Selling Out

Hi. I have decided to sell out of bunnies. I will be keeping some pets for myself, and I will be keeping one younger meat buck and purchasing a meat doe for just breeding for meat for ourself. I have already sold a lot of bunnies. I have sold Harley, Lacy, Ash, Love, Gunner, and probably a couple others I cant remember.
For pets I will be keeping Melvin, Blue, Oakey, Shasta, Gracy, Buddy, Snickerdoodle, and a new meat doe. So that will make me have only 8 rabbits, which is a HUGE cut down compared to the numbers I used to have.
My cousins are here, and they will be taking home Kitty, and Daisy, a cage, and a couple water bottles. So I will only have left to sell: Bubba, Charlie, and Sweetpea. If I cant sell Sweetpea I may end up just keeping her. So this will probably be my last post, maybe one like once a year. I will also be quitting rabbit 4-H and focusing on Horses and Pigs, because they are really what I want to focus on. :) So farewell my bunny blog followers. :) TTYL!!

~Kayla

The show

Hi. :) Well although I didnt get to go to the rabbit show, I heard it was very fun! Gunner won BOV, but was 1 ounce over weight, and they wouldnt allow him to show any further. Amelia said that the judge commented on how beautiful a head Gunner has. :) Im glad that he is showing well so far. I decided to post-pone registering him, because I dont really see a need for it, when I dont go to that many shows anyways.
I bred Kitty, and she is due the end of this month. I left her in with Gunner all night, and it looked like a very sucessful breeding to me! Im hoping she has a decent sized litter, as I want to keep a young doe out of her, and Amelia also wants a baby from her. :) TTYL!!


~Kayla

Rabbitry Is Done!!!

Hey!! =D Let me start out my saying my mom is AMAZING!!! She finished my rabbitry yesterday, while I was at school. When I say she finished it I mean she cleaned ALL the cages, took all the cages out, clean the poop behind the cages, organized bunnies, through a couple of the ratty stackers outside to be delt with later, she made all the bunnies boards that didn't have them. Gave trays to all the bunnies, and over all made it WAY more clean, organized, and very roomy! =] I will take pictures later of it. I should have gotten before and after pics if I new she was going to do that. =] Im sick today, but some fresh air might be good.
Sadly I won't be going to the show myself at all. Amelia will still be taking Gunner to show, but we are gonna take him to her house Friday. Im a little disapointed, but still excited to see how Gunner does! His coat is really nice right now, and he does a good job at keeping clean. I am getting the somewhat "yellowish" stains off the bottom of his feet with hydrogen proxide. I think im going to wait on regsitering him, since im saving up to breed my sow this month, and I dont want to put that on Amelia. =] Oh and the website is re-done also, go check it out! www.sunsetrabbitry.webs.com TTYL!

~Kayla M.

A Show!!

Hey!! =] Im soo excited, im going to the Grants Pass show this weekend!! Im taking only Top Gunner, my beautiful BEW buck. =] I love this guy, and Im hoping he does well! Luckily he got his condition back from a HORRIDE molt, so im happy. =] Sadly I wont be able to show him, because I have to attend my cousins birthday, and have my own birthday the same day, lol. Amelia Caldwell from Shasta Rabbitry will be showing Gunner for me. Im very grateful to her for helping me out!! My plan is to take him to the show saturday morning, look around, possibly get him registered, Amelia will show him, Gunner will spend the night at her house, and I will pick him up sometime Sunday. =] This will be my first open show, im sad I cant show, but grateful that my bunny gets to go! =] I was gonna send Melvin and Bubba also, but there not tatoo'd and they are just coming out of there ugly stage, lol. =] TTYL!!


