I don't think I even talked about how my last round of breedings went. Fern was bred to Prince Charming and had SEVEN kits, 2 of which passed away but she successfully raised 5. Angie was bred to Tucker and they had one surviving baby, which turned out to be a fuzzy! And Clementine was also bred to Tucker, and two weeks after Angie and Fern, she had 4 (all of which are doing great!). 4 of Fern's babies turned 8 weeks old last week and they have been sold. I'm keeping one to grow out for now and I'll talk more about that later on. Angie's fuzzy baby was sold also. Clementine's are almost 7 weeks old and two of hers are reserved already. Her other two are staying here for now to grow out.
Just last week we had some new litters due! Holly's Mimi, a Clementine daughter, was bred to Lucky Lops' Otis and she had SEVEN! Sadly, two passed away this morning :( Holly's Zuzu was bred to Finn, and she had 2 surviving kits, and I fostered two of Mimi's to Zuzu back when Mimi had all 7. So right now, Zuzu is doing a fantastic job raising 4 (two chestnuts and Mimi's two broken chestnuts) and Mimi is raising 3 (two chestnuts and one broken orange!).
Last week, Buttercup, Sarah, and Maddie were due to give birth as well. Buttercup did not get pregnant, Sarah went overdue and delivered one huge dead kit, and Maddie gave birth to one but it was a peanut and has already died. It's really interesting to see litter sizes. Maddie and Mimi were bred to the same buck (Otis), and Maddie had 1 while Mimi had 7. Many people think litter size is dependent on the buck and how they breed, but those two bred the same way, there were together for the same amount of time, etc. It all depends on the doe's fertility. I find that stuff very interesting.
Today I will be rebreeding some does. So far, I bred Buttercup and Angie today, and they're due on Halloween! I'm thinking of breeding Maddie, Winnie, and Butterfly today or this week as well. I'm giving Fern a nice long break because raising 5 babies, after 2 unsuccessful first litters, wore her OUT. I'll probably breed her at the end of the month or around there. Sarah is for sale, I will not be rebreeding her just because I don't need her. You can find out more info on my For Sale page if you're interested in her! She's a great doe.
Now let's talk about upcoming juniors! First off, the babies I kept from Butterfly (Dwight and Baby) are still looking pretty nice.
Dwight (below), is still looking nice and showy. He's molting right now, but poses easily and stays in a pose for a long time. I'm excited at the prospect of having an orange buck in the herd. He has a very nie bone and short bone. It could be thicker, and he does have a slipped crown, so these are reasons why he's still "growing out" because I'm not positive I'm keeping him yet.
So far, she does have long donkey ears but her head is big, her body is beautiful, her bone is short and THICK, and she's wide all around. She has a very wide and straight HQ. I'm excited to think that I've weeded out pinched HQ in the majority of my stock.
Ninja (below), is a fabulous buck. He has a weird body (sloped, and no depth to it), but his h/e/c and front end is phenomenal. It's hard to tell because he's so black.
I hope to start posting more often! I'll be posting a birth story blog soon, as well as some stuff about my shed. The bunnies have been in the shed for over 2 months now and I have a few things I love and a few things I wish I couldn't done differently (and will do differently when I build a bigger shed when I move away from my parents).
Thanks for hanging out with me for a little bit!
~H~