Update

God is so good!  :-)  Regina went all day without having a single baby.... and I was giving up on any more.  And then last night I went out to do chores and she was pulling out TONS of fur.  Within 45 minutes she had FOUR more babies!  I was SO surprised!!!  There was one peanut, so that leaves three healthy babies - 2 banded and a sport!  Yaaaay!  Regina is doing a GREAT job.  For a first timer, she's amazing.  Babies are fat and healthy and have a very furry nest. ;-)  And... the best part, they were born ON my sweet 16th Birthday, June 28th!  LOL  I always wanted a litter on my birthday.  And my 16th, too!  Thanks Regaina, perfect timing. ;-) 

Dolly also followed suit and had two beautiful little babies this morning, one banded and one sport.  So I have three mommas with full nest boxes right now!  I have taken a lot of pictures lately and will do a picture post soon.  ;)  Thanks for your prayers!

Baby on the wire :-(

Regina had one baby on the wire about an hour ago. It was a peanut, and didn't make it very long.  She hasn't pulled ANY fur, has no after-birth, milk, or anything, is not nesting, but I really think I can still feel at least one more baby in there.  I don't know.  My palpating skills aren't that great, but it seems like it.  We'll see.  This is looking pretty bleak so far, but perhaps she will surprise me.  I will be happy with anything alive that I can foster to Dolly, who is due today or tomorrow.  Finges crossed!  Pray for Regaina that she'll be a good mommy! 

The Queen

Regina has been begging me for a nest box so she got hers early.  She is so cute.  Now she's sitting on top of it just like a queen on her castle or something... which is funny, because the name Regina actually means "Queen"... LOL.  Totally fits her.  She is on day 29 now, so hopefully (!!!) she will have some healthy little princes and princesses soon. :-)

And speaking of Princesses.... here is another photo of Princess.  She is SO beautiful, but the camera just can't seem to capture her beauty.  ;-)  These pictures do her NO justice.  I'm still trying to get a real good one of her.

Peanut???

Chocolate Chip's litter of five is doing well.  And yes - there is still five.  That "peanut" is still alive, and is now five days old.  So I'm trying to figure out if it's a peanut, fader... or just a runt.  I kind of have scratched out peanut now, since it has lived this long.  I wasn't sure if it was a peanut when it was born, either, because it didn't seem that small.  And he has a fat belly after feedings.  He's defintely not as big as the others, and doesn't have as much fur growing.  What do you all think?  Anyone have any ideas????

All five - that is him on the right on the end.

Same - he is on the right side on the end

Next to one of the biggest babies

Him next to one of the middle-sized babies.  You can see that he has quite a bit less white fuzz.

Him next to the biggest baby... quite a size dfiference.

For Sale

I have a couple pet quality bucks for sale.  They are both such sweet, adorable little boys that need some forever homes.  $20 each, no pedigree included.  Email or call me if you have questions or would like more details/pictures.  Thanks!

 

Red Raspberry Leaf

So I said that I would share one of my favorite things for big litters and healthy, happy mommas.  Most of you probably know this, but here it is anyways: Red Raspberry Leaf.   ;)

I pick some wild red raspberry leaf for the buns every morning.

We feed this to our milk goats.  It helps boost their milk production TONS, and they have many kids at once - one of our goats had four kids (at once!) and delivered all four of the healthy babies without a problem.  So I thought I would try giving my buns RR and see if I noticed anything.  Well, I have.  :-)  They have larger litters, their milk production is up (fat babies!), and one of the most amazing things... instead of becoming totally CRABBY and cranky and sometimes downright mean during pregnancy due to all the hormones, a lot of times I can't even tell they are pregnant!  ...and if they still are hormonal, it isn't as bad.  Haylie usually gets pretty temperamental and protective during pregnancy, but her last pregnancy she was sweet and mellow all the way through... which left me wondering if she really took.  But she did - she delivered a healthy, beautiful litter of five gorgeous babies.  I really like this stuff!  ;-)  It is known to help with pregnancy, delivery, and overall health in people, and it seems to help animasl too... it's a really great green food!  And it helps the buns, too.  NOT that I don't still have trouble here and there, BUT I have noticed that it has also been very helpful!  (And I do feed it to my bucks too.... they all get it.)

CC getting her red raspberry

I feed it a few different ways.  One way that works well is to make tea with it.  We buy our RR dried in bulk online and harvest it our self.  I make a strong tea and add 4-8 cups to their 3-gallon drinking water bucket and that's what they get.  I also pick leaves fresh every morning and give them all 1-3 leaves.  They love it, and it's so good for them!  I've tried feeding it dried in their feed but that didn't work as well.

So anyways, that's my little tip.  My buns love it, and it seems to be really helpful for the does.  Have any of you out their tried this before?

Big News!

Alright, I know I said I was going to do a post about my new favorite bunny tip, but.... I'm so excited about this that I have to share first. ;-)  I'm working on that other post and I'll get it posted soon!

I am SO excited about a new doe I just got from Kate Kaiser from House of Hotots!  She is Vinson's half-sister.  Both of their's dad is Hidden Habit's Air.  Air is the most absolute AWESOME Dwarf Hotot I have ever seen.  I can't wait to breed these two.

