tilt to the side and one inch leaning forward. I'll look at replacing it in the spring, my youngest brother has ideas about how to make them work better for me. It will be interesting to see what he comes up with. :)

Yesterday I took pics of all my babies and I'm hoping to get ads up on Kijiji tonight with them. But I'm not sure.

Found someone who wants to take my DOA kits, she's hoping to use them as cat food, so it will be nice to have them put to use rather than being wasted.

The rescue doe I took in is busy making a nest so it will be confirming her previous owners suspicion that she's preggers. Hopefully she'll do well kindling as her age is unknown. And the other rescue doe is being miss grumpy face. She's pending a home so hopefully her attitude will improve as I won't send her out being a less than trustworthy young beastie. She's starting to eat pellets and she wasn't as grumpy today as she has been so hopefully she's turning a "you are safe and I'm okay corner".

Connie pups - November 5, 2011

2011-11-06T19:47:00.000-08:00

Three pups, Elmo is dad.

all smooth coated.
All male.

Slip - kindles, November 5, 2011

2011-11-06T19:46:00.000-08:00

four kits.

this is a mixed breed litter, just wanted a back up doe.

Mind you.. the doe she was back up for didn't kindle so that was a bit silly of me. :)

Nicky - Sept 18, 2011 pics

2011-11-04T19:23:00.000-07:00

This has been a very quiet, friendly litter. Nice kits with good possibilities. All are good looking kits, with nice personalities.

Broken black boy - keeping

Black boy

Broken black Girl - sold private sale

Dazzle's Own (D) - September 12, 2011 Pics

2011-11-04T19:13:00.001-07:00

This litter is a mixed bag of parentage. Some nz cross, some holland lop cross, others harlequin. Not sure who all is which. The kits are all varied in personality which is interesting to see.

Tricolour Boy

Black magpie boy

Black magpie Boy

Lilac magpie Girl

Lop Eared Girlie, black magpie

Blossom - Sept 25, 2011pics

2011-11-04T19:06:00.000-07:00

BlueMagpie boy

White Girl

Lilac magpie girl - sold private sale Lilacl magpie boy

Minx - Sept 24 2011 kits

2011-11-04T19:00:00.001-07:00

Solid black Doe

Broken blue buck - pending private sale

Broken Seal Doe - sold private sale

Biscuit Sept 19 2011 litter

2011-11-04T18:51:00.000-07:00

of the 13 kits born, 12 made it to weaning.

The boys

The Girls

Middle one is sold

Jayda - October 30, 2011,kindles

2011-10-31T08:37:00.001-07:00

Two dead kits, dad is Mitch.

This was disappointing but not unexpected.

Kylee - kindles, October 31

2011-10-31T08:36:00.001-07:00

two kits, one broken black, one solid black.

Dad is Spencer.

Wendy - October 29, 2011 - kindles

2011-10-29T16:40:00.000-07:00

First time mom Wendy made a fine nest during chores this morning, and followed that up with five kits.

They range in colour from light to dark. Will be interesting to see how the litter turns out.

Bandit is dad.

Shale - October 27, 2011

2011-10-27T04:50:00.000-07:00

Shale had singleton female pup.

Tigger is the dad (called him Ben here, but real name is Tigger).

It is a crested. Is a good mix of colours between the two.

Dusty - Kindles, October 27, 2011

2011-10-27T04:47:00.000-07:00

Dusty just had her babies. I saw them just after they were born.

Three solid, one broken peanut. Expect the solids will be black.

Mitch is a daddy here!!! :)

Splotch - October 21, 2011

2011-10-27T04:45:00.000-07:00

two male pups.

Both are pending sale to my rabbit care person.

Elmo (rescue male) is dad.

Stella - October 17, 2011

2011-10-19T20:53:00.000-07:00

Five kits Stella has given me off Blaze.

Look to be one tricolour, two magpies and one japanese and possibly one other tricolour, time will tell for sure.

