Starlite Rabbitry Blog

New Blog

2009-09-14T10:07:00.000-07:00

After a long.. delay... a new blog for you to follow with the new changes of the rabbitry. This blog will stay up for reference/history :)

http://www.kageerabbitry.blogspot.com

Long weekend trip ahead

2009-06-18T10:32:00.000-07:00

Tomorrow I leave for a looong weekend. I have a dog show up in Oregon, and then a secret trip. Hehehehe. I'll be sure to share all about it when I get back on Monday. I'm also doing transport for at least one rabbit so far to help out others. Should be a long, tiring, yet VERY exciting weekend!

Bob Whitman

2009-06-10T10:13:00.000-07:00

I was just told that Bob Whitman has lost his brave battle with cancer. It hasn't been more than a couple months that the rabbit fancy found out Bob was suffering from a very agressive cancer. I can't believe he's gone. He was probably the smartest rabbit person alive, and probably in history. His efforts to bring so many rare, endangered, and practically extinct rabbit breeds to the US to help support numbers is history. Without Bob, we probably wouldn't have Lionheads here today either.

I can't believe it. We have lost two of the great rabbit people alive within a couple days of each other. This will probably go down in history as the most depressing week in the rabbit show world, ever.

Thoughts and prayers to Bob's family and friends. We will never forget you.

Brian Hartzell

2009-06-09T08:28:00.000-07:00

The rabbit world lost an icon yesterday.

I decided to wait until today to post about this. I have been in such deep shock and mourning, I don't think I could have posted about it yesterday. Brian Hartzell passed away yesterday morning, and the rabbit world has almost come to a complete halt.

I've cried, I've been depressed, I've been in shock. I don't think the shows will ever feel the same. Brian's Fuzzy Lops were icons in the breed. Even in his Jersey Woolies. I could walk down the rows at Nationals and Convention and always pick out his rabbits. They were remarkable. You want to talk about a great breeder and judge... Brian was always at the top of the game.

I'll never forget how friendly he was when we first met at Nationals a few years ago. He let me go over all his winning rabbits, and shared his breeding secrets, and how he created his consistently #1 sweepstakes winning herd. And I loved how I would absolutely drool over his fuzzies, and he would joke "Nah, hey, you should see what I left at home!". He was always so proud of his rabbits, and he really truly loved his fuzzies.

I have, and will continue to pray for Brian and his family, and all the friends who knew and loved him.

Baby Boom!

2009-06-06T08:14:00.000-07:00

We are having a big baby boom here. Finally. I feel like finally something is making up for the lack of babies I've had the past two years. I have always had some sort of issue when breeding for Convention/Nationals juniors, and usually leaving me without any to show. I've been extra careful this breeding round, keeping almost all of the nestboxes in my room and taking babies out for feedings until they are close to a few weeks old. I have 4 boxes beneath my feet as we speak!

Right now I have 27 babies at last count, with most being fuzzy lops and quite a few lionhead babies in there too. Most of the fuzzy lops are tort and orange (yes, a bunch of oranges!), with some random colors in there too like blue tort, some brokens, and even a chocolate or lilac tort!! It's too young right now to tell which it will be, but it's definitely not a regular tort. Both parents must be chocolate carriers way way back. In lionheads I have mostly all sable points. I love the color so I definitely don't mind. And for lionheads- word has it we will be allowed to show all colors at Convention in November that have a COD on file, not just the presented varieties colors. Very cool.

I have 7 more litters expected during this month, and then the Convention breeding bonanza will be over. If anyone is interested in anything for Convention, be sure to let me know!

Jersey Wooly National Photos

2009-05-19T11:13:00.000-07:00

Here are some photos from the Jersey Wooly National show in Ohio. Fun fun times!

The "California themed" basket auctioned off at the banquet. Thanks to our CA Wooly breeders for donations!

The National BOB Winner!!

Lionhead National Photos

2009-05-18T10:00:00.000-07:00

Here's a few random photos from the show room during Lionhead Nationals..

Ohio State Convention

2009-05-17T14:28:00.000-07:00

The showroom... HUGE!

Columbus in the distance

On a whim (and I mean, literally the most random thing ever), I went to the Ohio State Convention the first weekend of this month. Yes, I flew all the way to OHIO! I was actually planning on going months ago, but because of a multitude of things, it never planned out. On that Friday when all my friends were flying out I was pouting about it at work. My co-worker sitting next to me asked what was wrong? "I was supposed to be flying to Ohio today for a huge show". "Well, why don't you go then?" I stopped and thought to myself a couple minutes. Go. I could be totally random and leave in a few hours and JUST GO. I looked up the price of airline tickets, just for the fun in it. They were cheap. Since the planes were leaving within hours to Columbus, OH and there were spare seats, they were running quite low in cost. I booked my ticket at 9:00 AM and within 1 hour I had left work, ran home and litereally threw things into my suitcase, ran to the airport, and was leaving the runway at 12:00 noon. How's that for an adventure?

I'm leaving... on a jetplane....

Luckily, my very good friends Amber H. (Wonder Woolies) and Susie C. (Wooly World) were going to OH for Jersey Wooly Nationals, so I had friends there to pick me up from the airport. There were a few... issues.. we'll call them (LOL!) Like Amber losing her drivers license and was unable to rent a car to drive around in, the bunnies not arriving until about 11:00pm from the plane, waiting for our lovable taxi driver in the airport, etc. but you know what? It was the most AMAZING trip I've been on in a long time. How completely random am I? We headed for the hotel room arranged by Amber and slept for the night.

Myself and Susie, hanging during the show. Thanks Joni for the photo!

Early morning came quick, and soon we were all enjoying a "local" show on the East Coast. I don't think I have ever really been to a "local all-breed" show besides California. So that was definitely an experience. The OH State Convention is a huge show. Apparently it's the largest All-Breed show in the country besides the ARBA National Convention. This is due to OH Mini Convention hosting multiple National Specialties and regular Specialty shows.

I had to visit Lil'Bit Farms Zero, owned by my friend Melanie.

He wants pets, darnit!

Lots and lots of cooping...hmm.. reminds me of Convention..

Yay, I found some fuzzies!

Fuzzy Lop judging

I was quick to find my friends who lives on the other side of the USA that I only get to see once a year at Convention or so. They were so surprised I randomly was there. But so I was I. Hahaha.

I was so excited because I got to go to two of my breeds' NATIONAL shows! Lionheads and the Jersey Woolies. How wonderful. It was particularly awesome to go to Lionhead Nationals as I have never seen that many lionheads in one single place. I saw a few of my CA lionhead friends like Lydia and Joe, and even found Theresa and gave her a huge hug. She was so surprised to me there and Susie too! I had to tell her that her little lions were settling in awesome at my place.

Amber H. with "Sterling", BOSV Broken at Jersey Wooly Nationals!

Huge congrats to my very good friends who placed well in their National and All-Breed shows. Amber won BOSV with "Sterling" in the NJWRC National Show!! He is beautiful Amber, and you know that I saw great things coming with him!!! :)

It was cold, so I was enjoying the sunshine outside for a break!

All in all, the trip was fantastic. I wouldn't take back the randomness AT ALL! It really made me feel so independent, and like a little jetsetter. heehhehe. I look forward to next year. Yup, you heard that right. Next year the 2010 Fuzzy Lop Nationals will take place with the OH Mini Convention so I will back!!

Show on Sunday

2009-05-14T09:13:00.000-07:00

Finally, I will be showing at a show! I decided at the last minute to enter the Stockton, CA show for this upcoming Sunday. It's so close, why not? I entered Puff Ball (SSD), Karate Chop (BJB) and Drama Queen (a Lionhead tort jr doe). It should be a nice easy day with only three rabbits. I few of my local friends are going, so it should be quite fun!

On the home front we have our first Convention junior litters being born:

PFF's Tonka (Tort) x THF Saynora doe (Brkn Chestnut)- 1 chestnut, 1 brkn orange, 2 brkn tort

Starlite's Jamba (Orange) x THF Saynora doe (Tort)- 2 torts

Legendary Aristocat (Tort) x Hillsongs Ezzmerelda (Siamese Sable)- 1 sable point, 1 tort, 1 seal (My first lionhead litter!)

It's very exciting seeing all the new babies sprouting up in the barn. I have several more litters due in the upcoming weeks. Crossing fingers for some nice babies to grow out and show some promise!

West Coast Classic- Monterey, CA

2009-05-09T15:45:00.000-07:00

The first Annual West Coast Classic Show was beyond a blast. I am so very lucky to have been able to go and enjoy the event. Saturday was one All-Breed show as well as two national shows, multiple specialties, and the night held a Judges Conference hosted by Allen Mesick. Sunday was home to two all-breed shows. It was a total blast. I enjoyed catching up with friends, old and new. Although I didn't show any rabbits, it was worth all the education I received during the weekend. Plus I got to watch my good friend Rachelle take her first RIS with her English Lop!

