A few days before Christmas, I had contacted another Silver Fox breeder, JRRF, whom 4K had recommended months before. I had tried to get with her in August when I was looking for a buck and she only had does. I had needed a doe then also, so I was hoping to have a look, although a SF buck was my priority at that time. Still, we scheduled a meeting that was canceled because she was called into work and we just did not get back with each other. I did not pursue it then because was a little hesitant about getting Silver Foxes that were white carriers, which usually is not a gene most Silver Fox breeders would want, and at that time, we were still planning to cross with New Zealand Whites, so I already had enough with whites.
Since then I had talked to Hannah at Renaissance Farmstead when picking up Demin and Lancelot from her and she seemed to know JRRF had no available does, at least the ones breeding ages. Still, I gave it a try because I was hoping for an unrelated doe and I would have gotten another from Renaissance Farmstead, whose next breeding that would likely produce a Lilac, but it was with the same buck that fathered Demin and Lancelot. Sadly, the doe was a first timer and she birthed them on the wires instead of the nesting box so the entire kindle died of hypothermia.
Since we decided to go with Silver Fox only, I began to think that I would not be completely opposed to a SF carrying white. At the very least, I would find out if either of the bucks were white carriers. Plus, having whites with that thick SF no-fly-back fur would make for an more interesting texture in pelts than the NZW pelts.
Since we decided to go with Silver Fox only, I began to think that I would not be completely opposed to a SF carrying white. At the very least, I would find out if either of the bucks were white carriers. Plus, having whites with that thick SF no-fly-back fur would make for an more interesting texture in pelts than the NZW pelts.
We made plans to meet up at JRRF because she had two does, which turned out to be only one doe after all so there was no choosing between two. (When sexing young rabbits, even seasoned breeders can get it wrong.) She handed me the pedigree, on which she had the name Black Ivy and we liked it so we are keeping the name. The Black Ivy that was just a few days shy of six months which was better than I hoped because I should be able to breed her in a month or two after quarantine. However, I learned that she was in a grow-out pen with all her brothers and I thought she might already be pregnant, which will stunt her growth somewhat and make for problems with us juggling cages. We simply do not have a second brood cage and those little kits fit between the wires of a regular cage. We would need to set up kit saving wires around the lower part of another cage.
As I was looking the doe over I saw that she had ear mites deep inside the ear canal and the breeder said she would not have given her to us, but we assured her that it was not a bad case and easy enough to cure. Also, we have a policy to quarantine new rabbits for about a 30 days before they have any contact with another rabbit in our rabbitry. (We still had Denim and Lancelot in quarantine, although they are in cages next to each other because we got them both from the same breeder.)
Homesteaders are always interesting people with interesting animals and set-ups and tastes. We learned about Muscovy ducks that do not have a greasy meat and do not quack, although some people say they do. She had so many different kinds of chickens pecking for bugs, I lost track of what they all were, but I was thinking about how chickens would be good for eggs and keeping the bug population down, which I find quite appealing.
We weighed Black Ivy the next day, and found a little blood on the towel from sores on her hocks. The hocks can get bare callouses from being on wires although we only had one rabbit that ever had callouses. In case it was from a bacteria that can also cause it, we treated it with the same disinfecting oil that we used for the ear mites. By the next day the ear was barely pink and the scabs on her hocks were healing. I still think she is pregnant although I have never gotten that palpitation thing down with any of my does. Now that I have a good scale, I am trying to do it by weight. Misty Blue has gained five ounces in two weeks without us adding to her diet so I am thinking that either she is pregnant or the cooler weather is causing her to add some fat for warmth, although I am not seeing weight gains in my other senior doe. However, with Black Ivy, I have no baseline weight.
Rabbits do not really show their pregnancy until the last week and that is when I can feel the kits moving also, if they are not too small or too many. I hope to look over Black Ivy again today and just pray that she is a good mother. To be honest, we probably bred Misty Blue at six months the first time, but we are trying to do things a bit differently now, and we have always separated genders at least by three months old, if not sooner because of crowding.