Hazel had her babies on November 28. Sadly, her labor was long and really hard, for the both of us. She had her first baby, a live, squeaky solid chestnut, at 1:00 PM that day. We knew she wasn't finished; she had gained 4 oz during the pregnancy (this baby weighed maybe half an ounce at the most), and I could still feel babies in her tummy. 
We brought her inside because the single baby was getting too cold. "He" warmed up quickly in the house. 
After several more hours of pushing, her contractions stopped. We knew there was a baby left; we had to act fast to get her contractions going again. We gave her a warm bath to float in (I held her bottom and tummy in the water), and after a quick snuggle, her contractions started again. 

It wasn't until 1:00 AM that she finally had the stuck baby. Of course, it was huge, long and stretched. It was dead. 
Several hours later, at 6:30 AM, she had another huge baby. Even later, around 10:00 AM, she had her last baby. 

Only the small one delivered first was born alive. "He" is so precious and has a big fat belly full of warm milk. Today "he" is 2 days old. What a sweet little thing. 

I plan on breeding Dragonfly's Gracie in Wednesday. I know what a great mama she is, and I would really like a successful litter. Plus, I haven't had an orange baby yet and I want one so badly! She is hormonal and really wanting another litter. 

Our next show is this Saturday! We're so excited! I think my ladies will do well! I'm excited to see how they do. This will be their first show as seniors. Hopefully they can hold their own against the bigger, older does! Saige has done that before, when she won BOB at only 4 months old!

Hazel is due in three days, the day after Thanksgiving! I'm so excited for her litter!

Just last week I was concerned that she might not be pregnant. She hadn't gained very much weight (weight had been at a steady 3lbs 2oz starting two weeks after she had been bred, to just today), hadn't had any behavioral changes or seemed pregnant at all. And yet her belly was pretty pudgy, and I was almost sure I could feel something in her belly. 
But today her weight spiked (she's gained 3oz and is currently 3lbs 5oz), and I felt (and saw!) baby kicks and wiggles! They have been pretty easy for me to recognize. 
We were originally planning on bringing her in the house to deliver. However, it's not supposed to get below 33* for the next 10 days. If it gets below that, or she doesn't pull enough fur, we'll bring mama and babies in at night. 

These babies will not be for sale anytime soon. My brother plans on keeping a buck, and that means we have to keep every buck (besides the obvious culls) for several months after they are weaned. My brother will be showing his new buck, and, eventually, breeding him to my does. 

I think she has at least 4 babies, but there a great chance she'll have more. Lance tends to produce lots of babies. How many do YOU think she will have? :)

I found this amazing blog today and this article is awesome!
To see the post itself, click HERE. 

"Coccidiosis is a dreadful disease that has wiped through many rabbitries, killing off many of their Jrs. Coccidiosis is a highly contagious sporzoal infection in rabbits. Adult rabbits can carry the disease, without showing any signs. younger rabbits are affected much more harshly because their immune systems are not strong enough to fight off the infection. 


The parasite has a life cycle that lasts from 4-14 days, starting after the oral ingestion of infected feed, or other contaminated objects. The wall of the parasite (called oocysts) breaks down in the stomach, and spores are released. After the spores enter the cells that line the intestinal wall, the spore starts to divide asexualy, and go off to infect more cells. 


The parasite then forms gametes, and start sexual reproduction. The oocysts are shed in the feces. The presence of the Coccidia affects the host cell, some stop functioning, while others increase in size. The cells can no longer properly use nutrients, causing the animal to become malnourished, and in some cases, dehydrated.


Coccidiosis can be brought into your home, or rabbitry many ways. The most common one being when you take your rabbit to a rabbit show, or other event, interacting with other rabbits. You can also bring it home by bringing a new rabbit into your barn.  


When an adult rabbit has the disease, but is not showing signs, it is hard to tell that they even have it, and if this rabbit is bred, and has kits, the kits are at risk. The kits seem to start to show signs around 6 weeks of age. If one kit is effected, and dies you can be almost positive the rest have it to.


When a baby is affected by cocci, they will show symptoms such as weight loss, bloody feces or mucus in the feces. However these signs are not necessary for the animal to be affected. A baby can go from looking normal, to dead in less than 15 minutes. The rabbit will start by losing balance, laying on its side, and stretching its head up, front legs forward, and back legs backward, in muscle spasms. they will stay in this stretched out state, and will have spasms (where they stretch out more) every 30 seconds or so. after 5-10 mins of this, they will start to open their mouths, and sometimes will let out a squeal, and bite down on their tongue. All signs that the rabbit is in pain. They will die soon after.  


