December Ramblings.

Well hello there.  As always it has been awhile.  Here are a few updates.

Convention has come and gone.  Mom and I were very happy with our placements!  We won the solid junior doe class with Lil' Bit Farms Bailey!  I have no words for how thrilled we were!  We also placed 9th and 17th in that class.  17th was Lil' Bit Farms Bella the litter sister to Bailey.  We made the hard decision to put Bella up for sale and we are thrilled with the home she went to.  A very nice family who I hope does well with her and her offspring!

An interesting story on Bella.  At least I thought so, or maybe I'm still miffed.  I had her for sale for $50 dollars more than another doe.  I really liked them both but obviously thought Bella was a better doe, hence the higher price, right?!  I had an inquiry on the cheaper doe and in the email they 'raved' about our rabbits.  In a second email they asked who was better Bella or the other doe, to which I of course said Bella.  I never heard a word back from them.  I don't know if they were just 'spamming' or if they thought I was being dishonest and only wanted to sell the doe that was $50 more.  Again, maybe I'm still miffed.  It all worked out because Bella proved her worth (at least IMO) and placed 17th in the largest Holland class AND went to a very wonderful family.  Maybe this is just a nanner nanner nanner on my part. 

Back to convention.  Zeke 2 was 4th and Sabotage was 27th solid senior buck.  I am so happy to have Sabotage back, I missed him greatly in the short time he was gone.

In baby news, we gave 9 nest boxes Sunday so barring any freak cold snaps we should have a very big baby boom come Wednesday.  This will lead to a 'cage space freak out' on my part and probably a sales list in a month or two.  A repeat breeding of Bailey/Bella is in this mix.  !!!! 

In a very rare occurrence our junior doe growing off cages are FULL but we only have 5 upcoming junior bucks!  I probably shouldn't have put that in writing and have cursed myself to litters and litters of bucks. 

We granded Bailey with a BOB in Duncan and she's now retired to breeding!  We bred her to Lil' Bit Farms Jason.  He is the junior buck that thrilled me with a BIS under Scott in Nebraska!  I cannot wait to see how he produces!  CANNOT WAIT! 

One of our best producing doe CN's JB2 has two by Absolute Zero.  The goal was to try and improve the muzzle/head on JB2's kids and hopefully keep that wonderful body she throws.  I refuse to think about her head on his body.  Again, did I really put that in writing? 

Enjoy this warm weather while it lasts!
Melanie    

Convention and Looking Back.

I am in full convention mode and can't stop thinking of evaluating our herd.  What should stay, what should go, are the new buyers going to be happy with their new stock?  Will rabbits finish their molts?  Will juniors molt their heads now or next month?  Why isn't this litter two months older so I can show them?! 

In the process of the almost every day going through the rabbits I have been taking pictures and updating the website, slowly and finally.  One of the bucks that got new pictures is Mom's Koda. 

Lil' Bit Farms Koda, senior picture

 

Lil' Bit Farms Koda, senior picture

 

I was looking at his junior pics and thought I'd post them to show his development.  These were taken about the same time last year.

 

Lil' Bit Farms Koda, junior picture



Lil' Bit Farms Koda, junior picture





He has filled in and out so much.  Pictured below is his son.  I am anxious to see how he looks in a year!

 

 

--Melanie

Personality.

A loooooong time ago there was a local commercial that featured a young woman interviewing for a job (I believe). During the course of the interview several questions were asked to which the woman repeatedly replied, "Well no, but I have a BRILLIANT personality" with a big cheesy grin on her face. No skills or useful qualities for the job that she was applying for but by golly she had a BRILLIANT personality. I'm not sure why I thought of this commercial from long ago. It was very annoying.

My rainbow Zero litter is coming out of the nests and getting to that cute age. Well, all but one. The broken sable point. I don't remember if it's a buck or a doe. He/she seems to have a narrower body and touch longer ears than the other three CUTIES. This one, of course, is the one that already comes to the door BEGGING for his/her head to be rubbed.

"well no, but I have a BRILLIANT personality"

Of course I am in love with the little gal/guy. I am hoping it is at least a doe. Sigh.

-Melanie

I survived.