~Kayla

Oh my

Wow, summer has flown by way to fast! Its hard to believe im starting school this coming Monday. :( Oh well, highschool won't be to bad, hopefully. Alot has gone on since my last post. I sold all of my baby bunnies except 2, a black vm buck from Daisy is possibly going to a new home tommorow. The other one is a solid gold tipped steel doe from Ash. I sent her and her litter mates to the pet store, and she was being aggressive, and moody. All of Ash's litter were very sweet, coming up to the cage, being held, but for some reason this little girl has always been moody. Since i dont feel comfortable selling her to a pet home, she will be culled from the herd.
I bred Gracy and Kitty, and sadly niether were very good sucess. Kitty never kindled. Gracy had 6 babies, and 5 of them died in the heat dispite all our efforts, and the last one, we brought inside, and from the beginning he was skinny, he would scream for no reason, I would try to bottle feed him, and sadly he passed away, but at least he is no longer suffering.
Tommorow im taking Minnie Mouse, and the black VM buck to a gal named Amelia. She raises Netherland Dwarfs, so im gonna trade her for one of her black otter junior bucks. Her website is: www.freewebs.com/shastarabbitry. She is very sweet, and helpful, check out her site!
I was finally able to sell Secret Score and Roman to a 4-H breeding home, so I hope they do well for there new owner. I have been moving out quite a few bunnies, and im grateful for that. I have decided to still do Meat bunnies, and Netherland Dwarfs on a small scale for now. I will be keeping Ash and Oakey as a breeding pair of Mini Lops, and I will keep Shasta (retired) and Buddy (showmanship bunny), Melvin, Gunner, and Kitty. Hopefully this will reduce numbers, and if in the future its not working out, I may almost sell out, although I will always have the meat bunnies, as they sell REALLY well. =]


~Kayla

Oh the bunnies....:)

Hi. Hmm, bunnies are so intresting. I love my bunnies, dont get me wrong, they are just so much work sometimes. I think its the cleaning the cages that gets me....I guess it wouldn't be that bad if the poop didn't get caught, and build up in the cage. Oh well. Im excited to get really involved with the Dwarfs. Im making some big decisions about moving bunnies out. Im really considering who is worth staying, and who isn't.
Melvin is doing GREAT. His wry neck went away with antibiotics. Im so glad we caught it in time. He is such a great bunny, and he definatly has a permanent home here, he is very special to the whole family. =]
One of Daisy's babies got out. Her feeder was kinda falling out, and so this same chesnut VM buck kept getting out. And this morning I went out to feed, and he was no where to be found. I kept going back in to make sure I hadn't missed him. I was so sad that something had happened to him. But then tonight I went in, and Buddy was out, and he came hopping up to me, and then there was the baby bunny sitting there. I was so happy! =D He is a little tramatized, so I hope he is okay. I then decided to go ahead and type him, since I need to replace his mom, and he has perfect type! He has flawless type, and he will be perfect for the BEW's. I will be keeping him, and I will check the other babies, and see if anyone else is worthy enough to hold back. =] Well have a good night! TTYL. =]


~Kayla

Great Weekend

Hi. This past weekend was Spring Rabbit Fair. It was so much fun!! Friday at about 5pm we went in to vet check my rabbits. I decided to take 6 (Blue, Buddy, Secret Score, Roman, Gunner, and Love Game). When I brought Gunner (BEW junior ND) up to the vet check lady. She started saying how beautiful he was, she loved his type, his ears, his head, everything about him. So that made me hopeful that he would do well. =] Saturday was the first day of showing. I showed Love Game, and got BOB over all the Crossbred bunnies. And at 3pm we did Showmanship. I got a callback, and I did really well. =] I then showed Buddy, and got 2nd Blue. On Sunday I showed Secret Score and Roman, and they went over weight, and got DQ'd. The judge loved them. Then I took Top Gunner up to the tables. There were quite a few ND up there, and some nice ones at that! Anyways..............................Gunner won BOB over ALL The Netherland Dwarfs in the show!!! =DDD The judge LOVED him, and I was so pleased! Im looking forward to showing him some more! The judge picked him up, and said to watch out for his weight, so im gonna put him on a diet. YAY!! Im so happy! We also had awards on Sunday, and tear down. =]

Althought we did have some sad news when we got home. Elwine (my neighbor) raises Kiko Goats, and I bottle feed the babies that the mothers don't want. So Elwine calls me, and says he is bringing me a baby goat. She was so cute! Although she didn't make it through the night..=((((( R.I.P little Snowy.

Also Melvin my baby BEW is showing signs of Wry neck, so Im taking him into the vet at 2:30pm today, to get this nipped in the butt. This is my second case with it, and I dont want it to become a promblem. So please pray that the antibiotics work on Melvin, and he gets better soon. TTYL! =]


~Kayla

Oh The Bunnies..

Melvin all set up

Playing in the grass with his momma

What a little chub chub!

