Toys, Toys, Toys

Gucci stretching up after a wiffle ball play session

Do you put toys in your rabbit cages? My rabbits adore having creative toys and objects to keep their minds amused and entertained. I have one doe in my barn who makes a point to run and jump and leap against one of those wire hay balls hung from the top of the cage. It has a bell on the end and she loves the noise. She makes sure to slam against it every morning when I walk into the barn to feed, to alert all the rest of the rabbits. It's hilarious!

Every rabbit has a different toy in their cage. Most also have linked toy chains hanging from the tops of their cages. I get these in the baby aisle at your local Target, Walmart, etc. type store. I usually get a bunch for under $5. Browse discount stores, Dollar Treet, etc. I get plastic wiffle balls in multi colors at the Dollar store. 5 for a dollar! And they are the larger size so they can really get into rolling them around the cage.

My findings after a day of discount shopping! Creative thinking!

Aching for a show

BSB class at a local show.. a few years ago

I yearn for a show. I ache for a show. I NEED to go to a show! I missed the Santa Rosa January Jamboree show earlier this month. It's known as the first show we have in Northern California each year. All my friends got to go, but because I had no rabbits to really show, and I was waiting on some litters I decided to pass. The next show will be Stockton February 7th. I do have a couple buns I could bring to show so far, so we'll see what the lineup will be. I'm looking forward to seeing all my fuzzy friends there. It's been a while!

Little Puff Ball!

I am so very pleased to have "Puff Ball" in the barn. Officially dubbed THF Saynora Puff Ball. She is a tort junior doe I picked up from Jenna B. at Convention in Kentucky this past year. She was so awesome about holding her (and another couple) for me for quite some time until I was able to pick them up. Puff Ball started off by winning BOS her first time out (as a junior!) under Chris Zemny this past December. She even beat out a bunch of older awesome top winning rabbits. I was elated! She is so short and typey. She has that bone and face I adore. My goal is to have most of my fuzzies in the barn display the type she has.

In other news, I have a few does bred. After the feed issue I ended up with only 1 viable surviving baby. The adults are back to full condition and health, so I decided it was time to start working on the next generation again. The first to come due would be two Jersey Wooly does! There is Cedar Ridge's Blue Rain (blue) and WWR Pearl (black), both bred to my striking siamese sable buck Lone Oak's Ricky. He is gorgeous and placed well at Convention (I believe 8th or 7th Shaded Sr Buck in Youth). I think this will make for some nice combinations. I palped both this morning and both seem to be pregnant! Yipee!

New Year, New Challenges

I haven't been posting the past few weeks. I've been very busy with lots of preparations for things (started back to work after the 2 week break, Spring semester is starting next week, etc.). I was feeling a little overwhelmed and then the heart break happens....

Feed issues.

I lost 7 rabbits to a bad batch of feed. I should have known better than to feed pellets that were milled months ago, but I thought things would be fine since they had in the past. Every morning, walking out into the barn would be torture. One passed, sometimes two in a day. I lost entire litters. THANKFULLY, it was mostly just my newest generation and not any of my top adult stock. I did lose 2 adults though, but they were going to be sold/culled anyways. I guess you could say I got lucky there, but it's still depressing. I lost Harmony's litter, which kills me the most. I felt like quiting right there and then. These babies were rockin'. They were the sign of hope for the next Starlite generation. I feel so sad to know that I will pretty much have no juniors to show at Nationals in April. Out of all the litters I had booming in the barn, I have 2 babies left to show for it. I can only hope.

Thanks to those keeping me in their thoughts during my rough time. Good news is I got an awesome batch of feed that was only milled 2 weeks prior to me purchasing it. My new rule of thumb is that I will NEVER purchase feed that wasn't milled in the same month I buy it. No ifs, ands, or butts about it. The rabbits are now thriving on the new feed and gaining condition rapidly. I'll be ready for my next round of breedings soon. Crossing fingers and paws...