Close encounters of the LION kind.

2009-05-08T15:27:00.000-07:00

You heard it here first. Lionheads. I've owned a buck (pictured below) named Haven's Dirtbike for quite a few months now, and I have been educating myself on the breed for a couple years (I've even been a member of the NALRC for a while, just to learn!). I finally took the plunge. The reason for me driving up to Oregon/Washington was to pick up part of my new herd of lionheads. Nita and Kaela of Legendary Farms have been a savior to me. They have been ever so kind in getting me hooked up with some awesome does. I really don't think I can say thanks to them enough. While up in Washington I took a very quick and last minute trip to visit Theresa Mueller of Pridelands Rabbitry. She has some famous wins in the breed, and a barn full of pretty little lions. I feel so fortunate to have been able to visit her barn and see her rabbits in person. Yes, I had to take some gifts home... including Pridelands Drama Queen (tort jr doe pictured above) and Pridelands Romney (black jr buck). I will be taking photos of all my little lions over time and will add them onto my new website once it is finished.

They are going to be a smaller project at this time, but I'm sure will quickly gain holes as time goes on and the barn expands.

Time to head home...

2009-05-07T13:15:00.000-07:00

The car was packed and loaded and ready to go! Leslie's hubby Keith baked us some yummy brownies for the trip home (thanks Keith!), and we were given some yummy juice (LOL!). All came in handy for that night in the motel on the way home... nothing like staying up until 1:30 AM wired on sugar from the juice and brownies... haha. Maybe that's what got us through the fact that the cable box was stuck on Ladie's Rights conferences on C-SPAN? Hmmm..

Goodbye Seattle!

Pike's Place Market

2009-05-06T15:08:00.000-07:00

One of my favorite things about Seattle is the World-Famous Pike's Place Market. This is that snazzy oceanside market you see in many movies. Remember the place where they throw the huge fish up from the ice lined cases into the arms of other men and bag them up for you to take home? That's where this is!

Seattle!

2009-05-05T15:05:00.000-07:00

First thing in the morning we set off for Seattle. I had to deliver some cavies I brought up from California to their new owner, and then switch for more cavies to bring back down with me. I ended up doing transport for close to 30 animals this entire trip.

Seatlle is an amazingly beautiful city. Living so close to so many amazing cities in California (Sacramento, San Francisco, Los Angeles) you'd think I'd be so sick of tall cement structures and they wouldn't move me. Seattle did. I'm not sure what attracted me so much to this city. I think it's atmosphere was incredible. The people there reminded me so much of the type of people I hang out with in California. I absolutely loved the market and the scenery. I have to say, that if I ever lived in a city without animals and the like, I would move to Seattle.

Oregon/Washington Road Trip

2009-05-05T14:33:00.000-07:00

A few weeks ago, my ever so faithful traveling companion, Susie from Wooly World, and I, set off on a road trip to Oregon and Washington. This isn't an unfamiliar trip for us, as we did it about a year and a half ago in an effort to acquire some initial fuzzy lop stock from Leslie Hobbs (Hobbs Rabbitry). Once again we were off. Initially, I had planned to just drive up to Portland, OR to pick up some new additions (of the lion kind? hehehehe), but since we were only going to be a few hours away at that point, we decided to come up and visit Leslie.

The first day consisted of the long drive up from California. We left on Thursday, attempting to be on the road at around 9:00AM, but it ended up being about Noon before we were on the road. No bother, everything is a random adventure, right? We went through Northern California and quickly spotted Mt. Shasta once we were very far up. This mountain is probably my most favorite one I've ever seen so far. It is snow capped year round, but since it was the beginning of Spring there was still a LOT of snow left on the top. It was gorgeous! Onward towards Oregon. We found the border and drove drove drove... afternoon turned into evening and we took a quick trip to Dennys for a bite to eat before crashing for the night an hour or so from Portland. Woke up and hit the very cloudy Portland, taking a few pictures along the freeway before setting North for Washington.

Portland is practically on the border of Oregon/Washington, so it was a mere 20 minutes before we were technically in WA. A couple hours later and we were at Leslie's house. Of course, the first thing we had to do was race out into the bunny barn and check out the critters. She still have quite a fuzzy lops, and I had the chance to bring two home. Although unplanned of course! I have a very cute broken chestnut jr doe was some amazing density/length to her coat. I already have her future boyfriends picked out. I also took home a broken orange jr buck, that goes back to Lucky Lops lines. Very cute little guy who has some definite potential. Susie and I also co-own a buck we brought back to use/keep, Legolas. He is a gorgeous broken blue tort buck who has such a great "chunky look" to him, including a killer head. I really like how he is put together. He must just have that quality I am looking to add to the herd.

Before crashing at Leslie's house I took some time to play with "Captain", a super nice and semi-famous black Netherland buck. He has a couple huge Convention wins to his credit. He is an older guy but is in SUCH incredible condition. He is such a cutie, and lives the life in luxury as a house rabbit. I also thumbed through the new ANDRC Guidebook. OMG! It's the best guidebook I have ever seen. It's absolutely amazing. Brilliant work to those involved in making that eductaional masterpiece.

It was time to sleep.... Seattle was the destination for the morning!

I need to show

2009-04-30T12:04:00.000-07:00

Alright, I need to show some bunnies! I've been to a show weekend, yes, but I didn't show any of my own and I'm fiending for the chance. Unfortunately almost all the does I have are bred for 2009 Convention Juniors (San Diego, CA!). So pretty much, most of the does are out. I have three junior bucks, but their coats are currently stripped. And as for Senior Bucks, I have most of them regrowing stripped coats, or they just aren't competitive enough to beat what's currently being shown on the table.

Hmmm... I guess yes, the shows are out for a while! I will live vicariously through those who are showing!

Speaking of... GOOD LUCK to many of my close friends who will be showing at Ohio State Convention/JW Nationals/Lionhead Nationals this upcoming weekend. I will be thinking about you guys, and expecting lots of text messages with results as they come!

Presston is growing up!

2009-04-26T11:32:00.000-07:00

Some of you may remember a post I did about my show puppy, "Presston". He is my show border collie boy, and has been with my since he was 8 weeks old. I've been showing dogs a long time, but he is the one with the most potential to go VERY far. Since he is sitting home totally naked (blowing coat for the Summer) and with a twisted toe nail, I thought I would post some inspiring pictures of him to make me get excited again about the fall show season! He has only been out a few weekends and already has 7 points, a BOB over specials (including Top 10 Group Winning/Placing dogs), and a Puppy Group 3. Tremendous results for such a young pup.

These photos above were taken about 2 months ago, when he was 8 months old.

Oh hey, it's Abe!

2009-04-25T08:00:00.000-07:00

While I'm away, I wanted to share some photos of Abe! He is my gorgeous blue otter fuzzy buck, officially named HBB's Abe. I don't think I can ever thank Deb Levisay (House of Bouncing Bunnies) enough for letting me take him home. He was delivered to me at the 08 Convention last year. I swear this buck has a better body than most of the "regular colored" bucks in my barn. His head is HUGE! I have just started breeding him with some of my otter and solid self colored does to see what he will throw. I bet his babies will be beautiful like him.

West Coast Classic- ahoy!

2009-04-24T10:57:00.000-07:00

Starlite's Vixen
(Sky High Walker x Starlite's Violet)

It's been a short while since I've had a chance to post. Whewww it's been a whirlwind past couple weeks. I have been out of town at shows a lot of times, or even on a mini-vacation visiting people in Oregon/Washington! (Which that will be shared in a future post!). It should be time to get a breather soon.

Exciting news- We will be attending the 1st ever West Coast Classic Show in Monterey, CA this weekend! Susie (Wooly World Rabbitry) and I are leaving tomorrow morning, bright and early. The trip to Monterey is roughly 3 hours from my area. Since Monterey is a big tourist destination the hotels are quite expensive. Since I've been so busy I waited until the last minute to reserve the room and I'm paying for it (quite literally!). Ah well, it is going to be a FABULOUS weekend. We have exhibitors coming from all over the West Coast. I think they are hoping that this show becomes a must-attend destination for exhibitors from all across the country. There are 2 National Specialties being held (Beveran and Mini Lop), as well as 16 independent specialties, and 3 All-Breed shows. How incredible. And this is only the FIRST year for this show.. and guess what? The number was just announced that they have 5,000 entries! Absolutely incredible. It can only get bigger and better from here. I'm equally excited for Allen Mesick's Judges Conference to be held on Saturday night. This line up is wonderful and I'm sure I will learn a ton (and eat a ton with the tri-tip BBQ planned). I'm also hoping for a visit to the World Famous Monterey Bay Aquarium while I'm there. I haven't been in quite a long while. I will check in when we come back with photos and info on how it went.