He's getting the hang of setting up

Mmmm, yummy grass!

Well the bunnies are doing great! The baby BEW has been named. We named him Melvin, because he looks like a Melvin, lol. He LOVES grass and Clover. He is looking really nice conformation wise. Im thinking I will be keeping him, because another buck wouldnt hurt, lol. =] Lacy had her babies. Im not sure how many yet, but there are ALOT of them!! Sweetpea hasn't had any yet, although she made a nest, and she still feels prego. Daisy pulled hair, and made a nest, but no babies. Although she feels really skinny, so Im hoping she didn't eat them. There is also supposed to be a thunderstorm tommorow, so Im hoping it doesn't upset them.

I made up Ash's babies, and Melvin's pedigrees. They look good, and I have alot of people intersted in Ash's babies, and I haven't even advertised them yet, lol. =] Have a nice night!! =D TTYL.

~Kayla

Updates

Hey. =] All the babies are doing great. Im not sure if I mentioned it in the last post or not, but Ash now has 4 babies instead of 5. Im not sure where the 5th one went, but he isnt in there.
The baby BEW is doing great. Starting to hop in and out of the box now. He is looking like he is gonna have nice type! He is very stocky, which is what I could use a bit more of in my rabbitry.
I have decided that im gonna not get the breeding pair of otters, until I sell all the bunnies I have for sale. Then I can reward my self with a new breeding pair! =D My mom likes this decision better to. =]

Thought I would give a quick update!! =D Thanks!

~Kayla

ANDRC

Hi. =] I am going to register with the ANDRC (American Netherland Dwarf Rabbit Club). I am excited! I plan to just raise Netherland Dwarfs, in BEW and Otter. And I will keep Ash and Oakey for a litter of Mini Lops occasionally. =] Other then that, it will all be ND's, and Meat breeds. I will still have Shasta and Buddy, and I'm thinking of selling Sweetpea, but I'm not sure yet. I'm also going to purchase an apron from the ANDRC. =DDDD
Ash has only 4 live babies now. I don't know what happened to the 5th one, but there is now 2 solids, and 2 brokens. 2 does are reserved, and I have another lady interested in 1. So they are going very quick, lol. Have a nice day! =]

~Kayla

Baby Mini Lops

Well Ash had 5 babies this morning. There are 3 brokens, and 2 solids. They are all fat, and she pulled alot of hair. Im hoping to keep a nice show quality doe, to replace Roman and Secret Score. I have a lady wanting 2 for her daughters.
The baby BEW is doing great. He is very fat, and is binkying about the nestbox. =] Theres an update for ya! =D

~Kayla

Baby BEW

Hey. =] Here are pics of the baby BEW. He/she is a week and 4 days old. Hes doing great! His eyes opened (but he is a little shy). Thought you might enjoy the pics! =D

~Kayla

Baby BEW!! =D

The New Addition up above =]

Top Gunner (up above)

Minnie Mouse (up above) being a butt to pose

Blue Boy (up above)

Snickerdoodle (up above)

Well, I am happy to post that RBTD Kitty, had 1 BEW baby last Sunday night. =D Since there is only one, and it was kind of cold at the time, I brought them both inside. Kitty seems to be taking good care of him, and hopefully this will be a nice addition to the BEW program.

But sadly, Minnie Mouse went blind in one eye. She for sure cant see out of it, and its fogged over. So Im putting Terimyacin in her eye 3X's a day. Hopefully this will get rid of it. If not, I will have to scratch her from my fair entry. =(

I have a person who is going to buy my rabbit poop everytime I have some. He has a garden shop, and sells rabbit manure. So that will be good. =]

And here is my offical fair entry:

Snickerdoodle

Blue Boy

Minnie Mouse (pending)

Buddy (for showmanship, and breed judging)

LHHR Secret Score

Sunset's Ash

Hoppin's Oakey

LHHR Exclusively Roman

Precious Jewells Top Gunner

And my cross bred show doe, who doesnt have a name yet, lol. =]

Speaking of my cross bred show doe, she got tatoo'd last saturday. She was the only bunny who needed tatoo'd.

I was going to show Kitty, but she has gone "broody" and wont be any real competion.

