2008 Rhinebeck, NY Show

Yesterday was a fun (if abbreviated) day at the Rhinebeck, NY show. I was forced to leave after judging due to a Little League commitment (of which there have been many this spring, LOL!), so I did not get the usual amount of pictures, and I did not get shots of Nancy Nichols winning BOB and BOS buns or other photos of the showroom and people, etc:(.


There were 17 FAs shown with 3 exhibitors, and the judge for the Angoras was Deb Vecchio. I brought 3 buns (1 Sr. and 2 Jr. s), and the BOB/BOS was taken by Nancy Nichols with a REW doe and a Broken Blue (I think??) buck. No Satin Angoras were shown, 1 Giant was shown, and a good amount of English were present though I had to leave before judging for that group was over:(.

Here are a few pictures that I did get before the show (mostly during grooming:)). The day was absolutely beautiful with temps in the low 80's later on, but the turnout for the whole show was lower than usual, probably because of gas prices and probably because this is still only a single show making it difficult for people to justify the trip. I already spoke with a few members of our club and we will be setting up an Angora Specialty in the afternoon of the same show for next year so that it will become a double show for Angoras and we can increase the 'wool' turnout in the future. We will see how it all goes:).

Here are three pics of bunnies I brought along after grooming. The first is of Spang's Kitka, a Jr. doe that I have decided to keep out of Sadako's last litter:



And the next two are of Spang's Oomi, a beautiful REW Sr. doe who is coming into coat densely and evenly:

This next shot is of Linda Cassella grooming Silvertone Everest (also pictured in the photo below). The sun was in a really terrible position here making it hard to get a decent shot, but we did the best we could and at least the rabbit was mostly visible in both pictures, LOL:).

Pictured here is Collin Burns who also made the trip out yesterday with a few of his EAs. Here he is shown grooming diligently in the morning:

and this is a picture of his beautiful doe Countryside Desiree posed up immediately afterward!:).

All in all this was a fun show though I wish I could have stayed longer, and next year we will be sure to make it a double for Angoras so as to attract a larger entry with the great facilities that we have. Another improvement that the club made this year was to switch from the old wooden holding coops to stainless steel (Thank God!) but there are still no floors in the Angora coops so I am going to arrange to have wire inserts made for next year, and after that we will tackle the problem of better holding coops behind the table for the individual class winners.

Anyhow, more stuff next week when we get back to the normal rabbit life around here:). The next show I am thinking about attending is the North Haven show in CT, but as I only have one rabbit who is in coat right now (Eek!) it is hard to know whether that would be worth the trip or not. We will have to see what happens:).

The very last picture shown here today is one gratuitous one of my 8 year old son Jonathan who is the #1 Catcher for his Little League team this year. He is doing a great job and is very proud of a number of saving catches he made this season (not to mention that I think he looks very cute in all the padding and helmut stuff:)).

More next week and have lots of fun with the buns!:^D

Zodiac Breeding Chart for 2008

I recently posted the updated Zodiac Breeding chart for 2008 on the FA list, so I thought I'd post it here too in case anyone else was interested. I don't use this method much myself, but this Saturday I did breed 4 does on a Cancer day which is supposed to produce 'best quality does', so we will see what happens and if something great comes out of it that will be wonderful (it is lots of fun to try these things and see if they work:-)).

To use the list you simply choose what sex/quality of rabbit you want on a given month, and then you breed according to the day listed to get the result. I realize it would have been a better idea to have posted this back in January, but obviously I am running a little behind this year, LOL.


Breed in:
ARIES--for mostly bucks, not best quality
TAURUS--for mostly does, good quality
GEMINI--for mostly bucks, not best quality
CANCER--for mostly does, best quality
LEO--for mostly bucks, not best quality
VIRGO--for mostly does, not best quality
LIBRA--for mostly bucks, best quality
SCORPIO--for mostly does, best quality
SAGITTARIUS--for mostly bucks, not best quality
CAPRICORN--for mostly does, good quality
AQUARIUS--for mostly bucks, not best quality
PISCES--for mostly does, best quality


JANUARY
Aries--Jan. 14, 15
Taurus--Jan. 16, 17
Gemini--Jan. 18, 19
Cancer--Jan. 20, 21
Leo--Jan. 22, 23
Virgo--Jan. 24, 25, 26
Libra--Jan. 1, 27, 28
Scorpio--Jan. 2, 3, 29, 30, 31
Sagittarius--Jan. 4, 5, 6
Capricorn--Jan. 7, 8
Aquarius--Jan. 9, 10, 11
Pisces--Jan. 12, 13