Spring is so close and I survived another winter. I say survived like it was a big deal, but we had the mildest winter I can remember.

Kizmet (3rd BJD '11 Convention) had a litter of 4 by Zeke (2nd SSB '11 Convention). This is her second litter. Her first she had one peanut a week early so we were thrilled to see 4 (+ a peanut) this time around.

Lil' Bit Farms Zeke 2

Karma and her daughter, Kylee, also had litters this week. 2 and 3. Small litters but I'll take it!

Right when I had decided to let Slim go I found out he carries the 'cute sable point' gene. Not just sable point but cute sable point. I guess I'm glad I waited to see what his litters looked like. They are still to young to really evaluate but 'cute' is all that keeps me going sometimes.

I am currently in a dilema on moving out a buck we don't use that often. He throws tremendous round bodies but slipped crowns. We've tried so hard to cut that from our herd but I am so attached to this buck that it's hard to let him go. My biggest fear is that he'd go to a breeder that uses him once, determines that he 'out produced himself' and moves him on to someone else. I don't want to see him in a string of random short term barns. I hate these types of decisions.

--Melanie

Going into Winter.

Here we are already in December!  I will readily admit that I hate winter.  I wish I could hybernate until March, really I do.  I am dreading the season of kitcicles. 

We have 8 does due the first of next week, all very exciting litters.  Mostly unproven does though *shudder*. 

I am very excited to announce that we were asked to donate a holland for this years Convention trio!  =D  I believe this trio will consist of:  Ivy Crescent, Washburns and Lil' Bit Farms. 

Mom may attend the Cleburne show next weekend, not sure.  I can't go due to a work function (PARTY) that I'm the chair of.  They would probably tar and feather me if I skipped another one (I missed the Thanksgiving one due to Duncan).

I've been wanting to redesign and update our website but my first attempt resulted in finding out the software upgrade didn't include the graphic editor I wanted to use, sigh.  Anyone want to design a new one for me?  Darn, I didn't think so. 
  
It'll probably be another couple of quiet months from me, so hunker down and stay warm!

--Melanie

Colorado Show

Below are the results for the Colorado show

Show A:
Best of Breed:  Kay Miller, SSD  (RIS too!, congrats)
Best Opp of Breed:  Us with Slim, pictured below, BSB

Lil' Bit Farms Slim, a Sabotage son

Slim was hard to get a picture of, he was constantly rotating to face the camera. This is a buck that I've loved since he was an ugly junior. I don't know if it is the resemblance to his sire Sabotage or what?

Show B:

Best of Breed:  Us with Koda, SJB

Best Opp of Breed:  Us with Kizmet, BJD

Koda was on the specialty show table and did not get put up for BIS  :( 

Specialty Show:

Best of Breed:  Us with Kizmet, BJD

Best Opp of Breed:  Kay Miller, unsure of variety

Mom's van died on the way home so it's a good thing we only entered 8 rabbits at Convention.  They all should fit in the bug if worse comes to worse.  It'll be a tight fit, we just got used to the luxurious room of the van, but the 40mpg will help ease the pain.  Hopefully Mom will be able to get a good used van soon! 

Lil' Bit Farms Levi went to a new home.  We hope his new owners do very well with him.  He will be greatly missed  ;( 

Mom and I made the mistake of forgetting to quit breeding for babies during the time of Convention.  I guess we'll have to cross our fingers and hope for the best!  Rooky mistake, dang it.

Melanie

Some things are meant to be.

We have put Lil' Bit Farms Kolby up for sale a few times. He's been spoken for/sold a few times. For different reasons it has never worked out and he ends up not sold. Every time Mom and I question ourselves and what he's thrown. Eventually he goes back up for sale. The only reason I can think of is we are not emotionally attached to him like we are our other bucks. Kolby doesn't have a coat, ever. He has a tight crown and pulls his ears back when you first pull him out. These are probably the other considerations when we need cage space and someone has to go.

Despite his tight crown he's earned around 14 ARBA legs, a few BOS and BOB even. Given time his ears do settle and his body speaks for itself, short and compact.

