2016 Goals

Here we go for our 5th year of raising Dwarf Hotots! I'm excited what 2016 will hold for us. Here's a quick run down of our progress this past year.

********************************
2015 Goals

1. Place in the top 5 at Nationals - MET We did amazing this year! Everything I took placed in the top 10 and my Sr. doe 4Kings Neveah won 1st in her class. Right behind her was 4King's Addie. At Convention, my jr doe 4Kings Maree took 2nd place!

2. Replace foundation stock with offspring- MET Yes, I have moved on some of our foundation stock...but...also purchased some new bloodlines this year so we will continue to cull hard.

3. Lessen the number of non-showable stock in my barn- MET Yes, I am down to 2 non showable rabbits and 26 showable. That's great numbers to me!

4. Cull out megacolon rabbits- MET Yes, just have one doe and I can't tell if its from megacolon or if its from stress. Beautiful condition though!

5. Survive the summer!- MET We did it!!!! Summer wasn't that bad at all, of course we had to purchase a new portable AC. It did well.

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

2015 Stats:
Born: 128
Died: 24
Raised: 104
Keepers: 24
Culls: 80

So as you can see our production rate dropped a bit but so did our loss rate. Last year's loss was 33%, this year it was 23%! Our keeper rate stayed about the same so that tells me quality is improving somewhat as we had less animals to sort through. I hope next year is a more productive year.

2016 Goals

1. Add more cages! I need more.....more bunnies!

2. Solidify bloodline, move outcrosses on quickly. Would love to see solid 4Kings pedigrees

3. Increase the number of breeding does. Would like to increase production this year.

4. Attend 5 shows.

5. Increase sales. I never have enough for sales.

Last Post

With much thought guys, I have decided to stop blogging altogether (yes, I know I stopped a few months ago pretty much). I just no longer have the time nor the desire to continue. I hope that some of the posts will continue to be helpful to others as the blog will stay up. I will, however, continue to post my yearly goals post just because it is easier to revert back to here on the blog.

Thank you for following me and all of the sweet comments! I have enjoyed keeping up with it when I could. God bless!!

~Lindsey
4 Kings Rabbitry

Updates

A lot can happen in just a few weeks! After Christmas, I have had to start my field experience (unexpectedly) at school. This has added extra hours of work after my already long workday. I have been so exhausted! Breeding has come to a complete halt. Once was a full due date list, is now completely erased and every doe is open. I don't like it but it is for the best right now. I have sold several, opening up a few cages and will just have to wait to breed in March or the end of Feb. for convention srs. Ugh...I really miss having the litters! Now I'm going to cut back even more this weekend and decide who I really need to stay. I have to admit, it is nice to have money in your pocket for new supplies and an empty cage or two! ;)