BYE, BYE!!!!!! =D

Crossed Bred Show Doe

Hi. Well in my last post, I had picked a californian/new zealand doe for showing. Well my mom actidently sold her, so i picked a shorter, smaller doe. She is nicer, and should mature nicely!!

New Show Doe??

Hi. Yesterday I was kind of looking at my meat litters, cause I never handle them, cause they go for meat, I was just seeing how crazy they were. LOL. Well, they were not crazy. I picked up a doe, and set her up on the table. She looks pretty nice! I think im gonna keep her, and make a show doe out of her. I seperated her from her siblings, and im in the process of getting buck stains off of her. Lacy her mom was a top show doe, so she should be nice. I also had my cousin go around and hold all the bunnies last night, they were all good, and she had some fun. =] BYE!


~Kayla

Retired Buns, and Summer

Hi. I have decided today to post about my retired buns, and what I do when summer comes around. To start, I do keep some bunnies, to retire. I only have 4. Only one of them is really retired, the other 3 have a guarnteed spot here. First off is Shasta, she is my very first rabbit ever. She is a absoult love. She hates plastic bowls. She is retired.
Second is Buddy. Buddy is my last baby from Thumper, and Thumper was my best bunny friend. Buddy is just like his dad. Just a sweetie. Of course he will never replace Thumper.
Third is Harley. Harley is just a special bun. I hate it when he chews on the wire, but it ammuses me to see him look at me like he knows he isnt supposed to be doing it. He knows his name, and is about the most annoying bun ever. But I love him very much, and he is always my first to greet me, and tell me he is about to start chewing. Such a ham..
Fourth is Gracy. Gracy is just Gracy. She is gonna have 1 more litter, then she is done. She loves about anything you give her food wise. She is a blackberry leave addict, and a cuddler. =]


As far as hot summer weather goes..it is very hard to keep buns happy in the heat. I litterally soak my bunnies with a hose to keep them cool. Frozen bottles, and boards are a pain. Soaking them is much better. I do it several times a day. I mainly get there ears, and body. I dont do there face, or nose. Theres my secret! =]

Happenings

Hi. =] Im very excited for April 18th. You know why?? Because my BEW Netherland Dwarf is due. She is looking prego (which im happy about). Hopefully there will be some nice looking babies in there!
I put Roman and Secret Score (Mini Lops) for sale. I have decided to just keep a breeding pair (Oakey, and Ash) to breed for ocasional pet litters. Both Roman and Secret are pedigreed, and registered with ARBA. Secret has 1 leg, and Roman has won BOS at my county fair. Im asking $100 for the pair. I will seperate if you would like. They produce nice babies together though.
I sold Cloud (Dutch) a couple days ago. She went to a girl in my 4-H club for a showmanship rabbit. She is a sweetie, so she should do well with her.
I have decided since im gonna be focusing on my Netherland's, I will only be keeping 3 Dutch. Shasta, Sweetpea, and Buddy. I will work on moving my bunnies today, so I can have them more organized.
It may seem mean to some viewers, but since I couldnt sell Brownie, he was butchered with my meat litter of 4 from Gracy. He was kind of a crazy buck. Cookie will also be going that way, when my 9 meat babies from Lacy are ready to be procesed. Cookie is a real mean rabbit. You cant even touch her without her trying to attack you, so I dont feel right trying to sell her for a pet home.
Have a nice day!! TTYL. =]

~Kayla

Buns

Hi. I'm sorry I havent posted in a while. All the bunnies are doing good. Kitty never had babies, but I was able to re breed her, and she will be due sometime in April. They should all be BEW. Maybe some VM's??
Sadly a about a week ago we had to put down a baby bunny. It was one of the purebred Dutch babies. It got wry-neck, and there was nothing we could do for him. =(
Roman and Secret Score are for sale as a pair. I need to cut back, and I feel like I dont use these guys enough.

Updates

Rescue Bunny

I would like to welcome...Sebastion into the rabbitry. He is a Holand Lop cross, and is a rescue rabbit. He is blind, and is very sweet. Im hoping he will be able to find his food and water, and get along ok. He seems like a very sweet bunny, although he just arrived tonight. Im hoping he can find a great home. Im gonna be somewhat picky on his home, due to the fact that he is blind. If you are intersted in adopting Sebastion, please email me at: jwk899@charter.net =]

Managing Your Herd

I thought I would post my opions on how to mantain a healthy, and productive herd. This is the way I choose to do things in my rabbitry, and some ways I wish to change it, and how to change it.