Kolby's daughter Karma has 13 ARBA legs, 2 BIS, 4 BOB and 5 BOS. Karma was #3 top lop for awhile before retiring to breeding. His daughter Keri has 6 ARBA legs, 1 BIS and 2 BOB with limited showing as a junior only.

Pictured below is his last litter with Lil' Bit Farms Shanna, Wynn's BUD sister. And I mean BUD.

Lil' Bit Farms Koda

Lil' Bit Farms Koda

Lil' Bit Farms Kizmet

Lil' Bit Farms Kizmet

I think Kolby has earned his cage here with us. I'm sorry but he's no longer for sale :)

Melanie

Two Mistakes.

First, I missed announcing Laramie's 5th birthday :( Happy Belated Birthday buddy!

Second, I mentioned that Wynn has never produced. I was wrong...meet Wynn's daughter

(Lil' Bit Farms Sabotage x Lil' Bit Farms Wynn)

I'm not sure how I forgot about this chunky doe.

She will be six months old just days before Greensboro but we're thinking about taking her anyways. She will be competing against Karma's newly turned senior daughter. Our top two does daughters competing in the same class, should be interesting!

8 nest boxes in and 4 new babies!
Melanie

The Big 5!

Happy 5th Birthday to two very special bunnies!

Lil' Bit Farms Zero

Lil' Bit Farms Zalia

Carrots for everyone!
=D

Odds and Ends

I thought I'd write this blog to blow off some steam regarding some of the emails I receive.

Please remember that the rabbit hobby is probably not the only thing a breeder does or has going on. Some people work two or three jobs. Some breeders have spouses, kids, grand kids, nieces/nephews and other various family members that do require attention, grooming and feeding just like rabbits. Some breeders even have other hobbies - gasp! Mom and I have started couponing, not extreme, but every little bit helps. It takes a lot of time to do. Some breeders periodically face other life difficulties. Just this month my Mom was hit with a severe storm that required extensive repair and ongoing cleanup. She has been dealing with contractors on a daily basis. Please keep this in mind; a rabbit related email could be delayed a few days while life happens. I often hear, "so and so hasn't gotten back with me and it's been TWO DAYS". While I myself have had breeders never answer an email request, please be courteous and patient because not all breeders are that way.

Now to the odds:

I want a top show doe - slim to none

• I want that same show doe, both to show and to produce the next generation of Lil' Bit Farms Hollands (TNG of LBF). I figure if I've taken the time and energy to selectively cull and breed to get that doe then I should have first dibs on her.

I wouldn't mind waiting for a proven show doe - medium to high

• After a doe has had her show career, moved into breeding and successfully produced TNG of LBF, then we often sell that doe around 1 1/2 to 2 years old.

I want a show doe - medium

• We may be working on fixing a certain fault in our herd and even though she is show quality she just doesn't fit into our breeding program at that time. I consider a doe 'show' if I would put her onto the table myself. I DO NOT consider a doe 'show' just because she is free of disqualifications.
• I also cannot guarantee how well a Holland will show in any circumstance. Different areas, styles of Hollands and judges make this impossible to determine.

I'm looking for a brood doe - high to very high

• For me to consider a Holland 'brood' it does have to have certain qualities to rate it as such; bone, butt, head, depth etc. and in some combination
• One of our best does, Wynn, has not successfully raised a litter. Her big ugly sister had 7 (SEVEN) babies her first litter, raised them all and half were keepers. Show does are not always the best purchase.

I want a buck with thick bone, short shoulders and a nice head/ear/crown, the whole package - slim to none

• Again, I want that same buck, both to show and produce TNG of LBF. I figure if I've taken the time and energy to selectively cull and breed to get that buck then...you should know the drill by now :-)

I want a buck with a nice butt but I can fix the head if he doesn't have it - medium to high

• We just may have the piece you are looking for, it doesn't hurt to ask
• The above is just an example, feel free to replace the underlined with another flaw/fault

I'm looking for a brood type buck - high to very high

• For me to consider a Holland 'brood' it does have to have certain qualities to rate it as such; bone, butt, head, depth etc, in some combination
• Zeke 2 has never shown well for us but he throws very nice kids, multiple winning BOB/BOS kids. Looks are not everything, even in a buck

The faults I'm currently culling out may be ones that you don't have. My herd strengths could play well into what you need and visa versa. Hollands are the piece-iest rabbit I've ever dealt with. Fix one thing and other fault works its way in. It never ends.

