Early this Week Kindling...or Lack of...

So yep, I had 4 Jersey Wooly does due on the 24th. And to no suprise, only one kindled on the 24th. That was my darling Ashlind! Ashlind had 5 kits, 2 peanuts, one fader who wouldn't nurse and 2 normal kits a black and a blue otter or marten (can't tell which yet). Anyways, so the story began when Ashlind would not make a nest inside her box. I just knew that she was going to kindle outside the box on the wire, so I decided to do something about it in order to keep the kits from freezing. So I set up a heat lamp above the cage and spread a pretty thick layer of hay over the entire floor or the cage. I went inside the house and the next time I came out, Ashlind had pulled tons of hair and made a nest for the 5 kits in the corner of the cage and she kindled them all right there. That doesn't mean that they were there when I found them, but all were warm and none of them froze! So I fixed up a nest in her nestbox and put them in the box.

All was going well, she was going in the nestbox to check on them and she knew they were there. But on the second day, the kits were looking a bit skinny. I tried milking Ashlind and there was barely anything there, so I called up Karli and luckily she had a doe that had just kindled the night before. I brought the kits over to Karli's and fostered them to her doe Dora. Of course we had fun feeding the woolies and milking Dora so that we could refrigerate the milk for the next day if the woolies needed an extra boost. But yep...it was pretty fun I must admit. Milking a rabbit is no easy feat!

So Coconut, Sophie and Daffodil still hadn't kindled by the 34th day. So at this point I was ready to rebreed them. Coconut took well again to Leapin's Eclispe. Sophie was not wanting to be bred at all, so I would have to wait until the next day to breed her. Daffodil also did not want to be bred. And since Ashlind didn't have a litter anymore, I ended up breeding her.

I borrowed two bucks from Alicia Kennemer to do some breedings with them. A broken smoke pearl buck and a black otter buck. I decided to breed the broken smoke pearl buck to Ashlind because she needs a bit more of the underwool in her coat, and that broken has got it! Also, since she is out of a smoke pearl marten, I hope to bring that out with this breeding. So that was yesterday, I got M an' M's Coconut and M an' M's Ashlind bred again.

Today...well that is a bit of a story too!

A few things happened today.

I got Bunnies in the Box's Sophie bred to Alicia's otter buck. I hope to get some nice martens or otters out of it!

My grand parents are also over from Eastern Washington to celebrate my sister's birthday, which was today. But them being wood people. I got out all of my scraps of plywood and had them make me some more nestboxes. I am always short on nestboxes, but not now! They made me 8 more wooly boxes...I think that will do for a while!



Also, about a week ago Alicia palpated M an' M's Daffodil and said that she felt babies in there, and she was right. Although it was day 35 today. She started kindling around 6 pm. She had one GIANT kit...and that was it. So I hope to rebreed her in the next couple of days...I haven't decided who to breed her to yet!

I got show reports back from VIRBA today. I got M an' M's Melodrama's 2nd leg and M an' M's Bebop's 3rd Leg. I am sending in for his Grand Champion certificate tomorrow.

Chehalis entries went in today....this is what I entered:

2 Standard Chinchillas
1 Junior Buck - M an' M's Mistro
1 Senior Doe- M an' M's Zoli

7 Jersey Woolies

1 Tan Pattern Junior Doe - M an' M's Star-Struck
1 Tan Pattern Junior Buck- M an' M's Dinky
2 Tan Pattern Senior Bucks- M an' M's Zane, and M an' M's Melodrama
1 Self Junior Doe- M an' M's Miss-D-fy
1 Shaded Senior Buck- M an' M's Bebop
1 Agouti Junior Doe- M an' M's Kandice


Anyways, lots of news for such an interesting time.

I will post again soon,

-Ashley

News in All Forms: Good and Bad

Lets start with the good...

Well Alicia took the time to palpate a few of my does the other day...since I can't palpate! She had said that Ashlind and Daffodil were indeed pregnant, whereas a few others she didn't think they were.

Anyways, Ashlind was being a dork as usual and I shot some pics and a little movie of her deciding where to make her nest.

Ashlind in her box....

I will surely be posting earlier next week about how the kindling on the 24th went!

Now for the bad news...

It was quite odd when I went into the barn today. All the buns seemed fine and happy, but I noticed something in Kotton Tale's Misty's tray. It almost looked like a placenta, but I could tell it was more formed then that. I pulled out the tray and to my surprise, she had aborted her litter!

