Sunday, July 29, 2012

Fair Time

Right now the fair is going on.  Its official opening day is tomorrow, July 30th.  We have been very busy showing at this time so we haven't had the time to post sale rabbits, update the website, etc.  We will post alot of new sale rabbits August 5th or around then! 

So far all has been going well.  We have received some top awards in various project areas. We will be showing 4 rabbits on Wednesday:  Newt, an orange Netherland Dwarf; Royal Blue, ablue Lionhead buck; Cute as a Button, an adorable chocolate Lionhead buck, and Popeye, a New Zealand White.  Feel free to stop by and check out our stock!  We are showing under Firestone Farmers, our 4-H club. 

We will update everyone on our winnings... that is, when fair is over! 

Saturday, July 21, 2012

Missy's Litter

Missy, my red/orange French Angora, currently has 1 litter of 6 (7 born) in the nestbox. This litter is currently 3 weeks old. Below is a picture of her litter.




This litter is one of the most unique litters I have ever had. What makes it different is that, in the litter of 6, every baby is a different color. I have never really had this before. Usually I will get a bunch of different colors in a litter, but with repeats. Or, in the case of the New Zealands, I will get a whole litter of whites. But this litter has definitely topped them off.

Since I got so many different colors, I will briefly describe each color in this litter and include a picture of what it looks like at 3 weeks of age.

Here is a black kit. A black kit is born looking blackish colored. If you flip it over, it’s stomach will be a dark gray- black color. This baby is a very nice, rich colored black. It is probably going to have pretty dark, non-faded wool color.


This is a blue kit. The blues can look very similar to the blacks at birth. Sometimes you have to compare a black next to a blue to tell the difference. The blues look like a very dark, rich smokey blue color.

  

This kit is a sable.  I actually originally thought this baby was a blue steel due to it's ticked appearance (this is why the photo says blue steel instead of sable).  This kit was born looking blue and later developed a silver ticking on it.  It's belly is a light brownish color and the ticking seems to be leaving.  This little doe will soon turn into a rich brownish color as it develops.   



This cutie is a chestnut. Chestnuts are born looking dark grayish-black, but if you flip them over you will find that they have pink bellies, underside of legs, underside of tail, and underside the chin. Chestnuts are an agouti. They are tan and slate banded with black tipping. This girl has a lot more rufus (reddish coloring) than you are average chestnut because it is out of a red parent.


This kit is an opal. An opal is the dilute form of a chestnut. Opals are blue and tan banded with blue guard hairs. They are born looking bluish colored with a pink stomach, underside of legs and tail, and underside of chin.


The last kit is a smoke pearl agouti. This is not a recognized color in the angoras, so it is unshowable. It is grayish colored and has the same darker shading on its face, but it an agouti, so it has a white stomach, underside of tail, chin, and legs. This kit was born looking gray, but its stomach also looked pink. This hinted to me that it was in fact an agouti.


So far this litter is maturing well. The largest babies in the litter are the black, chestnut, opal, and blue steel; however, the other kits are very nicely sized. This is probably going to be Missy’s last litter. She is getting older so I want to retire her. This doe has been an amazing foundation animal for me and has provided me with many beautiful litters.  Missy as my very first breeding doe.  She is going to stay here as a companion animal and fiber producer.   

This whole litter is spoken for. I have quite a few interested people waiting for their babies out of her, and I am half debating if I should keep another baby out of her.  The chestnut is sooo nice…  but, I do have a chestnut that is a full sibling to this litter. Do I really need another chestnut? She is very beautiful but you can’t keep everything.

Lots more litters of the various breeds coming frequently! We are being showered with many beautiful litters.  I will be breeding my French Angoras again this August, so look for some more quality babies available later in the year!  

http://www.blossomacresrabbitry.webs.com/
    

Thursday, July 12, 2012

In the Rabbitry

Well, I have just sold the last of my French Angora juniors that I had for sale.  They all went to wonderful homes.  It will be quite a while until I have more French Angoras for sale.  I do have around 12 head now so I am planning on cutting back some of my stock and replace some of my seniors with my up and coming juniors.  Here is a sneak peek at what I will have available for sale:

1 Sr. Blue Proven French Angora Buck
1 Sr. Proven Ruby Eyed White French Angora Doe
1 Sr. Proven Red/Orange Doe (will be for sale as wooler)

I will have some very nice prejunior New Zealands available for purchase as well.  I have 2 litters of babies right now.  My partially pedigreed litter will be for sale at 10 weeks, and my fully pedigreed, younger litter will be for sale at 8 weeks.  All of our does are spoken for but we will hae plenty of nice, purebred bucks available for purchase.  I wil also be selling 2 of my proven seniors for sale soon.  I have babies out of them and I am trying to move into pedigreed stock so I will be letting them go.  I will have 1 unpedigreed proven purebred New Zealand White doe and one fully pedigreed proven, purebred New Zealand White buck.  So, if they are something you might be interested in, please send me an email and ask to go on my waiting list OR  you could just wait until they are for sale. 

We have a bunch of Lionhead does bred right now, so we are expecting quite a few babies.  We are also expecting French Angora babies and will be breeding our New Zealands and Satins this end of July-August.  We are very excited about the Satins, as they will be our first Satin litters! 

As for current sale rabbits- all we have left is Spot, a broken black Satin doe.  She is a nice tempered girl.  I am selling her as a pet for $15.  If anyone is interested in her please call or email me. 

We just ordered a bunch more cages.  Unfortunately, these cages are for the rabbits that we had retained, so there isn't much expansion going on.  This just gave us the flexibilty to move rabbits around and give them more room.  I am not sure I wold really want to expand- I would like around 4 New Zealands and maybe 5 Satins, but that is in addition to my 12 or so French Angoras.  Feed isn't cheap, either.  I am also going to be going to college soon so I am not about to double the size of my herd.  I am hoping to be able to keep the vast majority of my stock during this time.  If I had too, I would be willing to part with my Satins, but even that would be hard.  Time will tell. 

I guess that wraps up everything! 

(517) 589-5888
finnishfiberfarm@gmail.com
http://blossomacresrabbitry.webs.com

Sunday, July 1, 2012

New Zealand Bucks

I wanted to let everyone know that I am currently taking in names for my New Zealand bucks in Snowflake's litter.  These babies will come with a 3 generation pedigree.  These babies will be purebred and should have excellent show potential.  Prices depend on quality. 

Show- $30-$35 each with pedigree
Brood- $25-$30 with pedigree
Pet/Meat- $15 each

Information needed for my list:  Name, phone number and/or email, and quality wanted. 

If anyone is interested please call (517) 589-5888 or email me finnishfiberfarm@gmail.com.  Pictures of my breeding stock and the current litter can be seen on my webiste:  http://www.blossomacresrabbitry.webs.com/