Now to the end.

I DO NOT KEEP A WAITING LIST. I have tried, very unsuccessfully. Life happens, I just couldn't manage it. I placed a 'notification email form' on our sales page. I try and only put sales stock there. If you sign up you get notified when that page is updated. Simple and easy.

I DO KEEP A DO NOT SELL TO LIST.

TGIF

Melanie

PS - a high vased posed-long legged Holland does not = good bone and chest

Road Trip to NC

Mom and I will be taking a mini vacation and attending the Greensboro NC show on September 17th. After weeks of triple degree temps I'm hoping the weather in NC is cool and gorgeous.

We have a few bucks and does for sale so I will be attempting to update the sales page this weekend/Monday. We can deliver to NC :) Because we are taking a few days after the show to vacation, we'd prefer to only take pre-sold rabbits that will be picked up at the show.

I attempted to upload photos to this post, but Blogger is giving me fits - both with just publishing and now pictures.

Melanie

You've probably noticed.

These last six months or so have been really tough for me, for lots of reasons. I have found myself absolutely dreading chores. Morning chores, evening chores, cleaning, feeding, watering, breeding/palpating, I dread them all. I have avoided at all costs what has become the most dreaded of all chores, taking pictures. I have found reasons/excuses to skip or not attend shows. I haven't made hotel reservations for Convention and anytime someone asks it becomes 'if we go'.

How does one go from having rabbits as their 'life' to just doing it because they have to?

I do think every breeder goes thru spells. I am grateful to have my Mom to help with the chores
while I try and figure out what is next for me. Until then, the website is grossly out of date. Juniors have turned to seniors and moved onto litters with no pictures of their progress.

I am giving myself time and hoping one day soon to just 'feel it again'.

I do have to brag now before the standings change. We are currently nationally ranked:

Sweepstakes Standing: 3^rd

Quality Points: 3^rd

Herdsman Points: 3^rd

Top Lop – 3^rd (Lil’ Bit Farms Karma)

Melanie

May Misc.

Nationals has come and gone. Congrats to all the winners! I always end up running rabbits but did manage to watch some of our rabbits place. Levi finally made it to his first National show!

National Show:
Levi - 4th solid senior buck
Zandria - 6th solid junior doe
Karma - 9th broken senior doe
Creme - 2nd broken senior buck (owned by our very good friends, the Ediger family)
(only our top 10 listed)

Day After Show: (to the best of my memory, this was a no comment card show, boo)
Levi - 10th solid senior buck
Zandria - 7th solid junior doe
Bentley - 16th solid senior buck (@ 7 months old)
Karma - 2nd broken senior doe (GAH so close!)
??? - 3rd broken junior doe
??? - 4th broken junior doe
??? - 14th solid junior doe
??? - 12th solid junior doe

Over all I am pleased with our results. Our juniors were molting like crazy and I am SHOCKED that our broken junior does placed at all much less that high considering the amount of fur flying off them.

Colorful May litters in the nest box:
Chestnut, black otter, blue, harlequin, lynx?, brk/orange?, along with sable point and blue torts!

I'm not sure about the colors on the lynx and orange. The orange may end up being a tort otter but the lynx definitely looks like a dilute agouti of sorts. Having the black otters pop really surprised me though. In fact, my apologies to Mom for doubting her when she told me they were. =D

Melanie

2011 Nationals.

Nationals is creeping up on me! We entered more than I think we ever had and I'm really starting to second guess my optimism of last week when entries were due. Spring molts and lack of junior heads is really not helping. We have until the 22nd (I believe) to make substitutions. Maybe by then I'll feel better about our entries, or not.

Mom has been diligently brushing the molty ones and I've been praying over those few who are now PRIMED that it lasts. (thanks Mom!)

I hope to work on a sales list this weekend. Unfortunately it will probably be ALL BUCKS! Does were far and few in between and the ones we did get are too young to evaluate properly.

We took a few weeks off to prevent litters under two weeks while we were in Ohio and I'm missing the babies.