Lets start with when you are trying to pick out your breed. I would suggest going to a local rabbit show, or a 4-H rabbit fair, and looking at all the different breeds. Talk to the owners about there rabbits, and dont be afraid to ask them questions. I think you should look into a rabbit that catches your eye. If you walk into the show, and see a Rhinelander sitting in his cage, and you go "Wow, thats a nice looking bunny!" Then go talk to the owners, and see what it takes to raise that certain breed.
#2: Make sure the breed is for you! If you dont like the idea of processing for meat, then I would suggest you dont get a meat breed. If you want something small, with alot of personalty. I would go with the Netherland Dwarf, or Dutch. Mini Lops, do not mean they are Mini rabbits. They actually get up to 6 1/2 lbs! So, make sure you do your reasearch.

Choosing a good feed is another important part to raising rabbits. I feed my rabbits Payback rabbit feed. It has 18% protein, and if im looking to add a little pazazz to it, I will add oats, hay, and grass. I would personally not buy a feed to high over 18%, as it can be to much for the rabbit. I would not reccomend buying feed under 18% as it doesnt provide the benifits for the rabbits. Make sure you also find a feed that isnt going to "break the bank." You can find a high quality feed, with a not so high quality price.

Your Rabbitry: I like to have a somewhat big rabbitry. Not just to house several rabbits, and maybe a few different breeds, but to have room to store your feed, hay, grooming box, medications, and everything you need for your rabbits. Another important part to a rabbitry is GOOD ventalation! You want to keep your rabbits comfortable, and cool during the hot summer months, but not freeze them, or there babies during winter. I dont reccomend using a heat lamp to keep your bunnies warm. I would suggest a nice opening somewhere in your barn, where you can have lots of air flow for summer, but still keep in somewhat warmer in the winter. I like to be able to have at least 2 fans running in the summer for my rabbits.


I personally try to clean my rabbitry at least 1 time a week. I currently dont use any thing in my trays. I used to use shavings, but they are kinda a pain. Im considering trying a nice brand of cat litter, and seeing if it keeps the odor down, and makes it easier to clean the trays. Please Note: I do spray down my trays, when there are no shavings in them.

Some Things To Change In My Rabbitry: Since my rabbitry is somewhat smaller, I try to organize it, so I have as much room for lots of cages as possible. So far Im liking the way my rabbitry is set up now. I would like to change to cat litter for my trays, and try to get more air flow, for the summer. I think these are just some key things, when it comes to raising rabbits. More to come soon! =]

Spring Time???

Is spring time here yet? I wish. I hate the rain. Luckily it has been nice and sunny these past few days (YAY!). I have set up 4 cages outside in the grass, for the bunnies to play in. Everyday someone different gets to go out, and play. They really enjoy eating all the grass, and burning some energy. Its so much fun to watch the babies play. Today I was able to get some pictures of the buns for sale. Tommorow I might get some more. The bunnies are all in really nice condition right now, and all the babies are looking GREAT. My ND doe is due this next weekend. I hope she took, if not, im gonna make her lose some weight, and try her again. I dont know why Dwarfs are such pains to get pregant. My black ND doe is the same way *groans*.


I have made the smart decision to cut back on the pet rabbits, and get one pet breed that is my "main" breed. I will still have about 4 Dutch, and 1 breeding pair of Mini Lops (Ash, and Oakey). Im gonna start breeding Netherland Dwarfs full on now. I will have Dutch on the side, and my meat breeds full on as well. I could never give up my Dutch, and will always have them, as they are so much fun! I think im gonna like the ND. So far im gonna breed BEW, Blue, and im thinking about Otters. I think otters are very pretty. And later on, I will get into some brokens. Im really excited for the Netherland Dwarfs, and should have LOTS of cage space to work with them! =D TTYL.

