Jody's Rabbitry

Is it 2012 Already?

2012-01-26T18:19:00.000-08:00

Is it 2012 already? It is true that time speeds up as you grow older........
I am chugging through the winter schedule on Moonstruck Meadow; feeding, cleaning, watering animals; thawing out frozen waterlines, hauling water, trying to stay warm and dry.

The animals are looking great. They have thick winter coats, maybe a bit of excess weight on their bones to aid in keeping them warm and healthy. It is now time to slim them down a bit in preparation of spring breeding season. I hope to begin by the the first week in February.

We have contemplated selling the farm and relocating this year but no firm plans as yet. Our place looks better and better with every new property we look at. I will keep you posted. In the mean time the breeding schedule will be low key so I don't have too many extra animals to move if we do decide to move the crew........

I have been pretty happy with the new replacement stock in both the Silver Marten and Mini lop herds. I will have to thin out a few of the seniors after their first spring 2012 litters to make room for their replacements to begin producing this season. A few really nice animals will be available. All are excellent, proven bucks and does that would make a great start for anyone.

I do have one small Mini lop litter in the barn right now from Mitchell's Lil One and Posey's Hunter. There are two nice little does, one chestnut agouti and the other a broken chinchilla (or possibly a silver tipped steel. Will know soon)

If I stay at the farm another season or two, I hope to insulate the rabbit barn to help from the water freezing problems that make the hobby difficult during the winter.

The farm has now become a regular stop for the local herd of Roosevelt Elk. What magnificent animals but also very destructive to the gardens, pasture and ivy on the house. I am torn between loving them and just tolerating them. I have resigned to loving their winter visits but will put the run on them after I begin planting the gardens.... Hope they cooperate!

I am hoping to attend my first rabbit show in 2012 this February. I sure have a hard time in the cold but i am sure going to try to get myself there this year. I haven't been physically able to make this spring show for the past two years but i hope to attend this year...... we will see. I would love to try to get a leg or two on a few of my new show stock. Moonstruck's Rulon Too, Thor, Lizzy, Lady Grey and Aaron are the Silver Martens I would like to show, Mitchell's Norman, Alexis, Jordan, Avril, Junkn the Trunk to name a few are the Mini lops I hope to get going on the 2012 show circuit.

The chickens are doing great. I am still getting a few eggs despite the cold, grey weather. A few power outages this fall has force molted the birds from the light inconsistencies but they are all almost in full feather again and they are beginning to lay. I would love to hatch out a few new chicks this year as some of the birds are getting kinda old. I can't believe how big the Partridge Cochins hens are getting. Wow, they are beautiful. Maybe I will try to find them a rooster this year as I lost 'Rupert' last spring.

I have taken on a position on the executive of RABBITS BC - Rabbit & Cavy Breeders Assoc. of BC. The secretary position has so far kept me really busy. I am also putting together the show catalogue for our club show in April. As much as I dislike being in front of a computer instead of being outside, I feel it is time to give back to the rabbit community and to help promote rabbits in our area in another way. The physical work of the farm can't last forever so it is good to cultivate my interests in a less demanding way........

I will post again soon with updates on the VIRBA show results as well as new litters.

What's New in 2011

2011-06-16T18:40:00.000-07:00

I survived the cold and dreary days of winter. A winter that didn't seem to end. Spring hasn't yet followed into warmer weather yet and it is almost the end of June 2011.

The garden vegetables are sitting patiently waiting for the catalyst of warmer days. The flowers and trees are lush from the wet spring; flowers staying crisp and unwilted in the cool air.

The farm chickens are happily stretching their legs in their new outside run and following the elusive sun. No chickens were set this season and no new additions. Family health challenges kept the farm at status quo

A few rabbit nestboxes are full with fat and beautiful Silver Martens and a few Mini lops. I struggled with what direction to go with the Mini lops this season. The need to down size the rabbitry has made the difficult decision of dropping some varieties and numbers of Mini lops. I am keeping a few chocolates but due to the need to improve the type on this variety I have decided to mix them with my chestnut agouti line and pull chocolates out of that gene pool. I am working on selling about half of the chocolate herd. I want to work at improving the tri-color Mini lops and again I will do this by crossing into the chestnut agouti line and very selectively keep tri carrier animals for the tri program. I have held onto a trio of torts. I want to maintain a quality group of chestnut agouti, black, opal and blue Mini lops and eliminate all the other colors from the herd; chins, steels, REWs etc. I aquired a small herd of chestnuts from the herd sell out of Sunnybrook Rabbitry to add to my core herd. I will do few and selective breedings this year and trim the herd to about 20 adult Mini lops, maybe less.

At the moment I have a litter of tri-colored Mini lops; 2 tris and 3 harliquens out of Mitchell's Maddy and Sweetbriars Tony Tiger. I also have one orange? and one chocolate kit out of Mitchell's Snickers bred to Mitchell's Blake. I also have a nice litter of blacks and chestnuts both solid and broken from Mitchell's Black Dawn and Mitchell's Tommy Jr. Mitchell's Cubby has five kits out of Rah's Huffle; 2 chins, 1 sable, 1 bkn chestnut, 1 broken blue.

The Silver Martens have been producing wonderfully and have kept my fryer supply steady. Many beautiful animals have been raised, kept and sold. The quality is very consistant and the litter sizes healthy. I am running a herd of eight senior does with two to three junior does growing as replacements. I am upto four herd bucks with two juniors growing nicely as replacements. I will thin down the herd as the fall approaches to 8/3.

I will post again soon with an update of upcoming litters. The show season begins in about eight weeks.

August Update

2010-08-09T21:17:00.000-07:00

August has begun to cool down. The rabbits are taking a sigh of relief and the garden is exploding with the few days of rain.

Mitchell's Lil One, a broken chestnut agouti Mini lop has been showing off her litter of chestnuts and broken chestnuts. The little bundles are popping in and out of the box. They are as cute as buttons.

I just weaned Mitchell's Twilights litter. There are two chocolates, two lilaces and three sables?. Only one is a doe. They are the friendliest litter of lops yet this year. They crawl all over my hands as I feed them hay. A very fun litter.

Posey's Raven, a black Silver Marten doe just raised a litter of five blacks, sired by Preston's Jericho/Soldier. This was his last litter in the barn before he headed to a new home and herd.