In other news, we have 11 hens and a turkey that have decided to set. 11 hens much to Mom and I's disappointment. I've been earning scratch money selling fresh eggs at work and with so many hens setting it's cut our egg production down drastically. If anyone would be interested in the following please let us know:

Bantam Wyandottes (blue, black or splash) These are beautiful show birds from Garrett Justice
Splash or Blue Marans
Bantam Cochins
Who-Knows-What-Mixed-Variety pack
Blue-Laced Red Wyandottes
Turkeys!!!

We'll probably grow off a few to keep but I'm sure we'll have an abundance of chicks.

Melanie

Bad Rubbish Repost.

I read this on Keep's Rabbitry Blog and asked her permission to repost it.

In the course of reading some of my favorite blogs, I came across a quote on Timothy Chan's website. It was in regards to "love letters" and one particularly nasty one he received from someone. At the end of his blog, he writes

Lastly, if you have heard anything that didn't come from me, those are what we call rumors and 100% of the time is not true. One thing I learned in this hobby, always go directly to the source.

I thought this was particularly interesting. As people, we're bad about carrying rumors. I'll admit I've said to someone "Did you hear that so-and-so is going to sell out of X to get X from X?" We're nosy and we want to share our nosy with other nosy people.

There are, however, a certain set of people. Doesn't matter what age, gender, breed, etc. You know at least 2-3 of these people. They DELIGHT in making up nasty rumors about other people. They want to tear down their victims as people, parents, breeders- it doesn't matter how they do it, as long as they can do it. Fortunately, most experienced breeders know who the troublemakers are and can avoid them. If they hear something from a person like this, they can very easily say "Uh huh" and walk away knowing they were just fed a huge line of junk that is best ignored.

Newbies to rabbits are often the ones that fall the most victim to the gossipers though. "Oh no, you don't want to buy from __________. She kicks puppies and thumps kittens and her rabbits have snuffles and are pet quality and she charges $300 for them and I heard she pushed a kid in a wheel chair in front of a bus!"

Ok, that was a bit of a silly example (in part), but telling a newbie you'll get pet quality for huge prices- that often happens. Later, usually once the newbie has been burned by their new "friend", they realize that the person being talked about is completely different than they were led to believe.

How much trouble would be saved if the junk-talker would just try to be nice? Or if the newbie (or oldie) would not start trouble for the victim to get in good with their new "friend"? How much trouble would be saved if you just walked over to So-and-So and said "Hi! I'm new and I'm browsing- can I look at your sale bunnies? Would you explain type to me? How much do your prices usually run?" Go to the source. Is that person supposedly a horrible person? Try saying hi. Maybe they are just the victims of the rumor mill.

That isn't to say you will never hear true rumors. Sometimes someone will truly warn you to be careful around a person that is out to cheat you. You'll have to be burned a few times in learning who to trust and who not to trust. We all go through the "trial by fire" until we find our real friends and we discover the breeders we respect and trust.

Sometimes, a situation will blow up simply because there was a miscommunication. Maybe you don't think the rabbit you bought was worth $100 and the rabbit's breeder really does. Is that a reason to bash them for it? No. Remember- there is a difference between someone intentionally setting out to mislead you and cheat you, and between you two not seeing eye to eye on the severity of a fault or the quality of an animal. Be sure of the situation before you go telling people one way or the other.

In the meantime, let's all try to be better people. Let's work the rumor mill a little less. If you're a drama queen- STOP IT. And when you meet one of these people who make your life and the lives of other people miserable just because they can, or they get some kind of joy out of it- say "goodbye to bad rubbish" and turn the other way. You'll be better off for it, believe me!

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Well said, thanks Kristen!
Melanie

Karma Update.

Karma has three babies by Levi!! =D

March Babies.

Our last litters were mostly successful. I say mostly because last night we lost 3 of a litter of 4 due to a doe peeing on her babies while she fed them. It got down to 31 last night and they froze. :( So sad! It's those loses that I feel could have been avoided that hurt the most. Mom was able to warm up one and it was placed with new foster mom Wynn. Wynn is loving being a mom. She pulls hair daily for her nest :)

Karma is due today. I'm trying not to get too excited with it being her first litter, but I can't help it. Wynn and Karma babies at the same time, Oh em gee SQEEE (or EEEK, whichever suits you best!)

