Keeping Up With Grooming

Sweetpea with her topknot.

Cute green scrunchie.

Lydia in the breeze.

Sassafras sitting nice and still.

Even though there are no shows for awhile, there is always grooming to keep up with. It was cool the other day so I took advantage of the low humidity and groomed 12 English Angoras. They all seemed to like the attention and I was able to get a few photos of them sitting still for a change. Some of the big girls are more comfortable with their bangs up in a scrunchie. It keeps them cooler and they don't miss any treats that might be passed around. Angoras seem to get alot of wool stuck around their eyes and the scrunchie keep the extra long furnishings out of the way. They don't seem to mind it and I have never had a bunny eat one. Although I did think that a junior doe had polished one off but found it in the bottom of the cage pan.

Jersey Blueberries

New blue Woolie doe.

Real Jersey Blueberries.

English Angora Litter with 2 Woolie babies.

New white Woolie junior doe looking like a cupcake.

Another cute blue Woolie doe looking like a blueberry muffin.

Since it is July and high blueberry season in New Jersey, it was only natural that I add some new blue and white Jersey Woolies to my herd. In the back of my mind, I am always working to improve my herd. Loving blue and knowing the challenges of raising them (poor nail color, white nails, stray white hairs), there is always room for improvement.

This is on top of the blue and broken blue Woolies that I am already raising. Or I should say that my English Angora doe GC Sensation is raising for me. She only had 2 REW babies so I fostered a blue baby from GC Pearly Mae's litter (easy to tell who is who). Then I added 2 Jersey Woolies from Miss Pickler's litter as she didn't seem to feel very good after giving birth. Originally I kept them separate but they were so fiesty that I included them with the 3 English babies. Although they are half the size, they sure do hold their own as far as getting their share. They are such little comics. As soon as I put mom in the cage, they dive right under knocking the bigger bunnies out of the way. It just goes to show you that being blue and little doesn't always mean you are the weak one.

Alice in Wonderland

8 white rabbits, 4 Weeks old.

8 white rabbits, 3 Weeks old.

8 white rabbits, 10 days old.

8 white rabbits, 2 days old.

I am starting to feel a little bit like Alice in Wonderland as wherever I look there is a white rabbit. They sure have grown fast and are so cute. Trying to take more photos as they grow, really puts into perspective how fast they go from little pinkies to fluffy bunnies. I have had to number them with a sharpy marker in their ear to be able to tell them apart. They are very evenly matched which is surprising considering what a large litter they are. No runts and no big ones. It looks GC Aphroditi and GC Ashley have 5 bucks and 3 does so far but sometimes this can change.

GC Pandemonium and GC Miro's litter looked to be 5 boys but now seems to have 2 girls in the litter. GC Andi and GC Adonis has 2 bucks and 2 does so far but the black one keeps changing. Of course, that is the one I had hoped to be a doe. I haven't checked the other litters yet as they are too little.

GC Sensation only had 2 babies so she is fostering a blue angora from GC Pearly Mae and 2 Jersey Woolies from Miss Pickler. The little woolies have no problem getting their share of the milk. They look very funny with a litter of angoras twice their size but the hold their own and will be really fiesty when they grow up. I will have to think of some tough musical names for them. Any suggestions?

Must Be Summer

Rosie enjoying the sun.

She thinks she's human.

Sorry, I was disturbing her down time.

We finally got some sun this week. Rosie sure was enjoying it. She really likes the sun and I have to be careful she doesn't get a bright pink belly. Do they make sunscreen for dogs? I bet they do.

For awhile I thought that we had moved to Seattle and no one told us. It still is going to rain today but the weekend is looking clear although buggy. We all have to wear bug spray to even step out back this year. I wish we had all of the little bats back. They used to live in the old barn next door before they pulled it down. I wonder where they went. Will have to build some bat houses.

Hope everyone has a safe and wonderful 4Th of July weekend. Many people have a 4 day weekend and get a nice break. My son is working for a beer distributor this summer and judging by the hours he is working this week, everyone is looking to really celebrate (or drown their sorrows?). Just be safe and think about the other people on the road before you drink and drive. Have fun.

Election Results

Rhinebeck Rabbit Show.

Berks County Show.

Maryland Sheep and Wool Festival.

I wanted to thank everyone that voted for me for Vice President of The National Angora Rabbit Breeders Club. Anything that I can do to help the club or any of the membership, just let me know. We have some wonderful officers, directors and members of NARBC. I am always glad for new ideas and suggestions. As you can see by the photos above, I do get around to rabbit show and fiber festivals. I try to get to all the National shows and to most Conventions. Let me know if there is anything that I can help with and I appreciate being elected. Always glad to promote the angora rabbit, the wool and the products made from them.

Fiber Festival

G.C. Shepherds Posy strutting the fluff.

A little peek?

She can flirt with the crowd with the best of them.

At the last minute, I was invited to come to a fiber festival in north western Ringoes, New Jersey. It was at the Woods Edge Wools Farm owner by Linda Berry Walker and her son Brendt. What a beautiful farm and what a wonderful operation! They raise about 300 llamas and alpacas. There were baby critters everywhere from new born llamas and alpacas to a whole pen of about 20 young gelding in the middle of the beautiful show barn. Take a look at their website if you get a chance. http://www.alpacasllamaswoodsedge.com/

Always glad to promote the angora rabbit as a small fiber pet and companion animal, I thought I would go and asked my friend, Donna Mcgraw, to come along. It is so much fun to talk to people about angora rabbits and to watch the look of wonderment on their faces. Donna is really good at talking about the breed and gave a wealth of information to potential bunny owners. Part of the festival requirements was a one hour demo at the front of the show barn and Donna and I shared duties by each doing a demo. Donna showed how to pluck down her beautiful tort doe, Raisen on Saturday and I talked about grooming angoras with Posy (shown above) on Sunday. Too busy to take pictures, but I am sure Donna got to take some. It was alot of fun and we enjoyed showing off the angora rabbit and fiber to the world outside of bunny shows.

Angoras Can Fool You

Wyatt as a junior.

Wyatt winning Best in Show.

G. C. Pearly Mae in show coat.

Well, just when you think breeding a white bunny to a colored bunny will only give you white babies, they come along and fool you. Pearly Mae who comes from a white father and has much white in her background and has given me white in her litter before. She was re-bred to G.C. B.I.S. Wyatt and there is not one white baby in the litter, not one. The colored bunny gods must be feeling sorry for me that there are 13 REW babies at my house. There are torts and blue babies and all 8 are doing well. I am excited with the blue as there is blue in the last 3 litters that were born here. Blue and black being the favorite colors around here.

Mom is a little worn out as she had a harder time of it then usual. She had one little baby on the wire at 9am and then didn't have any more. I could feel them in there so I let her run around on the floor for awhile. This got things moving and she had 7 more in the nest box at 9 pm. There was a very large one with a big head and this was probably the hold up. They are very active and really cute.

The other litters all have their eyes opening and have that funny, half-focused look. They sure do recognize my voice at feeding time. I keep the nest boxes in the house and put mom in them with a towel over her to feed. I do this until the babies are big enough to manage the cage floor. This gives the mom a chance to rest and recooperate. The babies don't seem to mind being in the house either.