Did you check out the photo above? That's Vixen, my cute tiny little sable point girl. She is very small, but very solid. I'm interested to see what she throws! She looks a lot like her mother Violet. I'd like to see some ears on her that are a little more open and thicker. But she's a total cutie!

On a side note, best wishes to all attending Dwarf Nationals this weekend!

Not too far until breeding time again..

2009-04-09T14:51:00.000-07:00

I've done a few breedings in the last few days, anticipating otter litters hopefully! Since these are just a COD color I don't mind if they aren't the perfect age for Convention or not.

Can you believe it's just about time to do Convention Junior breedings already? I'm so thankful Convention is in San Diego, California this year. Definitely driving distance! I'll be starting the big group of breedings in the next couple weeks. I've already jotted down a few crosses I'm planning on doing. Very exciting! Thank goodness the weather has been more "Spring-like" lately. The does are quite a bit more willing to breed. Though really, it has been raining the past few days!

I have some sale bunnies available. I made a list so far of about 6 fuzzy lops and 3 jersey woolies. I'll get those posted to my website soon!

Littermates For Sale

2009-04-08T13:19:00.000-07:00

I have two littermates available for sale right now. They are ready to go the weekend of April 20th, Sire is THF Saynora King Kong (seal) x Starlite's Gucci (chestnut, Sire is PFF's Tonka). I already made my pick from the litter (a little early, mind you), and because of space I can't grow the rest out.

Can deliver to Oregon/Washington next weekend.

Seal Jr Buck- $25 (pet no pedigree, if used for seal/shaded program pedigree incl.)

Tort Jr Doe- $35 (show potential, but valuable brood for her lines as well)

E-Mail Me if you're interested.

Okay, maybe not

2009-04-05T17:38:00.000-07:00

Starlite's Oh Yes

Well, plans, and things, can change. I couldn't make it to Nationals this weekend after all. Yes, it was a split second decision, but it was one that had to be made. There were multiple things that caused it to happen, but thankfully it wont be a financial loss of too much money. Susie and I can now look forward to a different road trip happening in 2 weeks. More on that to come.

As far as I have been told, Nationals results are as follows:

BOB- Brian Hartzell
BOS- Brian Hartzell

I'll post more detailed results once I have them. Congrats to all winners and placers!

Nationals we shall go!

2009-03-31T16:09:00.000-07:00

Well, the time has come already for the 2009 AFLRC National Specialty Show. I have been SO busy the last couple months with dog shows that Nationals has been in the back of my mind- thus, there is SO much left to do! Carriers to clean, supplies to pack, my own personal stuff to stuff into a suitcase,... and the list goes on! And to top it off, the weather is predicting a couple days of possibly snow! This will be my first trip to Utah, let alone Salt Lake City! One of my bestest, Susie from Wooly World Rabbitry will be making the long trip with me (roughly 10 hours). It shall be quite the adventure! (And did I mention I'm super excited that the banquet is at Golden Corral? LOLOLOL!)

Im bringing one rabbit. Yes, you heard right. ONE RABBIT. You all know that I have had luck with only bringing a limited amount of rabbits to shows before. So let's see how it goes.

I'll report later on how the show is going..... I can't wait!!!

Not much going on

2009-03-05T09:53:00.000-08:00

There hasn't been too much to update about lately. Fuzzy National entries are due in a couple weeks, and unfortunately I wont really have much to show. I'll be going since it is SO close, and for all of the education and enjoyment of the show! Besides, I've never ever been to Utah- let alone Salt Lake City!

I have three litters on the ground. A wooly doe had two... my first live wooly babies! Both are black. One already will be going to a pet home for sure because it has a few white hairs underneath one of it's armpits. The other we will just have to see how it turns out. They are only about 3 weeks old right now. The other litter Gucci's. She is my chestnut fuzzy doe sired by my buck Tonka. Gucci was bred to my black THF Saynora fuzzy buck, and I ended up with a chestnut, a tort, and what looks to be like a seal! So maybe my black buck really isn't black after all? Or maybe he carries shaded? I know Gucci has a siamese sable, and REW in her pedigree. Also, out of Harmony's litter I only have one survivor. It is tort, of course, and was fostered to Gucci's litter early on. I'm hoping it continues to live and grow strong! Oh the joys of raising bunnies!

Oldies but goodies!

2009-02-23T08:48:00.000-08:00

I was going through my files on my computer and found some show photos from one of the Stockton shows last year. I think it was mid to late 2008? I don't think these have been posted anywhere, so here you go! I love sharing random show shots from our Northern California shows!

Feb Stockton show scenes

2009-02-22T16:37:00.000-08:00

Shots from the Stockton show earlier this month. Just got around to uploading them!

Cute fuzzzz

2009-02-20T08:59:00.000-08:00

A couple random shots of some of my bunnies from the Stockton show. First up, my SJD Poof Ball! She won BOSB in Show B. She is gorgeous. She wont be a junior for Nationals though :( Second is my NEW little guy, MG's Karate Chop! We decided to decorate him with a barette and destroy his manhood. He is sired by Gard's Waffles, a GORGEOUS buck owned by Jenny H. Credit for the photos goes to Jenny H (M & G Rabbitry)!

Happy Valentine's Day!

2009-02-13T15:36:00.000-08:00

WWR's Pearl delivered 2 fat healthy babies this past Wednesday. Yay! Right on time Pearl! I'm very excited as these are my first live wooly babies born ever! Plus, they are also my first Ricky babies (Lone Oak's Ricky). Very very exciting.

Happy Valentine's Day everyone! I'm celebrating tonight with dinner and a movie with the boy. We'd rather not deal with all the "valentine's dinner traffic" at restaurants tomorrow night! We're going to see "Friday The 13th", which came out in theaters today... on Friday The 13th!

The duo does it again at Stockton!

2009-02-11T11:01:00.000-08:00

The last show in we attended, which was Red Bluff, Tonka and Puff Ball took BOB and BOS honors. The duo does it again!

We attended the 2/7 Stockton show last weekend and had a wonderful time. I brought home PFF's Oprah, who is going to be a new "puzzle piece part" added to my otter fuzzy lop starter line. I know Carol has got some cute otters out of her, so I'm hoping I will too!

Plus Jenny hooked me up with a new little broken junior buck. I know I know... like I need another rabbit. But this little guy was too cute to pass up, and she WAS waiting for the perfect broken buck to offer to me. (I don't have ONE broken fuzzy lop buck in the barn!). We'll grow him out and see what he turns into!

As for shows, we have nothing until Nationals. Hard to believe, but I am going to take time off from bunny shows to cut, groom, and coat out the fuzzies for the first weekend in April when I will be driving to Salt Lake City, Utah for AFLRC Nationals. After that the show season will start up again heavily.

THF Saynora Puff Ball, SJD above, wins BOS in Show A, with 20 fuzzies entered in Open!

PFF's Tonka (SSB) takes BOB in Show A, with 20 fuzzies entered in Open!

Hey, that's not a bunny...

2009-02-05T08:25:00.000-08:00

Some don't know.. but I show dogs too! Yes! I've actually been in dogs probably just as long if not longer than I have been in rabbits. I have been showing, since back in my Junior Handling days..year 2000 or less. Above is my new show pup, Presston! He is a border collie, and what potential he has! I drove to Idaho last August to pick him up. His first official show will be later this month, at 8 months old. Be forewarned there will possibly be some Presston blog updates in the future!

Ohio State Convention!

2009-02-01T19:22:00.000-08:00

Good news! Well, I'm 80% sure I will be flying (with buns) to Ohio in the beginning of May for the Ohio State Convention! I'll be there to exhibit and attend Jersey Wooly and Lionhead Nationals.. as well as check out some AFL stuff. How exciting! It will be my first time to go to Ohio, and I will be able to meet up with alot of my good friends I rarely see but at the big shows like Convention, and I will be able to meet a bunch of Rabbit Habbit people I have yet to meet.

Toys, Toys, Toys

2009-01-30T10:37:00.000-08:00

Gucci stretching up after a wiffle ball play session

Do you put toys in your rabbit cages? My rabbits adore having creative toys and objects to keep their minds amused and entertained. I have one doe in my barn who makes a point to run and jump and leap against one of those wire hay balls hung from the top of the cage. It has a bell on the end and she loves the noise. She makes sure to slam against it every morning when I walk into the barn to feed, to alert all the rest of the rabbits. It's hilarious!

Every rabbit has a different toy in their cage. Most also have linked toy chains hanging from the tops of their cages. I get these in the baby aisle at your local Target, Walmart, etc. type store. I usually get a bunch for under $5. Browse discount stores, Dollar Treet, etc. I get plastic wiffle balls in multi colors at the Dollar store. 5 for a dollar! And they are the larger size so they can really get into rolling them around the cage.

My findings after a day of discount shopping! Creative thinking!