Two more does due this week and several due next week.

It's that time of year again where our website is severely outdated due to I-hate-the-cold-don't-do-pictures-in-the-winter-itis. I have big plans to update and overhaul the site. It's all up there in my head, so let's hope I can transfer that into real motion to get it done.

Our SJD Zandria won a double BOB in Duncan last weekend. The Holland numbers were tiny :( but she did have to beat out the seniors, so I guess I'll mention it. This is the same doe that won two BOS in Loveland. One judge swore up and down that she was a buck that had been wrongly placed in the doe class :) He did a double check on her 'parts' before anything else.
Our next show is Skiatook OK the 26th. I look forward to seeing everyone there!

Entry deadline for Holland Nationals is April 8th. I've heard that someone has already entered. Really?! Wow.
Melanie

Karma's Last Horrah.

At six months and two days, we took Karma to her first and probably last show as a senior.


She won a double Best of Breed! To say we were thrilled would be putting it mildly.

I am a little disappointed that she settled the first time we bred her and thus ending her Spring show career but we're always striving for the next and hopefully better generation.

Show A - Scott R.
3rd SSB - Rory
1st SSD - Baby Ruth
1st SJB - Unnamed Zero kid
? SJD
2nd and 3rd BSB - Kolby and Kizmo (at 6 months!)
1st BSD and Best of Breed - Karma
1st BJB - Unnamed Sabotage kid
no BJD shown

Show B - Gail Krall
I honestly didn't pay that much attention to the classes. I helped a friend show mini satins :)
Best of Breed - Karma
Best Opposite Sex of Breed - Kolby (Karma's poppa)

We were thrilled to get Scott at a Texas show. Thank you to the show staff for bringing him in!

Next month is Nationals. Egad. Where does the time go??

Stayed tuned for more Baby Daddy posts.
Melanie

Baby Daddy.

Pictured below is a new and upcoming junior buck. He going thru a pretty major first molt. I think he's going to be a little guy but he' s so short and round that I think he'll stick around for awhile. He reminds me so much of his sire.

Any guess as to who the Baby Daddy is?

Below is another upcoming junior buck. (never a shortage of upcoming bucks) He's a Zero grandson. He's just starting to go thru his first head molt and I don't think his true cuteness is captured in this photo. He's got cute cheeks and ears and a nice wide body/chest! I can't wait to see him in a few more weeks. His sire (Ditto) is now living in Florida and he left us with several litters of all sons. (never a shortage of upcoming bucks) Sigh, thanks Ditto.


Spring shows have started in earnest and it's going to be hard picking and choosing which ones we can attend.

We've made our hotel reservations for HL Nationals and are hoping that we have a few to show out of this years crop of juniors. We will probably start working on a National sales list soon. I have a couple bucks already in mind for the short list.

Melanie

Dandelions.

Laramie gave me a scare yesterday. He went off his feed, wouldn't eat cheerios and the scariest part was he wasn't interested in me. Laramie is the oldest and most affectionate rabbit in the barn. He buzzes with joy when he sees me coming and it's a chore to get his cage door closed after his head rubbings. To see him so lifeless and un-animated was terrifying. We gave him some parsley, dandelions and lots of love. By this morning he was almost his normal self and had eaten almost everything we gave him. Huge sigh of relief!

For those of you that don't know, dandelions are a wonderful all natural pick me up for sick bunnies. (just make sure they haven't been sprayed with any yard chemicals).

A young and older picture of Laramie above.

Laramie is still active in our breeding program. He is our go-to-guy when a doe is lacking height or uprightness. He usually puts a good front end on his babies. Quite a few of his kids have placed Nationally including, Shoshoni, Rory, Cheyenne and Laylah. My favorite upcoming Laramie kid is Bentley. I think he's the best buck Laramie has produced to date.

He's been retired from showing for quite a while now but his best accomplishment was his 2nd place at Convention - so close! I believe he has 38 legs.

Laramie will be 5 in a few months and I hope he gives me lots more years.

Melanie