FEBRUARY
Aries--Feb. 10, 11
Taurus--Feb. 12, 13
Gemini--Feb. 14, 15
Cancer--Feb. 16, 17, 18
Leo--Feb. 19, 20
Virgo--Feb. 21, 22
Libra--Feb. 23, 24, 25
Scorpio--Feb. 26, 27
Sagittarius--Feb. 1, 2, 28, 29
Capricorn--Feb. 3, 4, 5
Aquarius--Feb. 6, 7
Pisces--Feb. 8, 9


MARCH
Aries--Mar. 8, 9, 10
Taurus--Mar. 11, 12
Gemini--Mar. 13, 14
Cancer--Mar. 15, 16
Leo--Mar. 17, 18
Virgo--Mar. 19, 20
Libra--Mar. 21, 22, 23
Scorpio--Mar. 24, 25
Sagittarius--Mar. 1, 26, 27, 28
Capricorn--Mar. 2, 3, 29, 30
Aquarius--Mar. 4, 5, 31
Pisces--Mar. 6, 7


APRIL
Aries--April 5, 6
Taurus--April 7, 8
Gemini--April 9, 10
Cancer--April 11, 12
Leo--April 13, 14
Virgo--April 15, 16, 17
Libra--April 18, 19
Scorpio--April 20, 21, 22
Sagittarius--April 23, 24
Capricorn--April 25, 26, 27
Aquarius--April 1, 2, 28, 29
Pisces--April 3, 4, 30


MAY
Aries--May 2, 3, 30, 31
Taurus--May 4, 5
Gemini--May 6, 7
Cancer--May 8, 9
Leo--May 10, 11, 12
Virgo--May 13, 14
Libra--May 15, 16
Scorpio--May 17, 18, 19
Sagittarius--May 20, 21
Capricorn--May 22, 23, 24
Aquarius--May 25, 26
Pisces--May 1, 27, 28, 29


JUNE
Aries--June 26, 27
Taurus--June 1, 2, 28, 29
Gemini--June 3, 4, 30
Cancer--June 5, 6
Leo--June 7, 8
Virgo--June 9, 10
Libra--June 11, 12, 13
Scorpio--June 14, 15
Sagittarius--June 16, 17, 18
Capricorn--June 19, 20
Aquarius--June 21, 22, 23
Pisces--June 24, 25


JULY
Aries--July 23, 24
Taurus--July 25, 26, 27
Gemini--July 1, 28, 29
Cancer--July 2, 3, 30, 31
Leo--July 4, 5
Virgo--July 6, 7, 8
Libra--July 9, 10
Scorpio--July 11, 12
Sagittarius--July 13, 14, 15
Capricorn--July 16, 17
Aquarius--July 18, 19, 20
Pisces--July 21, 22


AUGUST
Aries--Aug. 19, 20, 21
Taurus--Aug. 22, 23
Gemini--Aug. 24, 25
Cancer--Aug. 26, 27
Leo--Aug. 1, 2, 28, 29
Virgo--Aug. 3, 4, 30, 31
Libra--Aug. 5, 6
Scorpio--Aug. 7, 8
Sagittarius--Aug. 10, 11
Capricorn--Aug. 12, 13, 14
Aquarius--Aug. 15, 16
Pisces--Aug. 17, 18


SEPTEMBER
Aries--Sept. 16, 17
Taurus--Sept. 18, 19
Gemini--Sept. 20, 21
Cancer--Sept. 22, 23
Leo--Sept. 24, 25
Virgo--Sept. 26, 27, 28
Libra--Sept. 1, 2, 3, 29, 30
Scorpio--Sept. 4, 5
Sagittarius--Sept. 6, 7, 8
Capricorn--Sept. 9, 10
Aquarius--Sept. 11, 12, 13
Pisces--Sept. 14, 15


OCTOBER
Aries--Oct. 13, 14
Taurus--Oct. 15, 16
Gemini--Oct. 17, 18
Cancer--Oct. 19, 20
Leo--Oct. 21, 22, 23
Virgo--Oct. 24, 25
Libra--Oct. 26, 27
Scorpio--Oct. 1, 2, 28, 29, 30
Sagittarius--Oct. 3, 4, 5, 31
Capricorn--Oct. 6, 7, 8
Aquarius--Oct. 9, 10
Pisces--Oct. 11, 12