MB would like a buck should we happen to get one. :)

Janey - October 14, 2011

2011-10-17T19:57:00.000-07:00

not sure who did as everyone looks the same as before. Thought it might have been spotty but she pupped Sept 2, so has to be someone else.

but I don't know who.

it just doesn't make sense since Spotty is the only skinny one...

I finally figured it out, it was Janey. Figured it out by watching them closely and went hmmm... those pups are following her around a bit, wonder if she's mom. Picked her up, gave her a good going over and said, YES,.. I believe you are the momma. You don't look much thinner but picked up you feel lighter. :)

So Elmo (a short stay rescue) is the dad. I had run him with the girls to get some good socialization time in as he was pushing with other piggies and the ladies helped to chill him out.

God's Grace

2011-10-10T16:50:00.000-07:00

So today was Canadian Thanksgiving.

We went to my folks for lunch. We had an enjoyable time.

Got back, I went out to check on bunnies as I had a couple litters due. Got out there just in time! Four kits on the wire, three cold, one warm. stuck the warm one in a nest and stuck the other three in my bra and then bundled about tidying up nestboxes, making sure everyone will be able to stay warm over the next couple of days as it gets colder out.

Once kitlets were warm again I put them into their respective nests.

So thankful that God planned that out so well for us. I dislike losing kits if I don't need.

Peek-a-mommy - kindles October 10, 2011

2011-10-10T16:40:00.000-07:00

7 kits, two found on the wire.

Only one was cold though, so warmed him up.

Peek fed her litter after I changed out the dirty stuff and made her a better nest.

Bug is dad.

Tami - kindles, October 10, 2011

2011-10-10T16:38:00.000-07:00

8 kits born.

Blaze is dad.

Two were found on the wire so needed to be warmed up.

Looks at this point to be a mix of chestnuts and tricolours. :)

Kacee's kits from August 27, 2011

2011-10-05T05:22:00.001-07:00

Daughter I'm keeping

Son for sale $25

Daughter for sale $25

daughter for sale $25

New pictures taken and a query

2011-10-05T05:11:00.001-07:00

I got pictures of ALL the bunnies taken...now I need to get them onto my websites. I'm in process of building a new one. Here's the old one and here's the new one. If you have a moment can you tell me what you think? I want to make the new site highly informative and yet keep it as friendly as my old site is. What I like in the weebly one is that I can make drop down menus. What I dislike in weebly is I haven't figured out how I can put multiple pictures into one on "box". So far I can only put one in which I find bothersome. It is SO easy to do with the webs site. Does anyone know how to do that with weebly? put multiple pictures in one 'box"? thanks for helping if you do. :)

here are some of the pics I took.

A harlequin baby girl ready to sell.

My old girl Slip

and some babies from Minx.

Blossom - kindles Sept 25, 2011

2011-09-25T09:38:00.000-07:00

Five kits born, one DOA.

Pulled a bit of fur but really not enough so I supplemented. one of them is very much a complainer.

Having a bit a yellow jacket problem so needing to figure out how to get rid of them, as I don't want them going after my babies.

Dad is Bug.

Blossom is a first time mommy.

The REW was a shock. Didn't expect that at all.

Minx - kindles Sept 24, 2011

2011-09-25T05:09:00.000-07:00

We have three kits by Blaze off Minx.

one solid, two brokens. Time will tell how they turn out.

I was thinking this little girl was not preggers so am delighted that she had kits. :)

Other news

2011-09-24T05:59:00.000-07:00

I have three more does due today. Blossom has been eating less over the past three days so hopefully she'll kindle, Minx has been acting no different and if she kindles I'll be surprised, and Dusty has been madly digging in her box for the past week or so, therefore I expect kits from her (unless she just likes being a mad digger).. I've had that before so it just makes me shake my head. :) Sometimes does are very silly. :) All three of these does are new moms.

