Little girls grow up too fast

[owlsfriend]

:lilbunny: :lilbunny: :cheerleader: When I first got Tan-Dori and Tahini, they were barely 12 weeks old, and seemed so shy and innocent, like little Norman Rockwell schoolgirls....but somehow, they've grown up! Yesterday, I noticed that Tan-Dori was more of a gum smacking teenager, the type to stand on the corner with a bunch of girls, making loud comments as car-loads of boys drive by....what's a mom to do? My little girls are looking for trouble and the boys are looking back!

There will be no speed-dating in this rabbit barn! (Fist thumping on pooh barrel!)

(meekly) Well, maybe there will. But I don't want my sweet sugar doe-lings to get roughed up by just any old buck....(this is where I REALLY wish sweet Louie wasn't neutered...)....and the young bucks are so silly and clumsy....just tripping all over themselves in their adolescent innocence and eagerness.

My whole "goal" of having kits, is more geared towards having happy rabbits than any move towards the Standard of Perfection. I'm not worried about improving the hips and shoulders, or even about the wool quality. I just want warm nest boxes full of fur and straw and wiggly, tight belly popples....however they turn out.

Of my 6 "breeders" I have three does and three bucks. It would seem that every-bun could have their own sweetie-pie this time around and we'll just see what works out and what doesn't. Faye (my 4 year old virgin EA) is sort of aggressive, so I'd put her with Milton, who is the most mature of the boys--an 8 mo. old SA--also inexperienced. The other 4 were all born in July, but I want to breed them also, in case I need fosters. This would hopefully, give me one litter of pure Satin Angoras and two litters of 50% English/50%Satin angoras. Since Faye and 'Chunky Butt' are full blooded but don't have their paperwork, those kits would have half pedigrees. (unless Chunky's previous owner responds to my e-mail, which would be nice. otherwise, I may have to have him publicly flogged.....or just blow it off and work my herd into it's own pedigree, three generations out.)

All suggestions and comments welcome. My poor beleaguered husband has been holding back the flood for over a year, but he knows it is only a matter of time.....

 

[-HRanchito]

Chunky butt is an awesome name.

What's your plan for the kits once they grow a bit? Purebreds tend to fetch a higher prices, is why I ask. :hmm:

 

[owlsfriend]

The name Chunky Butt, refers to the wool quality of his rump when I first got him, as he'd not been groomed in some time. The webs all pulled apart easily, and he was no longer so rough, but the unfortunate name stuck. His previous owner has come across with paperwork, (yeah!) so now Faye is the only paperless peer.

I've changed my mind about the line up, mainly because I realized how much more grooming the EAs need than the SAs. It seems that my original rescues were a EA/SA mix. They demand even more attention than the straight EAs, and I don't need any more "high maintenance" woolers in the shed.

 

[skysthelimit]

Good to know that. I was thinking of one bigger wooler. I am not accustom to doing any grooming with my buns besides nails, and the JW are a challenge. EA might be a bit much, so maybe SA would be better.

 

[avdpas77]

:

Faye (my 4 year old virgin EA) is sort of aggressive, so I'd put her with Milton, who is the most mature of the boys--an 8 mo. old SA--also inexperienced.

All suggestions and comments welcome. My poor beleaguered husband has been holding back the flood for over a year, but he knows it is only a matter of time.....

I realize much of the original post was "tongue-in-cheek" But in all seriousness, I think it is unlikely you will be able to get a litter out of a 4 year old doe that has never been bred before.

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

If you breed your bunnies I would like a few kits from you for sure.

 

[owlsfriend]

avdpas77, I'd be happy if Faye didn't take. She's not the best specimen, just the only doe EA I now possess. She was more than happy to lift for Cody, but he was such a klutz that she started loosing patience with him.....even verbally "grumbling" at him to get it together and stop humping her sideways. (I'll give him another shot today and that's it for them....)

Tandoori and Chunky Butt were all about business twice in a minute and a half....anti-climactic for me, and plenty of no-big-deal for them....so much for the "no speed-dating" rule.

Milton, still recovering from wool block, got so much exercize in the pantry that I'm sure he's cured. Tahini didn't stand still for anything, but eventually put her nose in a corner and ignored "everything going on, back there"....performance in question...will try again today. (I put them in the travel cage at one point but there wasn't enough room vertically for much activity, so I let them back out.) Mostly, I think she was sitting on her tail with her legs crossed tight.

I have three kits spoken for already from a woman in TN who raises American Blues, the heritage meat rabbit I've intellectually chosen. We're going to trade, two bucks for a doe--me to her, and a doe for a doe--even up. I've since found two AM Blue breeders in IN that I need to contact. So it really does look, like after all this long preparation, that I'm going to be in business!!!

 

[tm_bunnyloft]

Now don't forget me When you get kits. I would love a trio if you have more than the three already spoken for.

And congrats on working a deal on your heritage breed. I hope you can get into contact with the other breeders as well. That would be wonderful.