NOVEMBER
Aries--Nov. 10, 11
Taurus--Nov. 12, 13
Gemini--Nov. 14, 15
Cancer--Nov. 16, 17
Leo--Nov. 18, 19
Virgo--Nov. 20, 21
Libra--Nov. 22, 23, 24
Scorpio--Nov. 25, 26
Sagittarius--Nov. 1, 27, 28, 29
Capricorn--Nov. 2, 3, 4, 30
Aquarius--Nov. 5, 6
Pisces--Nov. 8, 9, 10


DECEMBER
Aries--Dec. 7, 8
Taurus--Dec. 9, 10
Gemini--Dec. 11, 12
Cancer--Dec. 13, 14
Leo--Dec. 15, 16
Virgo--Dec. 17, 18
Libra--Dec. 19, 20, 21
Scorpio--Dec. 22, 23
Sagittarius--Dec. 24, 25, 26
Capricorn--Dec. 1, 27, 28
Aquarius--Dec. 2, 3, 4, 29, 30, 31
Pisces--Dec. 5, 6


More next time and have a great week!

Happy Breeding:-)

Bunny Stuff/Pics

I've been taking lots of baby pics the last 2 weeks and now that my camera is working I guess I'll post them here today. I currently have 5 litters of 2 1/2 and 3 1/2 week old babies tearing up the house/barn, and in another week or so I will get to work breeding another round of does.

First of all, here are pictures of some of the adults who are (or were) in coat over the last week or two. This first is of Spang's Oomi, a beautiful doe who is not yet in full coat but who has great density and balance and a very good body. She will hit the showtable for the first time at Rhinebeck, and maybe a few shows after that if I can find something to enter her in later on:




Next is Nereida, a Blue doe who is getting sheared today and bred sometime next week. She has wonderful color, but unfortunately Blue seems to be one of those varieties (along with Choc. and Lilac in my barn) that just does not have the density and coat quality of some of the other color varieties. I am going to breed more of this color in litters in the future to see if I can work to improve it some more, but as of now I have never had a Blue that has the kind of density that some of the other colors have.

This is Devaki, who was sheared last week but who had a really beautiful, balanced coat. I will be breeding her for the first time next week also. This was her first Sr. coat.

The next few photos are all baby shots. Below is a picture of Juno's litter of 4 (several of the original littermates faded early on), and the color on the Torts and Pearl (especially) look really intense at this point. I am hoping for several nice show bunnies out of this bunch.

This is Pascha's litter napping after a feeding, with 2 foster babies added in from Echo. The Fawn in this litter (which is difficult to see, unfortunately), has the best Fawn color of any of the babies of these breedings so far, with bright orange color and very little smut :

Here is the rest of Echo's (large) litter of REW, Pearl, and----ta da---- SABLE!!

As I mentioned earlier, my last Sable rabbit died a few months back and I was really upset because I didn't know if I would be able to produce it again here. Then suddenly, what looked like Blue babies in Echo's litter from the beginning turned out to be the long sought after color, and now I am thrilled to death because this is one of my favorite colors in the universe and I will probably develop a pure Sable line sometime in the near future. Below is a closeup of one of these babies in natural light (ignore the ratty, torn up rabbit jacket behind it though:)):

Sable is an unusual color because it can start out either blue OR brown in the nestbox. It then becomes almost frosty looking at one point (as you can see here), after which it settles out and becomes the dark, Sepia brown that is so stunning on the showtable and in spun garments. These babies started out Blue which threw me for a loop in the beginning because 90% of the Sables I've had have started out brown, but as soon as I realized what they were I was just about beside myself with excitement, LOL. There are 3 Sables in her litter and I will try to keep at least one to perpetuate into the future, working the color up until the offspring are purebred and registerable.

Finally below are pictures of my two youngest litters (who are not yet outdoors permanently). These babies below are out of Morwenna and Dijon and I am hoping for nice prospects here too because both parents are nice, and the doe tends to throw very consistent quality.

It is hard to know anything about these babies yet as this is the first litter for Evariste (and Dijon). The colors here are Black, Tort, and REW. We'll see how everyone looks in a few weeks:).

That's about it for today. There will be more later on as things heat up and get more interesting this Spring (now that the long and boring winter is over:)). I did a very hard cull at the end of last Fall in order not to have as many rabbits to bring through the winter and also to raise the quality of my breeding stock a notch. As a result I have only (gulp!) 14 adults in my barn at the moment, so I am looking to build things up and get a larger working herd in place over the spring and summer again.

