In case you’ve never seen one, here are some pictures of what a young harlequin dutch rabbit looks like. The pattern contrasting with the white markings makes for a very pretty animal!
Category: Rabbits Page 1 of 2
I made the mistake of mentioning an upcoming show while in the dutch rabbit pen. One of them decided to sculpt both of his adjoining neighbor’s faces overnight!
Of course I had fully intended to enter those two. Luckily I had nit finished my entry yet! So if you’re going to a show, don’t tell the rabbits!
I’ve seen people on Facebook poat pictures like this and stert frantically asking what disease their rabbit has. If the fur is missing between the eyes and it’s clean with no dandruff or redness, it’s either a cagemate or a neighbor.
I have 2 does right now (and now this buck) that have to be in cages that either have solid dividers or are next to a non show contestant because they like to lick other rabbits. Nothing wrong with their diet, it’s just fun!
My steel dutch doe Susie had a litter of 6 and did great!
However, my blue satin’s first litter wasn’t so good. She had 1 healthy and 2 peanut kits. The peanut kits were humanely culled and since 1 kit can be harder for a first time mom to raise, I decided to give it to Susie.
I took a black mismark out and added the satin kit in. The mismark went over to a chinchilla dutch doe who had a litter the same day. So far, everyone is doing well!
I’m excited to see how these progress, as I see several steels and that’s a color I want to do more of. Baby power!
Say it after me: Genetics is fun! Wheeeeeeeee!
…..no, no it’s not lol. It’s confusing and tricky and sneaks surprises in 13 generations later. The only fun part is …cute babies!
I love to read, so when I was recently looking for another book that might help explain some rabbit genetics I kept seeing recommendations to buy this book, ABC About Bunny Colors. So I did! Turns out it’s authored by an Ellyn Eddy, although it doesn’t say that on the cover anywhere.
It arrived and is a self published POD (Print on Demand) style. In my experience the bindings don’t last as long if it’s a book you want to lay flat, so if you have a local copy shop that can cut the edge off and spiral bind I recommend that as this is the type of book you’ll need to stare at a page for a long time.
It was recommended as a “so easy!” genetics book that’s been around a while. As I’m reading the covers, I see that the tagline is “You shouldn’t have to be a nerd to be a rabbit breeder”. Right here…first negative.
First off, that’s insulting to nerds. Nothing wrong with nerds. Second…yea, if you have to insult someone to sell books you lose points in my eyes.
Moving past the cover…I started in. It does start with an easy to follow style and presents the information simply…well, it tries to. There’s a huge miss by using barely different sizes of images to represent the different sets of genes. The theory of using pictures vs the typical ABCDE is great, but I had a hard time telling the different sized trophies or square floral designs apart. I got where the author was coming from, but perhaps different colors vs sizes would’ve worked better.
The first few pages are indeed easy to follow. Simply written. Using the pictures does make for some weird formatting as some lines are double spaced and some single, but that’s a minor thing. Then, by page 13, it starts changing tone and moving away from the easy to understand into regular normal genetics talk.
Once Chapter Two gets going, now we’re out of easy and into “this will melt your brain”. The author tries to keep it light with some asides and doing “fun” titles for the sections…but, it’s not an “easy” explanation after this. This continues through the rest of the main body of the book. However, the chapters are well written and there is a ton of information on each color/gene/locus etc.
At the end, there is then a glossary of terms used, and an appendix of genotypes of common varieties- one of the best parts!. Then another appendix with some color name alternates and what breed uses them, which is another of the best parts especially when I raise two different breeds that like to make things complicated.
Overall…this is not as it’s advertised, an easy to understand genetics book, with the exception of the first chapter. It is a great reference for someone wanting to learn genetics and has a lot of in depth information on each set of genes (although it skips over some of the oddball chinchilla genes, it’s honest about it). I wouldn’t call it a practical guide, and yes, you DO need to be a little bit of a nerd to understand genetics the way it is presented.
To be fair, genetics isn’t easy. I’ve been looking for a “breed this get that” information source and unless you’re doing REW (Red Eyed White) to REW breedings , genetics won’t let that happen !
Do I recommend buying this book? Yes, but be prepared that you will need to digest it in chunks…repeatedly… and it’s not the easy spoon fed tome people make it out to be.
SM
This is Ting Ting. Ting Ting is a stubborn hardheaded brat at times….like when it comes to leaving her resting mat alone.
She apparently found this very comfy! The mat wasn’t so happy and took a week to flatten back out :).
After months of only 1 small rex litter…we finally got 2 litters! Both moms delivered 9 babies. One is a first timer and one is a first timer fir me (second for her). So far so good!
Baby rabbits are hard to take pictures of because as soon as you disturb the nest they pop up and start looking for mom…but I promise they are all in the picture.
It will be a few days before I can pull them to check colors..so for now they just get daily welfare checks (while mom is distracted with a tidbit or two).
Three more cute Happy Holiday messages featuring bunnies!
First up is a young grey dutch (didn’t look at the gender yet). I was taking pictures with it and a littermate (below) because by themselves they weren’t very cooperative. Out of all the individual pictures, this is the only nice one…I happened to catch it right when it was checking out the sound of a goose sneaking up behind me so I got a nice side profile. Good bunny!
