Out of the 11 babies that were born, we have 8! 2 were peanuts from Zuzu's litter, which leaves her with 2, and one of Butterfly's (her only broken, of course), died from getting out the nestbox and getting too cold. Since June of 2015, I've also only had a max of 4 kits at one time. Since I usually have about 8 kits born, or even more, that's pretty poor odds. I'm so thankful for the 8 kits we have now! All three litters were successful, with more kits than I expected. This time, I got more than I was hoping for! 

I also had a HUGE surprise in Zuzu's litter! I thought one of her kits was an orange. But it wasn't looking very orangey to me. It was looking very brown, like a milky chocolate, but still had agouti markings. After some research and asking friends, I found out that it's actually a chocolate chestnut, also called a chocolate agouti! Wow! Prince Charming, the sire, has NO chocolate on his pedigree and neither does Zuzu. I'm really surprised that line carries chocolate! 

Prince and Zuzu's breeding was a line breeding. Zuzu is Prince's mom. They say line breeding is a great way to discover hidden genes. I never would've guessed a hidden color gene would pop up. How exciting. I'm really excited to watch this chocolate chestnut grow up and its color develop. It's a big fat baby. Twice the size of its chestnut sibling, which is so cute. I'm hoping it's nice enough to keep so the chocolate gene can stay in my herd! How fun would that be! 

You guys are probably curious what other colors I got! Well in Butterfly's litter, also sired by Prince Charming, there are TWO chinchillas (twinsies!), and an opal! In Zuzu's litter, there is a chestnut and a chocolate chestnut/chocolate agouti (this color goes by both names). In Angie's litter, there are TWO opals (twinsies!), and a chestnut! So there is a total of 2 chinchillas, 2 chestnuts, 3 opals, and a chocolate chestnut! I was pretty sure I would get ALL chestnuts so this is a nice surprise. I am so excited to see these babies mature. I can't wait to learn the genders in the next couple weeks and come up with 8 unique names! Any ideas, anyone?! I do have a list going of names that I LOVE for bunnies, and on that list are Pixie, Poppy, Pepper, Mickey and Minnie, Captain, and Scout, Thumper and Bambi, among others. My sister and I LOVE naming baby bunnies, we always spend quite a while with the babies when they are around 2-3 weeks after I know the gender, to decide on a name that just REALLY suits them. 

I have recently updated the Shows page, with news on our most recent show in Monroe on 10/22! The most exciting news: Perseus (a black boy from Angie's previous litter, sired by Holly's Wicket), received 2 legs his first time out! Prince Charming also received several notable places. I'm so happy with the direction my herd is going in. I hope it keeps getting better from here! ​

I usually make a separate post for each doe and their birth stories, but today I decided to do it all in one because each delivery was hassle-free and there's not much to tell! 

All three does were due on October 25th but they didn't have their babies on day 30. I stayed up late and woke up a couple times during the night but to no avail! I was positive Zuzu and Butterfly were preggo, but I didn't know about Angie. I hadn't seen any babies kick in Angie's tummy and she only gained an ounce of weight. Butterfly didn't gain any weight but I saw babies kicking. Zuzu gained 2 ounces of weight and I saw babies kicking. When I weighed them and checked for kicks it was day 29, so weight gain and kicks should be obvious if there are babies. But I guess not for every doe! 

On day 31, October 26th, I had to observe in a classroom from 9am to 3:30pm. When I was about to leave at 9, I checked on the ladies and Butterfly was in the box with contractions actually HAVING the babies. I couldn't leave before I knew how many she had and if they were alive. So I waited. 

When I checked on Butters at 9:30 she was still in the box, and Zuzu had started labor! Zuzu was frantically pulling fur and adding it to her nest. I know that when a doe typically starts labor it can take 2 hours until babies actually start to come. I knew I couldn't wait until her babies came to leave for school. 

At 9:45, right before I HAD to leave, I checked again and Butterfly had 4 beautiful babies! NO peanuts, and NO dead kits!!! Also, none are missing any pieces! Butterfly's last litter had 2 surviving kits and one had no ears and the other was missing a toe! This time, they were all healthy and PERFECT! So far, I think Butterfly has one broken (either a broken chinchilla or broken chestnut), 2 chestnuts (or chinchillas), and an opal. The daddy to these babies is my chinchilla buck, Prince Charming. 

Then, since I knew Zuzu wouldn't have her kits for a while, I had to leave. But I was in contact with my sister through text all day. My sister checked on Zuzu at 12:30 and she had finally had the babies! My sister texted and said that there were 4, but she thought 2 were peanuts (I'm so proud that she has learned so much lol!), and 2 were normal. She was right. One peanut was dead when I got home, and there is one other surviving peanut, but the other two are perfect and precious! As far as I know at this point, Zuzu has one chestnut or chinchilla, and an orange! The daddy to these babies is my chinchilla buck, Prince Charming. 

My sister didn't check on the bunnies any more after Zuzu had her babies, because I thought Angie wasn't pregnant, and even if she was, I was pretty sure she wouldn't give birth until that night. So when I got home, I was surprised! Angie had JUST given birth when I got home and she had 3 beautiful little ones! One is a chestnut or chinchilla, and the other two are opals! NO peanuts and NO dead babies! The daddy to these kits is my chestnut buck, Finn. 

I am so happy about these NINE beautiful babies! This is quite a baby boom! I've never had more than 6 kits survive at a time, and the last time I had that many was one or even two years ago. Praise the Lord that so many kits were born healthy and gorgeous. Great job to my girls! I can't wait to watch these NINE kits grow up! 

Sorry for no pictures in this update! I will try to blog more regularly as school is winding down quite a bit, so look for LOTS of pictures in the next blog :) 

​BYE! 

I bought my first rabbit when I was 12 years old. Her name was Elsa, but we have always called her Elsie (among her many other nicknames).

She turned 6 less than 2 weeks ago. 

​Today she left this world, and she is now in a better place. 

Here is every blog I ever wrote about her: 
http://hollyshollands.weebly.com/blog/she-started-it-all
http://hollyshollands.weebly.com/blog/training-hollands
​http://hollyshollands.weebly.com/blog/another-year-older
http://hollyshollands.weebly.com/blog/what-a-scare

Elsie has always been my most spastic, crazy, and attention-hogging rabbit. When she was younger, she always had one ear up and one ear down. The last year or so both lopped, but for most of her life, they were either both up or half lopped. 

She always  lived in my room. She hated the grass and going outside. 

She drove me crazy. She ate EVERYTHING (rubber and foam were her favorites). 

In her last year, she always slept like she was dead. 

In her last year, she went blind in one eye and didn't play in my room anymore, and preferred her cage. However, she never let that get in her way. It didn't change who she was at all. 

To the very end, she was loving and spunky. She passed away while I was at school. I knew it was coming. She was old, and she had lost weight and condition (due to age). She was ready. But I will always wish I had more time with her. 

Rest in peace, beautiful. You started it all, and you'll be forever missed. 

Please take a few minutes to look through the slideshow below. I took lots of pictures of her. They are in no particular order. When she had the small cage, she was outside of it in my room almost all day. She got a way bigger cage when she didn't want to play in my room anymore.