4H fair

We had a very exciting 4h fair week. 

Thursday was check-in, which went surprisingly smoothly. Luckily the heat broke a little bit so we got everyone comfortable settled in. 

Saturday was the rabbit show bright and early. we are very lucky that Whitley County runs an ARBA sanctioned show. Our judges were Caleb Thomas and Eric Stewart. The first breed up was Netherlands and the 1st group was Self. Nicholas took 2 REWs.  Our Sr. buck [LLS Avalanche] placed 1 of 1 and our Jr. Buck [AA Whiteout] placed 1 of 1, BOV, and BOG.  This was Whiteout's first time on the table and he got his 1st leg. The Shaded group was next. Rebecca took a Sr. Siamese Smoke Pearl buck[AA Sparky] and a Jr. Siamese Smoke Pearl doe[AA Pebbles]. Pebbles was disqualified for a white toe nail. Bummer that we didn't notice that before! Sparky won 1 of 1, and BOG.  The Tan Pattern group followed. we had traded a rabbit for a goat with a friend. She showed a Smoke Pearl Marten Sr. Buck [AA Juniper] who won BOG also. When it was time for breed to be judged there were 3 Avis Acres rabbits on the table. Caleb Thomas choose Sparky for BOB! That is Sparkys 4th BOB! 

Silver Fox were the next breed to be judged. There were 7 Silver Fox at our county fair! Nicholas had a Jr. Buck [AA 90]. Rebecca had a 6/8 doe [AA Nadia] and a 6/8 buck [AA Baryshnikov].  Rebecca won BOB with Nadia  and Nicholas won BOS with his Jr. Buck. I guess we better get that little guy a name!  

Immediately following Silver Fox were the Hollands. We didn't have a SSB thanks to Dare Devil being in the middle of a nasty molt- poor guy is almost naked!  Rebecca had two SSD, [AA Milky Way and GBF Honolaura]. Honolaura was just coming off a litter and got 3rd and Milky Way got 2nd (she was also molting). We had  two SJD [AA Mack and AA Venus].  Mack was shown by Rebecca was 2nd while Venus was shown by Nicholas was 6th. Two BSB were both shown by Nicholas. Twin Barns Fritz was 2nd and Mossy Possum Zoom Zoom was 6th (another rabbit open in coat). Nicholas showed a  BJB [AA Mickey] for another 1st. We had two BJD, (AA Aurora) shown by Nicholas for a 3rd and [AA Minnie] shown by Rebecca was 1st. We didn't have anybody on the breed table because we got beat for variety by older animals. The BOV solid was a doe we had sold because we couldn't get her bred. Lucy always did have it on the show table and she still does, she made a 10 year 4Her very happy this year. 


Sunday was the beef show. Rebecca showed her junior beef steer because she really enjoys the larger animals, but we can't compete with those grain fed show steers. She enjoyed showing him, though, and he walked very well for her.


Monday was the goat show. Note to self- when kids are showing in white outfits always have a backup ready! The one day Rebecca had a bloody nose and she was in white. Chris saved the day by racing home and getting her clean clothes.  First in the ring was our 2 year old milking doe, she placed 2nd with Rebecca. Our youngest doe was 2nd out of three for Rebecca. Our yearling dry does finished 2nd for Nicholas and 4th for Rebecca. they both went back in the ring with Tango and Fandango for the Mother/Daughter-dry class and finished 4th. We were very pleased with that finish. There were too many pairs in the ring to count, and the winner is supposed to show the greatest improvement for mother to daughter.  That just left the wethers. Nicholas finished 6th with his 50# and Rebecca finished 2nd with her 53#. The judge did mention that he really liked Rebecca's wether and if she had walked him a little more he could have won the class.

Both kids competed in Junior showmanship. Neither won, but the judge made a point to let everyone in the audience know that Nicholas was the most improved junior showman in his class. I had noticed that he got better each time he was in the ring, but it was really nice for the judge to recognize him, too.  

Now we have less than 2 weeks until the State Fair rabbit show and Rabbit Ambassador competition. 

2 week countdown to 4H Fair!

Goats hooves are trimmed, they get their shaves this weekend. All 6 of them!
Steer has been bumped up to twice daily walking,washing and brushing.
Rabbits are on the conditioning program to try and get them through their molts faster and prevent the others from starting!
Hopefully pictures soon! between the animals and the weeds in the garden their hasn't been much time for photography!

BIG NEWS!! Non GMO feed!

Where has the time gone? I can't believe it is the middle of June already! Our big news if that we found a feed producer in Honeyville, IN that is making non-GMO feed. We have switched our hogs and poultry to non-GMO feed and are very excited about that change.

We have finished a batch of 25 meat chickens and have 50 more coming this week. Our new pullets have been integrated with the flock but are not exactly comfortable yet. They are still trying to hide from the 'older' girls. If all goes well our egg production this fall should be fantastic! Non-GMO, free range fresh brown eggs and non-GMO pastured chicken. Wow. How far we have come in a year!

We have 2 'hatchings' of Bourbon Red turkeys already outside and growing well. they should be ready for thanksgiving, which seems like a long way off but will be here before we know it!