Babies Growing Up

Hi. Well it has been nice and sunny the past couple days. I got all the trays dumped, and now I just need to bleach some cages (hopefully), and clean out the meat pens. I have decided I need to make a day, every week to clean out my rabbitry. It got WAY WAY overdue this last time, and its not fair to the bunnies. So im thinking every wensday. =)
Speaking of babies, some are starting to hop out of the nestbox. =D They are all so cute! Sadly Daisy's baby that looked like Thumper, passed away, due to unknown reasons. Im very excited for my Mini Lop litter. They are looking so cute! There ears are beginning to lop, and they have BIG heads, like there daddy. Im thinking im gonna sell Secret Score, and maybe keep a baby to replace her. More then likely I will keep a baby anyways. Im also excited for my Dutch litter. They arent quite as impressive as I had hoped, but they are pretty nice markings wise. One has a DQ. I wish she would of had more to choose from. It leaves me with a steel, and a gold (ack!). Steel is not my fav color, and gold is un showable. So we will see what happens.
Aside from rabbit news. My sow (pig) had her first litter of 12 babies. There are hamp pigs (black and white), york pigs (white), blue butts (grey and white), and duroc pigs (red and white). One got sqwished, so there are 11 left. 6 gilts (girls), and 5 boars (boys). My other sow is due any day now. TTYL!


~Kayla

Babies!! =D

Hi. So im not eggzagerating when I say I have "Bunnies coming out my ears!" Im very happy to say, all my does took, and had babies, except one (the litter I was really looking forward to). Cookie had a total for 9 babies (YIKES!), but 4 were still born, leaving her with 5. Sweetpea has 4 babies. Daisy has 3 babies (one looks JUST like Thumper, who I will be keeping). Cloud has 3 babies. Ash has 5 babies (3 solids, 2 brokens). Kitty never took, will be re breeding her tommorow. And Lacy has 10 babies (GEEZ!). Im glad the does had smaller litters, and that they are all doing well. Im really impressed with how good the new moms are. Ash is a AWESOME mom (I think I will end up making her a possible foster mom?) Cloud is very sweet, and takes good care of her babies. And as always Sweetpea, and Daisy take great care of there babies. Cookie, and Lacy seem to be grouchy. Cookie is SO SO SO protective. She attacks the hay/door, and she grunts, and tries to attack, when I pour her food in, or blow on her, for grunting. Oh well....Cookie will be gone soon enough. Hopefully I will have baby pictures to share very soon. =) TTYL.


~Kayla

Decent Weather

Hi. Well the weather lately has been pretty nice. It has been raining quite a bit, but other then that, sunny, and nice. I plan to clean out the rabbitry tommorow. I was gonna go over my herd, but well over half my rabbitry is due to have babies, or are just coming off litters. I decided its not fair to type them now. ;) I have to say im pretty excited about all these babies! Most of the litters are pet litters, but I bred a couple to hopefully replace some doe's. I bred Cloud to Buddy, because Buddy is an amazing Dutch. He is the best in the rabbitry. I really love his cheeks, and his color, and type. Cloud I also really like. Her cheeks need help, and she needs to be darker blue, she is really light. But, Cloud has the stops Buddy needs. Buddy has nice stops, but they are ALMOST split stops (his momma has split stops).
Another litter I bred was, Ash, to Oakey. Im hoping to move out Ash, and was thinking of keeping something from her (if they are nice). Im looking forward to this litter. Another litter is my first litter of BEW. Im hopeing she took. =)
As you know I have alot of breeds in my rabbitry. I have decided for the best intrest of my herd, I need to let a breed or two go. Im thinking about only having about 5 holes for my Mini Lops (I may end up just selling out, and keeping a NICE breeding trio). So far my Dutch are staying. I KNOW my Netherland Dwarfs are staying. I really love ND, and think they are really fun to work with, so I will keep about 8 holes for them. I have decided I need to work up my meat breeds. I think im good on bucks, but maybe another doe, or two? I know meat rabbits are a HUGE hit here, and I need to keep them going.
Last night I was in the rabbitry feeding buns. And Cookie always paces her cage (she wants her box early). Well, I wont give it to her, until its time. But she had some hair pulled in the corner, so I decided to give her the box, just in case. No babies as of tonight. Anyways enough ranting. TTYL. =)


~Kayla

New Babes!

Hi. Well we have new little babes in the barn! Daisy had 3 babies. One is almost all black, the other 2 are marked like Dutch. One is gonna be black, maybe steel, the other is gold. Its amazing how dominate gold is. There is no gold in the bloodline, until there great great grandma. Weird....lol. Just thought I would let you know! More babes to come very soon hopefully! =D TTYL.



~Kayla