Once you have the coccidiosis in your barn, it takes a lot of hard work, and persistent cleaning and treating to rid it. deep cleaning is a must, to kill all bacteria that is breeding on the cages, on the floor, in trays, and in the feces. Using bleach is not very effective in killing cocci, using products such as household ammonia will be more effective.


There are many different suggested treatments, suggested by many different people. The best bet is to find out what type (or “Strand”) of Coccidiosis you are being affected with, and decide on treatment based on that information. To find out what Strand of Coccidiosis you have, Penn State suggests a full necropsy. You will usually receive results within 8-10 days of submission.


If your rabbits have been exposed to (another rabbit in your barn showing signs), or affected  by Coccidiosis, it is advised that your rabbits go on quarantine. No rabbits entering the barn, or leaving the barn for 4-6 weeks after the last death. This is so that other rabbitries will not be exposed unnecessary to the disease. "

There was a post on Facebook on one of the Holland Lop breeding/showing groups I'm a part of, of what the difference is between showABLE and show QUALITY. 
All show quality rabbits are showable. But not all showable rabbits are show quality.
What do I mean by that?

If a rabbit is showable, that means it can be shown and won't be disqualified in competition. A rabbit that is just showable and not quality isn't going to place well (depending on the other rabbits on the table. There may be a showable, lesser quality rabbit than yours). But a show quality rabbit is showable, meaning it can be shown without getting DQ'ed, but it will also do well, depending on the other rabbits being shown. It may get 1st place, BOB or BIS. 

Just because a rabbit CAN be shown, doesn't necessarily mean that it SHOULD be. A rabbit that is a proper representation of its breed should be shown. A rabbit that doesn't represent its breed well, and has major, to severe, faults, shouldn't be shown. There's no point, other than adding a rabbit to the competition, which is helpful sometimes if there isn't enough rabbits to earn a leg. 

Some breeders will sell a rabbit that they know wouldn't place well at a show as show quality, when at best they would only be showable. These breeders breeders should be avoided. Of course, some newer breeders don't know the difference, and don't know any better. Others do it knowingly, just to slap a pedigree on the rabbit and raise its price. 

If a rabbit for sale isn't show quality, there's really no point on advertising it as showable or having no DQs, because if a buyer is specifically looking for a rabbit to show, they want one that could win, or at least have a chance at winning. And if a showable, lesser quality rabbit wins, the owner might have a misrepresentation of what the breed is supposed to look like and start their rabbitry all wrong. 

As breeders (old or new), it's our job to truthfully inform new breeders and exhibitors purchasing stock from us about the rabbit. No matter how small the fault, it doesn't deserve to be hidden. This applies to posing and posting pictures of our rabbits as well. Some pictures can hide faults, while others can accentuate them. It's far better to accentuate a fault than to hide one. However, some breeders, if given the choice, would choose to be deceiving.  

I know we have to keep our best stock to show for ourselves, and I'm not saying to sell your best rabbits to the newest breeder so they can have a good start. I'm just saying that you need to be truthful. Don't sell anyone what they didn't want, telling them it's exactly what they asked for.

This post kind of got off track from my original point. But I think it turned out good. This is all general; I don't have a bad breeder in mind as a write these words. I just think it's very important to realize that lying easy to do to make a quick sale, but it may hurt you in the long run. If you knew that the breeder you had purchased stock from has lied to you about that rabbit you purchased, you wouldn't buy again from that breeder, now would you? Of course not. 

Have a great, rabbit-filled day!

~Holly

I have had my house rabbit, Elsie, in my bedroom for 4 years in December. When we litter trained Gracie and brought her in the house, it went so smoothly for the first couple of days. But then she found my bedroom....and has since had difficulty continuing her litter training. 
Since Gracie is unspayed, hormonal, older, and has been bred before, she knows that if there were a male around, Elsie would conflict with her chances of getting to mate. So reacts by marking her territory with both feces and urine. The sad thing is, her "territory" is our house. 
Elsie has never had a problem with litter training. Of course, she has been the only rabbit for 4 years up until this past week. But, even when I smell like the other rabbits from handling them or grooming, etc., she's never abandoned her litter training. 
Gracie is now for sale. Sadly, I've been so physically and mentally busy lately that I can't continue to train her out of something that's completely instinct. I'm pretty sure this is something she can't even be trained out of. I know she'll make a perfect house rabbit and litter train very easily if she's the only rabbit in the home.
Not only is this the best thing for me and my family, but it's also the best thing for Gracie. She can never be truly happy knowing that another rabbit is sharing her space. Spaying her would probably calm down her hormones, but since she's an adult already and so stuck in her ways it might not cure anything. She'll be so much happier knowing she's the only rabbit in the house. 
Once Gracie is sold, we'll be giving Elsie free reign of our house. I've had Elsie for so long that there's no way I could sell her and keep Gracie. Elsie's my baby. She may be a brat sometimes, but she's like a little puppy dog. She's changed quite a lot too since she turned 3 and a half. She's like a new rabbit. She  definitely grew out of her "rabbit from hell" teenager stage! 

