My husband is so cute sometimes. Last night he was asking me why I needed to buy any more rabbits at all, just breed the ones I had and let the young ones grow out to see what we had. I explained why, obviously in more detail than he wanted to really know.  This morning he helped prepare our van with one of the transport cages that had been delivered yesterday and to make the hour long drive to Silver Lox , but he had decided to go with me because at least we would be spending time together, which admittedly is not something we get to do much. I suppose he thought he would keep me from buying the more than I should, but we only had two holes in the one carrier we were taking with us and that is my limit for cages in my rabbitry currently. When we got there, however....the impulse buyer side of him came out... as usual . I was specifically looking for a doe to fill the breeding gap I was going to have in the fall with culling of two does after weaning, one is just old and t...

When Misty Blue produced a chinchilla buck, I really loved his fur and was toying with the idea of a side project, even though I knew I really did not have the space to devote to it. Still, I kept the chin instead of culling with the rest of the kindle.  I was not planning to name him, because I was not sure that I would be keeping him, but a name emerged: Chinner, the Chinning Chin. He chinned everything when he saw me, which is a rabbit's way of scent marking. It was cute, until he got just a bit older and his hormones kicked in. Then he began scent marking a different way: spraying pee.  I was his main target. That rabbit was somehow "in love" with me. He had always been the one who came to me first and stayed the longest when I opened the cage door to handle the kindle, but I had not had a rabbit stay so fixated on me as it grew older.  The spraying began to take its toll on my patience with him. I had to constantly be on guard and keep a shield between h...

The first day I weighed the XCY-3 kindle, I examined each kit as I usually do: ears, eyes, nose, mouth, legs, paws, genitals, and so on. I saw nothing out of the ordinary. The very next day, however.... XCY2, the largest of the kindle, had an obvious abscess. I looked back at the weighing day pictures and could see a little possible swelling, or maybe I just thought I should.  It could have been an insect bite or sting or just irritation from who knows what. I was going to open it up the next day, but I found the abscess had opened on its own and she had white drainage on areas of her face so I wiped her down with a free and clear baby wipe and took a good look at the nose. It looked already cleaned out and ready to heal so I let it. It had scabbed over but I gently moistened it and lifted part of the scab to allow it to drain if it needed to do so, but it did not.  I kept taking pictures to be sure it was healing well and ...

Today I weighed XCY-3 and they seem to be showing that "wow" factor I was hoping to see with this kindle. If they grow out with show quality as I am expecting, I am planning to keep the buck and a doe. I might keep the other doe as well or do a swap with her. I have been handling each one every day and working on them to relax when picked up. The XCY3 doe is the smallest, but she is also the one who relaxes the best when being picked up, if not the first time, then the second. The others are better about it when they are a bit sleepy, but they are starting to get it. I am going for that ragdoll trait that I had in a SF x NZW that I sold months ago to a meat breeder, who just loved how she relaxed when being carried.  Being a ground animal whose only defense is running and powerful kicks, rabbits do not like being off a surface or without traction. Being carried is something they tolerate and some tolerate it better than others. I want my rabbits to tolerate being han...

I went into the rabbitry with my focus on the XCY-3 kindle, but when I turned around, there was fur all over Misty Blue's cage and she was still pulling! In all these years, I have only caught two does kindling and she was not one of them. I was certain that she does not pull fur until beginning labor but today I witnessed it! So, I proceeded to feed the rabbits and while Misty Blue was birthing her babies inside the nesting box hutch side of the kindling suite, I played with the XCY bunnies. They are so much fun! The other thing I am very happy about is that Canyon, their mother, who was so fearful of me since coming here from Silver Lox, has been very relax about letting me pet her and play with her bunnies! They still like to lick me a lot and are just too much fun watching them zip around the cage. When Misty Blue hopped out, I checked to find only three kits not covered with about a day or two growth of fur on them all. Misty was a little annoyed with me, I thin...

I can hardly believe that XCY-3 is already three weeks old. Sunday I weighed them and set up their page on the top menu. I am particularly excited because they are in the weight ranges of my last kindle at four weeks old! I know that kits tend to be larger in general when the kindle is small, but still it is very exciting! Just looking at the size of XCY2 makes me smile.  I have been waiting impatiently for Misty Blue to kindle because I had it in my head that she was due on last Friday. Actually, her 31st day is today, but she had her last kindle on the 33rd day. I have been palpitating her for the last week and I can feel those babies. She has been more tolerant about that the last couple of days also, so I think she is feeling the time is close too. She has quite a nice nest ready and waiting, but has not pulled fur yet. She usually pulls fur just before kindling.  This is our first purebred Silver Fox in house breeding and I am hoping to see kits...