Moonstruck's Onyx had a large litter of 8 kits today sired by Silver Streak's Blue Manchoo, my new buck from Scott Rudolph. I am really excited to see how this litter turns out. They all look like blacks but not 100% sure. I just peeked and counted as Onyx was giving birth this afternoon.

Moonstruck's Rosemary is expecting a litter sired by S&K Froy. See hasn't been working on a nest yet so she may have missed....... will palpate her tomorrow to check.

Willow's Catalina is bred to Posey's Kayden my new REW buck from Sunnybrook Rabbitry. I will find out more of Kayden's genetics with the arrival of his first litter.

Most of the Mini lops in the barn are either in or just finishing a heavy summer molt so I will hold back on breeding anymore lops for a few weeks. I may try to breed one or two Silver Marten does this month and will probably be the last litters for this season. I hope to get Magic & Tori bred. Springer will be old enough for breeding after the show season. I am hoping to have litters sired by all three new herd bucks this season.

Most of the chickens are moved into their fall/winter digs. I only have a few extra roosters to find new homes for. I will post again after the show season.

August Heat and Unlazy Days

2010-08-04T18:30:00.000-07:00

The calender page just turned to August. The heat has been thick and heavy for weeks now. Endless trips with frozen waterbottles to and from rabbit cages and fans a humming, sluggishly moving the hot summer air. The garden plants are growing and maturing heavy with summer produce, the perinneal flowers bring a buzz of activities with fat bumblebees & beautiful butterflies collecting their life source of pollen and nector. Hummingbirds zip around my head and squabble and fight with each other.

The fast growing chicks are proudly strutting their beautiful adult feathers and wait patiently to graduate into the laying coop. All the rabbits are sprawled out like furry mats in their cages waiting for the cool of the night to come to life.

I have been loving the summer with all the life and activity but creaking through the chores with aging bones in protest. Many really beautiful animals are going to new homes as the herd is begin to dwindle, in preparation for the colder months to come. I am trying to slow down and listen to the need to rest and heal.

Most of the spring litters have grown and many are sold and a few kept to show and replace their parents. I sold two varieties of Mini lops this season; the steels and chinchillas as well as all the Californians, as I try continue to cut back the workload. I still have four litters of Mini lops to grow and sort and one litter of Silver Martens which will end the spring/summer litters. I have two late summer/fall litters of Silver Martens due next week. I have held back on breeding more does for now but I do want to breed a few before I part with the sires.

I have been trilled with the quality of the chocolate Minilops born this year. I am reaping the benefits of selective breeding and tough culling to acheive offspring with good depth, good width, heads, crown and color all in the same animal! I will be working on the tri-colored Mini lops this fall and next spring. I have only a trio but I am working with Kim Posey and she has a breeding pair of Tri's as well.
I still have a pair of torts and a handful of chestnut agoutis. I plan on using these two varieties to increase the genetic diversity of my tri-colors and to help improve type & color (mostly heads, crowns, bone and orange factor).

I just love the Silver Martens. I have many beautiful juniors I raised this year. They have such nice personalities and are wonderful mothers. What a pleasure to have them in the barn. I have high-hopes to do lots of winning with some of these beautiful animals this show season. I however will be missing a few of the shows due to holidays and company but i sure hope I can get to at least a few this season.

I want to really enjoy this season as I know that there will not be too many more ahead of me.

Spring is Here?

2010-05-31T21:00:00.000-07:00

I have been working slowly, very slowly but surely this spring with my broken-up back and other health issues. The vegetable garden is finally in. The lack of sunshine has slowed the growth of alot of the plants. The liquid sunshine has been wonderful for others. The perinneal gardens are busting at the seams. I have been relocated and splitting up alot of the plants so the massive growth doesn't overtake everything. I believe if I didn't trim or cut back plants all the time the wilderness would take over in less than a year and you would never know someone ever lived here! LOL

The first round of litters of rabbits have been born. Many really beautiful and promising youngsters are now growing. I now have the difficult decisions to make on what seniors will be replaced by their offspring and how many show bunnies to grow for the shows. Many really nice juniors and seniors will be sold as I hope to downsize the Mini lop herd again this year.

RABBITS BC held a spring show. The Silver Martens did really well with Mitchell's Magic taking BOV in both shows. Cedar Hill's Onyx took BOS both shows and BOS in show A. Mitchell's Tom Jr took BOV broken Mini lop.

I will be working on the tri-colored Mini lops with Kim Posey this season. We both have a new animal to add to our tri herds in June. I will be keeping Dizzy's harli kit and Dizzy will go to live with Kim. My new broken orange doe from Rebecca's Rabbitry will take her place.

I have a few litters from my chocolate/carrier Mini lops. Mitchell's Twinkle has two gorgeous kits; a lynx doe and a broken lynx buck out of Mitchell's Blake. Mitchell's Moonshine has five kits; one broken chocolate buck and all the others are carriers, one chestnut doe, one black doe, one broken chestnut buck and a black buck. Mitchell's Geronimo is the sire. Mitchell's Liberty has a litter of six sired by MTR's Hershey. There are three chocolate chestnuts in the litter. The others are carriers. Posey's Joni had three really nice kits out of Mitchell's Blake; a chocolate buck, a chocolate 'charlie' buck and a choc. 'charlie' doe. Both Mitchell's Twilight & Mitchell's Blu are expecting with a litter from MTR Hershey, a chocolate buck on loan from George.

I have one chinchilla litter from Mitchell's Taylor bred to Posey's Brayden. There are four nice kits; a seal buck and doe and a broken chinchilla buck and doe.

Willow's Catalina has a litter out of Mitchell's Riley; a broken black buck, a black doe, two broken golden tipped steels (unsexed) and a steel. Mitchell's Button had a litter of three sired by Posey's Brayden. A nice little blue steel doe; the two bucks with missing toes and tail from a difficult birth will not be kept.
Mitchell's Tammi has six kits sired by Posey's Brayden also; there is an opal, chestnuts and blacks.

Mitchell's Ariel had five kits sired by Mitchell's Hawk. They are the first tortoise litter this year. There are two blue tort does and three tortoise does.

The Silver Martens have also been productive this year. Mitchell's Tori had five beautiful blue kits. I have kept a nice buck to replace thier dad Mitchell's Twin. Mitchell's Saree had seven kits; three blue does, three black does and a black buck. Mitchell's Rosemary has a wonderful litter of seven kits also; three blue bucks, two blue does and two black bucks. Mitchell's Nakita had four kits; a pr. of blacks and a pr. of blues. Mitchell's Magic is bred SS Blue Manchoo, a beautiful new buck from Washington and Posey's Raven is bred to Preston's Jericho.

