My thoughts on Flush Kleen

It has been about two months since we invested in a panless cage system. At the time, I was going through some issues related to a tick bite this past summer and was literally on the verge of a sell out if I didn't do something quick. After much debate and decision making, hubby purchased a new cage system and the rest is history! Here are some of the pros and cons of this kind of system:

Pros:
No pan cleaning-in and out of the barn, dump, refill, repeat
No need to purchase pressed wood pellets monthly
No extra paper trash
Takes 10 min or less to clean a 28 hole system
The waste can be directly dumped into the garden, its not mixed with wood shavings, ect.
Get a wind shield wiper(the kind you wash wind shields with) with the extendable handle, it's perfect for scraping everything down if an indoor water hose isn't an option

Cons:
You HAVE to scrape/flush every day, you feed, you clean.
You HAVE to have a ventilation fan
The Works Cleaner will be your friend!
I strongly suggest doing a good soapy water wash down bi-monthly
No hay...forget it...unless you're in the mood to grab some nasty hay that plugs the outlet hole.

Love this for those calcium deposits!

Hay I scraped forward because of a nutty first time doe who has no idea how to make a nest.

Cleaned the pans with soapy water today, nothing like a good shine! I don't have a water hose to spray down daily, I tried it and it freaked them out, they got wet and really didn't do anything that my trusty wind shield wiper couldn't do.

Overall, I do like the ease of cleaning. Yes you do have to do it daily but the smell is minimal to none if you stay on top of it. I don't see an increase in humidity either like most said I would. The ventilation fan is wonderful, it exchanges the air with a slight breeze...kinda feels like you're at the beach! Of course, ask me again how it feels this summer...hope it won't be like the Sahara! 

The 4 Types

These past two days have been pretty busy here at the rabbitry. As the final breedings for 2014 are made, I have been reassessing my breeding stock. Through the years I have come to the conclusion that there are basically 4 types of rabbits in a breeding herd. The good, the bad, the ugly and the fakes. :)

The Good

These rabbits are the creme-de-la creme! A breeder's dream to own as they not only excel on the show table but also in the nestbox. These rabbits can hit the show tables after a litter and still win. Their babies are just as beautiful as they are, no mater who the rabbit crosses with. Sounds too good to be true? I've had a few and believe me, I don't want to let them go. :) We still have a few here in our barn.

The Bad

Yep, total pet. It's okay, we all get them. They are the rabbits that you can't keep and lost your interest the day they were weaned. Even a bag over the head won't help.

The Ugly

These are the rabbits that are what I call 'parts rabbits'. No they aren't perfect and certainly can't compete with the 'The Good' rabbits but man o' man, can they out produce themselves! These rabbits are gems, you would never know you had one until you bred them. The babies are pretty nice and usually better than their parents. I personally have moved away from keeping the uglies, but most people do keep them and use them with good results.  

The Fakes

I think this type of rabbit is the most disappointing. These are the rabbits who are gorgeous show does (or bucks) that rock the tables but make total flops for offspring. I'm talking pet type rabbits that 'surely no way could they come out of you' when you go to wean them. Yikes. I have had my share and even battle with it now sometimes. I keep thinking surely this rabbit will produce something like themselves...the next breeding...ok the next...try again...and again. It is the hardest to let these go, but hey not everything mixes with what you have. It's okay to let them go and focus on the ones that are doing their job...well. :)

There you have it, the 4 types that ring true in my barn. I want to wish you you all a Happy New Year and that it be filled with 'the Good' rabbits. ;)

2015 Goals

My most favorite post of the year is the annual goals post. :) I love reading my friend's goals too, so if you haven't already, please post. A look back at 2014:

2014 Goals

1. Acquire a new homebred herd buck- MET - Yes, yes, and yes! I now have several that I am soo pleased with. 4Kings Isaac, 4Kings Jace, 4Kings Ivan, and 4Kings Koen. I hope to introduce the last two pretty soon. Very pleased with Isaac's overall type and Jace's type and size. I look forward to 2015!

2. Attend Nationals and Convention - Partially MET -We did not make nationals this year but did make convention.

3. Place in the top 5 at either Nationals and/or Convention - MET - I had several top 10's and got 3rd place JR doe out of 53! All but one were molting so it just wasn't my year.

4. Improve eyebands- MET - Really this is a goal that could be set every year. Eyebands vary from litter to litter and really it is unreasonable to expect clean bands consistently. For the most part though, this has been met.

5. Improve Californian program- NOT MET - I no longer have Californians and have decided that no other breed will capture my heart like the Dwarf Hotots so I will not get a second breed.

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2015 Goals

1. Place in the top 5 at Nationals - We will be going to Sedalia, MO this April, I hope I have enough nice jrs and srs to take.

