What else do you do at 12:23 in the morning besides blog?

Ha, well the Brun baby is doing great. Noirette's litter is doing amazing (they are so cute). Not much else on the baby front, besides I'm positive Au Contraire took as well as Mercedes, I suck at palpating but I think I may have felt something. I'm not sure about Rendezvous yet...

Besides that, today was another one of the cage cleaning days such fun! I also rearranged a bit and I know how a grand total of 6 30X24 cages in the rabbitry after digging two out of the snow. So know I have a couple of very happy does who are due soon. On that note, I counted my empty cages inside the rabbitry and there are currently 12 open holes (holy moleee). Then curious I counted the cages not in the rabbitry, and I have 6 out behind the bike shed, then by chance I stuck my head in the bike shed a low and behold, 5 more cages giving me a grand total of 23 open holes. How did that happen? You may be wondering how many holes are in use right now...the answer would be 27. For a grand total of 50 holes. That is a long ways off from the 4 I started with 7 years ago.

Now that I've completely exhausted myself through that strenuous math I have a bed calling my name.

Brun News

I had my first litter of Argente Bruns born on the 18th, Prima Donna had 1 bouncing ball of already slightly furred baby Brun. Yep Just one. She's being a good mother too now that she's calmed down a bit, yesterday she would hop into the nest box whenever someone went into the rabbitry, today she wanted treats and mellon rubs.

Not much more news besides that, I'm going to be breeding Scarlet soon (My Harlequin doe in case I forgot to mention it. I bought a Harlequin doe for meat production). Just under two weeks until Mercedes is due, and I really hope she doesn't have harlequin marked otters.

I hate snowmobiles. I really do. Last night I lost a Wooly doe who spooked when a snowmobile fired up to close to the rabbitry. This isn't the first time I have lost rabbits to it either. Last winter I lost an entire litter when the mother spooked and stomped them (She was a $$$$ Doe too, so I was looking forwards to that litter) I absolutely hate winter right now.


On a happier note Noirette's litter is doing great. We also managed to breed Mon Dieu to two does last night (Rendezvous, and Au Contraire). I am super excited, those two does are Gorgeous!!!!

Today I also had 3 rabbits leave to new homes, and I picked up a Harlequin Doe for meat production.

So I guess good tromps bad right now.

Late night :)

Have you ever had that split moment of panic when you have misplaced a pedigree? The "Oh shoot" followed by "I can always ask the breeder to send me a new copy..." Then the doubt "Wait, will that make me look bad?" So instead you, in a panic start looking for it, in all those strange places you know it will not be? On top of the fridge, in the washing machine, under your bed... You do not find it anywhere. So bucking up you start an e-mail to the breeder explaining when, low-and-behold...Half way through a cleverly typed e-mail, you spot it. Exactly in the place you knew you had left it.

Yeah... Me either.

So... Once again I attempted to breed Sundown to Mon Dieu. He must be really frustrated by now. I have done everything I can to stimulate Spring in the rabbitry. The light is on longer, I have a heater out there, I put her in a new cage that previously held a buck, she's currently housed beside one of my randy Wooly bucks. She gets a special diet, but will she breed? NO. Will my other does? YES. I bred Mercedes to Odie, (nearly the exact cross of her previous litter). I also bred Panache to Odie (for Jesse, I hope she produces something awesome for you!). Do I have a compatible buck for my other does? No, I could hypothetically breed Au Contraire to Mon Dieu... And the same with Rendezvous...Except Tristyn would murder me. Oh but a crop of babies for the fall shows would be great....

That should be it and I really ought to start going to bed before Midnight, but it's really hard when I shut the rabbitry light off at 10:30, then get sidetracked...

Oh I should also mention. I am working on Mini Rex tutorial videos. So videos on how to pose, select, and choose breeding pairs for Mini Rex.

Mini Rex, "The fur issue".

A lot of people when they think of a Mini Rex the first thing they think of is that plush velvety fur. As is the key aspect of the Rex breeds. Though many new breeders have the wrong idea of how the Mini Rex fur should be, they choose the softest, silkiest they can find, which is not what you want at all.

Mini Rex fur is recessive meaning that in order to have Rex fur the rabbit must have 2 Rex genes, only one Rex gene will result in a normal furred rabbit. Now you won't have to worry about that if you breed to Rex together. Now what makes the Rex different from other fur? Basically, it was a mutation seen in wild rabbits in France during the late 1800's that caused the fur to stand away from the body instead of laying flat. It also caused the guard hairs to become shortened to the same length as the undercoat.

So what should you look for in a good Mini Rex coat? What should you stay away from? Here are a few questions you should ask yourself when choosing that perfect coat.

1.) When I look at the coat, does it appear to be standing straight up? Is it even? Does it look polished? When you look at it you don't want to see any variation of lengths, you want the rabbit to have the look of a mink pelt (as if the coat had been evenly shaved) You do not want to see longer guard hairs. The coat should appear as one smooth surface (Picture a solid glass surface, smooth right?).

2.) When I touch the coat do I feel a resistance? Or does it just feel smooth and gives under the pressure of my hand? A good Mini Rex coat when touched should be springy, like it is resisting the pressure of your hand. When you press your hand down on it's back, do you leave a hand print, or does the coat regain it's shape? A good coat will instantly regain it's shape. A poor coat will have an imprint left on it. When you pat the rabbit one way does the fur return to an upright position, or does it stay smooshed? You want it to return as is, just like with the hand print

3.) Does the coat have density? Is it even all over? Density refers to the amount of hairs per square inch. The more the better in Mini Rex. A good way to test density is to pinch the fur between your index finger and middle finger. If it were not for the fur would you fingers touch? Or does it feel as if you cannot get a good grip and the fur is sliding out from between your fingers. If your fingers almost touch, the rabbit is lacking density. If you feel a resistance of the fur the rabbit has good density. Now try pinching the fur on different sections of the rabbit (Back, Hindquarter, middle, hind leg) You should be feeling the same resistance all over, if not the coat is uneven.

4.) How long is to long? The simple way to test this is to take a dime. Stand it in the fur, and pinch the fur against the coin. Does the coin disappear? Or can you still see the top? If the coin disappears the fur is too long. Now try this on different spots of the rabbit, the fur should approximately reach the same point of the time no matter where you place it.

5.) Texture, texture is a tricky thing in Mini Rex, if the fur is to coarse you have to many protruding guard hairs, if it is too soft, you don't have enough guard hairs. The key is to remember, you don't want silk, you want velvet. Unlike silk velvet has bite. You should feel a kick when petting a good Mini Rex coat, not the usual "It's soft" reaction.

So in point a good Mini Rex has a coat that is resistant, springy, dense, short, stands straight up, even, smooth, and velvety.

A bad Mini Rex coat, is soft, uneven, long, silky, thin, unresistant.

And remember, a curl should make you hurl.