I will hold off on too many more litters as the growing cages are full. I hope to do a second breeding on some of the does again this year. Many senior does will be sold this season.

I have been having lots of fun with the chickens. We just love having farm fresh eggs. I now like eggs again. There is no comparison to store eggs..... I raised a few chicks from my own hens. I kept a really nice Partridge Cochin hen. All the roosters have been sold. I purchased a small flock of Buff Brahma Cochins - Standards and will be selling the Bantam Buff Brahma Cochins. I also purchased six Ameracuana chicks. I will keep the hens to add more blue egg layers to the flock. I also have a Silver Lace Wyndotte/Ameracauna chick that will stay if it turns out to be a hen. I still need to build the outside chicken run. Hope to tackle this project this month now most of the gardening is done.

The love of farming has kept me motivated but down-sizing is a must with my back and health issues. Keep watch on the website for the sale of some really nice animals.

Spring Showers

2010-05-02T16:21:00.000-07:00

It is the beginning of May and we are still having our spring showers. The property is in a flush of green and the rabbits and chickens have babies in the nest. I got an early start on the fencing and completed another section. Some things are coming up in the garden. I have built the deck at the back of the chicken coop but I haven't yet gotten to putting in the outside run.

Lots of new Silver Marten and Mini lop litters born since my last post. Posey's Joni has a nice litter sired by Mitchell's Blake. There are two chocolate charlies and one chocolate in the litter. Mitchell's Ariel has five kits sired by Mitchell's Hawk. All are either torts or blue torts. Mitchell's Taylor has four kits sired by Posey's Brayden. There are two broken chinchillas and two seals. Willow's Catalina has five kits sired by Mitchell's Riley. Not sure of the colors yet but there are both solids and brokens. Mitchell's Moonlight has five kits sired by Mitchell's Geronimo. There is one broken chocolate, black, and chestnuts in the litter. Mitchell's Twinkle has two kits sired by Mitchell's Blake. Looks like a lynx and a broken lynx in that litter.

Mitchell's Rosemary has seven kits sired by Mitchell's Twitch. One black and the rest are blue. Mitchell's Saree has seven kits sired by Mitchell's Twin; four blacks and three blues in that litter. Mitchell's Nakita has four kits sired by Preston's Jericho/Soldier; two blues and two blacks. Moonstruck Tori just weaned five blue kits sired by Moonstruck Twin.

There are five Mini lop does yet to kindle this month; Mitchell's Dizzy, Mitchell's Ray, Mitchell's Liberty, Mitchell's Blu, Mitchell's Tammi. I have held off on breeding any more Silver Martens until I receive my new buck out of Silver Streak's stock. I am also getting a new doe from Scott Rudolph.

I did get to the RABBITS BC spring show in Parksville, BC. My Silver Martens did well. Cedar Hill's Onyx won BOSV black and BOS in both shows and went on to winning BOS in show A. Moonstruck's Magic won BOV blue in both shows. Mitchell's Tom jr. won BOV in the broken Mini lop group. It was a fun show. I came home with a new junior black Silver Marten buck from Stan & Kathy.

My silkie chicken successfully hatched three strong chicks; two Standard Partridge Cochins and one Silver Lace Whyndotte. I have two Partridge Cochin hens setting on a dozen eggs right now;9 will be Buff Brahama Cochin bantam chicks and three Whyndotte/Americana cross chicks. They are due to hatch the third week of May. Exciting.

The first fryers went into the freezer today. The winter was long and the food stocks are low so time to fill the freezer with beautiful organic meat and produce again.

I will sign-off but will post again soon!

New Year at Moonstruck Meadow

2010-03-25T18:56:00.000-07:00

It is the beginning of the farming season at Moonstruck Meadow 2010. I am not yet recovered from the hectic season of 2009. Due to health considerations I have downsized both the rabbit herds and the farm projects.

I did get most of my new chicken coop built. I still have to finish it this spring but it has a nice new metal roof as does the barn it is attached too. I have a dozen purebred chickens and hope to raise a few chicks this spring. I have Bantam Buff Brahma Cochins, Standard Partridge Cochins and a pr. of Silver Laced Whyndottes. I also have a very broody Silkie who is setting on seven eggs due to hatch next week. I also have a lone Buff Orpington hen and a muffed Americana hen who gifts me with beautiful blue-green eggs. Both Annie and I love farm fresh eggs!

I have tilled the garden once but will need to till it again to completely turn in the fall rye. I hope to get the first seeds in the garden by mid month. I have a few seeds started indoors but more to do next week. I have cleaned out most of the perineal flower beds and the plants are already growing. Most of the bulbs are up and the daffys are opening. How wonderful after such a long dreary winter.

I have the first few rabbit litters in the box already. Two nice litters of Silver Martens and a litter of Mini lops. The Silver Martens are growing in popularity and lots are arriving at the shows with the competition fierce. Great fun! The first round of Mini lop litters didn't survive the cold snap last month but I have three cute little bundles in Mitchell's Buttons first litter bred to Posey's Brayden. Not sure the colors yet but one is a dilute, one an agouti and one a solid. I hope to have six more Mini lop litters in the next three weeks and three more Silver Marten litters. Many of the Minilop litters will be chocolate line animals. Exciting!

I sold my herd of Californians early spring to Desiree. She will continue my lines. I miss them but the reduction in work load was much needed. I also cut my Mini lop herd in half from last fall. I will be thinning it some more this spring after the first litters are born.

I have few projects planned this year. I hope to enjoy the spring litters but keep the work load to a minimum. I will finish the chicken coop and yard. I might paint the barns this year and do a bit of fencing. I would love to be able to leave my German Shepherd outside more to keep the predetors away. It has been heart breaking to loose valuable stock from raccoons, bears, dogs and owls. To keep Kira safe however, I need to finish fencing the entire acreage. It has been a four year endevour already..... I might hire help to finish the job.

I hope this post saves properly. It would be nice to post more often as I hope to have more time.....

Holy Cow

2009-12-04T22:11:00.001-08:00

I am just trying out the blog tonight to see if it will save my posts. The past few months as I have tried to post my blogs they were deleted or lost....... before I spend time writing a long message I want to test things out. Wish me luck!