2. Replace foundation stock with offspring- This will be hard. I want to keep the rabbits that made such a big difference in quality in my herd. However, to move forward, I will have to replace them with nicer offspring.

3. Lessen the number of non-showable stock in my barn- Another difficult goal to meet because I like to keep rabbits for type regardless of color. Now, I have less cages and am keeping more and more nice showable babies so it will come down to culling for color/mismarks now.

4. Cull out megacolon rabbits- Megacolon will always rear it's ugly head in our breed but since it is very genetic, I am going to try hard this year to not keep a single one. Unfortunately, some of the nicest rabbits are the ones with megacolon. Currently I only have 2 rabbits with megacolon in my barn, they are healthy, have good condition, but just have a nasty floor wire due to their 'issue'. 

5. Survive the summer!- This summer is going to be rough. I have a new cage system that requires a ventilation system and well...you can't run that and an A/C and expect it to keep it cool in the barn. My main concern is the ammonia levels. I'm worried...so this will be a biggie. Just need to survive the summer without heat losses.

2013 Stats:
Born: 133
Died: 50
Raised: 83
Keepers: 23
Culls: 60

2014 Stats:
Born: 171
Died: 58
Raised: 113
Keepers: 24
Culls: 89

Okay so this year we had more babies, a lower stillborn rate/loss(34% compared to last year's 38%), but our keeper rate still stayed the same. That's okay, 80% of my herd was born this year and have replaced last year's keepers, I still think that's pretty good progress.

'Last minute changes'

I came across this quote while searching for a quote for my ADHRC article..."Success is 10% inspiration, 90% last-minute changes. ~From a billboard advertisement" After thinking for a moment, I realized how true this statement is for me at least. Most of my 'successes' come from a last minute decision or change, oddly enough! Let's see...I had Jacob in a carrier ready for a pet home as a 7 week old and at the last minute decided to keep him, replaced him with a different sport buck and he has turned out to be a foundation sire for my little herd. I can't tell you the number of times, I have gone out to the barn with a list of planned breedings (matched pedigrees up) only to totally change sires and end up with some beautiful babies. My 3rd place jr doe at convention was an ear number change...she was never to go to convention but did at the last minute.  These are just a few examples of my last minute changes that turned out for the best. So don't fret or worry if it wasn't the original plan, just go with the flow and you may be surprised at the outcome.

This little guy was pulled from the cull pen, glad I decided to keep him! Possibly a new herd buck? Ike and Jacob are hard to beat but I sure am loving this one.

5 Breeds

My friend April posted 5 Breeds she would never raise so I thought I would give it a go too. :)

1. English Angora- the cottony coat was a nightmare. never again.

2. Flemish Giant- way too big...poop!!

3. Checkered Giant- I'd like to keep my fingers. Pass!

4. Lionheads- no....just no. the long ears....the coat....pass, it's just not for me.

5. English Lops- the shoulders make me cringe and the ears kinda gross me out. It is like a dwarf breeder's nightmare-lol I do Not want my dwarf hotots looking like English Lops. ;-)

No offense to those who raise the breeds, I am glad someone does to keep them going. What are your 5 breeds you would never raise?

I'm alive!

It has been months since I have been able to log onto my account. It wasn't that I forgot my password, but apparently my work email was trying to connect to my blog and I couldn't figure out how to block it. Strange. Anyway, after deleting and logging out and back in, I got it to work!

These past few months have been incredibly life changing. I now have a new job that has required me to go back to school full time. Talk about being very busy! I have sold the chins, really not by choice but it was just too much for me to handle at the moment and in hindsight was the best decision. I haven't had time to clean pans every 2-3 days(30 rabbits! 18 pans!) so I really struggled with the decision to sell out completely back in August. Thankfully, my husband and friends talked me out of it and we invested in a flush clean system. Do I love it? Sorta....I don't like that I have to scrape it often, it doesn't just roll right down like I thought BUT, there is no back breaking work involved and cleaning is literally 10 minutes or less for 28 rabbits. I had to get used to it and so did the rabbits. I have a feeling that this summer may be brutal! :( I hope my ventilation fans can keep up.

Rabbit wise....we did okay at convention. I was hoping for better placements but all but one were molting. So the highest placement I got was 3rd jr doe out of 53 I think. ;-) Spring nationals are coming up. I hope I have some nice jrs by then.

More updates to come! For now, some of my favorite jr does and an all doe litter! I'm enjoying it because the rest that I have are ALL bucks...many bucks to show off shortly. ;)

4Kings Neveah

4Kings Laurel- a descendant from my favorite doe Liesl

Sweet little does

Standard Chins

Did you know that Standard Chins made the rare breed list recently? It was updated a few days ago, I was surprised but after looking at the sharp decline in registration numbers, maybe they are. :-( It looks like only 21 total were registered last year. That's the whole nation! wow very low. I have 9 right now, but could have 13 max at the moment. I probably won't expand that number of cages so my chin project will be very small but productive.  I am really loving a couple of my jr does and one jr buck! I could be totally off because it's a breed I'm not that used to yet so we'll see how far I'm off come Sept. 6th at the show.

