Breeding Program taken a New Turn

Most EA breeders like to get a litter of mixed colors and say it’s like Easter eggs or Christmas and never knowing what you are getting, but I am noticing things like coats washing out after just a couple years, poor or weak nail color, striped nails, white nails (EEKS!!), wrong color eyes and poor ring definition on agoutis or white or too light tails on non-agouti self colored animals.  In other words, as I learn more about color correctness in my Flemish Giants, the more aware I have become of the color characteristics of my English Angoras, and the stronger is my desire for sound, rich, deep and correct color (in adherence to the Standards of Perfection set forth by the ARBA) with matching eyes and toenails.

I know color isn’t a priority in Angoras, nor should it be. But I hope to produce a color so vibrant, clean, rich and pure that it can not go unnoticed.  I feel that the lack of good quality color in the breed is so prevalent that an increase in quality might really be very very distinct.  Of course I could be wrong-- there is something to it and I have to find out if I can make a difference.

So my breeding program is now targeted toward achieving color, even though it isn’t that many points, so I’ll still be zooming in on wool quality- texture, density and ability to reach show lengths, but I’m rigorously strengthening my color genes and hope to be producing some beautiful animals that are true to color and which will breed true as well.

Got Nail Color?

When purchasing a rabbit from ANY breeder, no matter how many rabbits, colors or sweepstakes points they may have, please follow a standard of purchase, that I intend to strictly follow without fail from this point forward:

    demand the rabbit be tattooed before you leave

    demand the pedigree, even if you have to wait while it is written or copied

    demand a receipt for your money

    check every nail, check the sex, check the teeth, check the eyes

and then-- listen for that small voice and don’t think for a moment it is your duty to buy a rabbit that you have one inkling of hesitation to purchasing for any number of reasons or for no reason at all.

If you do these things, at least you have some legal recourse if the animal you bought, the nails you checked, are white in 48 hours after purchase.  Whether you paid $5 or $125, there is no worse feeling than being held in such contempt as to have your trust so completely disregarded.  Please pray for all people who have fallen to such appalling levels in a striving for money.

Please take this as a perspective on purchasing or selling rabbits and please always do your best when in either position.  Do NOTT take this blog post as a slanderous account of any person, place or rabbitry, for we battle not against people but principalities.

Charlie Bryant EA and Carriers

I went to visit my friend Charlie and to buy some of his awesome carriers-- they are vinyl coated and super nice. Don’t tell him how much he is under-pricing them until we get as many as we could possible need.  I got three because that’s all I can fit into my little car.  I purchased one of his Black EA bucks and I think I’m going to name him Levitan.  I love Charlie and he has a wonderful rabbitry and garden.  The only thing is how hard it is to leave!! You can find out more about his true to color Flemish Giants, English Angoras, and Lilacs at WooleyBoogers.com

AR’s Dionysis gets TWO LEGS!! at Marrietta this spring

I was thrilled to have my black EA senior doe, Dionysis, take first in two out of three shows in Marrietta this spring.  I have to thank Dru Shepherd who saw her in Richmond, VA in December last year as a junior and told me to let her coat grow out longer.  I had already thought it was maxing out and in February, Eric Stewart said clip them both (Dionysis and Lavender) who were in lovely full coat but seemed to be falling off in condition from traveling, humidity, etc.  Mr. Stewart did say he gets chided for taking show coats too soon as his love for spinning out weighs the show aspect and the possible loss of wool, so I clipped Lavender and kept Dionysis growing and in May, she was spectacular and I loved seeing her win a couple of legs.  Her first breeding was a loss, but I fostered a couple of kits to her to help with the post partum depression, and help kick-in the nurturing instincts.  Then the question arises-- do I continue to breed her or try to show and get that third leg and Grand Champion status? could she still do it-- with her second or third coat? OR Isn’t it more important to ensure progeny  from her superior type and wool, to keep my herd nice and to improve the breed?

AR’s BEAUTY gets a GRAND CHAMPION, pending

I took my black Flemish Giants to the show and even though there are other local breeders with VERY NICE black FG, and they were there, they opted to show off their Holland Lops, and not bring their FG.  So I had senior bucks, senior does, intermediate and junior animals all in black and all got great comments, but not enough exhibitors to get recognition and then AR Beauty went on to compete for BOB and won his third leg!! Hip Hip Hooray!!  I still need to send in the paperwork and get his grand championship status and certification, but I am SO proud of him and YES, he is breeding and very happy about it!!