Spring has Sprung

2009-05-18T15:16:00.000-07:00

It is the May long weekend and I cann't believe a month has flew by since my last post. It is a busy time on the farm and the nice weather keeps me outside most days.

My garden is mostly planted with exception of the more delicate plants but those will be going in this week. The lettuce is ready to harvest with radishes and brocolli not far behind. The potatoes, peas, carrots, chard, beans,and sunflowers are up. The cauliflower, pepper, squash, garlic and some flowers are thriving. Tomatoes are transplanted to big pots and will stay on the deck to force the tomatoes to bloom and ripen faster; I hope. The apple tree is in full bloom. I am so pleased to see it swarming with orchard bees and the odd honey bee. The bumble bees have not yet appeared. A few ladybugs have also appeared! A 'thrush' has build her nest in the ivy in the carport and a pair of starlings have squacking babies in the nest in the eves of the house. The barred owls have returned and wake me in the night with their eerie cries. They will keep the wild rabbit population in control.
The elk have moved higher up the mountain but the odd white tail deer has wondered by and pruned some of my shrubbery and flower buds. The first sign of black bear is in the area but no visitors to the farm yet. Thank goodness.

The barns are full of baby rabbits. I had several very successful litters with litters of five, six and ten. Sales have been brisk so I still have some empty cages for upcoming litters. Firstly Mitchell's Mumbo my blue tort Mini lop has a litter of six torts. Mitchell's Daunte is the sire. Mitchell's Taylor had her first litter bred to Rah's Huffle; she has a litter of five. There is one chinchilla, two sable silver steels, one silver steel and one seal in the litter. They have awsome heads already. Mitchell's Peanut has her first litter bred to Posey's Austin. There are four chestnut agouti kits and three broken chestnut kits. JT's Godiva had one kit only bred to Mitchell's Geronimo. It is a very fat solid lynx. I fostered Mitchell's Jasmine litter of five to Godiva and she is successfully raising all six kits. Jasmine was bred to Posey's Bennett. Milkhouse Summer is raising four kits; the sire was Hillside's Paddy. The two old girls, Velotta's Cattabrie and Mitchell's Jewels didn't come through with live litters. They will be retired.

The demand for Californians have been high. I could of sold three times the youngsters I produced this spring. I purchased a forth doe from S&K Rabbitry. She will be of breeding age in about three months. Mitchell's Hosta raised three beautiful bucks. I sold two as herd bucks and I have held back one as Carter's replacement. Mitchell's Eclipse has a nice litter of six kits bred to Carter. I have bred Lupin to Chester and hope for a nice replacement buck for Chester in that litter.

The Silver Martens have amazed me with their productivity. Moonstruck's Promise raised six kits bred to Cedar Hill's Finnegan. Five blue does and a buck. Only one black doe in the litter. Moonstruck Tori raised two beautiful kits bred to Moonstruck's Twin. Cedar Hill's Sage had ten kits and is raising nine. She was bred to the new buck from Maryanne Preston - Preston's Jericho. All ten kits are black.

I have a few does due. Mitchell's Lupin bred to Mitchell's Chester; Posey's Portia bred to S&K Stanley; Mitchell's Dizzy bred to Mitchell's Jerry; Silver Streak's Fiona bred to Preston's Jericho. I will hold off breeding any more rabbits now until I free up some cages. I now need to sort and select stock from the upcoming litters for my fall show string. There is a show in Victoria in June so I can show the juniors in the barn and a few seniors that are not raising babies.

I will post again soon.

Spring is Here?

2009-04-12T11:36:00.000-07:00

April showers are making this Easter Sunday quiet and lazy. A fire is burning in the woodstove; the smell of baking is coming from the kitchen. Happy Easter everybody.

The rabbits are resting today after a nice day at the RABBITS BC spring show and Garage Sale. It was quite a success all around. The club made enough money to put on a double rabbit show next time. There was a moderate turnout with 115 rabbits entered; 19 breeds exhibited. Not bad for a holiday weekend.

I had an exceptional day winning BOB in all three breeds. Snowberry's Caliber, jr Californian buck won BOB; Posey's Bennett won BOB and BIS for the Mini lops; Preston's Jericho won BOB Silver Marten. (co-owned with Kim & Cristina Posey). My own homeraised Mini lop Mitchell's Liberty won BOS Mini Lop; Mitchell's Geronimo won 1st Senior buck Mini lop. Posey's Joni won BOSV broken who is now also living at Moonstruck Meadow. Moonstruck's Saree won BOS Silver Marten, a beautiful jr black doe. Recognition should also go to the breeders of these three exceptional rabbits; Donna Williams, Kim & Cristina Posey and Mary Ann Preston. I am expecting litters from all three of these nice animals this spring! Watch out rabbit breeders this fall. All in good sport!

The barns will be brimming with new litters soon. I have ten bred does. I have four new litters growing now; Mitchell's Hosta with three Californian kits, Moonstruck's Promise and Tori with eight Silver Marten kits between them, Mitchell's Mumbo with a litter of six torts from Mitchell's Daunte.

The ten does that are bred are Mitchell's Jasmine, Mitchell's Lupin, Mitchell's Taylor, Mitchell's Peanut, JT's Lady Godiva, Mitchell's Eclipse, Cedar Hill's Sage, Velotta's Cattabrie, Mitchell's Jewel and Milkhouse Summer. I will post more details on these litters as they are born.....

I have recently added a new Californian doe to the herd from S&K's Rabbitry. She has some Wilcox bloodlines in her. She will introduce new blood into the herd this season. I will be posting more info on her on my website soon.

I still have a few rabbits for sale this month. They are mostly juniors, however I will have a few seniors available next month as I wean litters and hold back replacements. I hope to have my tri-colored Mini lops going soon. With so many others expecting I am waiting to make sure I have enough cage space to house them all.

I wish everybody a great spring rabbit breeding season. I look forward to seeing everybodies winners at the shows this year.

Spring at Moonstruck Meadow

2009-03-23T19:22:00.000-07:00

Finally spring has arrived. You wouldn't know it by the weather with rain, rain and more rain with the odd snow flake. The plants are beginning to come to life giving us all hope that it will come soon. New seedlings are popping up under grow lights; tomatoes, squash, kale and brussel sprouts. I have lots more to start. The garden has had its first tilling. The fall rye is now turned under. A mountain of compost is waiting to be moved into the garden and tilled before planting time. Most of the winter damage has been pruned off the shrubs and trees. All the fruit trees and grapes were pruned weeks ago and now blossoms are about ready to open on the plum and quince trees.