Losses and Life

It has been a rough summer in the rabbit barn, not due to heat...thank goodness....but I have lost several nice does to various problems. Gianna and Liesl were two I absolutely adored and was pretty certain they were going to live the rest of their life with me. It was devastating to loose them both so soon. :-(

As I look ahead to convention, and consider the entry fee cost, I do not plan to take many. Most of the rabbits I was hoping to take, I decided that their lines were too valuable to risk. Harlan(Martin daughter), Izellah(Gianna daughter), Isaac (GORGEOUS Liesl son) and Kyna (only Liesl daughter) are some that will be staying home unfortunately. That will just leave me with 1 or 2 to take per class but that's okay. No jr bucks though, not really a surprise as I am waaaay too picky on bucks and seeing how I just have a handful compared to the does in my barn. Oh well! You know there is always next year, year after that, and so on. I don't raise rabbits to win ribbons/awards/prestige, I raise them because I truly love raising them. There's nothing like coming into the barn after a night's sleep and seeing all the little round faces staring at me. "Good morning guys, who's ready for breakfast?" They perk up and start pacing, I really think they secretly know the English language. Haha!

This is Isaac, see that head he's getting?! He's just 2 months old! He's out of Jacob...may he will have an Usher head?

Compared to all the losses lately, new life being born has been extra special. Joy had her first litter a week ago, was so worried about her because she is the only Usher daughter I have and a Gianna daughter!! Talk about gorgeous, that she is. The sire was Jacob, an Usher son(only one too!) and Gianna's mom is Jacob's mom....so yes, very Linebred!! :-D The two baby does are looking awesome right now, both perfectly banded. She did have two stuck kits but they had died in utero and were pretty swollen. Luckily, I saw her trouble on camera and was able to be there to help get them out. She has proven to be a super mom. Constantly doting on them and I have fostered 3 more to her. She gets her wonderful mom skills from Gianna. <3 p="">

Joy, think she would rather be a mom than a show doe. She has 2 legs, so close!

The young jrs being weaned are looking great! However...of the 5 I want to keep....3 are sports- DOH!! That brings my sport total up to 6! Who in their right mind wants to keep 6 sports in their barn? This gal I guess. LOL I don't know, but I do know that all 6 in my barn have wow bodies and heads so....why not? Oiy I need a bigger barn.

Group of Kismet babies...Kismet's teeth corrected! Woot woot! Normal teeth now :)

Isn't she cute? This is Evelyn, out of Sasha, very dwarfy girl. In fact may be too dwarfy :( She poses like an ND. doh! She wants to go to Germany to show(they pose them like NDs over there).

The Dawn of a New Era

It is finally summer! So thankful for the cooler weather lately. There have been a Lot of changes in the barn and we're not done yet either. After much thought and consideration, I have sold my two XEO sons, the last of his line will be leaving shortly. XEO was a great buck and will still live on through a few of his grand kids. While I vowed to myself to not let his line go because of how it has built my herd, I have also become a bit barn blind and now see that my problems cannot be fixed with anything of XEO lineage. The common denominator is decent bodies with ugly heads/longer ears, and I have ignored heads/ears for too long. So, it's time to bite the bullet and try something new with my girls. What few girls I have left that is. ;-)

I am bringing in two bucks that are half brothers, both out of Christina's Dante, mostly ThunderHill's lineage. They have the heads I want. I hope they throw the bodies as well! I'm really not sure what they will throw as I haven't worked with the line before. We'll see by this fall. :-) In the meantime, I will share some pics of my beautiful bodied babies with ugly heads/ears...enjoy! lol

This is Griffin, she's a doe I bought that is out of Merci and a buck out of two of my rabbits, so she's of my breeding. Happy to have her!

This is one of my Dante sons, He has the massive head, width and short thick ears...body, the weakest one in the barn but I'm ready for fresh genetics and hope it won't knock me back too much.

I will end on this note, written by Briony Barnes...
"Not everyone has the strength to cull strictly and be confident in their decisions, knowing that some amount of breeding results will always be left to chance. Not everyone has the strength to breed to their interpretation of the Standard no matter what a judge here and there may say, yet remain open-minded enough to consider differing opinions from those who are very knowledgeable about the breed. Not everyone has the strength to move on a show winner if it won't help their herd, won't breed, or doesn't produce well, realizing that it's only stealing space from something that will. Not everyone has the strength to approach a friend for a second opinion, or to approach another breeder to ask to purchase something that will help. Not everyone has the strength to take responsibility when they don't place as well as they'd like, or to realize that even their best have faults to be improved on. Not everyone has the strength to say that they were beaten by a better rabbit, and to congratulate and not alienate the people who could help them reach their goals."
Definitely words to think on :-) Have a blessed day!

