Spring is Here?

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

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

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

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

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?

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

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. ;-)