So I ended up losing all the kits in Stella's litter. As much as it bothers me to lose kits (and it very much does) I find it educational. Four kits in with Stella. Three of her own, one foster. Her milk production goes down...her three kits immediately start to have issues, her foster does a couple days later. I lose her three kits as the foster is starting to get better. All were fed the same. Why is the foster improving while her three didn't make it? The only thing I can come up with is different genetics. Different mom, different dad. It intrigues me.

Betty - kindles, Sept 24, 2011

2011-09-24T05:46:00.000-07:00

I came in this morning to find one tiny dead kit in the nestbox.

Betty seemed fine so I left her after removing the kit.

I finished chores and then thought I'll pull her out and rebreed her as I bred a netherland dwarf yesterday as a test breeding for a young buck. She was acting very eager so that would make it an easy test for him.

Discovered she had a stuck kit. I assisted her in getting it out (just applied some gentle pulling on an alternating angle - I learned to do this as a child on a farm when assisting cattle to calve). She found that somewhat uncomfortable but was acting even more normal when it was done. Left her with her nestbox on the off chance that she had another kit behind it. The kits head was very large and discoloured.

I won't rebreed her for a week.

She ended up having one more normal sized kit later in the afternoon. DOA.

Four Sick Babies

2011-09-23T04:47:00.000-07:00

So for the past week I've been dealing with four sick baby rabbits.

All housed with Stella. Everyone else in the rabbitry is unaffected. They all get fed the same.

Stella has been not the best momma for milk with her pups. She started strong but gradually decreased in her milk supply which meant her pups were forced to start eating solids sooner than they would have liked without the balancing act of momma's milk to help their tummies adapt.

I've been supporting them with oats, hay, probiotics, prickly lettuce, banana etc. All sorts of things that are good for bunny tummies. I've been encouraging them to keep moving as I've learned that bunnies that sit and sulk in illness generally die quickly. They are fighting against mucoid entropathy which is a dangerous and generally deadly disease for bunnies.

One has definitely rebounded, a foster from another litter. he's doing well. he's a bit on the small side but in time he'll be just fine I expect.

A second, not a foster, looks to be recovering...is VERY weak at this point, but is nibbling grass and sniffing at the oatmeal this morning. Starting to drink a bit better... so I am hopeful.

A third lost the battle this morning.

The fourth I am still fighting with to support. It's been the strongest and the biggest of the bunch so has a bit more "oomph" behind it. Time will tell how it does.

Over time I've learned this illness has a genetic component to it. As I've weeded out rabbits that seem susceptible to it I generally don't have to deal with it. My last case was over a year ago so this came as a bit of a surprise. Stella is a new doe to the rabbitry as is Blaze. I've noted with Blaze in the past that while the kits are adjusting to solid food their poops get really sticky and I generally have to do a bum trim of hair to keep them clean. So my guess is that with Stella's milk issue and Blaze's tummy adjustment issue that the kits got hit with a double whammy. The changing weather patterns may have played a role as well.

Eric - Sept 23, 2011

2011-09-23T04:43:00.000-07:00

This is Eric.

Eric (also called Darwin) by our son is no longer with us.

We got him from a show breeder of Guinea Pigs. Eric was one of the finest, nicest pigs I've ever known. A very solid pig.

Over the summer he has steadily been getting thinner, and two weeks ago I noticed he had a small lump on his side. Over the past two weeks that lump has continued to get larger. This morning he passed away.

His wheeking will be missed.

Biscuit Kindles Sept 19, 2011

2011-09-19T05:35:00.001-07:00

Biscuit gave me 13 kits this morning. A mix in sizes from smallish to large. Most were in the medium range. Almost missed one as it had crawled up under the fur and straw and away from the group.

Bug is the dad. Quite impressed with the size of this litter. We lost one of the tiny ones.

They look at this point to be a mix in colour, will know more in three days.

the three fosters.

the ones she is raising.

Nicky - Kindles, Sept 18, 2011

2011-09-18T13:21:00.000-07:00

Three kits, born from Spencer.

Two broken, one solid.

Hoping this litter turns out well.

Suspecting they will all be black. and indeed they are. :)

Dazzle's Own (D) - kindles September 12, 2011

2011-09-12T05:30:00.000-07:00

seven kits born.