This little doe is absolutely beautiful.  She is soooo tiny and compact, has a gorgeous head, nice shoulders, and very nice ears, only I wish they were a tad bit thicker and they are a teeny bit long, but I think she will really grow into them.  Her only fault.... a few black spots on her ears.  If it weren't for that she'd be a show doe, but that's OK, I bet she'll makes some lovely babies.  I just love her.  :-) Thank you, Kate, for parting with her!  :-)

Meet  Kaiser's Princess



...and these pictures don't even do her justice at all.  :-)


Also, we have a visitor in the rabbitry.  Kate was also so generous as to allow me to borrow Willner's Eats A Lot from her to use for breeding for a couple days.  We will be trading breedings for Mickey.  I really love Eats A Lot, and he's out of some bunnies that I really like, too!  He has a beautiful, huge head, is very wide, and also is a sweetie!  :-)  I am breeding him to Zahara and Haylie.  Zahara was bred this morning and I will breed Haylie to him tomorrow.  Can't WAIT to see those babies!  This is Willner's Eats A Lot.

I am ecastic about having some babies out of this fella.  Thank you Kate for allowing me to use him!  I hope these girls get bred and have nice litters.

Haylie

Zahara

The other visitor in the rabbitry is Thunder Hill's Bella.  Remember Bella?  I sold her to my friend Julia a while back to be a starter brood doe for her.  I'm breeding her to Vinson for Julia, and maybe will get a baby from the litter, we'll see how they turn out. 

And... one more introduction.  =)  This is a little junior doe from my Haylie and Vinson litter.  She is 6 weeks old and looking pretty lovely!  Thanks to Lindsey of 4 Kings Rabbitry for giving me critiques on her.  She has a nice HQ, cute head, and is pretty compact.  I am excited to see how she turns out, and she may end up going to convention with me this fall.  :)

Meet Hoppin' Hotots.... NAMELESS!  :-)  ......Anyone have name suggestions?  :)  I can't seem to think of any so far....  ;-)

....so, that's my big news. ;-)  I'll be back with that post soon....

Yaay Chocolate Chip!

Miss Chocolate Chip gave me a beautiful litter of FIVE this morning!  Sadly one is a peanut, but that leaves four babies that are looking great.  One sport and three banded.  I don't have a picture of the babies, but here is the nest. :) I added some fur to it I had saved since there wasn't too much in there and they were a little cold.

I'm really happy with such a big litter from this little girl.  Hopefully she will do well with them. 

Next up are Regina and Dolly, due in a week.  Go girls!

In my next post I'll be sharing my new favorite trick for big litters, healthy moms, and more!

Photo of the Day

Just a cute photo of one of the babies.  :)

Regina... I love this girl!

Man... I am loving my does, soon to be mothers!  I think, paired up with Mickey, I am gonna have some crazy nice babies real soon.  Just the last month or so, Regina is really blossoming!  One thing I've really been wanting to improve in my herd is the toplines - I need some higher toplines.  I think Regina is gonna help with this.  This gal is SOLID. 
Isn't she gorgeous?!?!

I LOVE this topline! 

Her ears are very short and very spaced... just wish they were a tad bit thicker.

Nicest head of any of my does....

And her straight, well spaced hocks are awesome!

...I just love this girl!  =)  She is due in about 2 1/2 weeks.  I can't WAIT to see her babies. Especially being she's bred to my little grand champ, Mickey.  I am hoping to have two litters out of her before the State (MN) Convention, and will probably be keeping all the babies, for me and some other people who will be getting them at the convention.  I really hope everything goes well with her being a mom.  Can't wait!


And this is Zahara. She is finally putting on the pounds and will be getting bred to Vinson in a week or two.  My favorite point about Zahara is her short, compact body... another thing I would like to improve.  She's lacking in other qualities, but this makes up for it! Bred to my bucks, I'm expecting some awesome babies.

Very compact.

Junior

This is a little banded buck from my Mickey/Dolly cross.  I've just nick-named him "Junior" because he's totally a Mickey Junior.  I think this little guy has a lot of potential, he's looking purrrrty handsome so far.  I hope he stays this nice!  And he's inherited his daddy's personality.  He's a very calm little fellow.  Meet Junior!

I'm liking his high topline, although it doesn't look that great in these pics.

I love his blocky head!

Here is a picture of Mickey when he was about Junior's age. 

And here is Junior.

Isn't that cute how similair they look (although they are posed a little differently)???  So cute!

Haylie's Litter: 3 weeks old

I took Haylie's babies 3-week photos.   There are some typ-eeeee little buns in this litter.  And some that are looking like pets. :D But they are all cute as can be and I love 'em to pieces.  I'm working on handling them all LOTS every day because at this age all they want to do is bounce around and they need to work on cuddling. LOL They are all sweeties though.  I was thinking 2 bucks 3 does, now I'm thinking it's maybe 3 bucks 2 does.... not sure.  My gender skills aren't very good when they are this young. LOL  I'll know for sure soon though. 

Here they are, all five.  What do you think of them?  The bucks are first, then the does... I think..... lol

(My favorite)

(My other favorite - not the most flattering picture of him/her, though, he/she's SO gorgoues, but wouldn't pose) =(

And one last photo because this one is so cute I had to post it... I think this is the 3rd or the 5th one, not totally sure. =)  Doesn't he/she have the cutest head?