The rabbits are fleshing out and many are ready for breeding. The Cals are molting but most of the others are almost in prime. Its interesting how each breed molts at different times and under different conditions. The lops molted really early this year when it was still pretty cold and lost some body condition in the process, while the Silver Martens and Californians held their coats and body condition much longer.

There were a few late winter litters. In Mini lops EE's Carrie had a really nice litter with Mitchell's Rocco. All seven kits are broken chestnuts and almost all identical in type. It will be keeping at least one or two. Hillside's Kimmi had a litter of six bred to Posey's Flick. Another really nice litter or interesting colors; broken blue, broken tort, broken cream, broken chestnut and chestnut. I will probably keep the broken blue buck and the broken tort doe..... The others are nice too. Mitchell's Liberty had a litter of three bred to Pro J's Diesel. There is a really nice little black doe in the litter. Milkhouse Summer struggled with her litter but raised two very large babies after loosing five from the cold. I like the golden steel buck in the litter. I will watch his growth. I have a tortoise litter due from Mitchell's Mumbo bred to Mitchell's Daunte and a tri-colored litter due from Mitchell's Dizzy bred to Mitchell's Rosco. Today I bred four does; Pro J's Godiva bred to Mitchell's Geronimo, Mitchell's Jasmine bred to Posey's Bennett; Mitchell's Taylor bred to Rah's Huffle; Mitchell's Peanut bred to Posey's Austin. All should be exceptional litters. The crosses are all very complementary for body type. I am still having difficulty getting my old does bred (Velotta's Cattabrie, Milkhouse Summer, Posey's Portia and Mitchell's Jewels). I will keep trying this spring but this is their last chance to produce. I have lots of young senior does that are desperate for breeding and that will take their place.

There was one Silver Marten litter born late winter from SAGE and Twin. Six lovely kits, most of them sold right away. I have held back a doe. I am expecting two litters this week; one from Moonstruck's Tori bred to Moonstruck's Twin and a litter from Moonstruck's Promise bred to Cedar Hill's Finnegan. Kim and Cristina Posey and I recently purchased a beautiful black buck from the Prestons'. I am planning on breeding him to Silver Streak's Fiona and Cedar Hill's Sage very soon. I am really looking forward to all four litters.

Mitchell's Lupin, one of my Californian does had a winter litter. She raised three of the five born. A really nice litter; all have been sold. Mitchell's Hosta now has a litter. Three of the five kits survived the cold. They are healthy and fat. I have a new Californian buck from Donna Williams from Mitchell's Ladybug and a buck from Granings. He will be ready for breeding in about eight to ten weeks. I will also be keeping two young bucks; one from Mitchell's Chester and one from S&K's Carter this season. The old boys are due to retire.

I will be working on website updates all week. New pics of upcoming juniors will be finally up. ;-)

Show Results of VIRBA - February Show

2009-02-22T13:34:00.000-08:00

The VIRBA show in Victoria has now passed and I have finally warmed up! It is always a cold weekend, however we had beautiful blue, cold, crisp skies.
There were three Mini lop shows, two open and one specialty. I was a bit disappointed that the judges didn't weigh more of the rabbits. Mini lops are really hard to keep within the weight range of max. 6.08lbs. Most of the over-sized animals were allowed to go through. However, there was very nice size classes and good competition in all the shows which made it fun to watch.

Show A: Mini Lops: Mitchell's Jasmine my broken lilac sr. doe won BOV. I had good comments on many of my other animals.
Silver Martens: Mitchell's Tori a beautiful blue sr doe won BOV,BOB. Mitchell's Twitch my blue sr buck won BOSV,BOS
Californians: I entered three very young juniors for comments.

Show B:Mini Lops: Mitchell's Button my broken black jr doe placed BOSV, Mitchell's Jasmine placed top of her class - broken sr. doe.
Silver Martens: Mitchell's Tori again took BOV, BOB but this show Mitchell's Twin my other blue sr. buck took BOSV, BOS
Californians: My three very young juniors held their own with the junior buck placing 1st in his class and one of the does placing 4th against animals much older.

Mini lop Specialty: My animals didn't take any top winnings in this show however 6 of my 7 animals placed either 2nd, 3rd or 4th in their classes.

The main downfall with my Mini lop placings is that most of my animals were down in condition due to either just coming in or out of a molt. Not sure why everybody decided to molt this early, the Silver Martens and Cals had excellent coats.

I look forward to the April show in Duncan. Many of my seniors will be bred or raising litters but I have a few juniors that will be ready to show.

February at Moonstruck Meadow

2009-02-07T16:54:00.000-08:00

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!

Late Fall Update

2008-11-20T19:19:00.000-08:00

The rabbit raising season is now coming to a close. With the weather getting wet, windy and cold both myself and the rabbits are settling in to quieter times. Several fall breedings didn't come through so there is only four litters in the barn right now and only three bred does due in December.

Sunny's Phebe has a nice Mini lop litter of six bred to Simmond's Pluto jr. They are absolutely adorable now at five weeks old. There are three chinchillas and three broken chinchillas in the mix. Mitchell's Bluejay also has six young bred to Tamashanter's Kenya. There is a REW, a blue, two broken blacks and two golden tipped steels. All kits are too young to evaluate for quality but many look promising.

Silver Streak's Fiona (Silver Marten) has a small litter of three with Riddle's Quervo. Mitchell's Lupin has her first litter bred to Mitchell's Chester. I have to keep a close eye on Lupin because she seems to want to move her nest every day. She is being a great mom as the six babies all have fat tummies, but it is too cold and damp to have the nest dismantled at this stage. I hope she settles into things soon.

The other day I had a chance to take another look at the animals I bred and raised this season. There are some really nice young animals that will be next years replacement stock. There was also a four month old litter of Silver Martens from Silver Streak's Flash and Riddle's Quervo that I hadn't yet evaluated. I was so impressed with the litter I kept three of the six to show in February. I am also thinking of keeping at least two to replace some of my older stock. Wow, I am so impressed with the quality of these animals. I love their personalities and I was some what concerned that they wouldn't come up to size. Many judges and breeders told me that reaching senior weight can be a problem with the Martens. Not these guys, they are growing extremely well and what impressive looking animals in full prime. WOW.

