Sunny Bunnies

The other day the temperature rose to the low fifties and it was absolutely beautiful! All the bunnies had a great time, just hanging out, enjoying the warmth and sleeping in sunbeams :)

Above, the white Flemish Giant male I'm raising up.  And below, his brother, who's currently up for sale.

They're both in the double hutch still, but now the middle divider is up.  They're happy to see each other, but they weren't happy about sharing the space, so the divider went up and things are peaceful again.

My female Nickel and her daughter.  

I decided I wasn't going to sell Nickel, even though she's a mixed breed.  I've never seen a rabbit of her coloring before and so I want to keep her.  I'm considering breeding her with a Lion Head this Spring for some pretty babies.  Her daughter though (the one that looks like a wild bunny) is up for sale.

My Velveteen Lop female, Lilac. 

Lilac, just like her sister Lily, absolutely loves attention!

And with the nice weather, she seemed even more eager to socialize. 

My oldest female, LE.  

I'm thinking of breeding her one final time this spring, then letting her live out the rest of her life as a retired breeder.  She's one bunny that I will never sell.  I don't care.  She's my oldest female and she'll be with me until the end. 

Then here's LE's daughter from her second litter.  This is Cottontail, she's not as big as LE, but she's just as sweet!

And my female, Ruby. 

Ruby's the mother of the two Flemish Giant Albino males I currently have. 

And her daughter, who I'm raising up for this Spring's breeding as well. 

Ruby's beyond sweet and has a nice size.  One of my larger Flemish females, besides LE. 

My Lop female, Valentine.  She's not the most social bunny, but she's one of the best mothers.  Not only does she raise her own, but she's a great foster mother as well!  This coming year will probably be her last for breeding as well. 

And my sweet, Mini Lop, Luna. 

Phantom and Misty's single maned Lion Head male.  I still have to find the perfect name for him, but I'm really excited for this spring when he'll be able to breed with some of my newer females.  

And his sister, my BEW Lion Head. 

And his other sister, my beautiful blue eyed, Calico bunny. 

Misty with her daughter, the Calico female. 

And just Misty, my beautiful blue eyed, Magpie female. 

The lighting was really nice, especially for the earlier pictures taken.  Hopefully I'll be able to catch some more moments with good lighting in the very near future :)

New Girl and Dotty

The last of my mixed breed, adult females are gone.  The last two to sell were Dotty and New Girl. 

I decided I'd put up a few pictures of them. 

Dotty was two years old.  She went to a very nice lady to become a companion for a 4 and 1/2 year old English Spot female rabbit named Jessi. 

While Dotty was with me, she was an amazing mother who had 3 litters with a total of 25 babies. 

She will be very happy as a retired breeder, as she'll have free rein of a whole apartment to enjoy :)

I will miss her, but I'm glad to know she'll be well loved and well treated. 

She was born and raised here with me, her father's Dustin and her mother's Buttons. So this is a completely new experience for her! Not only did she have her first ever car ride yesterday, but this will be the first time she'll get to live indoors with climate control. 

Then for New Girl...

I took New Girl in from a family who didn't want her anymore.  They had her living with three males.  After she had two litters, one right after another (only a month apart), I made sure she had lots of time to recuperate and kept her far away from any males for quite some time. 

With me, she ended up having another 3 litters, totaling with 5 litters which added up to 29 babies.

Without a doubt, she was one of the sweetest bunnies I've ever owned. She was the best mother and will make an amazing pet! She was sold to a young girl who had recently lost her bunny that she'd had for about three years.  I know she's being well loved and spoiled rotten, just as she deserves :)

She was always such a good sport!

These last few pictures were taken the day she left.

She was so sweet! I'm still not sure what breed she was, but I'm pretty sure she had a little Polish Dwarf in there somewhere. 

:) 

Needless to say, while they are both greatly missed, I know they're well loved and that's all I could ever ask for. 

Bunny Berries

Unless you're a rabbit expert or have spent lots of time around a rabbit, you probably didn't know that there's more to rabbit droppings then first thought.  

Rabbits have quite the variety of droppings, with two normal types and plenty of abnormal ones. 

These are Called: Fecal Pellets

Above is a picture of the normal 'daytime' droppings commonly seen, while the pictures below is of the normal 'nighttime' droppings.  The nighttime droppings are rarely seen, as most rabbits eat them. All rabbits produce these two types of droppings.  Anything other then these are abnormal.  Just observing the different types of droppings can help you identify possible issues or sickness in your rabbit, and help you quickly address the situation for the betterment of your pet or breeder. 

