New litters a Success!

Well after having such a low conception rate in the bunny barn in early winter, we continued to breed several does at once thinking that we would have several miss. Hah, the joke is on us. We bred 4 does and all 4 had litters. Two weeks later the other 4 does that were bred also had litters. This should be a good thing, right. Well...... it is good but what about when they all need to be weaned. :) The other thing is we didn't have small litters this time. All but one litter is 6 bunnies or more. Any way you add them up, it is a lot of babies.
So what was different? Well we changed two things. We are running heat lamps in the back half of the barn and we also changed feed brands. Not sure which one had the most effect but either way we have bunnies. So who had babies? Glad you asked. As reported Jasmine was the first one. Then we had Issabel bred to Bubba, Domino bred to Cashew, Abbie bred to Caspian, and Smokey also bred to Bubba.
The second group was Olivia bred to Cocoa, Nellie bred to Bubba, and Banner bred to Caspian. It has been warm enough (above 0) so that the nest boxes were able to stay in the barn. And I am happy to report that Jasmine's babies have been in the barn for a week now and are doing super.
Oh yeah, and did I mention that we have a copper satin litter due any day? woohoo baby bunnies on the way. I will let everyone know when they come.

Sheri

Sooooo Cold

Well it has been extremely cold. We haven't had a very good winter for breeding but things are looking up. Most of our breedings earlier this winter were misses. We had one doe give birth but it was below zero that night and the babies froze. The last litter born were to Jasmine and Bubba. They are quite a pair. The babies were born during the day and were found shortly after birth. We felt we didn't have a choice so we brought the box into the house. We take them out twice a day to have momma feed them. This seems to be working out quite well. Hopefully the deepfreeze we are in will thaw before the next group of does get ready to kindle next Wednesday. We will keep you updated.

We are really excited about a couple of babies born about 10 weeks ago. They are out of Bellairs Bubba and Bergene's Alena. The doe is black and the buck is blue and we saved one of each, both does. Very nice babies! The girls can't wait to get these two on the show tables.

Bellairs Bubbles Bellairs Pixley

christmas in the bunny barn

On christmas day we had to go and feed are bunnys. When Allison and Samantha went to the barn they walked in and found three jumps and a A-frame for are agility there was a card on the A-frame that said from: Speedy and cocoa star are agility bunnys. The other present was carrots in the stocking we hang up in the barn.s

Last show of 2007

What a great show we had last weekend in E. Lansing. There were over 100 entries in the youth Dutch show. We entered a few more than normal because it was only a single show. Unfortunately a lot of our animals are molting. The chocolates seem to always be in the middle of a molt when it is showtime. Cashew our blue buck with multiple wins was left behind on show morning because of his coat. You just brush your hand over him and knew he should just stay home. I am afraid that if we took him we would of had to vaccuum the van afterward :) So off we went. We got there plenty early but couldn't believe how full the building was. It was hard to find a spot to unload the rabbits.
When all was said and done we had Best of Variety Blue and Best opposite Variety Blue and Chocolate. It was a fun show and it was great to see all of our friends again that we have made this year. I am sad that there are no shows for a few months.
Before we left we were able to sell Bellairs George. A real nice blue buck, and full brother to Bubba. Mike was excited to have an empty carrier spot until he realized that we were picking up a black doe. Oh well, you know how hard it is to say no.
We would like to take time to say thank you to all of the rabbit breeders that have helped us out this year. It has been great getting to know everyone and learning more about showing.
Thanks from Mike, Sheri, Allison, and Samantha Bellairs

bunnies everywhere

We have been breeding does for next years National Dutch show. We wanted to have some nice Juniors ready to go. Well we were successful in breeding and now we have bunnies everywhere. Our barn is overflowing. We still need to purchase more cages to fill our new addition and we are busting at the seams. It is exciting to check out all the new litters though. We have our eye on several chocolates, and blues. We haven't gotten any black litters yet but they are due this week and next week. We even named a couple and put them up for sale, trying to make room. Check out the pictures of Zaphod and Flower (both chocolate). They are adorable and show a lot of promise.
Next Saturday is the last Michigan show of the year. The girls have been grooming for a couple weeks to make sure their rabbits are ready. Finally we can put Domino a blue Sr. Doe and Hershey a chocolate Sr. Doe on the table. They have been home all summer between raising a litter, then going through a molt. So we are all excited to see how they will do. Then of course there are Jasmine, Banner, Slingshot and Cashew; our group that has been doing well all year. Allison has aquired a new Satin doe also. She is a beautiful broken copper and she plans to take her to the show and see how she does.
Well that is all for now. We are anxiously awaiting more cages and new litters. If you are at the show next week please stop by and say Hi. We love to talk to other breeders.

Speedy's training

Hi, my name is Speedy. When I was younger two girl's would take me and my brothers and sisters to play. Then one day we where all put in a carrier then we where let out I seen a cage so I ran to it. When I got in the cage they shut the door. And they yelled I was in first place. When I got to the next level and had to run and jump to get to the cage. Know I have to run through a tunnel and jump over a jump with my buddy coco. Some day me and coco hope to do rabbit agility. With more jumps and a teeter toter also the A frame. If you liked this story look at hershey's adventure. Also keep watch for a new story.

Floor is in

Well our barn is almost complete. When we priced the patio stones we changed our plan to concrete. Unfortunately it was in the high 80's with high humidity this past weekend when we decided to put it in. But at least it is finished. Tonight we were able to move the 2 stacks inside that were under the overhang. With cooler weather coming in this week we are glad to be moving them all inside. It is so exciting to have more space. We are hoping to get more cages in the next couple weeks. With all the litters we have coming we need some extra cages. We are looking forward to a trip to convention this weekend to pick up a new doe from Dennis and Barb Kline from Ohio. She will take the place of our brood doe that we lost earlier this year.