I am looking forward to incorporating my young Mini lop stock into next years breeding program. They are mostly all outcross breedings as a result of introducing a large number of new animals into the barn this season. Next year will be my first backcross breedings and first generation linebreed offspring of these new lines. This usually brings the quality of the animals up a notch or two. I am pleased with the selections of genes I will be working with. I will have more chocolate and chocolate carrier animals. New chinchilla carrier animals, new ee extension gene animals to add to the tri-colored line, a working pair of tortoise animals to keep this color alive in the barn, and some really nice steel, black and blue offspring to compliment what I already have. My biggest problem is having too many animals. I plan on parting with four to six senior animals to make way for the young animals. I of course must keep many of the older animals to continue my double backcross and linebred lines.

Fall update

2008-09-19T19:57:00.000-07:00

It is now approaching the end of September and the fall crispness is in the air. The maple trees and some perennials are beginning to change colors. The last of the fall shows are over and I am cutting back on rabbits and slowing down the breeding program so I am not having so much work during the cold months.

I have only one litter in the nest box and only a few does bred. I have been sorting and showing the summers best with good rewards. I am still waiting for the show reports from all the shows but the rabbits brought home winnings in all three breeds. The Californians did especially well bringing home a BIS with Mitchell's Lupin. My first home bred Silver Marten 'Twin' received repeated BOV and many BOB wins and a Reserve in Show. I was showing many new lines of Mini lops this year. They did as I expected, some winning and others not. I look forward to next season where I will be working with less out cross animals and more line bred litters. I have introduced many genes that I was hoping to establish, now it is time to concentrate these new genes into winning animals.

I have purchased a nice pair of black Silver Martens from Lois Fernyhough of Cedar Hill Rabbitry. I love the Martens, their beautiful look and their personalities. My goal next season is to work with both the blues and blacks and to increase their senior size. I have had good success of introducing several bloodlines in other breeds to achieve out cross vigor which usually increases their size and by selecting the larger offspring without forfeiting type.

The Californians have gone up a notch in quality and type this season. I will be working with three exceptional does in my core herd. I will be breeding both Lupin and Hosta in about a month. I will be showing Eclipse in February as she approaches six months of age.

I have selected several of my nicest Mini lops this season which will be coming to breeding age in the new year. This fall I will be working on testing several bucks and does; Smith's Paddy, Hillside's Kong, Mitchell's Lyra, Pro J's Diesel to name a few. I am also hoping to get a few new litters for juniors to show next spring.

Hillside's Kimmi is now bred to Alpine's Munchkin; Mitchell's Blue jay is bred to Tamashanter's Kenya, Milkhouse Summer is bred to Hillside's Kong, Posey's Phebe is bred to Simmond's Pluto Jr, and I am trying to breed Tamashanter's Kaylee to S&K's Stanley. These are all out cross breedings. The first line bred litter will be Mitchell's Jewels to Mitchell's Joe when Joe turns six months of age in about two weeks. I am also trying to get Velotta's Cattabrie rebred and maybe one last litter from Galaxy.

I have decided to keep a nice solid golden tipped steel doe (chocolate carrier) Mitchell's Liberty from a cross Mitchell's Twix and Pro j's Deisel. I am also keeping Mitchell's Taylor, a chinchilla doe from Mitchell's Ruby crossed to Simmond's Pluto Jr. I also kept a solid seal buck from this same cross; his name is Tank. I am keeping a broken lilac doe 'Jasmine' from Northern Lights Matilda and Pro j's Deisel and I cinnamon buck 'Geronimo' from the same cross. Tamashanter's Horizon produced a broken blue tort doe and a broken fawn doe that I am holding on to for now. If they develop nicely I will be using them in my tort and tri lines respectively.

My meat sales were brisk this year. Many people are now feeding raw food diets to their dogs and cats. I have also been selling lots of Californians as breeding stock and some Silver Martens. Many people are looking to raise their own meat with the recent problems with recalled meats. I again have an empty freezer. I was hoping to have it stocked with meat for the winter for my family........ I have a few fryers on the go.

I have been harvesting lots of vegetables from the garden. I dug about 200lbs of beautiful Yukon Gold potatoes. I have been enjoying snow peas, green beans, chard, yellow zucchini, purple haze carrots and tigerella & cherry tomatoes. The winter squash is growing like it is on steroids and the sunflowers are now well over 10ft tall. Goes to show how good rabbit manure is for fertilizer. The apples are close to picking, the quinces are delicious and the grape vines are heavy with grapes. I am now hoping the raccoons and bears don't beat me to the harvest. The deer have already pruned many of my flowers and some of the grape vines. The darn raccoons have also been knocking many of the apples off the tree. I am use to running them off at 3am with my spotlight and sling shot. *laugh* The family of barred owls have caught and eaten almost all the wild rabbits that frequent the property. I now have to keep a close watch on my yorkies so they don't become dinner!

I am about to begin a few more house renos as soon as the yard and garden is done for the season. My son's apartment gets a new paint job and floor. I also plan on painting my bedroom and the guest cabin. The attic needs new insulation and the lower barn is waiting to be converted to a working woodworking shop. I have a few orders for nest boxes, grooming tables and feed sifters. Lots to keep me busy in the fall/winter season.

Summer update

2008-08-12T13:47:00.000-07:00

I cann't even begin to discribe how busy this summer has been. The barn and cages were full all summer. The house renos were all consuming. It is now mid August and I am only know having a chance to take a deep breath.

I have had several wonderful litters of Mini lops, Californians and Silver Martens. I am now just beginning to update my website to show all the changes in breeding stock and promising juniors.

I have decided to keep one broken chinchilla buck from Sunny's Phebe X Mitchell's Link. I am yet undecided between Nick and Joe. I will be showing both as juniors this weekend in Naniamo.

I have also decided to keep one chinchilla doe (Taylor)and one seal buck (Tank) from Mitchell's Ruby X Simmond's Pluto Jr. I will be parting with both adults.

I kept Moonstruck Twin, a 'sporty' blue Silver Marten buck from Silver Streak's Fiona X Silver Streak's Marten. He is just turning six months of age and will be on the show table this fall.

I also have a nice litter of seven little blue martens from Silver Streak's Flash and Riddel's Quervo. They are about four weeks old now. I will be rebreeding Flash to Twin and Fiona to Quervo in this falls' breedings.