Farm Update

My friend April of OlivYew Farm posted a great blog post about the updates on her farm. I love reading what others are doing and how things are going. So here goes our updates :)

Garden: I'm a bit disappointed with the garden. It is just not prepped enough like our garden in the neighborhood. I really really need a lot of mulch or wood chips to keep the weeds out and moisture in. May have to get a wood chipper for my birthday I think. :) Other than that, we have tomatoes and peas growing well. I hope to have everything else planted this month!

Chickens: We are expecting a Belgium d'Anver chick! The egg is still alive and we're getting excited. It looks like the weekend of the 13th it will hatch. The ducks and chicks are no longer little bitties and we've moved them outside. We lost another Rhode Island red hen to one of the dogs....but were given 3 dutch bantam hens this past Tuesday. They were in pretty poor condition but seem to be happy to be here with us now.

Orchard: The trees and grapes are growing!!! All 17 of them! Looks like all but one grapevine made it through the winter. Pretty excited about that. My mom bought me 3 blueberry bushes for an early birthday present so we planted those today.

Rabbits: I'm making some tough cuts in the hotot barn. One of my herd sires, one I though I'd never let go, is up for sale. Along with a few others! I have noticed I tend to keep animals based on their lines and not how they look. whoops! So scaling back a little. The chins are due in another week, very excited to work with this heritage breed. :)

Lastly, I just wanted to share this picture taken this morning on the way home, I love this little country road. It takes you through green pastures, winding through woods, the deer are sometimes seen grazing in the pastures. It's so peaceful. I love it here.

Baby randomness!

The babies are getting so cute!! Too bad none are showable...oh well, there are two that have thin bands but I'm thinking about keeping anyway. We will see.

poor Gianna

I like this one...its a doe

I like this one too, also a doe!

buck pet on his foster momma, Jenelle

Awesome mom Gianna

 The bunnies got new wood blocks today!! They LOVE them.

I love this guy but no one will buy him because his eyebands scare them away. lol Oh well, guess he'll stay, things always happen for a reason right?

This is Martin, hasn't he filled out? Can't wait to start breeding this guy!

he's one of those that won't hold still when I take my hand off of him...

New Chins!

I really love these guys. Two are standing out to be my favorites right now. I plan to sell a few here pretty soon.

Tex's Mercury

Tex's Regal

See the definition on the bands? There are actually 5 bands, the 5th ones is hard to see in pictures but its the black guard hairs on the very outmost outer edge. You can see it on Mercury.

Awaiting new arrivals!

I'm so ready for Thursday to come! We will be picking up our Chins on that day. :)

Playing with the juniors this morning while it was still warm. I love these two girls. They are in that awful baby fluff stage but it won't be long until they are in jr prime coats.

4Kings Selma

4Kings Nora

This guy is such a pain in the rear! We have a love/hate relationship that's for sure. Some days I like him, other days I feel that I should have sold him long ago. I still can't decide to keep him or not. Wish his ears were thicker and he didn't hate to pose so much. Reminds me a lot of his grandsire. Stinker! Plus his buck spraying fits he does when hitting a groom table is annoying. Ah...raging hormones! He even looks mad here.

Just turned 4 months.

Rabbit show and...babies!

What a fun day! Hannah took her two buns, Ben and Liesl  and Hayden took two that were sold, I just wanted to see how they would do. She did well, took BOB and BOS and then we left for home as I had two maiden does due and wanted to get home to check on them. Well we got a call from the show secretary after arriving home asking where we were as the judge asked about the hotot. She said he told her he was going to choose the Dwarf Hotot for Best in Show!! Oh man!! Yep, we weren't there. Oh well. I came home and saved one cold baby and pulled more hair out of one of the maiden does to keep her litter warm. So it was worth it I guess. ;-)

Hannah and Ben

Hayden and Zan

Babies! These are Gianna and Liesl babies!

The cold baby was revived and now warm in with Belle's litter :)

Hannah's winnings, sorry, didn't want to take them down but just more wall decorations. lol

Ugh...this doe is evil. I've been bit twice by her, so ready for her to have her litter. Pregnancy doesn't fare her well.

Jenelle and Odee babies :)

Jenelle, she's really turned out to be a great mom! So proud :)

This is our big winner today, Liesl did great and just had babies 2 weeks ago, now bred back to a Kendall son, Bali. Can't wait for those babies!