I'll always love my sweet, social, loving and gorgeous Gracie. You'll never be forgotten, baby girl. 

Hazel is 18 days along today! She's due the day after Christmas. I'm so excited for these babies!
We're bringing her inside next Monday (the 24th), so we don't have any casualties because of the weather.  When I weighed her last week, she had only gained 1 ounce since I weighed her the day she bred. Today when I weighed her again, she had gained AT LEAST 4 ounces! Possibly more, she was pretty wiggly on the scale. And her belly is pretty big too! Hopefully we get lots and lots of agouti babies with Lance's head! 

And here's just a little cuteness to fill your Sunday night.... :) Cinnamon's babies are just so cute!

Bramblehedge's Hazelnut is 12 days along! I'm pretty sure she has buns in the oven, lol! She's gained an ounce of weight since then. Of course, that can be attributed to quite a few different things, but now that I've noticed the weight change I'll be weighing her every few days to see if it keeps going steadily up. I'm also pretty sure I felt a baby or two when I palpated her today. 
We will be bringing Hazel inside to deliver. Since this is her first time, we have no idea if she will pull enough fur, build an adequate nest, or deliver the babies in the nestbox, so it always feels safer to have her birth inside. That way, I can keep two eyes on her - as often as I can spare them ;) - and the babies will have a better chance of survival, since they will be warmer and in closer quarters to their mama. 
I'm super excited for these little guys! My brother will be keeping one to show, and eventually, breed. I'm hoping for babies with Lance's head, Hazel's bone, and his and Hazel's bodies. We'll probably breed him to Holly's Cinnamon, to hopefully produce opals and squirrels with Cinnamon's ears, Lance's head, and Hazel and Lance's bodies.

Our goal is to be constantly improving. I bought Hazel for her bone which none of the other rabbits in my herd have. She is short and round and has a killer body. 
But to be constantly improving, that also means we have to move older rabbits on that aren't of use to us anymore. Once we have gotten a litter and a better son/daughter out of a specific pair, we will sell one or both of the parents, unless that parent has something we would like to continue working with 

If you haven't already, I encourage you to look through the numerous articles on this website. They range from showing and posing Holland Lops, to general rabbit care basics and litter training. 
This article, titled BUNNY CARE, has all the basics and generality of the basics. To read more about the necessities in detail, please look through the article page: http://hollyshollands.weebly.com/articles.html
To see the full article, click HERE
"Below is what I personally do for my bunnies and what I recommend for rabbits that are born at my rabbitry. This sheet was written to make your life with a Holland Lop as fun, stress-free, and easy as possible! There are several things listed below to help you have a successful transition of your baby bunny from our rabbitry to your home. If you have any other additional questions or concerns, please don't hesitate to contact me. 
Thank you for taking the time to read and enjoy your new bunny!
FEED: I feed my rabbits 1/2 a cup (3 oz) of plain, green pellets a day for individual rabbits. Your rabbit has been eating the Alber's brand of rabbit feed. I get it in bulk at the Co-Op here in Everett. They order it in for me. Any plain, green pellet from any feed store will be just as perfect. Pet store rabbit food is generally mixed with treats or other feed. If shopping at a pet store is your only option, make sure your rabbit eats it all. Some rabbits are picky eaters and won't eat the "healthy" bits. 
I have given you a baggie of my pellets that you will mix half-and-half with your feed when the bunny comes home. This makes the transition much easier for them. Changing a rabbit's feed too rapidly may be fatal. 

WATER: Rabbits need clean, fresh water available at all times. If the rabbit gets too thirsty, it may also stop eating and starve as well at get dehydrated. 
Your rabbit is used to drinking out of a ball-nozzle water bottle. If you prefer to provide a water crock, make sure the rabbit gets the idea of how to use it.  Water crocks also tend to get dirty with hay, pellets, and droppings, so you may be changing the water in the crock much more often then the water in a bottle. 

