French Angora Kits at Last!

We got our first French Angora litter today that we've had in quite a while here at Blossom Acres Rabbitry.  Lily of the Valley kindled today and had 7 beautiful little REW babies. All the babies look so healthy and chubby.  I can't wait to watch these kits grow as they should be some very nice show prospects!

As a side note, I palpated Freezing Rain (smoke pearl FA doe) and Vanilla Bean (black Satin doe) today and both palpated positive!   The two of them are due July 16th.  I am so excited about both of these litters and the pairings were very nice so I am expecting some amazing babies!  I am hoping to get some of these on the show table so I can hopefully begin and continue showing once again.  Vanilla Bean was paired with a black buck so I should get blacks and broken blacks, while Freezing Rain was paired with a REW so I am guaranteed sable and REW.  Since I do not know what color Moonbeam is underneath other colors are certainly possible but the two I mentioned are the only ones that are guaranteed. 

I am going to most likely be breeding my last French Angora doe, Tangerine, sometime late July or in August.  And then the cycle begins again!  I am looking forward to all these babies but sure am not looking forward to going through a lot of food again!  Guess it comes with the package...

Please stay tuned as I will be updating frequently with pictures and info as the babies develop!

New Showing & New Rabbits

Today we attended the Central Michigan RBA show located in Marshall.  The show was very well attended with many rabbit and cavy breeds shown.  We brought some Lionheads to exhibit in a variety of colors as well as two cavies:  an American black tan boar and a TSW Coronet boar.  All in all it was a great show.  Below are our awards we received: 

Show A:

·         BOB, BOV:  Blossom Acres’ Royal Blue – Blue Sr. Lionhead Buck

·         BOS, BOV:  Weber’s Raindance –Siamese Sable Sr. Lionhead Doe

·         BOV:  WeeOne’s Cocoa – Chocolate Sr. Lionhead Doe

·         BOV:  Blossom Acres’ La Petite Luna Moth –Sable-point Sr. Lionhead Doe

·         BOV:  Blossom Acres’ Midnight Blizzard – REW Sr. Lionhead Buck

·         BOV:  Leo 9’s Thunderhead – Seal Jr. Lionhead Buck

·         BOSV:  Blossom Acres’ Milky Way – REW Sr. Lionhead Doe

·         BOSV:  Weber’s “Jerome” – Siamese Sable Sr. Lionhead Buck

·         Best Junior breed, BOV, BOG:  “Dirty Harry”, Tan Jr. American Boar

·         BOB, Best Sr. Variety, Best Sr. Breed, BOV:  “Franklin”, TSW Sr. Coronet Boar

Show B: 

·         BOB, BOV:  Blossom Acres’ Midnight Blizzard – REW Sr. Lionhead Buck

·         BOS, BOV:  Blossom Acres’ La Petite Luna Moth – Sable-point Sr. Lionhead Doe

·         BOV:  Blossom Acres’ Royal Blue – Blue Sr. Lionhead Buck

·         BOV:  WeeOne’s Cocoa – Chocolate Sr. Lionhead Doe

·         BOV:  Leo 9’s Thunderhead – Seal Jr. Lionhead Buck

·         BOV:  Weber’s “Jerome” – Siamese Sable Sr. Lionhead Buck

·         BOSV:  Blossom Acres’ Milky Way – REW Sr. Lionhead Doe

·         BOSV:  Weber’s Rain Dance – Siamese Sable Sr. Lionhead Doe

·         BOB, Best Sr. Breed, Best Sr. Variety, BOV: “Franklin”, TSW Sr. Coronet Boar

·         Best Jr. Breed, BOV, BOG:  “Dirty Harry”, Tan Jr. American Boar  

We also came home with new acquaintances for the rabbitry.  I got a New Zealand Red buck prejunior from Razzle Dazzle Rabbitry.  He will be hanging around here for a while for a New Zealand Red project in the future.  I also picked up a broken black intermediate Satin buck for my lone black Satin doe.  She has been in need of a husband for a while so I am hoping I can get her bred soon for baby Satins.  We also have a new junior chocolate agouti Netherland Dwarf doe that we plan on using in our orange program in our Netherlands.    

Here are some pictures of some of the new stock.  Here is Eric the Red as I named him.  He is a typical baby constantly on the move so it was hard getting pictures that showed his body at all.  I saw his sire at the show and he was a large, gorgeous, typey red buck with 1 GC Leg.  While the pictures don't show his type very well they do show off his rufus beautifully!  

 

 Here are some pictures of Equinox (my name as well).  I got a picture of him without my hand so you could see his markings but his body doesn’t appear as deep for this reason.  I also included a top shot.  He has amazing width for a buck so I am hoping he will make me some gorgeous kits when paired with Vanilla Bean.   

 

Lily of the Valley has been progressing well through her pregnancy and I am looking forward to her litter in ten days!  I can’t wait to put some French Angoras on the table again. 

We only have one Lionhead baby available for reservation from our last litters!  We are now taking in names for our current Lionhead litters that were born recently.  Please see the website for more information.  http://www.blossomacresrabbitry.webs.com

I will try to update this blog frequently so please keep checking it out!      

Breeding Continues in the Rabbitry

I admit, I have been kind of slacking in my French Angora program.  I have been very busy working towards my degree and just have not had the time to work on my French Angoras like I used to.  I downsized my breeding stock quite a bit last semester and only four rabbits remain - three of my own line and one buck I recently got to outcross.  Of the three does of mine, two are full siblings and one is the offspring of one of the does, so everyone is fairly related. 

I tried breeding Lily of the Valley, one of my Ruby Eyed Whites repeatedly, but to no avail.  She is an older doe so that is not surprising.  I recently bred her to Moonbeam and she was successfully bred but she never seemed to take and continue her pregnancy. 

Today while I was feeding my rabbits, Lily was acting all hormonal on me, which isn't typical of her, so I took her out of her cage.  Her coat had gotten quite a bit denser and longer since I recently clipped her, which was a telltale sign of one thing.  I palpated her and sure enough - she's bred.  I don't even think I can begin to say how excited I was!  The doe that never could take, who was pretty much deemed by me as finished in her breeding career, now palpated positive with a litter size of approximately five!  Now I just have to wait until the twenty-fifth of June to see the litter.  She is a Ruby Eyed White and was bred to a Ruby Eyed White so all the offspring should be REW. 

I am planning on retaining a few kits out of this litter since this may be her last litter, considering she is an older doe.  I really want to get some French Angoras on the show table again.  It has been quite a while since I have been able to show never mind have a litter so I am as excited about it as I was when I got my first litter.  The joys of rabbit raising never dies...  I will be showing and then will probably have some of the kits for sale later. 

I plan on breeding Freezing Rain, a smoke pearl doe, in a week or so.  She will be bred to Moonbeam so I am expecting REWs and sables, with the possibility of smoke pearl or seal. 

I plan on expanding my French herd a little more but still want to keep it small with ten rabbits or less.  I don't want to have to keep downsizing every semester as I find I can't handle the time invested in them so I would like to keep it manageable.  I kept Vanilla Bean, a black Satin doe so perhaps I will get her a husband?  I pondered getting back into New Zealands but I will have to really think about all of this before I jump into it again.  I plan on attending the rabbit show on June 15th so perhaps I will come home with a few extra rabbits for the rabbitry...      

I will be keeping everyone updated!