Have a great week and lots of luck with the buns!:-)

Nestbox Behavior, etc.

I had all kinds of cute little baby pictures (and Sr. pics) to post tonight, but my camera suddenly went kaput on me and refused to download anything into my computer:(. I had meant to talk about current events in ADDITION to nestbox stuff, but it seems that that is not to be today because no one will know what I am talking about without the visual aids, and there is no sense in creating confusion, LOL.

Anyhow--just quickly--the litters are growing like crazy and the first 3 batches will be ready to go out with mom permanently next Wednesday. An interesting thing that is happening (that I should have posted pictures of, too:( ), is that there is a huge difference in size between the purebred litters and Echo's litter (the F2/NZ Cross doe). I don't mean the size of the litter itself, but the size of each individual baby within both groups. Hybrid vigor is an amazing thing and obviously increases size and weight of the offspring instantly. Babies in Echo/Pierre's litter are literally twice the size of Juno's simply because Juno's are so inbred. Genetically speaking her babies will be more uniform in type and wool due to a higher level of homozygosity, but as Echo's babies get bred and rebred within the same line a similar effect will take place with them too.

I took Devaki's coat off today also because she went off feed completely a short time ago (don't worry, I got great pics of her in full coat first that I will post ASAP, LOL). While I was hoping to enter her at Rhinebeck on April 19 there was no way she was going to hold out another 2 weeks, so I decided it was better to be safe than sorry. She has her haircut now and I will breed her sometime over the next few weeks.

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The fun thing about litters (IMO) is that there are all kinds of interesting opportunities to observe nestbox behavior. I have found over the years that babies tend to follow predictable patterns before, during, and after being fed, and while this is something that I intend to get detailed pictures of in the future (I swear it!), for now I will just give a detailed verbal description:).

Step 1--Pre-Nursing:

Most, but not all, does feed their litters very early in the morning. Here in my rabbitry each doe feeds only once a day, each mealtime spaced approx. 24 hours apart. Right before nursing (up to an hour or so ahead of time), each litter works it's way up to the surface of the nest in order to take full advantage of the 5 min. feeding session. In wintertime especially, the litters bury themselves deep beneath the wool and hay to stay warm, but in the summer they tend to stay nearer to the surface, sometimes sleeping with no coverage at all. Baby rabbits are excellent thermal regulators when it comes right down to it. When I first began raising litters I used to fuss and cover everyone up when I felt they weren't doing it themselves, but I quickly realized that they monitor their temperatures 100% perfectly, and that nothing whatever needs to be done to help them out.

Right before feeding the babies are exposed and ready to nurse. In addition to this they often squeak and wiggle around vigorously to let the doe know they are hungry. Once the doe jumps into the box (which can be right away or after a dawdle and extended face/paw washing), she will nurse approx. 5-10 minutes. Once she is finished she will either turn around and jump out, or jump directly out from whatever position she happens to be in. It is better if she turns around before hopping out because there is less chance of dragging babies out that way, but it is good to be nearby to scoop babies up who have come out with the doe anyway. At this point, motherly attention is finished for the day and most does will behave from that point as though the litter did not even exist (until the next feeding time, of course:)).

Step 2--During Nursing:

During the nursing period the babies fuss about at first, kicking back and forth below the doe and changing nipples repeatedly. After the first minute or two has passed they settle in and begin nursing in earnest, which will continue determinedly until the doe jumps out and cuts off the supply:). It is actually critically important for the doe to this though it seems abrupt, because kits in general are feeding machines who will continue to nurse until they are literally forced to stop. If the doe did not put a quick end to the feeding at the appropriate time, the babies would engorge themselves without fail and die.
A very common belief in rabbits is that the doe must clean each kit individually after nursing in order for it to urinate. While it is important that the litter is stimulated to go to the bathroom (for lack of a better term), very, very few does actually take the time to clean their babies directly after feeding. According to the book 'Rabbit Production', the act of nursing itself provides more than enough moisture in the nest to stimulate urination from milk spilling as the babies feed. It is rarely necessary for the doe to do anything extra.

