One of the first people to respond to my request for feedback on my new site suggested that I should not show anything that might suggest that any of my rabbits ever got sick or might be contagious-- and that is a great issue for discussion..so hey, I've been kind of thinking a lot about that-- not about the aspect of disease, but about transparency. 

And the ideas about whether or not I want to broadcast my blog, of if I just want a safe place to put my journal of rabbitry events, complete with photos and dates

all in one neat place-- 

I like cataloguing  my rabbits and having al the pictures together and the histories, but I'm not sure if I want my whole life and all my decisions to be up for public ridicule. Even the idea of having some of the rabbits in less than PRIME condition.

Of course, on the for sale page, when I get it together, I will try to create a nice window-shopping presentation with easy to purchase experiences.  I suppose I am giving it some more thought already, but I think it is important that some things be out there for the rabbit community to discuss openly-- like if that rabbit should have been removed immediately from the herd and destroyed, or what the best means of prevention might be, or the best way of dealing with certain health issues... I am still learning about how to best care for my herd, so transparency in the website will probably help me more than denial. 

Like wry neck -- I remember seeing a bew wry neck that made me so sick to see and the breeder wanted to doctor it and I just felt my stomach turn every time I saw it? When I saw wry neck in one of my own juniors, I culled it right then and buried it as far from the hutches as I could.  On a senior, I might have acted differently, and I have read different methods of antibiotic overlap regimes that have sometimes worked, but they all involved immediate separation from the herd.  This is up to the individual, but I think it's worth having it out in the open to discuss.

I don't think anyone wants one of the herd to get so sick they feel they have to destroy it for the benefit of the herd.  And most of us have red Steinbeck's The Red Pony and know the pain of wanting to keep something that we can't keep.

And then there is transparency like Neo has white toenails, but otherwise he is one of the rabbits I'd like to show-- if I would have transparency and people knew he had a white toenail and I would be at a show competing, then maybe someone would say to me, hey, get that defective rabbit off the table! or if I brought a rabbit that had been sick with whatever it is that causes that cold that Emily gets when she's stressed out, they might say- get that rabbit out of this barn full of rabbits from everywhere! right NOW!!! and even tho I would not like the way it feels, it would be the best for the rabbit community, wouldn't it? It is an interesting issue, for sure, that you've brought up.

Okay, I realized that some of my rabbits have the wrong eye color for the coat,-- look at the photo above-- the black kit in the foreground has brown eyes, but the black kit in the background has slate blue eyes-- and I've already stated very clearly that one of my goals is to improve the breed- so obviously, I would not want to breed this rabbit with the wrong eye color, or sell it to someone who hasn't memorized the Standards, but if I also don't want to cull, then my charity lodging comes up and room available to new up coming champions gets smaller, or on the pet page it says: " this rabbit has the wrong color eyes and should not be part of a breeding program; it is pet quality only", then someone might want to adopt it as a rescue and I might have a page of rotating animals that are available for rescue by this type of person, who likes the idea they have "saved" an animal from the strict standards of registered breeding programs and then the whole idea of breeding goes into public debate, and animal activists start pounding at my door with signs that say, "how would you like to live in a cage?", so I don't know everything about even my own feelings on these issues-- I'm still developing some of them.

I do know a few things about myself: 

1.  I do want to post pictures that I took or acknowledge that "this picture was taken by Jo at Awesome Angoras" if I use a pict you sent me. Maybe I should get permission and then say "used by permission".

2.  I do want to list only rabbits I still have on my current rabbit pages; if I sell or lose a rabbit, I want to move it to another page for moved or moved on rabbits. ** I’m changing this policy to include the parents of rabbits for observation, even if I no longer have them.  it’s odd, but then you can view the linage.

3.  I do want to honor and acknowledge my challenges, even the ones on whether that is a public issue or not.

4. 4. I do want to sell rabbits that would make great pets, wool animals or starter rabbits for others that are not fulfilling the current goals of my rabbitry, and I want to put them on a schedule, so that I am keeping tier three rabbits for two weeks, or tier two rabbits three months, tier one rabbits indefinitely, but they are still "for sale"., or something like that.
   

5.  I do want to learn how to best make use of animals that I can not sell in the schedule, so that nothing or little is wasted.

6.  I do want to develop the expertise to know a herd threatening disease from a passing annoyance.

7.  I do want the strength of character to do the right thing for the herd, even if it goes against my sentimental or selfish desires.

8.  I do know that this list will probably always keep changing.  

Thank you for taking the time to look over my site and give me some feedback, and I hope that you will subscribe to my blog and even start one of your own. You know it's snowing again? Have a Great Day today!!