West Coast Fuzzy Lop List

If you're on the West Coast (or in the general area) make sure you belong to the WestCoastFuzzyLop List on yahoo groups. I started this group almost exactly a year ago and it now has 46 members. It is a very active list used to discuss local happenings with the breed as well show results, and to coordinate show entries.

Even if you're not on our side of the country and want to see what's happening with the breeders in our area feel free to join!

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/WestCoastFuzzyLops

My Red Bluff Winners

We had several nice placings in the classes, but I'll post my top two wins. Congrats to all of the Fuzzy Lop winners!

My new little girl who is going to be a showstopper
THF Saynora Puff Ball, 1/2, BOV, BOSB Show A on Saturday!
(and that was a win while she is molting badly! Judge, Chris Zemny, said she is beautiful and if she was in coat she would have been BOB easily. How's that for a JUNIOR? ::grin::)
Top two photos taken by Susie C. for me at the show. Thanks Susie!

PFF's Tonka, 1/7, BOSV, BOSB Show B on Sunday!

(this was a great win for my boy Tonka, who doesn't get to see the show tables too much because he's busy being a spoiled boy at home!)

Belgian Hares at Red Bluff

I was amazed at the amount of Belgian Hares making an appearance at the Red Bluff show. I think they had numbers close to ten? A few exhibitors were watching Carol Green judging the classes, trying to get an up close look at the breed. Allen Mesick came over to give a few tips on posing the breed (we know he EXCELS at that!).

Red Bluff Shows

The show room

Last weekend was the VERY fun Red Bluff show weekend. Double shows both Saturday and Sunday makes for 4 opportunities for legs. The local Lop club (English & French) even held specialty shows Friday night. That makes for a very opportunistic weekend!

Open woolies waiting for their turn on the table

Danielle A. clerks for woolies

Fuzzy Exhibitors Jenny H., Rachelle T. (back), and Susie C.

T.G.I.F!

Thank goodness it's Friday! I have lots of cleaning to do around the house this weekend.. including stacker tray dumping! Oh joy! I only have 2 more Christmas presents to buy.. which isn't too bad. Last year I waited until the last minute.

With the economy in a funk, there are lots of changes happening in our world. It's hard to imagine how everyone is affected until it hits home. My office is going to be closing from Dec. 24th- Jan 4th. Close to 2 weeks of being off of work. We had the choice of using up our vacation time or taking it unpaid. Because I attend Convention & different Nationals during the year I NEED the Vacation hours. So I took the time off unpaid. Thankfully it will be taken out in increments over months and months next year. That will help me not feel like it's so much at once.

Ok, enough venting about my financial situation. I have lots of babies in the rabbitry. Harmony's babies are doing fabulous by the way. She had 2, one honey colored tort and one dark tort. She's actually fostering a baby that's quite younger than her other two. It's out of a first time doe being bred. It's either chestnut or black otter, not sure at this point since it's only a few days old. All I know is that I'm ECSTATIC it is alive! I saved that poor baby from being absolutely freezing cold. It was barely moving when I found it in the box that morning. I took it in by the fire and slowly warmed it up. I didn't have any litter close to that age to foster it to, so before I left for work I stuck it in with Harmony's two hoping it would at least stay warm for the duration of the day. It was alive when I came home.. a miracle! It was so comfy and warm with it's new huge siblings, so it got to stay. Harmony is an excellent milk producer so the baby is always very full and warm. I'm so happy :)

Show tomorrow

Tomorrow is the Red Bluff show weekend.. which I am very excited about! The Red Bluff shows are held in December once a year. They are back to back double shows (Saturday and Sunday), usually with Specialties held the Friday evening before. I'll be leaving early in the AM tomorrow, and bringing 4 fuzzies to show. They will each be shown 4 times. Wow! Our fuzzy lop group gets together and does a white elephant gift exchange and appetizer/dessert potluck on Sunday. Some of us even go out to dinner on Saturday night. If you want to come by and grab a goodie and talk fuzzy, feel free to stop by!