I replaced almost all my Californian doe herd with new upcoming stock. Grasshopper went to Michelle Simmond's barn. I kept Mitchell's Lupin to replace her. Ladybug is still around for one more litter. I have yet to choose between her two daughters from her last litter; Hosta and Cloud. I also kept back two bucks, Tipsy and Trap. Both bucks are from these two does respectively. I will be showing them this fall, I will be selling Tipsy, Carters son. I haven't yet decided yet on Trap, Chester's son. He is a really solid buck with excellent mass and exceptional temperment.

Going back to Mini lops, I also have two nine week old litters both from Pro J's Diesel who is a chocolate carrier. Northern Lights Matilda had a beautiful litter with six kits all of different colors. Wow, what a diverse litter. Four of the six exhibited the chocolate gene. There is also a blue and a chestnut agouti in the litter. I am partial to the broken lilac buck but the chocolate agouti is also looking promising. The others also are nice kits, there is a chocolate steel doe, a chestnut agouti buck, a broken blue doe (pre-ordered and pending sale) and a broken lynx that is already sold.

Mitchell's Twix had five kits bred to Diesel. The bucks were either black or steel blacks and they went for fryers. There are two remaining does, one beautiful chocolate silver steel and a black golden steel doe. I am keeping the golden steel doe to replace Twix.

As an update, Posey's Austin produced a litter of five kits with my 'test' doe. All were malocclusion free! Tamashanter's Kenya produced a litter of eight kits with my 'test' doe. All were malocclusion free! Way to go boys :-)

I now have a litter of four kits from Hillside's Jazey X Posey's Austin. There is three broken chestnut agouti's and one chestnut agouti in the litter. Too young yet to evaluate.

Tamashanter's Horizon has a litter of six bred to Mitchell's Opal buck. There is a rainbow of colors. They are still very young and the color definition is yet to develope.

Velotta's Cattabrie has produced one nice little broken black doe. I will be rebreeding her again soon. Milkhouse Summer has yet to conceive. Galaxy is bred to Austin.

I have decided to move out several senior animals to make way for new upcoming juniors. Tamashanter's Horizon will be for sale as well as Simmond's Pluto Jr. (pending). Mitchell's Twix, Mitchell's Ruby are going. I am also parting with Mitchell's Alex, Mitchell's Sunshine and Mitchell's Goldie. I have decided to hang onto two tri-colored does, Dizzy and Ray as well as a junior tri buck named Rosco. I may also hang onto Horizon's broken fawn doe to breed into the tri line to add more genetic diversity if she has good body type.

I have recently bred Kong and Paddy to my test does to see if they are carriers of maloclussion or not. I would love to use them in my main lines if they come out clear of this gene. I will post later this fall with the results of this test breeding.

As soon as I clear some of the seniors I will be breeding Moonlight, Lyra, Ray and Blue jay. I am also planning to breed Kaylee, Kimmi, Jewels and rebreed Phebe.

In reflection, I have had a wonderfully healthy and productive year with the rabbits. I only wish I hadn't been so busy so the up keep wasn't so exhausting. The house renos look beautiful and the gardens have been plentiful. The new perinneal gardens make it a treat to spend time in the yard. The beautiful colors and diversity of the flowers are amazing. I look forward to another season but hopefully with less projects and more time to enjoy everything. The fall shows are now just beginning. A time to show off the years accomplishments. I maybe falling asleep in my chair but I will get my butt there with some of these beautiful animals.

I end the summer season with sadness at the loss of my step brother on the battle feilds of Afghanistan. I am proud of his dedication to his beliefs. He will be greatly missed.

litter updates

2008-04-12T21:06:00.000-07:00

Wow, were does the time go!The litters in the barn are growing like bad weeds and hopefully some beautiful flowers are amougst the bunch. Mitchell's Galaxy raised the little blue kit to weaning. He is a very promising junior buck. He has a georgeous head and ears and excellent color. He has a very short round body that could use more depth. I need to watch his toenail color, he is too young to know for sure. I have called him 'Thunder'.

Mitchell's Dizzy successfully raised five kits. All tri's and tri charlies. There is one nicely marked buck who also has the best head of the bunch. I need to look throught the litter this week to sex and evaluate the others.

Posey's Phebe has a wonderful litter of five kits. Three chinchillas and two broken chinchillas. They are just four weeks old but they already have beautiful heads and round little bodies.

Mitchell's Bluebell, my blue harli doe unfortuately died from an unexpected visit from a neighboring dog. She tragically broke her neck. I was able to foster her five kits onto Mitchell's Ladybug, a Californian doe. There is one REW, two blue, one broken blue and a black in the litter. Being a F1 outcross, no tri's were expected. I was hoping for an opal but if the broken blue looks promising I may keep it.

Mitchell's Ladybug (cal doe) had a small litter of four kits after more that 14months since her last litter. She has raised three and is successfully nursing the five mini lop kits from Bluebell

Mitchell's Grasshopper, another Californian doe is raising seven nice kits. Their eyes have just opened.

I have two test (mal) litters. Firstly there are eight kits from Tamashanter's Kenya and five kits from Posey's Austin. I will evaluate the tooth orientation in another six weeks.

Mitchell's Blitz has a test litter of two. I will evaluate their tooth orientation in a month.

Silver Streak's Fiona (silver marten) raised a nice litter of blue martens. There are four bucks, two of which will be on the for sale page soon. The two does in the litter both have one blind eye..... not sure what caused this at this time but will watch the eyes closely.

I am expecting a litter this week from 'Kimmi', a chocolate carrier doe; and from Mitchell's Ruby, a chinchilla doe. I hope both these does conceived.

I rebred Velotta's Cattabrie and Milkhouse Summer. I hope these two does conceive this time round. They have both trimmed down in body weight and have completed their spring molt. They are looking good.

I have also had a chance to bleach out two of the four automatic watering systems the past week and moved animals and cleaned a number of cages. Tamashater's Kaylee is now in a breeding cage. She will be bred to S&K's Stanley. Mitchell's Twix was also moved into a breeding cage after the loss of Alpine's Aero who also died in the dog encounter. I will be breeding her to ProJ's Deisel.

I am continuing to work on fencing my one acre property to keep these pesky animals off the property. This week all the gates should be installed.

Planned rabbitry changes in 2008

2008-02-25T18:57:00.000-08:00

As the New Year rolls in, the snow melts and the daffodiles push out of the soil I as usual begin to think about the changes and alterations I hope to do this year.