These are Called: Cecotropes

Abnormal droppings to look out for include: 

Dry, tiny droppings - which are a sign of dehydration, disease, or not enough fiber

Long, odd shaped droppings - sign of dehydration, disease, or not enough fiber

Droppings with fur - this is because rabbits cannot throw up.  Anything they eat goes through their system.  Many times it causes blockage, often known as wool block.  If it gets that bad, a rabbit usually won't have any droppings and will not eat

Hard droppings covered in mucus - rabbits getting over an illness often have this 

There are other types of rabbit droppings along with other names like 'berries,' droppings, pellets, etc.  But above are listed the most common in order to help you better identify the health of your rabbits. 

*More detail in specific rabbit droppings, along with photos can be found at the following link: http://www.medirabbit.com/EN/GI_diseases/drop/Drp_en.htm

Bunny Language

 I came across this picture the other day, with lingo concerning rabbits :) 

Found at this Link: https://www.pinterest.com/pin/324259241905971873/

Basically, it's all you need to know.  Of course, there are parts of rabbits which many people don't know the specific names for as well.  A good example of this would be the Dewlap.  This is the flap directly underneath the female rabbits' chins.  Males occasionally have a dewlap, but this is usually due to being overweight.  Females have dewlaps as an additional place to pull fur from while building a nest for their babies.  Not only that, but the Dewlap is stored fat, which aids in keeping the doe healthy throughout her labor and while she's nursing. 

Taking a look at the words listed and going down in order (some are self-explanatory,) we have: 

Leporine: this is something which looks similar to a Hare

Buck: this is a male rabbit

Doe: this is a female rabbit

Lapin: this can be male or female, but simply means a rabbit who is fixed

Kit: this is a young rabbit, however young, wild Hares are called Leveret

Colony: this is when there are a group of rabbits

Kindle: this is a young group, usually a litter

Litter: this is a group of animals all born at the same time, from a single mother

Fare: these are the prints left in the earth from the rabbits feet

Warren: just like a burrow or nest, a warren is where a rabbit lives

Crotiles: this is the rabbits waste

Scut, Bunt: this is the tail of the rabbit

Unlace and Jug: meaning used in preparing and cooking rabbit

Bunny: sometimes used for younger rabbits, although has been adapted by children for rabbits of all ages. Mainly used in describing domesticated rabbits, not wild

Herd: this is sometimes given to groups of domestic rabbits

And another good question? The different between Hares and Rabbits.  The biggest difference is their birth.  Hares have babies covered in hair with good vision, while rabbits give birth to babies that are bald, blind, and deaf.  Hares also live in nests, while the majority of rabbits live in holes underground. 

So there you go! A little bit of rabbit lingo to add to your vocabulary :) 

Feeding Pinecones - Mixed Bunnies

In the last few weeks, I've sold the majority of my mixed breed bunnies. Just to mention a few who found forever homes were New Girl, Chuck, Shira, Saffron, Jetta, Flicka, Flynn and multiple mixed breed kits.  However, I still have a few left.  

Dustin, above with his pinecone and Dotty below with hers. 

It took Dotty a few minutes to check it out, but once she did, she had a great time munching away. 

Nickel's daughter...

She wasn't hesitant at all! She went right out and started munching.  

Although she's actually gotten out quite a few times from her cage, and once I just let her out to roam around in our woods for a few hours.  She never wonders far and always shows back up looking for some dinner :)

And here's Nickel, much more hesitant than her daughter. 

However, once she tried it she really enjoyed it.

Both of them, munching away :)

My male Bull...

He was beyond curious as to what the pinecone was. 

:)

By the next morning, he'd completely eaten all the scale-like-leaves.

And my female Cali...the last of my tri-colored females. 

She really enjoyed the pinecones! And even though she's a mixed breed...I think I'm going to keep her a little longer and maybe breed her with my Harlequin colored Lion Head male, Zeus. 

Shira's little boy, still waiting for his forever home, munching his pinecone. 

And last but not least, my very first male ever...Oreo!

Yes, sadly I have to find Oreo a new home as well.  Although as long as I have him I will enjoy him.  He's so sweet and his fur is so soft! It took a long time for him to trust me and I him, but now he's my little buddy and I really do hope he goes to a home that will treat him very well.