Aching for a show

2009-01-29T11:39:00.001-08:00

BSB class at a local show.. a few years ago

I yearn for a show. I ache for a show. I NEED to go to a show! I missed the Santa Rosa January Jamboree show earlier this month. It's known as the first show we have in Northern California each year. All my friends got to go, but because I had no rabbits to really show, and I was waiting on some litters I decided to pass. The next show will be Stockton February 7th. I do have a couple buns I could bring to show so far, so we'll see what the lineup will be. I'm looking forward to seeing all my fuzzy friends there. It's been a while!

Little Puff Ball!

2009-01-28T11:10:00.001-08:00

I am so very pleased to have "Puff Ball" in the barn. Officially dubbed THF Saynora Puff Ball. She is a tort junior doe I picked up from Jenna B. at Convention in Kentucky this past year. She was so awesome about holding her (and another couple) for me for quite some time until I was able to pick them up. Puff Ball started off by winning BOS her first time out (as a junior!) under Chris Zemny this past December. She even beat out a bunch of older awesome top winning rabbits. I was elated! She is so short and typey. She has that bone and face I adore. My goal is to have most of my fuzzies in the barn display the type she has.

In other news, I have a few does bred. After the feed issue I ended up with only 1 viable surviving baby. The adults are back to full condition and health, so I decided it was time to start working on the next generation again. The first to come due would be two Jersey Wooly does! There is Cedar Ridge's Blue Rain (blue) and WWR Pearl (black), both bred to my striking siamese sable buck Lone Oak's Ricky. He is gorgeous and placed well at Convention (I believe 8th or 7th Shaded Sr Buck in Youth). I think this will make for some nice combinations. I palped both this morning and both seem to be pregnant! Yipee!

New Year, New Challenges

2009-01-14T08:23:00.000-08:00

I haven't been posting the past few weeks. I've been very busy with lots of preparations for things (started back to work after the 2 week break, Spring semester is starting next week, etc.). I was feeling a little overwhelmed and then the heart break happens....

Feed issues.

I lost 7 rabbits to a bad batch of feed. I should have known better than to feed pellets that were milled months ago, but I thought things would be fine since they had in the past. Every morning, walking out into the barn would be torture. One passed, sometimes two in a day. I lost entire litters. THANKFULLY, it was mostly just my newest generation and not any of my top adult stock. I did lose 2 adults though, but they were going to be sold/culled anyways. I guess you could say I got lucky there, but it's still depressing. I lost Harmony's litter, which kills me the most. I felt like quiting right there and then. These babies were rockin'. They were the sign of hope for the next Starlite generation. I feel so sad to know that I will pretty much have no juniors to show at Nationals in April. Out of all the litters I had booming in the barn, I have 2 babies left to show for it. I can only hope.

Thanks to those keeping me in their thoughts during my rough time. Good news is I got an awesome batch of feed that was only milled 2 weeks prior to me purchasing it. My new rule of thumb is that I will NEVER purchase feed that wasn't milled in the same month I buy it. No ifs, ands, or butts about it. The rabbits are now thriving on the new feed and gaining condition rapidly. I'll be ready for my next round of breedings soon. Crossing fingers and paws...

West Coast Fuzzy Lop List

2008-12-24T08:19:00.000-08:00

If you're on the West Coast (or in the general area) make sure you belong to the WestCoastFuzzyLop List on yahoo groups. I started this group almost exactly a year ago and it now has 46 members. It is a very active list used to discuss local happenings with the breed as well show results, and to coordinate show entries.

Even if you're not on our side of the country and want to see what's happening with the breeders in our area feel free to join!

http://pets.groups.yahoo.com/group/WestCoastFuzzyLops

My Red Bluff Winners

2008-12-21T09:26:00.000-08:00

We had several nice placings in the classes, but I'll post my top two wins. Congrats to all of the Fuzzy Lop winners!

My new little girl who is going to be a showstopper
THF Saynora Puff Ball, 1/2, BOV, BOSB Show A on Saturday!
(and that was a win while she is molting badly! Judge, Chris Zemny, said she is beautiful and if she was in coat she would have been BOB easily. How's that for a JUNIOR? ::grin::)
Top two photos taken by Susie C. for me at the show. Thanks Susie!

PFF's Tonka, 1/7, BOSV, BOSB Show B on Sunday!

(this was a great win for my boy Tonka, who doesn't get to see the show tables too much because he's busy being a spoiled boy at home!)

Belgian Hares at Red Bluff

2008-12-21T09:09:00.000-08:00

I was amazed at the amount of Belgian Hares making an appearance at the Red Bluff show. I think they had numbers close to ten? A few exhibitors were watching Carol Green judging the classes, trying to get an up close look at the breed. Allen Mesick came over to give a few tips on posing the breed (we know he EXCELS at that!).

Red Bluff Shows

2008-12-20T08:53:00.000-08:00

The show room

Last weekend was the VERY fun Red Bluff show weekend. Double shows both Saturday and Sunday makes for 4 opportunities for legs. The local Lop club (English & French) even held specialty shows Friday night. That makes for a very opportunistic weekend!

Open woolies waiting for their turn on the table

Danielle A. clerks for woolies

Fuzzy Exhibitors Jenny H., Rachelle T. (back), and Susie C.

T.G.I.F!

2008-12-19T11:03:00.000-08:00

Thank goodness it's Friday! I have lots of cleaning to do around the house this weekend.. including stacker tray dumping! Oh joy! I only have 2 more Christmas presents to buy.. which isn't too bad. Last year I waited until the last minute.

With the economy in a funk, there are lots of changes happening in our world. It's hard to imagine how everyone is affected until it hits home. My office is going to be closing from Dec. 24th- Jan 4th. Close to 2 weeks of being off of work. We had the choice of using up our vacation time or taking it unpaid. Because I attend Convention & different Nationals during the year I NEED the Vacation hours. So I took the time off unpaid. Thankfully it will be taken out in increments over months and months next year. That will help me not feel like it's so much at once.

Ok, enough venting about my financial situation. I have lots of babies in the rabbitry. Harmony's babies are doing fabulous by the way. She had 2, one honey colored tort and one dark tort. She's actually fostering a baby that's quite younger than her other two. It's out of a first time doe being bred. It's either chestnut or black otter, not sure at this point since it's only a few days old. All I know is that I'm ECSTATIC it is alive! I saved that poor baby from being absolutely freezing cold. It was barely moving when I found it in the box that morning. I took it in by the fire and slowly warmed it up. I didn't have any litter close to that age to foster it to, so before I left for work I stuck it in with Harmony's two hoping it would at least stay warm for the duration of the day. It was alive when I came home.. a miracle! It was so comfy and warm with it's new huge siblings, so it got to stay. Harmony is an excellent milk producer so the baby is always very full and warm. I'm so happy :)

Show tomorrow

2008-12-12T14:11:00.000-08:00

Tomorrow is the Red Bluff show weekend.. which I am very excited about! The Red Bluff shows are held in December once a year. They are back to back double shows (Saturday and Sunday), usually with Specialties held the Friday evening before. I'll be leaving early in the AM tomorrow, and bringing 4 fuzzies to show. They will each be shown 4 times. Wow! Our fuzzy lop group gets together and does a white elephant gift exchange and appetizer/dessert potluck on Sunday. Some of us even go out to dinner on Saturday night. If you want to come by and grab a goodie and talk fuzzy, feel free to stop by!

Nova

2008-12-07T19:48:00.001-08:00

This is Lil'Bit Farm's Nova. He is a tort junior buck that has been doing very well for me. His first weekend out was at Convention this past October in KY. He was very much a baby and had no coat. The next time I brought him out was the Pomona/Fresno show weekend (two shows each day). He earned a leg EACH show! He is now at 4 Legs with 1 BOB, 1 BOS, 2 BOSV and even an Honorable Mention in Show! I'm very excited to see how his show career continues.

BTW... Harmony had babies this morning!! YIPEEE! She had 3, 1 peanut and 2 regulars. Both are torts. I'm very excited for these babies. I'ts been quite cold here (40's high) so I've kept them inside where it's warmer.

Peanuts for Moondust

2008-12-05T10:32:00.000-08:00

Well, Moondust ended up delivering her very first litter. I was proud of her because she had them in the box and pulled a lot of wool to try to keep them warm. Unfortunately they were both peanuts, tort in color. I'll be rebreeding her again soon.

I try not to worry too much about the first litter for a doe surviving. I try not to get my hopes up, as many times they will have them on the wire, not pull wool to keep them warm, or the babies will end up being stillborn. If a first timer's litter survives and she does well I figure it's icing on the cake. After 2-3 litters a doe should be on track to having babies regularly in the box without issues (if she is conceiving that is). If she is cannibalising them or keeps having them on the wire I have to start thinking about whether this is possibly a genetic trait to have in the herd or not.

