Lots and Lotsa Bunny Work

I always have the same exact mixed feelings at this time of year. On the one hand spring and summer are my favorite seasons because they give me the chance to add new prospects to the herd, and they are also great because I get to see how (or if:)) my line has improved on the whole from last year, reflecting the wisdom of culling decisions that were made the season before that. The bad part about it all, is that it is a heckuva lot of hard work:(.

My rabbits have always been my own project and something that I have always taken care of myself with the exception of help from my dh with culling and with the Big Time (1X/2X a year) Deep Cleaning Job that has to be done in the barn. The kids come out to help me sometimes, but as every breeder knows there are things that just cannot be passed off to other people everyday, and while the boys like bunnies and love to play with them, they have never been the crazed, pathological, rabbit fanatics that their mother so totally is, LOL:).

Anyway, during the year it is a simple question of grooming and dropping pans (for the most part), and it is not a big deal to maintain a herd of about 30-40. During breeding season, however, it becomes a whole other situation. Babies need to be supplied with more feed, hay, and oats. They have to be weaned in several stages into new cages that have to be cleaned and sterilized in between every batch, then separated still further into single cages as they grow older. There is sort of a 'musical cages' situation taking place at all times when 10-12 litters are growing out in the same barn at the same time, and a huge amount of time is spent juggling rabbits around and evaluating babies to see who goes out ASAP, who sticks around for further development, and who makes the cut off the bat (a very tiny and distinguished group). In the meantime, moms who are now baby-less must be dried up, cleaned up, groomed, and clipped if necessary, while other adults who have been growing coats must continue to be groomed and also harvested when it's time, after which there is a period of 3-4 few weeks where nothing much has to be done (at long last:-D).

Every breeder who manages a herd of any breed (particularly wool rabbits) knows very well what I mean by all this, and knows just how crazy it can get during the busy times:(. This year I did something I have almost never done in the past, which was to basically replace my entire show herd in a single season, LOL. Last fall I had a sudden epiphany while checking over rabbits---sort of like an 'aha' moment that kind of hits you all at once out of the clear blue---and suddenly I knew exactly what direction I wanted to move in with my herd. Alot of time in most barns is spent treading water and moving in opposite directions in a breeding program (which has happened here too:)), but suddenly I knew exactly what I needed to do and exactly how I needed to go about it. I removed any rabbit from the herd who was being held for any kind of 'sentimental' purpose but who did not directly contribute to the quality of the line, and I retained only those animals who displayed solid consistency in more than one area: type, wool quality, vigor, color, pre-potency, and breeding/mothering ability. Those were the rabbits who were then used to do all the breedings for the spring and summer of 2008.

Though this drastic move cut the legs out from under me for an entire show year (LOL!!), I am pretty sure now that it was worth it. The babies coming up (and older juniors/young seniors) have more consistency quality than litters of the past. While I may have been lucky to get 1-2 nice babies out of a litter before, I am now seeing 3, 4 or even 5 possible keepers in a single litter, which means that the gene pool is becoming more uniform. Color and wool quality have improved and best of all, the type has risen dramatically, which is where an angora herd needs help the most:). The NZ crosses that came in helped wonderfully in this area, and though they are still separate from the herd and not yet registerable (or sellable), they are wonderful, solid animals with better compatibility to the FA breed than I would ever have expected. The culling talents of the previous breeder in this case (Elaine Harvey) came through with some animals who threw their good qualities almost immediately, building yet another excellent case for linebreeding:).

Anyhow, so what I am meaning to say after this long-winded post is that I am busy as a bee right now raising all these rabbits and moving into the next stage of this herd's development. Things should calm down radically in the next few weeks and there will be time again to get back to the leisurely schedule of grooming and (hopefully, this year) showing. I will post pictures of some of the new buns over the coming weeks (once I pick up a camera:)), and the fall should be interesting and alot of fun.

Have a fabulous weekend!:-)