This litter is a mixed breeding, trying to determine if the problem is D with bad teeth or just what is going on with her litters.

Dad...Risky, Blaze, and Bug.

We'll see what comes out of these kits.

So far they all look good, nice-sized, all have harlequin markings. Most seem to be black or blue.

one tri-colour, three black magpie, one blue magpie, two lilac/chocolate magpie.

Janice - Kindles, September 11, 2011

2011-09-11T05:46:00.000-07:00

Five kits, two are smallish but not tiny.

They all look good.

Expect I'll get a pointed or two, two solids, and one broken.

Bandit is dad.

we have surviving one solid chestnut, one broken chestnut and one smallish frostie.

Chana - Sept 10, 2011 - kindles

2011-09-11T05:44:00.000-07:00

Chana was a look like Wiggers doe.

She was purchased, I get a kit back. She had three kits.

Blaze is dad.

Illusion pups - Sept 7, 2011

2011-09-10T06:50:00.000-07:00

Four pups born from Ben.
Three are alive and doing well.

I like the colouring on two of them.
They seem to all be female.

Nice young things. :)

Kacee - Kindles - August 27, 2011

2011-09-10T06:48:00.000-07:00

Forgot to put this in back in August.

But KC kindled, she had six, she's down to four. I think this is starting to spell this does exit from my rabbitry. Small litters that she's not raising well.

Bug is dad.

The four kits she has are doing well. Two black magpies, two chocolate magpies, they won't stay in the nestbox even though they are only 12 days old.

Caper pups - September 5, 2011

2011-09-05T06:30:00.000-07:00

Two greyish coloured pups. Both appear female.

The lad is enamoured with them already. They are big pups. One is crested, the other is not.

Black Mooch is their dad.

Spotty - pups sept 2, 2011

2011-09-03T13:55:00.000-07:00

eight pups, six DOA Two tiny, nice little pups remain.

Eric is dad.

Stella - August 26, 2011

2011-08-26T09:34:00.000-07:00

Four kits born, one DOA.

All look to be tricoloured.

Blaze is Dad.

These kits are big for their age.

Jayda - August 25, 2011

2011-08-26T09:33:00.000-07:00

One kit.

Revell is now proven.

it is TEENY tiny, so I doubt that it will live but we'll give it a good kick at the can to see how she goes.

LOST This kit.

Ginge - kindles August 24, 2011

2011-08-24T20:41:00.001-07:00

Ginge gave me six kits today, born two days early.

Four broken, two solid.

Hopefully they will do well for me. :)

bandit is dad. hopefully small sized and nicely typed.

Aero Bar

2011-08-23T20:52:00.001-07:00

Born June 13, 2011
Hopeful that this fully pedigreed boy will mature smaller than Blaze.

Connie pups - August 12, 2011

2011-08-12T07:57:00.000-07:00

seven pups. One DOA.

The lad got to watch and we saved one of them as momma had failed to pull the sack away from the nose. It was a lovely light coloured pup.

Four brown, two light, the DOA was also a brown one.

Dad is Eric (or Darwin as the lad calls him).

Yesterday I cleaned

2011-08-11T03:53:00.000-07:00

and rearranged the grey tent. I took the disorganization and turned into a better situation.

I moved the canoe to a more handy location. Stacked my spare cages and trailer cases where the canoe used to be. Rearranged all my small pieces of wood.

I still need to stack my bricks in an appropriate spot and need to clean up some remaining "stuff" that's lying here and there. But overall...it's looking much better.

I moved where I had the hay so it will be more sheltered. now to FIND hay and straw. :)

Put the stackers up on shelves.

Even found a place to hide things I wasn't using! Like guinea pig stuff and litter boxes (which I don't use). if the rabbit rescue ever wants them she can dig them out they will be in one central spot.

It's not all completely done. But it is MUCH better than what it was. I'm pleased by that. Makes me feel better in my head as I was feeling too overwhelmed by everything lately, it was giving me headaches and I wasn't sleeping well.