Step 3--Post Nursing:

After nursing, the litter is temporarily in a comatose state (LOL). For several seconds everyone seems to lack the energy to get up and roll around on their fat bellies, so they lay down for a moment and vegetate:). Then suddenly, everyone perks up and begins to dig and scratch frantically into the nesting material. What is happening now is that the litter is actively fluffing and drying out the nest after feeding and urinating. The nest must be as dry as possible before sleeping so that no one gets chilled, and once that is finished, everyone piles up to go to sleep. Again, if it is cold the litter will cover itself completely. If it is warm or hot they won't bother, but bunny babies will always sleep in a pile no matter what unless someone is about to fade, in which case the dying baby will work itself off into a corner of the nest to avoid chilling the rest of the litter.
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Here a little bit about nestbox behavior, particularly up to the age of approx. 2 weeks. After the second week a litter tends to stay awake and move around a bit more, and by the time week 3 rolls around they are ready to leave the nestbox completely and go about the business of being real rabbits:).

More again next week (with pictures this time, I promise!), and I hope that Spring is turning up in every part of the country by now, with gardens growing and lots of bunnies breeding:).

Have a great week!

More Babies and Misc.

This has been an insanely busy week so this will not be an involved post (Sorry, something much more interesting will be planned for next time, LOL:)). Last Thursday 2 new litters arrived out of Evariste and Morwenna. The sire of both litters was Dijon, and Eva gave birth to a litter of 9 while Morwenna had 10 in her bunch, the majority of whom were very healthy aside from 1-2 faders here and there:(.

Here is a picture of Eva's little group consisting of 1 Black, 1 Fawn and 7 REWs at 3 days old:


And here is a snapshot of Morwenna's bunch, composed of the usual same colors for her---Fawn, Tort, and REW:

The next planned breedings are of Nereida/Pierre and Devaki/Dijon sometime over the next couple of weeks. Nereida needs to be bred ASAP but Devaki has a fabulous show coat on her right now that I am loathe to take off until she can go to at least one show and make a spectacle of herself properly (LOL!). I will probably not breed her until after Rhinebeck on April 19, and I will wait with Nereida til then as well so that both can be bred together.

Also, (in addition to all the holiday stuff this week), we decided to take a trip down to NYC to see the Met museum again (the Metropolitan Museum of Art). For anyone who has never been to this amazing place, it is one of the most beautiful and famous museums in the world, containing works of art from every major civilization in history. We have been to this museum many times before but there is always something new to see on every trip. This time I found a WONDERFUL Samurai helmet with----guess what? A rabbit up on top! (take a look!:))

One of the major attractions of this museum for the boys is the Arms and Armor exhibit, containing armor and weapons from cultures throughout history. This is a top view of the main hall from the 2nd floor balcony:

And finally, here are the kids posing in front of the Bear statue in Central Park on the way back home:

More bunny stuff to come next week, especially nestbox and baby behavior, etc. Every time a new litter comes along here it seems that there is something new to be learned. One of my very favorite sports is sitting down on the floor watching babies in nestboxes before and after feeding. There are all kinds of things to be noticed about babies in general with this kind of observation. It is the best way to understand a herd:).

Anyway, have a wonderful week and most of all:

HAPPY EASTER TODAY!!!!!!

Give all those little Easter bunnies a great big hug:-):-)

Cool Links and Babies

I found some great links to sites with grooming equipment for sale recently, and I thought I would post them here today for anyone who might be interested (I posted these to the FA list awhile back, too). Most angora breeders use the Doggy Man slickers because they are good quality and gentle on angora wool, but as you will see from the links below there are COUNTLESS styles of slickers, combs, and other grooming aids available (geared mostly to dog breeders), and some can be found at very decent prices. Here's the list:


http://clover.forest.net/kwcages/index.html
http://www.hubintsecured.co.uk/acatalog/Slicker_Brush.html
http://www.terrificpets.com/pet_supplies/dog/grooming/slicker-brushes/
http://www.petedge.com/catalog/section.jsp?
http://www.groomers.com/index.asp?srccode=GPC0002
http://www.wgroom.com/



In other news around here also, there were 3 beautiful litters born this week!:-). I had hoped for 4 and had bred 4, but I was not altogether surprised that Neva missed because she is an older doe who hadn't been bred in almost a year:(. I will try her again in a week or so too, but for now there are enough babies to deal with and put smiles on our faces this Spring, LOL. Here are a couple of pictures:


First are the 3 litter boxes side by side on March 12th in the living room after I had cleaned them up, labeled them, checked/counted babies, and clipped wool. From the left are litters out of Echo and Pierre, Pascha and Dijon, and Juno and Dijon.



Juno had a beautiful litter of 7 (shown below at two days old). So far it looks like 2 Fawns, 2 Torts, 2 Pearls, and possibly a REW (or another Pearl depending on what happens over the next few days:)). I am positively thrilled about this bunch because Juno is one of the nicest does in the barn right now (her BIS picture is posted in the upper lefthand corner of this blog), and I bred her to Dijon, my best buck. We'll see how things go, but I have high hopes for these little ones:).