HAY: Rabbits need hay in their diet for proper digestion. They can't have good gut health without it. Hay also helps wear down rabbits' constantly-growing teeth and prevents boredom if it's always available. Hay should be fed daily, but every other day or a several days a week is fine too. I feed my rabbits a handful of hay every morning. 
Rabbits should not be fed Alfalfa hay. Most pellets are Alfalfa-based, and too much Alfalfa in the diet can cause kidney problems and even death. 
I feed my bunnies Timothy hay, that I purchase at the Co-Op. I prefer Orchard Grass, it is cleaner and the bunnies like the taste more but Timothy is better for the teeth. 

TREATS: Most store-bought treats are completely fine for rabbits, if fed in moderation. However, natural fruits and veggies are much better for them. Rabbits love fresh foods, and they are healthy for them. 
Rolled oats (plain and dry) are also very good for rabbits. I feed mine a tablespoon of oats twice a week or so. DO NOT EVER feed any rabbit under 6 months old ANY fruits or veggies. The only thing babies (under 6 months old) can eat is hay pellets, and a tablespoon of oats on their feed twice a week. NEVER feed your rabbit lettuce, no matter their age. It can give them serious diarrhea and stomach aches!
 Good For Bunnies: 
Apples and Apple branches, Artichoke, Asparagus, Banana (no skin), Basil, Beet greens, Blackberry leaves, Black oil sunflower seeds, Cardboard (pieces or toilet paper tubes), Carrots and Carrot tops, Cauliflower, Celery, Cheerios (not many), Clover, Coriander (Cilantro), Dandelion greens and flowers, Eggplant, Grass, Kale, Mint, Mustard greens, Oats, Parsley, Peaches, Peppermint leaves, Peppers (sweet), Pineapple, Pine Cones, Plums, Pumpkin and leaves, Radishes and leaves, Shredded Wheat (plain), Spinach, Strawberries and leaves, Summer squash, Zucchini
Ones in bold are the only ones babies can have. 
 Bad For Bunnies: 
Alfalfa hay, Apple seeds, Baby carrots, Banana peel, Broccoli, Cabbage, Candy, Carpet, Cherries and leaves, Citrus peels, Corn, Dried fruit, Lettuce, Nuts, Pear seeds.

Do not feed any lettuce, EVER! Iceburg should be absolutely avoided at all costs. It can cause diarrhea in both adults and babies, and it can be very fatal and give painful stomach aches. Baby carrots should also be avoided because they are high in water content and are processed differently than big carrots. Fruits with high sugar content should be avoided or fed in small amounts, such as banana. Rabbits go crazy for bananas but it is high in sugar and should be regarded as a treat, rather than a daily fruit or veggie.

TOYS: Rabbits do get bored just like any other pet or child. If they get bored, they could develop bad habits such as chewing on their cage, which can cause teeth problems, and throwing their food around the cage and getting it dirty. While there are so many different kinds of toys at pet stores, and they are all good for your rabbit, rabbits go through toys very quickly and buying them at a pet store every time could run your pet store bill quite high! 

We give all of our rabbits toilet paper tubes to play with. 
Rolled-up pieces of newspaper
Pieces of cardboard
Toilet paper tubes
Pine Cones (make sure that there are no bugs or bird droppings on the pine cones). 
Phone books
Wood blocks (untreated) (rabbits cannot have cedar or pine).

NAIL TRIMMING/GROOMING: Your rabbit’s nails will need to be clipped once a month or so or whenever they become as long as the hair on their feet. Long nails will cause your rabbit pain, make him sit in an unnatural position, and may get caught in wires and snap off sometimes breaking the toe. If they get too long they can curl under and back into the toe, which is very painful for the rabbit. It also very hard to clip the nails once they have started to curl. .I use a rabbit nail clipper I bought at a pet store, but you can use cat nail trimmers or small dog nail trimmers. You should clip just a little bit at a time and stop when you think you've gotten close enough to the quick. The quick is the blood supply in the nail. If you clip this it will hurt your rabbit and he will bleed. Don’t let this discourage you from trimming your bunny’s nails, usually the quick is fairly down the nail and you need only clip off a little bit each month. I can clip your rabbit's nails for $5 once a month if you would like to bring it by. 
BY APPOINTMENT ONLY AND ONLY IF YOU BOUGHT THE RABBIT FROM ME.
Holland Lops don't need to be groomed often when they are not shedding, or molting. When they are, they should be brushed or combed every couple days. 
Bunnies do not need baths. They are very good at cleaning themselves and lick themselves just like cats do. NEVER immerse a bunny fully into the water. You can cause them to go into shock and possibly die. You can soak it's bum or feet if needed, but only occasionally and as sparingly as possible. 