Nova

This is Lil'Bit Farm's Nova. He is a tort junior buck that has been doing very well for me. His first weekend out was at Convention this past October in KY. He was very much a baby and had no coat. The next time I brought him out was the Pomona/Fresno show weekend (two shows each day). He earned a leg EACH show! He is now at 4 Legs with 1 BOB, 1 BOS, 2 BOSV and even an Honorable Mention in Show! I'm very excited to see how his show career continues.

BTW... Harmony had babies this morning!! YIPEEE! She had 3, 1 peanut and 2 regulars. Both are torts. I'm very excited for these babies. I'ts been quite cold here (40's high) so I've kept them inside where it's warmer.

Peanuts for Moondust

Well, Moondust ended up delivering her very first litter. I was proud of her because she had them in the box and pulled a lot of wool to try to keep them warm. Unfortunately they were both peanuts, tort in color. I'll be rebreeding her again soon.

I try not to worry too much about the first litter for a doe surviving. I try not to get my hopes up, as many times they will have them on the wire, not pull wool to keep them warm, or the babies will end up being stillborn. If a first timer's litter survives and she does well I figure it's icing on the cake. After 2-3 litters a doe should be on track to having babies regularly in the box without issues (if she is conceiving that is). If she is cannibalising them or keeps having them on the wire I have to start thinking about whether this is possibly a genetic trait to have in the herd or not.

I do have a couple does that took a very long time to actually conceive. One of my favorite does actually had her first litter the day she turned 2 years old! She is special to me, so would always be here no matter what. I always wanted a litter out of her, so when I did breeding rounds I would always breed her just incase of a miracle. What a joy to see her belly grow in size and have babies to deliver! I always bring her inside when she is due to kindle, as she has not had much success having them in the box. I put her inside of a cavy cage with a solid bottom. That way I can check on them immediately once she has them and help her rearrange them. I have to wonder if it's because she took so long to take, so she doesn't have the younger maternal instincts a 6-8 month old doe would have when delivering?

A very important doe is due on Sunday.. Lil'Bit Farms Harmony. This is my doe that won BOSV Solid at Convention this year. She is nesting as of this morning. I am VERY excited for any babies out of this litter, and very hopeful. Many don't know, but Harmony has already been a mother. I made sure to get a litter out of her when she was around 7 months old. I wanted her to be a great show doe, but also a great mother. I didn't want to have one of those powerhouse show winning does that never ends up having a litter because the breeder waited too long, you know? Who says you can't show a doe after she has a litter? This doe has had a litter already, got her into condition, and then went on to have a huge win at Convention and has multiple Honorable Mentions in show.

Waiting for babies

The Fall breeding season is underway. I'm hoping to have some great juniors for Fuzzy Lop Nationals in April. We're off a late start, but hopeful for a great batch of juniors to choose from. I had a couple litters born a little less than 2 weeks ago. And out of 7 babies, 5 are solid blue! I'm hoping for a blue doe out of those. They are so chunky and look like they have huge heads already!

Above, Starlite's Moondust is nesting and patiently waiting for her first litter to be born (she was bred with Hobbs' Eoin). She's due today. Crossing fingers!

How about some blue otter?

This is HBB's Abe. He turns 1 year old tomorrow and is a cobby typey blue otter fuzzy lop buck. Deb Levisay graciously saved him to deliver to me at Convention this past October. Boy am I thankful! He is a nice addition to my otter project. I can't wait to get some babies out of him. He is all settled at home now and I'm planning on some does for him. He did just start getting a loose coat so I have plucked the poor guy practically bald. He looks verrrry silly. Now it should come in nice and even once the new coat grows in. The first photo is recently after I acquired him, and the second is by Deb before I purchased him.

Remember, otter is not an accepted showable color in American Fuzzy Lops. Marilyn Kohler from Blue Hills Rabbitry is the current COD Holder for the Otter Fuzzy Lop (which includes black and blue otters). Otters failed their first presentation this past Convention (KY 2008) but are to be presented in California in 2009. We are very excited and are proud to support Marilyn and her efforts. I know there are many breeders excited for this new variety. To see more photos of otter fuzzies check out this post in the AFLRC Blog.

Are you working on otters now, or are you waiting for the variety to be accepted for showing? Shoot me an e-mail, as I'd love to hear from others working on otter.