I found two kits in the tray along with what looked like a placenta. The kits weren't to be born until March 3rd, so they were pretty tiny and nearly two weeks early. I have never had a doe abort her litter before. Usually they do this due to stress related reasons, or if something is wrong with the kits themselves. I wonder if Misty felt uncomfortable during the last weekend when I was at VIRBA and got stressed out? I do have to admit, I did take her kits way right as I left for the weekend, so that could have done it...anyways...it looks like I am going to try and breed her again along with one of my chin does later today. Some pics of the kits are below...

Quite interesting huh?

Anyways, hopefully my next post will be about tons of cute kits that will be born over this weekend!

Toodles for now,

-Ashley

Quick Update on RCRF Legs

Yep, just a quick little thing about the show report I got in the mail. It seems like I did get more legs that I orginally thought. Heres the list

M an' M's Zane got BOG Tan Pattern Show A for his 5th leg

M an' M's Bebop got BOSB Show A for his 2nd leg

M an' M's Zoli got BOB Standard Chinchilla Show A for her 1st leg

M an' M's Cowboy Curtis got BOSG Self Show B for his 1st leg

M an' M's Zane got BOG Tan Pattern Show B for his 6th Leg

M an' M's Mistro got BOB Standard Chinchilla Show B for his 1st leg

Way to GO M an' M Rabbitry Winners!

VIRBA--Good Times

Well, now that me and the buns are back from VIRBA most things have returned to normal.

First of all, it was great getting to meet Kim and Christina, Kathy, Kelsey, Amanda, and all of the other great people who were at the show.

I didn't feel out of place for even a moment. It was a great experience and tons of time to chat. LOL

Another highlight of VIRBA was getting the opinion of John Grimm and Manuel Hidalgo on my woolies. Although Manuel's judging style was a bit different from what I was used to it was still a great time. I am excited for John Grimm to judge at this year's WA State Convention. I hope that he will be able to take a look at some of my chins the next time he is at a show that I am.

I also got Judy to change Sophie's Registration color. Since she was registered incorrectly, so now i just need to get about 8 registration reprints and all will be fine.

As for show wins. They were actually a bit sparse this time around. I have to admit that Kim did get some pretty nice stock from her acquisition of Laura's herd. Jentle's Hero pulled out wins in both shows for her. He looked great and was in very nice condition.

As for my rabbitry wins. I only brought woolies to show. I just didn't have enough room to bring any chins...my car was packed...(see pictures below)...Anyways, here the the scoop

Saturday Show:

Melodrama got his 2nd leg for BOG Tan Pattern

Bebop got BOSG Shaded (I am not sure if there were enough exhibitors in order to get a leg for this one....so I'll have to do an update post when I get the show report, I think there was, but I'll have to double check)

Sunday Show:

Bebop got his 3rd leg for BOG Shaded Yea!

Because the buns took up the entire back seat, and I had carriers in the trunk. This carrier and little dwarf had to ride up to VIRBA in the front seat.

Buns on the right and buns on the left...there was not space for another single rabbit in the back seat!

My Car...more and more buns....they were stuffed in every spot possible! The sheet was over the buns to make them feel just a bit more comfortable on the trip.

My VERY full trunk with Cavy and Rabbit Carriers!

Although it was quite expensive going up for the ferry and the 2 night hotel stay. It was still fun and a very relaxing show.

The Difference between an old buck and a new one

Well, the title pretty much sets the stage for what this post is all about.

Thursday, Feb 14th I was packing up everything and getting bunnies groomed for their trip to VIRBA on Friday. I knew I needed to get a few does bred again, since their kits were getting almost ready to wean...and those chins have been quite reluctant to breed lately. Anyways, Alicia brought over her broken senior and her self junior for me to take up to the show. Alicia and I had been conversing over e-mail about possibly using her broken buck with one of my does. I had tried the combination once before, but I really wanted to retain both the body and the wool that this broken had on the kits. So when he came over...I put him and a few of my other bucks to work.


I ended up doing the following combinations. They should be due March 16th or so.


M an' M's Frida X Alicia's Broken Buck (His name currently evades me)

Rolling Hill's MacKay X M an' M's Zane

FT's Canadian Mist X M an' M's Melodrama

DC's DC1 X DC's Zel



So here is where the title of this post comes in.

I was able to get the Broken Buck to service Frida 5 times over the time period that I was out cleaning carries and packing the car and such.

Zane serviced MacKay also 4 times

Zel service DC1 only 1 time (he is almost 5 years old)

But here is the real kicker....Melodrama serviced Canadian Mist 11 times! He was one day off of being a senior. There is a significant difference between a 5 year old buck and a 6 month old buck. AND wow was it a difference!

If Canadian Mist does not have kits I will be completely amazed!

I always write up a card like this one for every time that I breed does. That way when I completely forget who was bred to whom and what day they are due on, I can refer back to it. Each check mark indicates a successful service.