Janey - August 7, 2011

2011-08-07T15:25:00.000-07:00

four pups.
handled birthing really well.

Dad is Eric.

Nice young sow who have three boys, one girl. the girl is darkest of the litter.

Today...

2011-07-30T08:19:00.000-07:00

I rearranged cages so that my pregnant does are all in bigger cages. I currently have four bred does.

Put my growers out on the grass today and gave just fully weaned momma's time out on the grass.

Separated Dusty and Betty since Betty decided that Dusty really really really needed to be anywhere else but near her. Dusty will be hanging out with the guinea pigs for a spell.

Bred are
Jayda to Revell
Ginge to Bandit
Stella to Blaze
KC to Bug

Hopefully all those litters will come through.

I also had the misfortune of needing to cull four youngsters. They came in with bad teeth and I had considered letting them grow out a bit to see if the teeth would correct themselves, but I gave them a solid going over and discovered that
1st. had just one tooth on the bottom (that cannot self-correct)
2nd. the teeth didn't even meet
3rd. the bottom teeth had a gap.
4th. may have corrected over time, but I doubted it. One top tooth was twisted and appeared over the past three days to get worse.

Over time these kits were simply starving to death.

I dislike having issues with my rabbits and I really really dislike culling kits (hate it in fact). I have had one rabbit in the past with a bad tooth...I think gained from pulling on the wire. But four kits in one litter says something isn't right somewhere. The breeding that resulted in this problem won't be repeated, and the doe may be sent to an outside breeder to see if we can figure out just where the problem lies.

going on vacation...and the return results

2011-07-26T03:45:00.001-07:00

So, I went away for two weeks. Came back twice to check on things as children were doing my rabbit care. These are NOT young children, 10+ years old, and they've cared for the rabbits before.

But my goodness... I get so frustrated.

I don't expect people to do things exactly the same as me, but I do expect a modicum of pride in the work that you do. I don't expect to come back to piles of rabbit manure everywhere but where it's supposed to be. Fly eggs all over the place and what not. I don't expect that.

I don't expect some rabbits to be so overfed it's ridiculous, where other rabbits are looking on the thinner end of the scale. it bothers me.

I need, I really NEED to find someone a bit more responsible to care for the rabbits when I am away. I appreciate the children trying and pinching in when my other rabbit people were unable to assist, but I do find it frustrating.

ON a positive note:
All the rabbits I expected to live did.
I can get things cleaned up and put back together again the way I want it all to be.

So in the end of it all, it's all good. :) Life continues.

Spotty - pups June 30, 2011

2011-06-30T06:53:00.000-07:00

Two pups born.

one a junior eric, the other brown and black.

Nice looking pups.

Peek-a-mommy - kindles June 23, 2011

2011-06-23T07:28:00.000-07:00

June 22 she had three, during the night she had five more. Two of those five where larger and deceased.

Six chestnut kits.

One is smaller than the rest and was found outside the cage. Its doing well. :)

Dad is Risky.

Dazzle's Own (D) - kindles June 22, 2011

2011-06-22T07:27:00.000-07:00

First time momma, kindles this morning.

Eight healthy squirmy kits. :)

Bug is dad.

Silver Kindles - June 21, 2011

2011-06-22T07:26:00.001-07:00

six kits born.

bandit is a dad! :)

one kit was DOA.
Of the five remaining kits, three are light, two are coloured.

Shale pups June 19, 2011

2011-06-19T20:32:00.000-07:00

three pups born.

Two smooth, one crested. Two males, one female. Can't recall right now which ones are the boys.

Buddy is dad.

Cleaned out the rabbitry

2011-06-19T20:29:00.000-07:00

In the spring I always wash down all the racks, cages, clean everything up neat and clean.

This past week I managed to get all the cages and racks spic and span for the summer.

I am simply delighted to have the job done.

I still need to finish up some tidying in the old tent yet.

But mostly everything is done. Quite pleased with that.