Firstly, I want to bleach all the water systems and feeders and do a good cleaning of the cages after not having running water to the barns for about two months now. I am sooooo glad I am not hauling water by the bucket to fill little jars two to three times a day. I love my rabbits but I couldn't do this for too much longer. My old bones are not so resilent.

I will be filling in under the cages with a good layer of sand. The many, many cleanings since last fall have hollowed out the soil from under the cages making it harder to clean. The truck is tuned up and ready to go for the upcoming farm work! I also want to get a fresh load of pea gravel for all the walkways.

My biggest problem last year was inadequate growing cages for my fryers and newly weaned animals. I am hoping to aquire at least three stackers (12 holes) if not five stackers (20 holes) to use to grow out young stock. To make room for these new cages I will be either eliminating eight adult size cages or putting the three runs of adult cages into hutches and move them to my outside enclosure. I have so many nice seniors it will be hard to thin down the breeders. I have played with the thought of reducing my Californian herd to four or five AND to reduce the number of Mini lop bucks by six. This would help out with making room for my new herd of Silver Martens and keeping some nice replacement animals in all breeds.

My small barn needs a new roof soon. I have all the materials but I need to reconstruct the roof slope and call my roofer guy to torch on the new material. The heavy duty tarp worked well and withstood the winter winds but it was just a temporary fix.

I am also re-wiring the lights and circuits to the barns. One of the barns is becoming a woodshop so it needs a sub-panel and extra circuits. I am also wanting to make sure all the lights are energy efficient. All these alterations will keep me busy this spring and before I plan on any more projects I first want to finish all these..... I also have a large vegetable garden, fruit trees, some new landscaping projects and house renos to keep me out of trouble this year. Hmmmm. Who said retirement was relaxing! Good luck to all my fellow rabbit breeders on all their 2008 projects.

Planned pregnancies

2008-02-24T19:20:00.000-08:00

It finally feels like spring is near. I am hoping the rabbits also begin to feel it as I had 16 missed breedings since October 2007.

I am watching very closely the few litters that have arrived since January. Mitchell's Galaxy has two remaining kits from the breeding with Rah's Lightening. There is a beautiful little blue and an ackward REW bopping around the cage. I am hoping the blue will be a replacement animals for Lightening who is getting very old. I also have five tri's in Dizzy's litter from Pebbles. Pebbles is an F1 outcross carrying A_BBCcD_EejENEN genes. There are two ejej offspring, one eje offspring and two tri 'charlies'. An excellent tri litter. I am hoping that I can darken the red factor in the orange spotting and improve mass and heads. The kits are only two weeks old so I have much to look forward to in this litter.

My new arrival blue Silver Marten doe 'Silver Streaks Fiona' kindled seven live, beautiful blue kits from 'Silver Streaks Marten'. Marten is unrelated to Quervo so I plan on keeping at least one nice buck and one doe from this litter. There is also a small litter of fryer Californians in Blitz's box.

Over the next few weeks I hope to get six more litters; two being 'TEST' litters from Tamashanter's Kenya and Posey's Austin. If these litters come through it will help me determine if these two bucks are malocclusion carriers or not.

I have bred Velotta's Cattabrie to TOM, my home bred broken black buck. Also Mitchell's Ruby (chinchilla) is bred to Simmond's Pluto (chinchilla); Sunny's Phebe (broken chinchilla) is bred to Mitchell's Link (chinchilla) and Milkhouse Summer (chestnut agouti) is bred to Smith's Paddy (broken black).

This week I am planning to breed two of the three senior Californian diva's in hopes of generating some juniors and replacement stock to replace them. (Grasshopper, Ladybug and Star). If any of the three girls miss again they will be gone......

My next Mini lop breedings in the upcoming months will be Hillside's Kimmi (broken chestnut/choc. carrier) to Alpine's Munchkin (choc. steel); Alpine's Aero (choc. steel) to Alpine's Munchkin (choc. steel); Mitchell's Jewels (chinchilla) to Mitchell's Link (chinchilla), Hillsides Jazzy (broken black) to Hillside's Kong (golden tipped steel) and possibly Mitchell's Bluebell (blue harli) to Mitchell's Martin (broken chestnut agouti) as an F1 outcross. If I can make cage space for one more producing doe I will also breed Tamashanter's Kaylee (silver tipped steel) to S&K Stanley (golden tipped steel). I also have one 'test' doe available to test one of the new bucks. I am undecided yet who that will be. Maybe Kong or Paddy.

Mini lop bucks

2008-01-30T16:26:00.000-08:00

I was just reading Cristina's blog about Sr. Mini lop bucks and had to laugh when she referred to a breeder she knew that had 17 bucks with a Mini lop herd size of 40. That would be me (too funny). I actually have 18 bucks...... I have always kept alot more bucks than most breeders for a number of reasons.

Firstly, I keep the best animals from a litter regardless of the sex. Statistically that would be 50%/50% ratio. Also I keep many of my colors very separate so in truth I have four separate Mini lop herds with a selection of bucks for each herd. I keep my tri-colored animals separate from my chinchillas, separate from my chocolates, separate from all the others.... I also like to have lots of genetic diversity.

For example, I have three Mini lop bucks that are tri or that carry the tri-colored gene. I have four does that I can use with these bucks. I will on occasion use an outcross buck that is A_BBCCD_E or eeENen genetically to increase genetic diversity in the line.

In the chinchilla line I have two bucks that I can breed to three chinchilla does.

I have one chocolate buck that I can breed to four chocolate or chocolate carrier does.

I have ten bucks from many different bloodlines (Mitchell, Posey/Velotta/Kitsemble, Hillside, Rah, Mobey, etc...) that are either steel, chestnut agouti, black or blue that I can breed to many of my Mini lop does that do not carry chinchilla, chocolate or tri.

I also have a tortoise buck that I have used to introduce the ee gene for fawn, frosties or torts.

I also keep a pair of 'test' Mini lops that I can use to test new addition for malocclusion or entropin.

Above all, I buy or keep the best typed animals I can, to maintain the best Mini lop type possible. After all, Mini lops are judged mostly on type with little consideration to color. I love the colors so I have fun with that but without forfeiting type.

So there you go; 18 bucks! I do want to maybe cut back three or four bucks this year. I do have some animals that are over three years old so they will probably be going this season. Hmmmm..... but there will be several new litters this year that will have some nice bucks too.