I do have a couple does that took a very long time to actually conceive. One of my favorite does actually had her first litter the day she turned 2 years old! She is special to me, so would always be here no matter what. I always wanted a litter out of her, so when I did breeding rounds I would always breed her just incase of a miracle. What a joy to see her belly grow in size and have babies to deliver! I always bring her inside when she is due to kindle, as she has not had much success having them in the box. I put her inside of a cavy cage with a solid bottom. That way I can check on them immediately once she has them and help her rearrange them. I have to wonder if it's because she took so long to take, so she doesn't have the younger maternal instincts a 6-8 month old doe would have when delivering?

A very important doe is due on Sunday.. Lil'Bit Farms Harmony. This is my doe that won BOSV Solid at Convention this year. She is nesting as of this morning. I am VERY excited for any babies out of this litter, and very hopeful. Many don't know, but Harmony has already been a mother. I made sure to get a litter out of her when she was around 7 months old. I wanted her to be a great show doe, but also a great mother. I didn't want to have one of those powerhouse show winning does that never ends up having a litter because the breeder waited too long, you know? Who says you can't show a doe after she has a litter? This doe has had a litter already, got her into condition, and then went on to have a huge win at Convention and has multiple Honorable Mentions in show.

Waiting for babies

2008-12-03T14:46:00.000-08:00

The Fall breeding season is underway. I'm hoping to have some great juniors for Fuzzy Lop Nationals in April. We're off a late start, but hopeful for a great batch of juniors to choose from. I had a couple litters born a little less than 2 weeks ago. And out of 7 babies, 5 are solid blue! I'm hoping for a blue doe out of those. They are so chunky and look like they have huge heads already!

Above, Starlite's Moondust is nesting and patiently waiting for her first litter to be born (she was bred with Hobbs' Eoin). She's due today. Crossing fingers!

How about some blue otter?

2008-11-30T11:56:00.000-08:00

This is HBB's Abe. He turns 1 year old tomorrow and is a cobby typey blue otter fuzzy lop buck. Deb Levisay graciously saved him to deliver to me at Convention this past October. Boy am I thankful! He is a nice addition to my otter project. I can't wait to get some babies out of him. He is all settled at home now and I'm planning on some does for him. He did just start getting a loose coat so I have plucked the poor guy practically bald. He looks verrrry silly. Now it should come in nice and even once the new coat grows in. The first photo is recently after I acquired him, and the second is by Deb before I purchased him.

Remember, otter is not an accepted showable color in American Fuzzy Lops. Marilyn Kohler from Blue Hills Rabbitry is the current COD Holder for the Otter Fuzzy Lop (which includes black and blue otters). Otters failed their first presentation this past Convention (KY 2008) but are to be presented in California in 2009. We are very excited and are proud to support Marilyn and her efforts. I know there are many breeders excited for this new variety. To see more photos of otter fuzzies check out this post in the AFLRC Blog.

Are you working on otters now, or are you waiting for the variety to be accepted for showing? Shoot me an e-mail, as I'd love to hear from others working on otter.

Fresno

2008-11-29T09:28:00.000-08:00

After about an hour drive the next morning, Sunday, we were at the Fresno show. Well, sorta. See, I'm REALLY good with directions. I pride myself on my sense of distance and directions. Well, this time mapquest failed me and I was definitely lost. I ended up on the other side of the freeway looking for the fairgrounds. I've been to this show before so after driving around 7-8 miles out of the way I knew something was wrong. The issue was the fog. Yes, the central valley gets lots of it, and it's thick! You didn't know which way was up, down, if you came from that way.... If there was no fog I probably would have noticed we were in the back 40 in the farm fields! And to make matters worse, some person had 2 large german shepherds in their yard chasing cars in the fog. I wasn't going fast, yet they brushed against my car. Scariest thing ever! Too bad some pet owners have to be so irresponsible. Not only was it deadly for the dogs, but for me and my friend in the car. Anywho, after that we stopped at a gas station and figured out where we were going and made it to the fairgrounds. Turns out we weren't the only ones mixed up because of the fog. We made it on time but many others didn't. Rather to be safe and late than not safe at all, I say!

Rachelle was there (Wroyal Wreign Lops) with her English Lops (see one of her gorgeous bucks in the photo above) and a few Fuzzies. She is so sweet! I'm so happy she got back into rabbits again and have a great friendship with her. She is so funny and makes shows so fun. She has made me love English Lops so very much. Enough that I think she has me convinced to take home a show quality baby once she has one! ::grin:: We got to see Michael (Silent Springs Rabbitry) which was great! Yay! I love his beautiful COLORED Mini Lops. Their fur was so plush and vibrant. He is such a kick to be around. Amy was also there (Amy's Bunny Barn) with her Jersey Woolies. She is such a nice girl and has some great woolies. We all had Taco Bell for lunch. Yummm! I wish I could have taken more photos, but the lighting in that building isn't that great. But as always, you can view more photos from shows (I only post a couple here on the blog) at my Photo Album section of my webpage.

The results were great today, but I'll post just my top two:

Show A- Judge Allen Mesick

Lil'Bit Farms Harmony (SSD)- 1/3, BOV, BOB! HONORABLE MENTION IN SHOW!
Lil'Bit Farms Nova (SJB)- 1/4, BOSV, BOSB

Show B- Judge Randy Shumaker

Lil'Bit Farms Harmony (SSD)- 1/3, BOSV, BOSB
Lil'Bit Farms Nova (SJB)- 1/4, BOV, BOB! HONORABLE MENTION IN SHOW!

Took 4 more legs home this show. Nova... wow! He is going to do great things as he keeps getting older. I was so happy for him to win BOB at the second show.. and an Honorable Mention during BIS judging? Holy cow! That is a great honor for a buck that just turned 5 months old. I posted a photo of Nova, below, hamming it up during the show.

After another very long day we were back on the road again. We stopped for some In N Out on the way home (and I'm sick of fast food at this point!). We dragged on to Stockton, where I met Susie's mom to drop her off. Another 45 more minutes and I finally made it home. The bunnies were happy to be in their own cages for the night and were demanding some hay before bed. Ok ok, they deserve it!

I'm sure there will be another adventure soon!

Road Trip to So Cal!

2008-11-29T08:11:00.000-08:00

On a whim, Susie (Wooly World Rabbitry) and I decided to go for a long rabbit show road trip for the weekend. We were planning on going to the Fresno show on Sunday anyways, and why not make a few extra hours trip down to the Pomona show on Saturday too. Both of us had never been to a Southern California show, so it would be a new adventure! (not like we haven't had many of those or anything!)

The drive was surprisingly nice and easy. I picked Susie up in Stockton and we drove down to Modesto to grab a bite to eat. The mall was very tempting, but we had to get back on the road. I was trying to show her my favorite restaurant, BJ's Brewery, but it was an hour and a half wait for dinner. That would put us wayyy behind. So we settled on Wendy's instead. LOL. More driving... we ended up staying in Tulare for the night, so we were around 3 hours left of driving in the morning. The city was lit up and had lots of places to eat and stay. We loaded up on goodies for the weekend and hit the hay.

The morning driving to Pomona wasn't really that bad. With a friend in the car time seems to fly by. I would have taken some photos of the BEAUTIFUL sunset over the Grape Vine, but driving + taking pictures = nothing good. LOL. I know Susie got some good ones though. It was gorgeous! The colors were amazing. It wasn't really too cold when we got to the L.A. area, which was great. The show was located at the Expo center in the very large parking lot. There is a nice covered area used for other venues, which made a nice ventilated spot for a show. I guess some exhibitors told us things are done different usually, so we all enjoyed some different things this time around. No comment cards, for one! Honestly, I didn't find it to be a bother whatsoever. It made it more important to watch your bunnies be shown so you can keep track of placings. The club provided an entry sheet and we used that to write on. It was perfect!

Our awesome friend Amber (Wonder Woolies Rabbitry) drove down to do the same warrior driving weekend that we did. It was great seeing a familiar face at the show. We also got to meet Sarah (Sarah's Mini Lops). We have been friends online for a long while now, so it was great putting a face to a name. She is such a sweetheart! And she did great with her Mini Lops!

Susie and I did awesome at the show. I know she won BOS both shows with her woolies, which is great. Here are my results:

Show A- Judge Joey Schults

Hobbs Eoin (SSB)- 2/3
Lil'Bit Farms Harmony (SSD)- 1/4, BOV, BOB, HONORABLE MENTION IN SHOW!
Lil'Bit Farms Nova (SJB)- 1/6, BOSV
Starlite's Jamba (SJB)- 3/6
THF Saynora holland doe (BSD)- 1/?, BOSV

Show B- Judge Scott Williamson

Hobbs Eoin (SSB)- 1/3
Lil'Bit Farms Harmony (SSD)- 1/4, BOV, BOSB
Lil'Bit Farms Nova (SJB)- 1/4, BOSV
Starlite's Jamba (SJB)- 4/4
THF Saynora holland doe (BSD)- Missed the class

Susie and I switched BOB/BOS each show with my doe Harmony and her GORGEOUS broken orange buck Twin Elm's Independence Day. See photo above with Judge Joey Shults!

