Troubles

Sometimes I really don't know why I'm still trying so hard with these rabbits. I cannot get Holland babies, no matter what I do it seems. I breed and breed and breed, and they keep missing. Now I know a lot of people are having that exact problem right now. However, I now have five BEW Mini-rex (3 does and 2 bucks) and NONE of them will breed!!! The does won't lift, one of the bucks has no interest at all in does. The other buck I just got is interested, but he was literally shoved off the table by a doe! I just don't know what else to do with those. I want BEW, but I may end up going crazy with them. And to top it off, there's a sick junior in the barn again. No symptoms other than listlessness. I'm doing everything I can, I have GOT to get them all OUT of that barn! I truly think that is the root cause, cause I never have a single problem with any rabbit housed outside, only those that are inside. There's something just not right in there.

I ran into a big problem though with the new rabbitry setup... namely, the fence that I need to take down. It's not old enough for the fence staples to come out easily, and these are the really BIG ones. I'll end up breaking the wire before I can get them out, and I'm trying to save the wire. But I can't move forward until the fence is down, and I can't get the fence down without something to get the staples out of the posts!! So I'm stuck. I can't move the rabbits out of the barn until I have somewhere to put them, I can't build a new place to put them until I get the new rabbitry walls and roof up (for protection), and I can't put those up until I get the fence down! You see where all this is going?! So I feel just totally lost at the moment.

I know I'm not the only person having trouble with rabbits lately, but sometimes it just wears down on me. I can't do everything I want to do... I'm running out of time, and my physical limitations are driving me crazy, plus I have been having terrible heartburn, which just adds more to my stress.

Power Washing

So a couple weeks ago I went out and purchased a decent power washer. The idea being that I could use it for cleaning rabbit cages, pans, walkways, and other areas around the house. However, we then settled in for non-stop rain. Today I finally managed to get it out of the box, since today has been somewhat clear and warm and tomorrow is supposed to be clear and warm. I cleaned two of the stacks that had been previously pulled from the barn and I have to say, I'm quite pleased with the performance of this little machine! Granted, one of the hutches is in only fair shape. I give it just a few years before the bottom wire will need to be replaced. I replaced several of the clips today since many of them had rusted completely and came off during washing. I'm planning on cleaning up several of the trays as well, even though I don't care for the larger trays. There's no sense in wasting equipment that I already have, especially if it's still in usable condition.

I do have one slight problem with going forward with my new rabbitry plans. Apparently, the issue is with the fencing on the inner side of the old poultry pen. I cannot seem to find a way to remove the fence staples in such a way as to salvage the wire wherever possible. So the fence is still up on that side and I have no way of actually moving forward with my plans. I will continue to obtain the supplies I need, but I fear getting too far ahead in case I have to alter things at the last moment. Somehow, I have to find a way to take down the fencing.

Shows

We haven't had a lot of shows, especially in the last year. However, apparently that will be made up for in just a few short weeks. There are multiple shows until Easter, and since they are reasonably close, we'll be attending one each week. The purpose is to attempt to sell as much as possible, but also to visit with friends wherever I can. For all too soon I won't be going to any shows, and I'm sure it will get lonely. Though I'll still have my rabbits and my kids for company, it's just not quite the same as having like-minded adults around you with which to converse.

Giving up binky

This is apparently harder than I had expected. A binky is what we call a pacifier, and currently my youngest is in the process of giving them all up in favor of being 'big'. I had decided before she was born that I did not want to have to go through the nightmare of trying to break a thumb-sucker. So for her first 6 weeks of life, she wore socks on her hands. Then it was a trial teaching her to take the binky. We went through a slew of them as they would be lost or mangled (usually by dogs, though rarely ours). Now that it's been a couple of years, it's time for binky to go away and leave nothing in it's wake. It has been nearly a week without it and so far she is just beginning to accept that she will no longer have it for nap or bedtime. While some may think that she's had it too long already, when I think about how I didn't break my second until age 7 or my first until age 9 from the thumbsucking, I believe that 2 is a perfectly reasonable frame of time to wean from the bink. Besides, I may boil them and store the good ones for this next one. After all, binks don't grow on trees and are actually rather pricey, especially the orthodontic ones I prefer to use.

Schooling

The purpose of the different schooling levels:

Elementary school - gives you the basics of learning, building blocks
High school - builds on the foundations and prepares a person to begin their real education
Bachelor's degree - teaches a person how to learn
Master's degree - teaches a person how to question
Philosopher's degree - teaches a person how to think

And people wonder why our world is so off kilter... we don't have enough people that have been educated to the point of being able to think. Please note that when a person attains that level, most other people at lower levels will listen to what they have to say. There's a reason for that.

Complicated

At what point, exactly, did raising rabbits become so complex? The old saying "multiplying like rabbits" is a complete and utter misnomer, as anyone that has raised rabbits for show can attest. In spite of my dismal record for litters this season, I keep pushing through, hoping that eventually something will work in my favor for a change. However, it is beginning to appear that my herd is determined to make me see every single reason I came close to letting them all go not very long before. I've had deformities in litters, which actually is extremely rare. I've had does killing their babies, babies freezing to death from exposure, weanling enteritis, and now an orphaned litter. The only way I know to survive these hiccups is to maintain a tough exterior in dealing with the rabbits.

