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