I took home 5 legs at this show. They were the first two for Nova. This was his first weekend out besides being entered at Convention with a moulty baby coat. What a great day.

I loved meeting new fuzzy friends in Southern California. Everyone was so nice and warm and welcoming. I really wish I would have got the chance to chat with Pam some more! She is a doll! I see great success with her and her BEW fuzzies she is working on.

Susie, Amber and kids, and I packed up and followed each other to find some dinner. After getting turned around in L.A. quite a few times, we settled on a feast at Dennys! Perfect. Afterwards we all headed back up North to prepare for Fresno the next day. We ended up driving up to Tulare and stayed in the same hotel. I wanted to get as close to Fresno as I could as I knew we would be dragging the next day. Zzzzzzz.....

The end to a great week

2008-11-07T14:18:00.000-08:00

The goodbye photo from Kentucky, while in the airport waiting for our departure flight. Sad that the week went by so very fast. But so elated to remember all of the fun I had during the week. I have made so many friends and memories to last me forever. Time to start thinking about San Diego, California in 2009. This time we wont have to fly, which will be great. I'm really looking forward to another Convention adventure!

Conv Photos- AFLRC Banquet

2008-11-06T14:12:00.000-08:00

Ribbons for 5th- 10th placings
Bookbags for 1st-4th placers, and the plaques for BOB/BOS.

BOV and BOSV will get T-shirts mailed to them. The auction prizes. All proceeds went to benefit the 2009 National Show in Salt Lake City, UT

Conv Photos- Fuzzies in Coops

2008-11-05T13:55:00.000-08:00

Some random photos of fuzzy lops in their coops.

(a Blue Otter in the Presentation coops!)

Conv Photos- Rabbits!

2008-11-04T13:45:00.000-08:00

Lionheads playing.

Thiranta

A lazy Mini Lop

A vienna marked Jersey Wooly. Not entered, but for sale. Adorable!

A chunky siamese sable Jersey Wooly

Broken English Angora. This was a COD Variety up for presentation

A Belgian Hare

A gorgeous Jersey Wooly doe. I know this one actually... Dilemma!

Conv Photos- Friends

2008-11-03T12:00:00.000-08:00

Susie C., Kristen D., Amber D., and myself after trying out Big Boy!

RH Meetup! Awww I love these guys!

Kristen and me cheesin' it up!

Susie and I waiting for fuzzies to finish judging.

Ellyn, Susie, and I. Ellyn makes the famous Rabbit Smarties!

Conv Photos- KY Derby Museum

2008-11-03T11:52:00.000-08:00

Scenes from the Kentucky Derby Museum at Churchill Downs. This was one of the best museums I've ever been to! There was loads of things to do and play on (lol). There was tons about the history of the sport, art, photos, etc. We even watched a short flick about horse racing that made us all have goosebumps and tears welling! Great great place. One of the best put-together museums I've ever been to.

Conv Photos- Churchill Downs

2008-11-03T11:50:00.000-08:00

Our group took a backsides tour at Churchill Downs Race Park. I have always wanted to visit this place in person, so of course we had to go! To see these magnificent race horses up front and personal was amazing. And the race park itself.. every photo I took of the stands and track looked like something on a postcard. The camera could do no wrong. It's just beautiful. We got to see the stalled areas of some of the most famous race horse trainers of all time.. including Bob Baffert. Awesome! We also had an apportunity to visit the Kentucky Derby Museum. Photos of that soon!

Conv Photos- Showroom & Judging

2008-11-02T11:13:00.000-08:00

Conv Photos- Around Louisville

2008-11-01T10:58:00.000-07:00

This was my very first trip to Kentucky. Getting a chance to visit Louisville was a great introduction to the State. The fall colors really made the feel of the town crisp and comfortable. I loved the bridges! They reminded me of home. It's too bad I couldn't get a night photo of the city lights. They were gorgeous. They even put purple lights on the bridge! While driving around we all got lost a few times, but what a great way to see side streets you never would have traveled to anyways! We also ended up on the University of Louisville campus. I love the sprawl and architecture of the city.

Susie and I met up with Kristen and Tim of Keep's Rabbitry, and we all spent the week in KY together. I have so many memories and laughs from this trip! We all got to go to the Waverly Hills Sanitorium.. which has so many stories and experiences... so that's for another day! I'm so glad we took some time out from the Convention center to go sight-see around the area.

Conv Photos- Airports & Takeoff!

2008-10-31T10:46:00.000-07:00

Lines are starting to get long at Delta's Departing section of the airport.

Betty Chu and some of her famous Angoras. We were all leaving from San Francisco.

Jenny H., myself, and Susie C.

Boy, it's going to be a long flight............

Convention Wins!

2008-10-31T09:49:00.000-07:00

I had to back-date this post since I was flaking on posting my Convention results.

I only brought one rabbit.. Lil'Bit Farms Harmony. She is a solid senior doe, and the one I felt had the best chance to win in my barn. You know... it only takes one to win, and it held true.

To cut to the chase.. she ended up winning 1st out of 63 does and BOSV SOLID!!!!!

This was such a huge honor and I don't think I can thank her breeder Melanie and Leanne from Lil'Bit Farms Rabbitry enough! They have been so good to me! Thank you so much to Melissa (CA) and Scott (CO) for judging!

Hard to believe..Convention time!

2008-10-23T11:09:00.001-07:00

It's beyond hard to believe.. but Convention is here!!!!! 2 days until departure!

I feel bad bragging that I get to go in front of those that don't. I wish I could take everyone with me in my suitcase. But I have been in that position for so many years. Watching everyone else go but myself. Now is my time to actually get to go and enjoy and experience every ounce of it. I am so BEYOND ecstatic! Tonight I will finish up packing (er... or start it. hehehe) and do all my last minute preparations. I need to go to Wally World during lunch to pick up an extra memory card for my camera. I know I will be taking a ton of photos to share. Tomorrow I'll be leaving work early and will pick up Susie (Wooly World Rabbitry) along our drive to the Bay Area. We're staying over with Christina and her mother Tausha (Precious Fuzzy Farm), and going to San Francisco the next morning to leave on the plane. We have a big group of fuzzy breeders on the same departing flight in San Francisco. It is sure to be a morning full of wool!! After the first leg of the flight a lot of us split up, but we will all arrive in the same wonderful destination.. Louisville, KY!

I wont be able to update before I leave... so I want to wish everyone much success and enjoyment in Kentucky. See you there!

Blackjack!

2008-09-13T09:28:00.000-07:00

Starlite's Blackjack is one of my up and coming Juniors. He turns Senior today, which is a bummer because I was hoping to enter him in the upcoming Stockton show next weekend. Grrrr! Oh well, maybe I will bring him along to get opinons on. He obviously has mucho maturing to do, but I see so many qualities I like already. He has such thick, short, and great shaped ears. And look at the crown! Perfect position. The bone on his front legs is phenomenal. it is so thick. His body is nice and short and solid as a rock. He has to lose some more of that junior coat so it looks completely black, but we're working on that. He should have a huge head as he finishes up his head moult.. and ages. He is combining two Hobbs lined rabbits I have, Hobbs Dayton (blue) x KAR's Carlie (tort).

Here he is as a cute little baby...

Why so blue baby?

2008-08-24T17:44:00.000-07:00

Blue is one of my favorite colors in fuzzy lops. When I was able to buy my first couple I was beyond ecstatic! Leslie Hobbs (Hobbs Habbitry) was the first to let me get ahold of the color and I couldn't wait to get my very own! I don't necessarily "specialize" in the color, but I'm working on them a lot. I don't usually see very many on the show tables anymore, but I'm trying to change that. They can be a challenging variety with possible scattered white hairs and white toenails. You have to pay close attention to the dilution of the blue color as you don't want it to be too light either. I like a nice very deep blue color. Above are some photos of some current blues I have... shown as head shots so you can see the thick fuzzy faces!

Viper & Tulsa

2008-08-23T13:46:00.000-07:00

The Summer is feeling practically over. I can say that I am very happy for the bunnies as I know they will appreciate the milder temperatures... but I have hardly got a chance to enjoy the hot weather myself. I think I've only been swimming twice! Ah well, I love the Fall.

The Violet baby I mentioned in my previous post is around 8 weeks old now. He is named Starlite's Viper. See pic above! He has been growing beautifully. I bet he is going to have a very nice dense coat like Violet does. His sire, Hobbs Oh Da Man, is going through his first major moult right now but is looking like he is going to come nicely out of it and look like a whole new bunny!

