Misc. Stuff:)

It has been really, absurdly busy around here since I went back to work (for the most part) full time. There has been hardly any time to do dishes, feed children, take care of animals, or clean the house I live in much less blog and check email, LOL. It has been an embarrassing couple of weeks I tell you:).

There are a couple of days off coming in the district I work in, so I will begin to try catching up on normal life. Several new bunny litters arrived this week which I will be updating to my website. Juno had a litter of 3, Diana had 9, Bijou had 7, Etienne had 5, Elenita had 2, and Natalya and Marin are due with litters tomorrow. I have noticed lately that Fall litters often tend to be smaller than the Spring ones, and I am sure this year it is directly due to the horrible summer we had and the fact that my bucks (especially the older ones) went completely and totally infertile for a period of several weeks:(.

These new litters will be 12 weeks old by the PA Convention (which is exactly why I bred them at this time, LOL). There should be plenty of babies to bring for sale even if they are too young to place on the show table yet. I am looking forward to seeing how they turn out and also how the latest Giant litters turn out, of which two more are due to be born this week.

Speaking of Giants, I managed to acquire 3 more purebred bunnies from a very nice breeder in PA named Ashley Shaw. She sold me a beautiful little doe along with a nice buck and a purebred Black buck, and I am thrilled to death because now my GA base herd is complete and I can really get to work with a decent sized gene pool in place. The GA crosses I saved from my last breedings are really coming along now, and at the last weigh-in they either equaled or exceeded my French litters of the same age. Of course, much of this is due to hybrid vigor which can be expected to wear off in the next 2 generations, but it's a good start and the buns I am holding onto are strong, hardy representatives of the breeds that were used.

Aside from this there is really nothing going on besides the usual closing up of the rabbitry for winter and preparing to break out the water dishes for everyone. This week (as everyone knows!!) is ARBA Convention week up in Minneapolis, MN, and I think the judging should have finished up by now and we will soon be awaiting the results of the show. From what I understand there is actually a larger Satin Angora entry than FA this year which is utterly amazing. Years past have seen well over 100-150 French entered at that show, but apparently there are less than 40 entered this year:(. I have heard rumors that the Pennsylvania clubs are planning to put in a bid for the 2013 location, and if that is the case then I will certainly plan on driving down and adding my numbers to the bunch. There is nothing like an ARBA convention to look forward to--the biggest (rabbit) show on earth!:-)

Anyway, more again next time when I have time to snap and post pictures. Best of luck to those traveling to and showing in MN this week. Have a fun week and get home SAFE!