The Good, the Bad and the Broken.

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We made it home from dwarf nationals. Wow, what a trip.

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I could not get online to update a winners list and we neglected to put the memory card in our camera. It has a feature to notify you of this mistake but it was not working! Tons of pictures taken and no internal memory. >.<

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We only took 4 dwarfs. One of those should have stayed home, he was molting his head and naturally rec'd a No Place. I guess when you're driving that far and your entries are all ready paid for, we opted to take him anyways. Sienna placed 7th in the black senior doe class. Kodiak, our young and small otter senior buck placed 11th! He was slipping his coat so I was extremely pleased with his placement! Slick won his class! I was thrilled!

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Mom and I try very hard not to have does due and/or new litters while we are out of town. We made one mistake. We were so eager to breed our new broken blue dwarf after her quarantine period that we didn't think about her due date. We came home to find these:

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Our first decently marked brokens! I am so excited!
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Thank you Dad and Matt for doing our chores!

Mel

Baby Goats = Fun.

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I seriously cannot think of anything that is more fun to watch than baby goats. Their life is spent jumping, skipping, butting and playing king of the mountain on anything and everyone. No one is safe from king of the mountain. Brothers, sisters, other goats, their humans and even our Great Pyrenees Sara all have to patiently endure the game.

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Below is Montana with his momma Darla.

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Someone crown him King already!

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I will be taking my lap top to Dwarf Nationals and will try and post the show results!

Melanie

ARGH!

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3 days until we leave for Dwarf Nationals! 3 days!
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I am looking forward to catching up with far away friends.
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I am looking forward to finally meeting the friends I've never met.
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I am looking forward to browsing the rows and rows of dwarfs.
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I am looking forward to seeing the winners, all of them.
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I am looking forward to the fact that my Mom will get to go!
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I am looking forward to the fact that our dwarfs are still *not* molting!
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I am not looking forward to the drive there and back.
See you soon!
Melanie

New Website Feature.

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This morning I added something new to the sales page of our website. It is a notification feature maintained by ChangeDetection.

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Maintaining a waiting/notification list IMO turned into a frustrating ordeal and something I have said for quite a while that I was not doing. No matter how many times I politely told someone we don't do or have _____, the response was always 'save my email for when you do'.

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Most of these I classified as 'whim buyers'. They didn't really know what they wanted, a specific bloodline for example, but wanted to know when anything became available. Anything! Most of the time 'whim buyers' fill their barns after their first couple of shows they attended and no longer wanted to be notified of sales stock. I am hoping this new system works out well. There is no maintaining on my end! YAY!

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In baby goat news. The young doe, Kadee Dott, has accepted her role as mommy. Even though her baby was a single, I believe him to be the smallest we've had!

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On a very sad note (at least to me) the boy goats will be for sale. They are registered and can be sold intact or as wethers. Darla's baby boy is by far the most personable and outgoing. He is a total riot! Hanna's baby boy is cobby and stocky, but a little shyer. KDott's is the smallest, personality to be determined ;)

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This weekend's plans include building a junior cage, hay feeders and going thru and hopefully thinning the herd a bit. Our cages are FULL and as hard as it's going to be rabbit(s) need to be sold. We momentarily considered going to a show in Hutchinson Kansas but decided with two big shows coming up it'd be better to save our rabbits for those shows. Mom and I are firm believers in not 'over showing' our rabbits. Too many shows back to back can cause stressed bunnies and poor flesh condition.

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There is a chance of rain again this weekend, but I'm going to try and get updated pictures of the baby goats!

Melanie

Another Boy!

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Our last pygmy doe delivered today. We were worried about her because of her size and her age. She slipped under the fence at 8 months old and helped herself to the buck.
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She had one caramel boy with a little assistance. Both mom and baby seem fine, or so Mom tells me. Darn work!
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counting down the time until 5:00
Melanie

Time Flies...

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...when you're having fun.

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So much going on right now, it's been crazy. We have 4 adorable baby goats that have to be played with and spoiled. I had planned on taking updated pictures of them this weekend, but it's been raining!

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We have around 9 new holland and 4 dwarf litters. That's roughly 35 new kits! In the hollands we have lots of interesting colors coming up - opal, blue otter, orange, creme and broken black silver martens! Opal? Seriously?! Having new colors pop up is fun! They're getting right at that just-out-of-the-nest-box-cute age, so maybe pics of them soon!

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Pictured below is one of my hopefuls. He's roughly 10 weeks old, super smooth body with a cute head coming in.

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I don't know, just something about him I like already. His dam is a THF Saynora doe that came via California!
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Above is one of my favorite upcoming juniors. I've always liked him but he went thru a fur chewing stage. I am so happy to see his sides evening up with beautiful chestnut fur! Hopefully he'll make his showing debut at the Ohio Mini Convention! (no one tell him please!)
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It's so hard to believe that ND Nationals is less than two weeks now! My once primed favorite otter buck is showing signs of slipping his coat. Isn't this hobby FUN?!
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Melanie

Done!

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Today I'm sending off our entries for both ND Nationals and JW Nationals!
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We entered 5 dwarfs. The juniors did not cooperate at all with timing their molts, so alas no juniors to show! But hey, at least we finally have some right?!! We came up with ONE possible sale rabbit, a lilac Himalayan buck that I go back and forth on. I simply cannot decide on him.
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Wooly entries were so much easier. I did those in my head. Two juniors, Hot Fuzz and Jazz Hands.
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My next goal is to go thru the holland juniors and make a sales list. I know I have people waiting and I apologize but evaluating juniors in mid-molt is no fun. So, I keep putting it off while I watch and hope they finish soon! We will have 3 otter project seniors for sale at the Ohio Mini Convention. I will be putting them on the sales page soon.
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Today we give 8 nest boxes! How exciting! I love new litters and all the possibilities they bring.
Melanie

A Good Weekend.

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I had a good weekend. The weather finally cooperated for me and I got all the cages power washed. It's a tiring job but something I love to do.

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Our old goat Darla required a C-section. The vet was only able to save one of the twins, a dark caramel boy.

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This little guy has such personality! He's already claimed me as mine.
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Shortly after the trip to the vet my Hanna delivered triplets!!! One boy and two beautiful girls.

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I love baby goats, so expect to see lots more of them in the upcoming weeks =)
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This next week we have to decide on our National entries, both show and sale. Watch the sales page for available stock!=

Melanie