Lil'Bit Farm's Tulsa was feeling photogenic today so I have lots of photos to share of him:

In the midst of the summer

2008-07-21T12:03:00.000-07:00

Summer is in full throttle.. unfortunately. A week ago we were battling 110+ degrees here in the Central Valley. I am so very thankful that is over. We had fans, misters, and frozen water bottles going full blast. Yesterday was a nice 80 degrees and slightly windy. It was perfect! The rabbits were loving the new weather. It's set to head back up to the high 90's again later this week. But we'll be prepared!

I have a doe named Starlite's Violet. She was out of one of my first fuzzy lop litters, and the first one that I actually kept from my own breeding. She has the chunkiest cheeks ever, and is the sweetest thing. No matter whether I could ever get her bred or not, she was going to live out her life with me. I tried breeding her for a looooong time, and the bucks would "get" her, but still nothing. I was pretty much settled that she would never "take". She had a top cage full of toys and lots of head rubs. Every once in a while I would try breeding her, if I was doing a round of breedings. By golly.. on her 2nd birthday she delivered a litter! And there was like 6 of them! Unfortunately, due to a first time mother syndrome, they were all DOA. The next time I would be prepared. A month ago, Violet was fat and plump. I brought her inside the house in a small solid bottom cavy cage. She birthed her litter inside my room, and there were 3 of them (1 DOA). Violet decided that being a spoiled pet was more important to her than rearing her own litter, so I fostered off the babies. I think part of the issue is that it took her 2 years to get bred, so she doesn't have the natural instinct that a 6-10 month old doe would have being bred the first time. Unfortunately, I lost one of the two to the heat in our horrible heat spell last week. Thankfully I do have one baby left, a really fat tort! (See photo above!)I think it's a little buck and he is totally adorable. He reminds me so much of Violet when she was still in the nestbox. Even though I have no clue what he will turn out like (besides his super big head!), he will probably live his life out here as well, since he is the only live Violet baby ever produced. Violet was bred again a couple weeks ago and we are hoping for another litter. Moral of the story? NEVER give up. This is something that I had to teach myself because I was definitely running out of patience. I think after the stress of trying to get her bred was over (since I decided whatever happens, happens) she decided to take.

No shows until the middle of September. We will be taking the brunt of the hot part of Summer off. I have a new show puppy coming at the end of the week, and I have some more dog events and school to take care of. Besides.. time to save money for Convention right? Only 3 months away!

Randomness

2008-04-06T20:39:00.000-07:00

Spring has definitely hit our barn. I know Susie (Wooly World Rabbitry) mentioned in her blog that there isn't much else to talk about but babies, and that's the way it is here too. We have had several litters born recently, including some otters! Fairy (blue) was bred to AK's Quiddich (blk otter) and produced a litter of 4 with one black, one blue, and two blue otters!! Hopefully one of them will be fuzzy. Fairy is a fuzzy, but Quiddich is a holland x fuzzy that ended up with normal hair.

We also had our first holland lop litter born! THF Saynora Zayden (tort) was bred to THF Saynora Cookie (broken blue tort). There were two babies. One was squished in the box, and the other was cold and half-alive in the back of the box. I warmed the little singleton up and it has been living at my side basically for the past 3-4 days of its life. Since its mother thought the whole litter was dead she wanted nothing to do with her nest box. So twice a day I take little baby to its mother, or any of my other willing nursing does and let it nurse off them. Unfortunately all my other litters are almost 2 weeks old, so the size difference is too great to foster "little one" off. I already feel so attached to this baby! It's my first holland baby, so it's special no matter what. :)

Show tomorrow.

2008-03-29T18:15:00.000-07:00

This week is a very special week- Convention breedings can start. Oh yeaaaa! I started today off with cleaning a few nest boxes and a couple carriers for the show in the morning. Tiring! Then I did two Convention breedings. One was PFF's Tonka (Tort) x Hobbs' Oh No (Blue Tort). This is going to be an exciting breeding. Oh No is a VERY short and solid doe with excellent wool. Tonka is short, except he is long in the shoulder. His head is TREMENDOUS. I haven't been using him much lately because he is just my spoiled baby, but I really need to get some babies with his monstrous big head on them! The second breeding was THF Saynora Zayden (Tort) x THF Saynora Tort doe (Qwade daughter, Tort). He only got her once, but I'm still crossing my fingers.

I'm looking forward to the show tomorrow morning, but I wish I was a bit more prepared. Even though I cleaned a few carriers this morning I still have a TON to do in the morning. Here's to waking up at like 5am!

Oh those Convention breedings

2008-03-26T20:40:00.000-07:00

The nestboxes are full right now here. It's such a wonderful feeling to go through each of them every morning and see how every new life has grown in just the past 24 hours since I last looked at them. This year is going to be a busy baby year here, as I have Convention breedings starting this weekend. I've been sitting for weeks comparing and contrasting who to breed to whom. I have some decisions dead set, yet others I am still unsure of. Who has the best shoulers to breed to the one with some weak shoulders? Ok this one has good ears, and this one's are a little funky.. but will they all end up thin and folded or short and thick and round? So many decisions! I am going to start my first round of breedings. After 5 weeks of the litter being born, I will probably start Round 2 for those that I need more babies out of. I'll foster to any other does if possible when having litters. Even though the amount of holes I'm taking to Kentucky on the plane are very very small, I would like to have a great batch of juniors to pick from.

Anyone who is interested in any for sale rabbits we will have will probably be disappointed to hear that shipping to KY will not be possible by airlines. The rabbit would have to go via ground transport by one of the many people who will be driving from CA to KY. It's sad, but this year space is limited. Next year, since the Convention will be in Southern California I will be able to easily drive there and bring as many rabbits as I want! Yipee!

Above you will see photos of some of our upcoming juniors. I believe both of these two are bucks, and are around 3 months old. Forgive the scruffy wool. They're still babies! If all turns out, I'll be keeping the fawn. What I love about these two is how clear the agouti coloring is. The mother of these guys is Hobbs'/Moore's Ado Annie. She is a very crisp clean fawn with an awesome shake and show coat. Father is Hobbs' Dayton, a solid blue buck that is so short and so solid. Both babies ended up with awesome coloring and rufus. They are doublebred on PSP's Taboo, a broken chestnut buck that took a great placing at Convention a few years back.

It's so nice to have some young life in the barn!

Holland Lops!

2008-03-23T11:04:00.000-07:00

Quite a few months ago I was fortunate to get a great start in a new breed. Their page is not setup all the way on our website yet, but I just had to share what we have. HOLLAND LOPS! Yes, that's right! Starlite Rabbitry is also home to Holland Lops. We have a very small herd of them at this point. I always told myself that when I decided to get into them I would only go to the very best. And I did just thank. I cannot thank Tracy and Jenna enough from THF Saynora for sending me my starting stock. All 6 of our current hollands are from them. I have a solid tort buck, broken tort buck, two solid tort does, a broken tort doe, and a broken blue tort doe. I have only done one breeding so far, with the intention of doing most of my breedings for Convention juniors. Might as well since the time is right! I am very excited with this endeavor and it should be a great challenge as we all know how competitive holland lops are on the table. Below is a picture of one of my boys, THF Saynora Yowza who always begs for loves through his cage door. Photo is Copyright THF Saynora:

I have lots of babies in the box right now. I am very excited for some of the crosses! I only have a couple more does due before I start my breedings in about 2 weeks for KY Convention Juniors. I can't believe it's that time already!

Yesterday one of my good friends Susie (Wooly World Rabbitry) stopped by for a visit. We spent the day going through my rabbitry and comparing rabbits. She brought a few of her own fuzzies from her barn for me to look at. We also did some breedings. I'm very happy for her and how far she has come in her program! Each generation seems to get better and better. She also helped convince me to keep a couple of my juniors from my older litter. One is a fawn jr buck and the other is an opal jr buck. They have both such awesome agouti coloring and the rufus is amazing! I was so hesitant and debated on just selling them all quick as pets but when she convinced me to take them out of their cage I was pleasantly suprised at how they are turning out! Sometimes all you need is another eye huh?

The babies are coming!

2008-03-20T20:42:00.000-07:00

Man, changing my feed was the best thing I've ever done. After being "forced" into switching feeds I went from two litters in a 1 1/2 year period, to almost having 5 so far in the month of March alone.

This morning, Hobbs' Moxee (broken tort) produced a litter of 4. One was DOA, but the other three are fine. One is a broken, and the other two are solid. These are by Sky High Walker (Tort buck) which makes me SO excited. I haven't got babies out of him in so long. I bet these babies are going to be awesome. Moxee's father is the well known Hobbs' Indy. Starlite's Gucci (chestnut doe) had a litter yesterday morning. She was bred to my black otter wool carrying buck AK's Quiddich. Crazy enough, she had a REW! Yes, you see that right. Over here on the West Coast REW is almost considered a "rare" color in fuzzy lops. It's not very common at all. So that was exciting! She also had a solid and 2 tan colored babies. I love having so many babies right now. It makes me so happy!