This here is a picture of Echo's litter of 9. Echo is my F2/NZ Cross doe who was bred to Dijon last Fall. The babies out of that particular breeding were not as impressive as they should have been, so I tried her with a different buck this time (not worrying overly much about compatible color combinations). In this little pile it looks to be 3 Blues (or possibly Smoke Pearls---I've got to research that color some more to see what produces it), a few more Pearls, and also some REW.

And last of all we have Pascha's litter of 6 (down from 8 originally with 2 stillborn), and in this case there are 2 Blacks, 1 Fawn, and 3 REWs. Pascha was the BIS winner of the second specialty show at the PA Convention last month (unfortunately, I do not have a good picture of her in coat:( ), but I bred her back to her son, Dijon, and am hoping for good results there too:).

So anyway, that is about all there is to report this week:). I have 2 litters due next week from Morwenna/Dijon and Evariste/Dijon, so we'll see how those come out (if they took), and then there will be more breeding a little later in the season. The weather is getting quite warm now at about 50 degrees during the day, and between the daffodils starting to grow and birds singing like crazy everyday, it seems Spring has finally sprung:).

There will be a few more adult pictures to post next week, and I've also got a trip to make with Sadako's babies to a friend of mine who raises Satins nearby. I was on the verge of culling the litter out at 12 weeks but then couldn't decide who to hold onto because they were all so similar. I decided at the last moment that I needed advice from a master of type:-):-).

Anyway, have a GREAT week and best of luck getting ready for the holidays!

Til next time.

Weather and Wool

After a few years of rabbit raising most people have figured out that grooming angoras is easier in certain types of weather than others. Of course, standing out in the rain blowing wool is impossible under any circumstances and should never be attempted (LOL), but it is definitely true that wool responds differently according to how much humidity is in the air, what the air temperature is, and many other factors.

When it is extremely humid out, wool tends to be limp and clumpy with very little 'body' to it. Like human hair, it also tends to snag more easily, making it harder to groom with the brush or comb without pulling unwanted fiber out. On days such as this, grooming should either be avoided altogether or the use of a brush or comb should be avoided and the blower should be the only thing used in it's place. Since clumping normally begins at the skin, the blower is the best tool for eliminating webbing, getting down to the base of the coat and working the tangles out from the inside up.

On cool, dry days there is usually the opposite problem to deal with from what occurs when it is damp. On days like this there is often static electricity in the wool, and it is nearly impossible to get the coat to lay properly in many cases, eliminating drape entirely on breeds like the SA and FA. The other problem with lack of humidity in the air is that it is easy to break fibers when they are in 'flyaway' mode by brushing or combing them, but the blower is not much better for days like this since it can make the problem worse also:(. The solution that many breeders employ to combat dry wool is to keep a spray bottle nearby and 'mist' the air directly above the rabbit as it sits on the grooming table. This lends enough moisture to the wool to enable you to groom it, but it does not add so much that the coat gets wet and becomes matted. Another solution that I have heard of to tame flyaway coats is to unscrew the back of the blower and insert a dryer sheet over the filter to diminish static electricity. Different methods can be used to fix these kinds of problems and each breeder has to decide for him/herself what will work in their particular climate.

Temperature can also have a dramatic impact on the quality and growth rate of an angora coat. In my area of the Northeast the wool quality is worst in the summertime, when heat and humidity work together to slow wool growth and make the resulting coat thinner and less even. Pregnancy and nursing will also take their toll on a doe's coat, impeding growth and density and often condition, especially in extreme weather when a doe is using all her resources to raise a litter in the heat or cold.

The best angora coats in my experience are those that have been grown in the depths of winter on does who have not been bred and who are eating and drinking well and regularly. Intensity of color also improves dramatically at this time of year making the overall effect even more impressive, but wool grows faster and holds longer in the winter as a general rule, and that is when we can expect our rabbits to be at their absolute peak in wool quality and production.

More next week as we wait for the rest of the snow to melt here (and the flood waters to go down) and hope for a beautiful Spring right around the corner:). I have several litters due next Wednesday though only 2 out of the 4 does are showing signs of nesting yet. A few weeks later there will be 2-3 more girls to kindle, and then I will breed another bunch again to launch the spring breeding season.

Have a wonderful and DRY week:-)