I've been raising these animals for many many years, and the one thing I can truly say I've learned is to not allow myself to become attached to any youngster less than 3-4 weeks of age. I don't name them, I don't tattoo them, I barely handle them. The reason is because very young rabbits tend to have a fairly high morbidity rate. Or as someone else once put it to me, "they love to die," which is not conducive to a close relationship with your adorable baby rabbits! Some tell me I'm cold-hearted. I dare them to keep in this hobby for as long as I have with as tender a heart as I once had, and not develop a tough exterior. It is extremely rare that I develop a true attachment for my charges. They are livestock first to me,and it is only the very rare and special charge that moves into the category of 'pet'. Anything else, for me, would eventually result in heartache.

In all these years, I can count just 4 show/breeding rabbits that have managed to attain the 'pet' distinction. Ebony, a black Holland Lop, who was my first; Bill, a blue Holland Lop; Pooky, a black GC Havana that won a BIS and produced offspring that placed very well at the national level; and Evan, a current resident, GC chinchilla Mini-rex buck, who is still leaving his mark on the herd.

Falling

Yesterday evening, coming back into the house I tripped over a baby toy with my right foot. The concrete was wet and slick, my left foot couldn't find a purchase to keep me upright. I went down hard, though not as hard as I might have since I grabbed the arm of the glider on the way down, though I think I broke it. I hit my right knee fairly hard (I've broken that one before). I was sitting on the wet concrete banging on the door trying to get the kids' attention (zombie kids watching TV). My eldest finally came out and ran to get DH, who was at the neighbor's house working on their TV.

DH & neighbor (former EMT) came racing over to check on me. After about 5 minutes I finally got them to get me up off the cold/wet concrete and into the house. I convinced them I didn't need the ER as I didn't think it was seriously damaged. I iced it up the rest of the evening. Today I woke up to a VERY sore knee of an interesting shade of purple. :lol: I also have a bruise on my right side (probably where I hit the glider). My back and neck have been sore all day almost like the aftereffects of a car crash. And while my stomach muscles are sore, I think it's still from the coughing and not the fall.

It's interesting what kind of damage women can do when they are trying to prevent damage to the belly.

When Mama's Sick, Nobody's Happy

I detest being ill. It's one of my greatest aversions. Particularly because my allergies tend to make me quite prone to 'catching' every bug that is coughed in my general direction. However, with my advanced expectancy, things become much more difficult to bear. As if reduced lung & stomach capacity, difficulty sleeping comfortably, and constant fatigue aren't enough. A hacking cough resulting in pulled stomach muscles (and terrible pain), complete inability to sleep due to coughing/breathing difficulty, extreme weariness, headache, fever, and all the other minor ailments that go with a major cold are now added. Not to mention that incontinence troubles mean that every single cough/sneeze/sinus clearing means that some waste water will be expelled, thus compelling me to wear something absorbent and change frequently. Believe me, I make a very unpleasant sick person in this condition.

The saddest part of all this, I caught this nasty bug from my well-intentioned and loving youngest offspring, who simply doesn't understand that she shouldn't wipe her runny nose on mama's shirt (eeew!). When I was expecting #3, I had some small resistance to bugs. Either I am not as well-protected with this one, or this particular bug is extremely strong. Judging by the severity of the symptoms, I'd be more inclined to believe the latter than the former. Still, I will be exceedingly happy when this passes and truly hope that certain people will be so kind as to keep their illnesses to themselves! It's already been proven that things go in a handbasket when Mama doesn't feel well.

Litter Issues

This is what I've had so far this year:
Litter 1: 1 live, 1 dead, 2 deformed
Litter 2: 2 live
Litter 3: 1 peanut, 1 live (died on day 3)
Litter 4: 3 live, 1 peanut
Litter 5: 6 live
Litter 6: 9 live (all killed by doe around day 4)
Litter 7: all DOA, unknown #
Litter 8: doe put litter on wire, unknown #, 1 peanut born 4 days late
Litter 9: 1 DOA born 4 days late
Litter 10: 5 born, all froze

Not quite how I'd envisioned my return to breeding. Still, I blame the weather for all the recent litter troubles, and doe age for some of the others. Regardless, this kind of record, while not uncommon, is a big reason why so many breeders suffer from mild depression this time of year. Especially when it took so long to get several of these does bred. I may go through and begin to cull (remove from the herd) does that cannot seem to bear/raise a live litter. Particularly the doe that kindled litter #9. She's an older doe than even some of the others and to my memory, has never raised a litter to weaning for me. She may be one that sees the door. Another on tenterhooks is the doe of litter #6, who was on a short leash to begin. Most of these does have been re-bred, so they'll have a chance to make up, but those that miss... beware.

Trying something new?

I love to try new things. I don't really know why, I just love to learn about things, and I'm a 'crafty' sort of person that enjoys making things. Plus, I tend to get bored with old skills and want to learn new ones. The most recent idea I had was to try quilting. However, the idea of making a full-size quilt is just so intimidating! I know I'd never finish anything like that. So when I saw others discussing postage-stamp quilts, it sounded like something I could actually try out and maybe even finish. Especially if I keep is reasonably sized, such as for a throw or baby quilt. It might be an idea for next winter's holiday gifts as well.