Connie pups, June 6, 2011

2011-06-19T20:24:00.000-07:00

she had six pups, four survived.

Sam is Dad.

Nice young pigs, three boys (smooth), one girl (crested)

Cinnamon Kindles - May 22, 2011

2011-06-04T05:04:00.000-07:00

Completely forgot to write this in here.

Cinnamon had three kits on the 22 of May.
Father: Donatello

Each kit is a different colour.

Winter Mess Clean Up

2011-06-04T04:57:00.001-07:00

While I haven't had a chance to give the rabbitry a THOROUGH cleaning, I did have time yesterday to remove and clean up winter garbage from the rabbitry.

Often in the winter I give the kits cardboard boxes to sit on, it's warmer to sit and fun to nibble on. When they get soiled I throw them under cages and pile them in corners and such like. So yesterday I got all that stuff cleaned up. Reorganized the shed a bit, figured out what could be yard sale materials, cleaned up crocks and just gave a good once over to the "STUFF" of rabbits. Two full bags of miscellaneous garbage as well. I'll need to have a fire to burn up the particularly horrid stuff, the ones that were relatively clean went out in the recycling.

I am hoping this coming week to clean the rabbit cages and racks themselves. I normally have this one in May but we've hardly had any nice stretches of day without rain that I didn't have something more urgent that needed to be completed first. I really would like to get all that cleaned up and smelling pretty. I was tempted to do one rack this morning but well... rain says NOT to that idea. :) So we'll hope for a good day or two next week. Will be nice to get everything cleaned up.

Pinta - kindles, May 19, 2011

2011-05-19T20:43:00.001-07:00

eight kits for this first time momma.

look to be a good size. She's hungry again. :)

All broken, except for one solid.

Chelesea - May 6, 2011 kindles

2011-05-06T18:21:00.000-07:00

Chels had her kits. She had a long labour (started this morning, ended tonight).

Two kits born, the first was as expected DOA, the second is just fine.

Chels will raise two of Dolly's along with her own.

Laddie is dad.

Dolly - Kindle May 6, 2011

2011-05-06T13:43:00.001-07:00

Nine kits born.

All look harlequin or tricolour, time will tell for sure.

If Chels has an unsuccessful litter I'll foster kits over to her.

Kacee - Kindles - April 24, 2011

2011-05-06T13:41:00.001-07:00

two solid black kits.

13 day check gives me one buck, one doe! YEAH!!! I wanted one of each!!! :)

Rosie - Kindles, April 22, 2011

2011-04-22T08:33:00.001-07:00

Broken black otter, Broken Orange, broken opal, colour undetermined

five kits, one DOA.

Blaze is dad.

All look to be brokens in a variety of colours at this point.

She will fostering the one from Lucy.

Lucy - kindles, April 22, 2011

2011-04-22T08:31:00.000-07:00

broken black

Two kits, one DOA (tiny)

glad I went out right after church because she hardly pulled any fur and it was just starting to get chilled.

Put it in with Rosie's.

Dad is laddie. Probably blue in colour.

Connie - pups, March 31, 2011

2011-04-20T13:22:00.001-07:00

Connie had four pups, Sam is dad.

Very nice pups.

pet store sale boar

The lad wants to keep this one ... sow

Boar

Janice - Kindles, April 8, 2011

2011-04-20T12:39:00.000-07:00

I think doe, but not sure at four weeks

doe

three kits for this first time mom.

One chestnut, one Lightly coloured black jap, one lightly coloured black tricolour.

WOOT WOOT! she's doing an excellent job caring for them. I am quite pleased.

Blaze is a first time daddy.

Nicky - Kindles, April 7, 2011

2011-04-20T12:37:00.000-07:00

the boys

the girls

Nicky surprised me with five kits this morning.

Nicky is a TINY doe so I'm hoping that she'll do well with them. By day 12 she has so far managed to raise all five. Four solid chocolate, one broken chocolate. All are fairly compact but they look good.

Laddie is dad.