Pictured above is a solid tort junior buck (Hobbs' Dayton x FH's Honalulu Honey)

The Otter Project

2008-03-16T14:58:00.000-07:00

I think most people have some sort of "color" or "new breed" project that they are working on. It provides challenge to the breeder, and a sense of accomplishment with each new generation that is produced. I decided that I would work on a color that is not recognized in fuzzy lops. About the same time that I decided to work on Otters someone pulled the COD on the color. Perfect! I was able to acquire an otter holland lop that was (holland x fuzzy). He is smooth coated but carries the wool gene. So in a litter the probability is that 50% of his offpspring will be smooth coated and 50% of the offspring will be fuzzy. I spent many many months getting nothing out of this buck, and all of a sudden it seems like every doe he has been to lately has been bred! That is really exciting for me.

And I am proud to announce that I have my FIRST otter colored offspring in the nestbox. (which you can see in the photo above!) At this point I'm not sure whether it will be fuzzy or not, but it is broken black otter and has lots of white on it. Crossing fingers it will be fuzzy, because then this baby will have been statistically perfect! In all aspects, as long as the type is good, the baby will be staying here to continue on the generations. Yay! I feel that much closer to seeing that beautiful otter fuzzy lop I picture in my mind. How about a solid black or blue otter buck with a massive head and flowing wool? YUMMY!

It's been a while...

2008-03-13T19:43:00.000-07:00

I'm guilty. It's been months since I took the time to write a blog. I promise I'm going to try to keep this updated regularly. Everyone keeps bugging me about it! :P

Good news here at Starlite. After almost 2 years with only one litter, we are now getting babies!! I have had several litters born in the last month and I am beyond excited. Seeing these new little lives born in the barn make for exciting moments. I feel like I am really starting to make progress.

Since my last postings I have done some work on reformatting how I want my herd to be, and grow from. I have moved out many of the random lines I started out with, and have settled on a few to be the backbone of my herd, which is mostly Hobbs' lines and several fuzzy holland lines. Leslie Hobbs has been such an inspiration to me. She has helped me so much with some direction and has taught me a lot about linebreeding, type, and using a pedigree and appearance to create something incredible. I first purchased from Leslie in August of last year (drove all the way up to WA to visit and see the rabbitry in person). I just received a second batch very recently. I have some incredible rabbits thanks to her. Above you can see Zola, a beautiful REW doe we purchased from Leslie. She has the sweetest temperament and the shortest thickest ears!

A super important announcement.. we *will* be at Louisville, Kentucky for the 2008 ARBA Convention this October!! I am beyond excited. It will be my first Convention and I can't wait to see all the rabbits, put some names to faces, and enjoy some wonderful times with friends. I purchased my plane ticket this past weekend so all is in order to go! Yipeeee!

Ahh those summer months.

2007-06-26T14:09:00.000-07:00

Not much has happened in the rabbitry lately. The hot summer months have started, unfortunately. The flies have been a pain in the neck for sure. I need to remind myself to go to the feed store and grab a couple fly ribbons.

We are moving the rabbits a mile down the road to a permanent location, my future house! I'm hoping to have everyone settled in their new home by next weekend.

I finally got a couple does bred. My waiting list grows while the bellies of my does wont! Too much demand and not enough supply lately.. though I'm sure murphy's law will strike and I will have a million babies and nobody interested in buying in a few months. I bred one of my best bucks, Sky High Walker (7 legs) to two of my does. I really love Walker and I need to get a bunch of babies out of him. His type is to die for and it's something I am seriously wanting in my barn. I bred him to Kismet's Pepper (orange) and Starlite's Gucci (chestnut). Pepper and Walker should be a nice match. Her crown is a little tight, and his is perfect, so I'm hoping for some better sets of ears. She has a nice body as well, so I am hoping for something nice. Gucci is a longer doe, definitely more of a brood type. Though her head is awesome for a doe (something she earned from her dad, PFF's Tonka). I'm hoping for a nice chestnut doe to hopefully replace Gucci. I'm trying to start a nice line of chestnuts as they are seriously lacking in this area.

I'll try to update more often!

Spring is in the air.

2007-03-15T13:58:00.000-07:00

With Spring in the air, the girls are finally in the mood to breed. We've been in the high 70's to mid- 80's the past week and a half. The weather is absolutely gorgeous. These mild temperatures combined with a big bright blue sky make staying indoors plain crazy! The new fuzzies from Michigan are starting to settle in nicely. They've been here a week and a day already but it feels as though it has been a month! Some of them are a little stressed due to the heat in California. It was in the 30's in Michigan when they left, and came right into a late Winter heatwave here. But it sure made the does want to breed!

Speaking of breeding, I have quite a few litters that are upcoming. Yesterday I bred AK's Allison, a pretty broken tort doe, to my new buck Towne's Johnny Cash. He is a gorgeous fawn boy who should be a good match for her. Fingers crossed for a live litter! Allison isn't the easiest doe to get bred, and her last litter didn't survive. I also bred one of my new does, and orange named Kismet's Pepper (a Cash daughter) to my tort buck Sky High Walker. They are similiar in type, so should work nice together. I also have a couple otter litters due! Yes, didn't you know? I'm working on a small color project- helping to develop otters in fuzzies. It's small scale for now, and I cull extremely hard. These are my first otter litters expected so I'm eager to see what I will get. There are some more does due, so hopefully the bunny breeding gods are smiling on me for the next few weeks!

Fuzzies galore.

2007-03-09T09:43:00.000-08:00

Last night finaly decisions were made on the new shipment of fuzzies.

I ended up with some really nice additions to the herd, which will fill in some spots lacking in what I already have. And there are some interesting new colors in there! California will no longer just be tort! Just kidding.. but really.. these "rare" varieties should be fun. I got six total, and Susie got five.

Mine:
Solid Fawn Senior Buck
Solid Tort Senior Buck
Solid Orange Senior Doe
Broken Tort Senior Doe
Solid Tort Junior Doe
Solid Chocolate Junior Doe

Susie's:
Broken Tort Senior Buck
Solid Tort Senior Doe
Broken Orange Junior Doe
Broken Black Junior Doe
Black Junior Doe

Everyone is finally settling in. Everyone is changing over to the new feed and new cages nicely. Hopefully we will be adding pictures and information on the new bunnies to the site soon!

New shipment of fuzzies!

2007-03-08T13:36:00.000-08:00

Last night was a dream in the making. I have so many good friends that raise Fuzzy Lops in different parts of the country, and we always admire each others stock, talk over e-mail or the phone, and send pictures back and forth. My good friend Lauren (of Kismet Rabbitry) had some super nice ones for sale and I couldn't miss out this time. I took the intiative, and with the help of so many other people we made the shipment from all the thousands of miles away in Michigan to California! We had two six hole carriers stacked on top of each other and had it shipped that way instead of the common form of sticking carriers in a dog crate. Robyn Fry (of Fry's Fuzzy Farm) made the tremendous effort to drive all the way to Chicago, IL to ship them off from that airport. She is an angel! (Robyn, we promise to send you a great batch of fuzzies or woolies sometime soon!)

I was so nervous, anxious, excited, and basically freaking out last night. I just wanted to see those wiggling noses and fluffy wool! My friend Susie (of Wooly World Rabbitry) went in on the shipment with me. It was such a last minute endeavor. We decided to do this, picked out who we wanted, and shipped them out within a week! We were expecting 11 fuzzy lops. I went to the airport (luckily it's only 10 minutes away from where I live) at 9:30pm. The plane was supposed to be in at 10:00pm and the rabbits were to be at cargo by 10:30pm. I had barely talked to the man at the counter and we already had a problem. Apparently cargo closes at 10:30pm and he said I had better hope they get in by 10:30pm or I would have a hard time getting them that night. I talked to a young kid at the counter to keep myself busy and occupied so I wouldn't get too anxious. Luckily, right at 10:15pm they arrived! All the workers in the whole unit went outside and oooed and awed over the bunnies. They've seen rabbits shipped before, but took it upon themselves to ask me a host of questions about why I show them, how many do I have at home, and do I realize there's that many in the shipment. LOL!

I packed the group in the car and off we went back home! Everyone was given water and hay, which they took to easily. Tonight Susie and I will get together and separate our own rabbits from the group, and decide on a couple of decisions on some does.

Stay tuned for photos to come soon!

I'm a blogger now!

2007-03-08T09:16:00.000-08:00

Hi everyone! I decided to try something different, and keep everyone updated on my herd through a blog. Sometimes there just isn't much to put on the website since some things don't change that often. I hope to entertain everyone with new pictures, show results, upcoming litters/breedings, rabbitry happenings, and more! Of course we will continually update our website almost weekly, but this will be a place to share other photos or stories, etc.

Thanks to everyone for all of your continued support of our rabbits! Fuzzies rule!