Heart of Mine Sundance and his last waltz??

HOM Sundance was bred to three nice does last month, all of which missed.  Perhaps it was the heat, or maybe its because Sundance was born in September of ’04, making him seven years old next month, and maybe he has had his last litter.  I looked up in my records and his last successful breeding produced AR Freya, fawn and AR Amadeus, cream born May 2010 paired with Dustibunni’s Precious, who was sold to sonya sommerville and renamed Smushface at her bunny/ pony party venue, oh my.  I still have the kits, now seniors with very clean color, great dispositions, ears, heads, furnishings and I just hate the thought that Sundance might not produce for me anymore-- and Where is Vicky Foster? and what would she think if she knew a Heart of Mine buck was still producing beautiful rabbits? I just really hope we can get a few more litters and it’s not really his last waltz.

The only nice thing about TExas

was meeting Kelly and her husband, who came up from San Antoine and purchased a EA doe kit that I took across the country while going to attend the USA-NKF National Championships.  That’s really not fair, because the tournament was really very well organized and the people from everywhere were nice and splendid and the staff at the Sheraton was cordial for the most part, but it was dreadful, for me, to be hot hot hot outside and cold cold cold inside and there isn’t a potty near the pool, but you have to be dressed to walk back into the hotel to pee; everything is locked and you have to use a room key to operate the elevator, but it wouldn’t always work??? ARUGHHGH! so take me back to my salon in the woods; I will carry my water and chop my wood and swim in the river and pee in the yard if I like!  it will only be 10° cooler in the shade than in the sun and the evening will bring a cool breeze and lightning bugs.  I am so glad to be home.

Registar’s License

In December, I will have been a member of ARBA for two years and will qualify to apply for my Registar’s license exam and I do not know what it means or what it entails, but I am looking forward to getting my license and using that to get my hands on lots of animals and learning from each animal, and there is plenty to learn that the book can only outline.  I hope to go on further to become a Judge and to go throughout the area an bring rabbit shows back to West Virginia.  It isn’t really that lofty of a goal, but as gas rices go up, it becomes more and more important to go to local shows, not driving 7-10 hours each way to show off a few rabbits!! But it can’t be done overnight, so get your ARBA membership now and start studying...

Other News, political events...

PETA doesn’t seem to want anyone to eat meat, any animal to be in a cage, coop, hutch or hole. Animals are not to be eaten or bred or kept or tied or boarded, they need to be in the home, as part of the family and it’s okay for them to eat meat-- there are raw food vegan cat foods, and dog foods of course, but I can not take my mind off Somalia long enough to feed the dog and not consider that there may be a time when someone would be better off eating the dog than starving. But don’t think I don’t carry my thinking everywhere I go, because I meet people who have had two brain operations and three heart surgeries and still smoke and eat meat three times a day and don’t work and I don’t know who pays for this and I don’t know how our country can continue this way.

I do know how to survive on sprouts and micro greens and eat weeds and mushrooms and I know eating meat isn’t for everyday, especially not every meal, but I think eating an animal I have raised and fed, such as a chicken or rabbit, or dog or horse is a personal option that I would prefer to sustain, in conflict with the PETA.  I also believe in hunting and fishing and would like to keep the hunting and fishing available for the future, and if we have one, I think it may depend greatly on these resources.

Rabbit owners, raisers, breeders are currently being fined for selling rabbit meat outside the limits set forth by the local regulatory commissions and I think it may be important part of the ARBA and local clubs to know the rules in our areas and to keep abreast of the pertinent rules as they become open to public debate, but I do not know HOW to do all that, or from where the time would come.  Perhaps some kind Americans on disability might be able to find the time to strengthen our rights to survival rather than put forth the rights of animals while people go cold, homeless and hungry.

The importance of a multi use animal like rabbit becomes paramount in the sustainable family.  The warmth and luxury of the English Angora wool is second to none and should not be wasted on the consumerist culture of disposable fashion, but kept close to the heart and home, and to keep our elders and children warm in the coldest, darkest days to come.

That’s all I’ve got.  Thank you for listening.  God Bless you and goodnight