Fresno

After about an hour drive the next morning, Sunday, we were at the Fresno show. Well, sorta. See, I'm REALLY good with directions. I pride myself on my sense of distance and directions. Well, this time mapquest failed me and I was definitely lost. I ended up on the other side of the freeway looking for the fairgrounds. I've been to this show before so after driving around 7-8 miles out of the way I knew something was wrong. The issue was the fog. Yes, the central valley gets lots of it, and it's thick! You didn't know which way was up, down, if you came from that way.... If there was no fog I probably would have noticed we were in the back 40 in the farm fields! And to make matters worse, some person had 2 large german shepherds in their yard chasing cars in the fog. I wasn't going fast, yet they brushed against my car. Scariest thing ever! Too bad some pet owners have to be so irresponsible. Not only was it deadly for the dogs, but for me and my friend in the car. Anywho, after that we stopped at a gas station and figured out where we were going and made it to the fairgrounds. Turns out we weren't the only ones mixed up because of the fog. We made it on time but many others didn't. Rather to be safe and late than not safe at all, I say!

Rachelle was there (Wroyal Wreign Lops) with her English Lops (see one of her gorgeous bucks in the photo above) and a few Fuzzies. She is so sweet! I'm so happy she got back into rabbits again and have a great friendship with her. She is so funny and makes shows so fun. She has made me love English Lops so very much. Enough that I think she has me convinced to take home a show quality baby once she has one! ::grin:: We got to see Michael (Silent Springs Rabbitry) which was great! Yay! I love his beautiful COLORED Mini Lops. Their fur was so plush and vibrant. He is such a kick to be around. Amy was also there (Amy's Bunny Barn) with her Jersey Woolies. She is such a nice girl and has some great woolies. We all had Taco Bell for lunch. Yummm! I wish I could have taken more photos, but the lighting in that building isn't that great. But as always, you can view more photos from shows (I only post a couple here on the blog) at my Photo Album section of my webpage.

The results were great today, but I'll post just my top two:

Show A- Judge Allen Mesick

Lil'Bit Farms Harmony (SSD)- 1/3, BOV, BOB! HONORABLE MENTION IN SHOW!
Lil'Bit Farms Nova (SJB)- 1/4, BOSV, BOSB

Show B- Judge Randy Shumaker

Lil'Bit Farms Harmony (SSD)- 1/3, BOSV, BOSB
Lil'Bit Farms Nova (SJB)- 1/4, BOV, BOB! HONORABLE MENTION IN SHOW!

Took 4 more legs home this show. Nova... wow! He is going to do great things as he keeps getting older. I was so happy for him to win BOB at the second show.. and an Honorable Mention during BIS judging? Holy cow! That is a great honor for a buck that just turned 5 months old. I posted a photo of Nova, below, hamming it up during the show.

After another very long day we were back on the road again. We stopped for some In N Out on the way home (and I'm sick of fast food at this point!). We dragged on to Stockton, where I met Susie's mom to drop her off. Another 45 more minutes and I finally made it home. The bunnies were happy to be in their own cages for the night and were demanding some hay before bed. Ok ok, they deserve it!

I'm sure there will be another adventure soon!

Road Trip to So Cal!

On a whim, Susie (Wooly World Rabbitry) and I decided to go for a long rabbit show road trip for the weekend. We were planning on going to the Fresno show on Sunday anyways, and why not make a few extra hours trip down to the Pomona show on Saturday too. Both of us had never been to a Southern California show, so it would be a new adventure! (not like we haven't had many of those or anything!)

The drive was surprisingly nice and easy. I picked Susie up in Stockton and we drove down to Modesto to grab a bite to eat. The mall was very tempting, but we had to get back on the road. I was trying to show her my favorite restaurant, BJ's Brewery, but it was an hour and a half wait for dinner. That would put us wayyy behind. So we settled on Wendy's instead. LOL. More driving... we ended up staying in Tulare for the night, so we were around 3 hours left of driving in the morning. The city was lit up and had lots of places to eat and stay. We loaded up on goodies for the weekend and hit the hay.