Next we have the aforementioned littermate with the grey Dutch above. They both decided that the feather boa was a good hiding spot and buried their noses down in it long enough for me to get a picture! This is one of the cute ages for sure.
Last but not least we have a Harlequin Dutch doe that I’m keeping to be one of my harli breeders. She’s very laid back…when I rested the stocking on her for the picture she hunkered down and decided it was a good place for a nap. She (and the other two Dutch above) totally ignored the jingle bells while I was trying to take their picture, which worked out well.
Well, that’s it for the good Christmas/ Holiday rabbit pictures! Maybe soon I’ll do an outtake post :). Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday, whichever one you celebrate!
I had to make it rhyme, right?
The weather was nice and the lighting was good so I decided to set up a little studio outside and try and get one good holiday rabbit picture to send out. I ended up with a couple of cooperative subjects (kinda) so I decided to post the results on the blog!
This is Cyndi Hopper. She’s a young black otter Rex I got from one of my several Rex breeder friends, Georgia’s Farm and Rabbitry is how she’s listed on Facebook. I snapped this picture right before she decided to taste test the feather boa…but not to worry, I was faster than she was. She didn’t care for the bow and would not even let me put it on her for a second!
Next up we have Scarlet. She is one of the Rex babies I had to hand raise and force feed off mom (write up on that coming soon). They’re a sweet bunch, although you wouldn’t know it from the side eye I’m getting in this picture! Scarlet kept grabbing the jingle balls and throwing them around or nosing them off the table…hilarious to watch!
Last up for this post is Anabelle. She’s another of the hand raised Rex babies and the only REW (Red Eyed White) in the litter. In this picture I wanted to put her tail first in the stocking for a cute “rabbit head popping out of stocking” picture, but she was having none of that! Instead we went with “rabbit investigating stocking and then backing out” image. Next time I might toss some treat of some type in the stocking and have more time to get an even cuter picture !
*No rabbits were harmed in the making of these pictures and everyone got one on one cuddles after their photo sessions*
Please note all pictures are copyright Susan L. Marsh and not for distribution. Thank you!
Stay tuned for the secret, magical instrument that keeps my rabbit’s nails from being the Destroyer of Human Flesh (TM)!
I will soon unveil…right here…right for you…my secret. And no books to buy, subscriptions to start, videos to watch (yet).
Are you ready?
Got your wallet out?
Because …it’s….toenail clippers!
Wait…what??? Just regular human toenail clippers?
YES!
But seriously…I prefer the heavier duty nail clippers (like for men’s toenails) to any guillotine type animal clippers. Easier to handle and they don’t slip while you’re halfway done cutting.
My current set is these from amazon…because…they’re cheap enough in price that when I lose them (and I will), it won’t be a huge drain on the finances!
So you don’t need anything fancy. Just grab some nail clippers and go for it!
Here’s a quick version with a few explanations of a list I made to remind myself of what I needed to bring to my local rabbit show:
- Rabbits (seriously…don’t forget anyone!)
- Carriers
- Water/feed dish for carriers. (I don’t fill them in transit if it’s less than half a day, otherwise water and food ends up everywhere)
- Show records/list (for noting who wins what)
- Pens to write with
- Nail clippers
- Rubbing alcohol
- Paper towel roll
- Mask/allergy eye drops (for allergies if needed)
- Spare towel or two (to keep clothes clean when handling rabbits)
- Baby wipes (cleanup for you and rabbits)
- Change of clothes (sooner or later you will be peed on)
- Water and feed for rabbits
- Water and food for humans
- Extra cash money (raffle, lunch, that rabbit you just have to have, etc)
- Toll money or electronic payment method (if any toll roads)
- Money to pay entry fee (if not prepaid)
- Cart to bring carriers into show
- Something to sit on (I use a 5 gallon bucket that holds my supplies)
- Phone and charger
- If kids coming that might get “bored”, QUIET entertainment and headphones
- Copy of your payment receipt (if prepaid) and entry forms
- Bungee cords to close carriers/strap together on cart
- First aid kit for humans/rabbits (bandaids, quick stop powder or flour, etc)
- Spare carrier just in case something extra comes home
Things to do before the show:
- Check and touch up/do ear tattoos (3 or more weeks out preferably for healing time)
- Submit your entry early and pay ahead (if allowed)
- Trim everyone’s nails (judge will be happy)
- Double check teeth etc for last minute issues
- Clean carriers and add fresh bedding
- Pack up supplies and put everything in car except rabbits and humans
- Gas up car
- Print out directions to/from the show (in case GPS doesn’t work)
- Check fluids/oil/etc in vehicle (bring spares as needed, no gas in same compartment as rabbits or humans!)
At the show:
- Get there early
- Don’t block the aisles
- Observe good sportsmanship
- Control your kids/self…rabbits do not like loud noise and fast movement and you may injure your or someone else’s animal
- Have fun!
After the show:
- Unpack car
- Dump out carrier bedding
- Quarantine any rabbits that went to the show and any new ones that came back with you for 30 days minimum
- Keep an eye on rabbits for signs of stress, illness and treat if needed
- Keep in contact with any new raisers you met 🙂
- Plan out breeding based on information you learned
- Get ready for the next one!