VIRBA I Just Can't Wait!

Well, entries went in for VIRBA. I am just ready to burst...its going to be so exciting to see how my animals do up in Canada, against woolies that I have never seen or met. Plus I finally get to meet Kim and Christina, and few other Canadian wooly breeders. Its going to be an expensive trip...thats for sure...but worth it! Just for the ferry ride it is about $45 one way...eeeeek and a hotel for 2 nights, another $100. Yowch!

Oh well, it is going to be a blast though!



As for entries heres the scoop.

Alicia Kennemer decided to enter a Broken Sr Buck and a Self Jr Buck, which I will be taking up to the show for her.

Karen Catlin decided to enter her Tan Pattern Sr Buck as a filler, so that more animals can get legs.

And I decided to enter 11 buns...

Agouti Sr Doe - M an' M's Peachee

AOV Jr Doe- M an' M's Sophia

Broken Jr Buck- M an' M's Battle Royale

Self Sr Doe- M an' M's Coconut

Self Jr Doe- M an' M's Chairry

Self Jr Buck- M an' M's Cowboy Curtis

Tan Pattern Sr Buck- M an' M's Zane

Tan Pattern Sr Buck- M an' M's Melodrama

Tan Pattern Sr Doe- M an' M's Ashlind

Tan Pattern Jr Doe- M an' M's Star-Struck

Yep, thats all of them.


Even though I have some super cute chins right now that are in condition. I decided not to enter them because there is going to be no competition at the VIRBA show for Standard Chinchillas. I plan on bringing a few animals for sale though.


Standard Chinchillas FOR SALE at VIRBA:

M an' M's Zipper JR DOE $55


Jersey Woolies FOR SALE at VIRBA:

M an' M's Oracle Pointed JR DOE $50

M an' M's Wave Pointed JR Doe $50

M an' M's Peachee Opal SR Doe $70

M an' M's Battle Royale Broken Blue JR BUCK $120

Kayz' Carter Blue Ottter SR BUCK $50


I also have a super cute little chin doe who is too young to bring to VIRBA. She is currently still with mom, but let me know you might be needing a little chin for your breeding program. Since she is an agouti, I will not be keeping her, regardless of her quality.


Anyways, so thats what is coming to VIRBA. If there is a particular animal that you want me to bring up that isn't listed here, then by all means shoot me an e-mail. Until I post again, (most likely after VIRBA)

Toodles,

-Ashley
valleygirl2119@gmail.com

More Bun Pics, and Hopefully Some Website Updates

Yep, just like the title says, got out and took some more pics of a few buns that weren't featured on the website.

I really need to overhaul all of my chin pics. I think I need to get Karli over here so that we can take pics of all of those pesky chins. Its something about them, they just hate posing for a picture. But I did get a few of the chins to sit still enough for a picture or two.

M an' M's Zoli, beautiful doe, just turned senior. She is out of Hutchin's 052, my chin buck that passed away this last October. She is my baby.

This is M an' M's Mistro. Originally I wasn't planning on keeping him, because I didn't need another chin buck...but what do you know...now I do! ^_^ He was one of my Mini Chins that were a bit stunted in their growth, but he seems to be putting on the pounds now.

M an' M's Zipper, a cute little doe out of Hutchin's 052, the buck that passed away. She is a sucker to pose...I need to work with her a bit more on that, but she has all of the right stuff. I just don't need another doe. She is currently FOR SALE.

I also took some pictures of the two Kotton Tale's Misty X B-mac's Royal Flush kits. They are pretty cute also. Small and fluffy, but cute!

Cute little kit from the Misty X Royal Flush combo...

Another cute thing from the same litter.

You can barely tell where one bun ends and the other begins...too much fluff!

I also tried breeding a few chins today, but nothing would take. These chins have been very particular these past few months that I have been trying to breed them. Hopefully they will take in the next few days.

Kotton Tale's Misty was just the opposite. She was bred to Leapin's Eclipse. on January 31st. So early March, there should be some cute babies in her nestbox.

VIRBA is just around the corner and the buns are either putting on the coats or taking them off. Its gonna be a great show. Lots of fun, and I can't wait to meet a few more wooly breeders. Feel free to e-mail me if you plan on heading to the show. I would love to meet you and see your woolies!

I plan on updating a lot of pages on the website later this evening. So later this weekend be sure to check out the Wooly Does, Wooly Bucks, Wooly Juniors, Std. Chin Does, Std. Chin Juniors, For Sale, Colors We Raise and Nestbox pages for new pics and info.

Until I post again, Toodles.

-Ashley