My friend Barb....probably bored at work today, emailed me looking for a blog entry and was wondering what the heck was I doing??
Well the last few days in between working, have been busy. It's that time of year when all of the rabbits need shearing......and when you have 17 of them, well......need I say any more?
Past winters, I have always shorn the rabbits in the freezing cold barn, but now that we have an island in the kitchen, I have taken to bringing those chilly buns in the house for their new "do". Little did my DH know that I had lots of non-cooking plans for that island...hehe.
Yesterday it was Nordic Billy the Kit. Billy is a junior bunny from one of my summer litters. His color is called Wild Gray. This guy is one of the sweetest babies that I have had yet and his coat is fantastic!!
His mother comes down from that German Import line that produces lovely coats. I bred his mother to my red buck here and again.........those import genes came thru. He produced 9oz of fiber which is great for a junior. A little more matting, than the pure German that I showed you last week, but still.......a great cutting for a junior.
One of the things that I feel strongly about as a breeder, whether it be rabbits or dogs, is temperament. If they are not easy to live with, you are not going to enjoy their company. I will not breed animals that show any tendency towards nasty temperaments. It is not fair to the people I will place their babies with. Who wants to live with piranhas..?? Not me......I have one in the barn who bites me on a regular basis.......not fun! Needless to say, she will not be bred.
As you can see, Billy is quite relaxed here in a "new to him" environment. Just stretchin out and having a good time.
Have you ever seen a tail-less bunny?
This is Dandy (ISeeSpots Dandy). Dandy is the oldest of my rabbits. She is going on 7 years old and is the foundation of most of my breeding.
When Dandy came to me, I was completely inexperienced with rabbits. At her first shearing, I kept wondering......."where the heck is her tail?" ....."Don't bunnies have tails?" Of course, now that I have had many rabbits since then, I know that they have tails..LOL.
From experience in shearing wiggly babies, I can now see how easy it would be to lop one off as they are wiggling about.......but I can't find any evidence that Dandy ever had a tail??? How strange is that? Dandy was very happy to put her jacket on before heading back to the chilly barn.
A Gift
I just wanted to thank Patti for the lovely markers that she made for me. Don't they look great against the pretty card that she also sent?
I just found out that Patti is soon to become a new angora rabbit owner. I will look for bunny pics soon!
Thanks so much for such lovely markers!
my rabiit is a 8 month old mini lop, i work in a pet shop so ive seen him since he was very little, when i got him home and gave him a hair cute he turned out he didnt have a tail !
Posted by: heather | Thursday, July 14, 2011 at 05:20 PM
That is just SO cute, I love their little coats!
Posted by: Tracu | Saturday, January 15, 2005 at 11:04 AM
Too funny, Kim. They look adorable with or without fur. Hey! Saw the hat you made for Erica's baby. Too cute!
Posted by: Jean | Saturday, January 15, 2005 at 06:12 AM
What great pics! I was just explaining to my husband the process of shearing the buns, and your idea to keep them warm after their haircut. He asked me "A babies sweatshirt?" No, i said, a regular one. "They are that big?" he asks... I said no, they are about so big -with my hands. "So how does a sweatshirt fit on them?" When I explained that you cut the sleeves off, he thought I meant that you cut them off and put the rabbit in the sleeveless sweatshirt. Now that would be one big rabbit, wouldn't it!
I am glad your markers arrived! They are fun to make!
I might be getting bun on Jan 22 or 23!!
Posted by: patti | Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 08:44 PM
I can never get enough of your BEFORE and AFTER pics of your buns! tee-hee (sorry sophomoric giggle there) Thanks for sharing
Posted by: La | Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 08:17 PM
Great looking buns! I bet Dandy lost her tail to an over zealous mom - sometimes they "clean" off more than they should when the babies arrive.
Posted by: Chris | Thursday, January 13, 2005 at 08:08 PM