The morning driving to Pomona wasn't really that bad. With a friend in the car time seems to fly by. I would have taken some photos of the BEAUTIFUL sunset over the Grape Vine, but driving + taking pictures = nothing good. LOL. I know Susie got some good ones though. It was gorgeous! The colors were amazing. It wasn't really too cold when we got to the L.A. area, which was great. The show was located at the Expo center in the very large parking lot. There is a nice covered area used for other venues, which made a nice ventilated spot for a show. I guess some exhibitors told us things are done different usually, so we all enjoyed some different things this time around. No comment cards, for one! Honestly, I didn't find it to be a bother whatsoever. It made it more important to watch your bunnies be shown so you can keep track of placings. The club provided an entry sheet and we used that to write on. It was perfect!






Our awesome friend Amber (Wonder Woolies Rabbitry) drove down to do the same warrior driving weekend that we did. It was great seeing a familiar face at the show. We also got to meet Sarah (Sarah's Mini Lops). We have been friends online for a long while now, so it was great putting a face to a name. She is such a sweetheart! And she did great with her Mini Lops!

Susie and I did awesome at the show. I know she won BOS both shows with her woolies, which is great. Here are my results:


Show A- Judge Joey Schults

Hobbs Eoin (SSB)- 2/3
Lil'Bit Farms Harmony (SSD)- 1/4, BOV, BOB, HONORABLE MENTION IN SHOW!
Lil'Bit Farms Nova (SJB)- 1/6, BOSV
Starlite's Jamba (SJB)- 3/6
THF Saynora holland doe (BSD)- 1/?, BOSV


Show B- Judge Scott Williamson

Hobbs Eoin (SSB)- 1/3
Lil'Bit Farms Harmony (SSD)- 1/4, BOV, BOSB
Lil'Bit Farms Nova (SJB)- 1/4, BOSV
Starlite's Jamba (SJB)- 4/4
THF Saynora holland doe (BSD)- Missed the class

Susie and I switched BOB/BOS each show with my doe Harmony and her GORGEOUS broken orange buck Twin Elm's Independence Day. See photo above with Judge Joey Shults!

I took home 5 legs at this show. They were the first two for Nova. This was his first weekend out besides being entered at Convention with a moulty baby coat. What a great day.

I loved meeting new fuzzy friends in Southern California. Everyone was so nice and warm and welcoming. I really wish I would have got the chance to chat with Pam some more! She is a doll! I see great success with her and her BEW fuzzies she is working on.

Susie, Amber and kids, and I packed up and followed each other to find some dinner. After getting turned around in L.A. quite a few times, we settled on a feast at Dennys! Perfect. Afterwards we all headed back up North to prepare for Fresno the next day. We ended up driving up to Tulare and stayed in the same hotel. I wanted to get as close to Fresno as I could as I knew we would be dragging the next day. Zzzzzzz.....

The end to a great week

The goodbye photo from Kentucky, while in the airport waiting for our departure flight. Sad that the week went by so very fast. But so elated to remember all of the fun I had during the week. I have made so many friends and memories to last me forever. Time to start thinking about San Diego, California in 2009. This time we wont have to fly, which will be great. I'm really looking forward to another Convention adventure!

Conv Photos- AFLRC Banquet

Ribbons for 5th- 10th placings
Bookbags for 1st-4th placers, and the plaques for BOB/BOS.

BOV and BOSV will get T-shirts mailed to them. The auction prizes. All proceeds went to benefit the 2009 National Show in Salt Lake City, UT

Conv Photos- Fuzzies in Coops

Some random photos of fuzzy lops in their coops.

(a Blue Otter in the Presentation coops!)

Conv Photos- Rabbits!

Lionheads playing.

Thiranta

A lazy Mini Lop

A vienna marked Jersey Wooly. Not entered, but for sale. Adorable!

A chunky siamese sable Jersey Wooly

Broken English Angora. This was a COD Variety up for presentation

A Belgian Hare

A gorgeous Jersey Wooly doe. I know this one actually... Dilemma!

Conv Photos- Friends

Susie C., Kristen D., Amber D., and myself after trying out Big Boy!

RH Meetup! Awww I love these guys!

Kristen and me cheesin' it up!

Susie and I waiting for fuzzies to finish judging.

Ellyn, Susie, and I. Ellyn makes the famous Rabbit Smarties!