Wow, what a winter! I am so happy to see the snow melting, the grass begin to sprout up and the bulbs push up through the winter grey. We didn't have a typical West Coast winter but more a winter like the interior of BC with -19C temps and 4 ft of snow. I don't think I have ever shoveled so much snow. I had to make trails to each of the barns and hutches. Each day I had to climb the fences to get into the enclosures so I could dig away the snow to open up the gates and barn doors. Yuck! I really felt my aches and pains of ageing this year. I finally have the watering systems up and going again so I don't have to haul water twice a day to 80+ rabbits.
I did a serious cut back in numbers and I am still thinning the herd to reduce the work load. I have been also going through the stock to prepare for the first show of the season. The Silver Martens have the most wonderful coats as does the Californians. Most of the Mini lops are strangely going through a change of coat and don't have the same condition as the other two breeds. I am getting everybody back into top condition by increasing the feed by 50% and supplementing with a show mix.
I had a few litters arrive during the winter cold and most of them survived and are now getting close to weaning. Cedar Hill's Sage has a nice litter of six out of Mitchell's Twin. Milkhouse Summer finally came through with a litter of seven but only two survived the cold. Mitchell's Liberty has four kits out of ProJ's Diesel. EE's Carrie has a nice litter of six out of Mitchell's Rocco. I will have pics soon on my website of these juniors. I hope to have several does bred this month in all breeds. I will post the upcoming litters as soon.
I will post again real soon with the results of the VIRBA show next weekend. I sure hope it isn't too cold!
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