Every day check on your baby bunny's bottom. They are still learning to clean themselves and sometimes forget to or make a mistake while they are cleaning. Don't be surprised if you see a chunk or ball of poop on the bunny's butt; this is normal and is quickly outgrown. Your baby is very sensitive in this area so avoid pulling the fur or brushing it violently. Use a damp wash cloth, napkin or paper towel to wipe the area clean. You can also soak the bunny's bottom in a dish of warm water but this is really messy. 

If you bought your rabbit from me, I would be happy to clip your rabbit’s nails once a month for $5 if you want to bring it by.

EXERCISE: Rabbits do need exercise but they don’t have to be out of their cage all the time. House rabbits do have an advantage over hutched rabbits, which is having the exercise always available to them. But hutched rabbits are perfectly fine with exercise only twice a week if their cage is big enough for them stretch out, stand tall, and move around. My house rabbit gets exercise twice a day for about an hour in the morning and an hour at night. My brood rabbits get exercise three times a week in warm and sunny weather, sometimes more, by running in my yard (bucks and does take turns of course!). They love to hop, run, do little binkies, and eat the grass!  If it is warm and sunny and you let your rabbit play outside, make sure there is some shade in case it gets too hot. Most rabbits don’t like to be in direct sunlight.

HEALTH: Rabbits are generally very healthy animals and may never need to be taken to the vet. They do not need regular check-ups like dogs or cats; neither do they need yearly vaccines. I recommend bringing them to the vet ONLY in emergencies because the vet is very stressful for them. If you have any concerns about your rabbit, you can always ask me and I will tell you if it is a serious problem or not. Rabbits are considered an “exotic animal” and are not treated at most vets. Make sure you know that your vet takes rabbits and has experience with them, as many vets do not."

Another one of my favorite articles on my website (excerpt below), the litter training page! 
"Can a rabbit really be litter trained?
Yes! Rabbits are very cleanly animals and are very smart. It's actually very easy to litter train a rabbit, because they only urinate/defecate in one place anyway, whether or not you provide them with a litter box. Not many people think of a bunny running around the house and litter trained like a cat when they hear "pet rabbit". Are you considering getting a bunny, but do you want it to be a part of the family? A pet that you can get to know personally, and that you can enjoy? Read on!" Click HERE to read the full article. 
Have a nice night!

Okay, I'm having waaaay too much fun with these guys. I'm literally addicted. I can't imagine my life without sweet, loving Holland babies! And this litter is no exception! They are just the sweetest, cutest little ones ever!!!! 

Just one look and you're in love. They just nap and twitch during their little baby bunny dreams while I pet them and ooh and ahh over their adorableness....

Happy Friday everyone! 

On November 18 these two girls will be seniors! That's so weird to think. Feels like they were just born yesterday! 
My new doe, Bramblehedge's Hazelnut, became a senior last week. She is currently (hopefully) pregnant now so she didn't get a new picture today. 

I am in love with my homegrown does! These girls keep looking better and better. Holly's Saige was looking really long and thin throughout her body, bone, head, etc these past couple weeks. After she got BOB youth at the October 4th show she seemed to not look as nice. She's coming back around for sure! Must have been a strange stage. I can't wait to show these two as seniors in December!
Holly's Saige - 

Saige's Strengths: Big head, thick bone, short body, nice crown height and side/side width, great head curvature, awesome HQ, depth x width x length all equal making her very balanced, very good width between eyes.
Saige's Faults: Weak ankles and long bone, slipped crown, thin front/back crown width causing a thinner ear and small ear base.
Holly's Rosemary - 

Rosie's Strengths: Nice ear shape, crown height, big head, head curvature, full HQ, wide chest, full full cheeks and ROUND ball of a head, thick bone, awesome width between eyes.
Rosie's Faults: Long bone and weak ankles, long in body, slipped crown, lacking in crown side/side width causing ear control, slight sloping HQ. 

On both of these girls I wish I could change their long bone and weak ankles, as well as their slipped crowns. But I love everything else about them! I'm so excited to see how these girls do at their next show and what kinds of babies they produce for me, bred to their dad! Here's the above two pictures side-by-side to compare. 

Below: front pictures side-by-side to compare