We quit collecting the duck eggs because there were just laying too many. Now they have built there own nests and are setting. One built her nest under the rabbits! I had to add an extra pan to the stack of cages so she would quit getting 'soiled' from the rabbits above! I wonder how many ducklings we will have waddling around soon? Do you think they will do a better job than our incubator does?


The pigs are really gaining. They are also so much fun. Chris and Nicholas were putting the hay tarp on last week and the pigs were helping! Three of the pigs grabbed on to a corner of the tarp and started pulling while Chris and Nicholas were on the other corner! You should have heard those two laughing and calling to the pigs to 'pull'. Priceless.

The heifers and steers are very happy with all this rain, they have plenty of grass to eat all day long. We also still give them hay to keep things balanced, but they sure enjoy that green grass. Right now the goats are in the same pasture as the cows. They keep their distance from each other but are doing fine. The goats like to eat the hay from the top of the bale! They jump right up on those round bales and munch away.

That just leaves the rabbits. Rebecca counted yesterday and we have an even 100 rabbits. Sure seem likes more at watering and feeding time! They are all doing well, considering the heat. We have had lots of babies and they are growing like crazy. Only one show this month and then nothing until the Whitley County Fair and State Fair followed quickly by the IN State RBA Convention.

The gardens are growing with all the rain we have had. We had 5" last Friday alone. Lots of standing water around here. Our garden beds are on a hill with grass inbetween so we didn't have anything wash away except for the driveway!

Thanks for checking in!

OSRBA mini convention

Baseball season has begun!

Happy goats- 10 days old

Spring 'Break'?

Not much of a break here- I'll let the photos tell the tale.

Twins!!

The solid black is a buckling and the doeling is 'properly' marked. We had been keeping an eye on Tango for days. Her udder just kept getting bigger. Today when we were doing chores she really seemed to be panting. We had dinner and Rebecca put together her 'birthing kit'. When the kids went to check on her after dinner she had two little ones all cleaned up and on their feet! We didn't have to do a thing. I'm sure we will have more adorable pictures to come. They are both headed in the right direction, as you can see by the last photos- headed for the food!

March News

Well, March came in like a lamb! Isn't that backwards? Our weather has been gorgeous. It sure makes it easier to get stuff done outside when the sun is shining!

Our second hatch was a little better, but not much. We got 6 chicks this time. Something happens after they start to develop but before they hatch. Chris is researching all possible problems. Incubator too hot or too cool? Humidity too high or low?

We are waiting for our Oberhasli doe, Tango, to deliver her first. She is due any day now. She is in her own private pen and looks very uncomfortable physically but I think she likes her new area.

This past two weekends were busy. Two days of rabbit shows the 13th and 14th in Columbia City, with a Holland Specialty each day.  The 20th in Nappanee with a Silver Fox Specialty. We did much better than I would have ever expected. We took Best of Breed youth Holland on the 13th and Best Opposite youth Holland on the 14th with the same junior doe! Our little Milky Way really impressed the judges. One of them even called her "stunning"! I guess we'll try that breeding again! Rebecca got lots of firsts with her Netherlands and Best Opposite on the 13th.. The Silver Fox actually had competition both weekends and held their own. We also got a breeding to a buck who is unrelated to our line so we have some diversity!

As soon as I can get pictures off Rebecca's camera I will post them!

Chris is now officially the Market Master for the Columbia City Farmers Market.  You will be able to find him downtown most Saturday mornings mid May to mid October.

We are also working with the Health Dept to be able to sell our meat at the Farmer's Market and by the cut from our freezer.

That's all our news for right now. Thanks for checking in!

Chicks!

The chicks in the incubator are starting to 'pip' today! They pip a little whole in the large end of the egg, then they peck around the large end of the egg until they can push out. 4 have pipped so it already looks like a better hatch rate than last time.
The turkeys started laying this week so hopefully those will go in next!

Not much better

February has been no better, kindling wise. One dead litter born in our new inside maternity ward and the rest are all misses. So we breed again and try for March.
Only 2 chicks out of our first incubater full, so it is filled and 'cooking' again. We candled them last night and removed any that weren't growing. The ones we took out were all the same size and color, so probably from the same hen- looks like she isn't getting along with the roosters!
Our Oberhasli doe, Tango, is looking bigger and her udder is starting to fill. Hopefully a baby goat at the end of March, although Rebecca is convinved it will be any day now!
Rabbit show season gets into full swing this month-March 6 a youth workshop and show in Lafayette, March 13/14 Noble County/Whitley County both in Columbia City, and March 20 in Nappanee. We have several Silver Fox juniors and some Holland Lops to sell. Hopefully we can find new homes for them so someone else can feed them!

February kindling

What you might be able to see in the pictures is the nest box in the cage, the tags on the front are to keep track of who was bred to whom and when. We are tired of losing babies, lost 2 more this am. So I broke down and cleaned a used 8 stack we had purchased, found a tarp and moved the expectant Mommas into the basement. I can't stand the mess, the smell and having animals in the house, but I hate losing prospective Hollands even more. They are so darned hard to get bred in the first place and then to lose babies is just heartbreaking. Emme delivered last night, a day earlier than I expected and had 2 little kit-cicles. I think it bothered Chris more than it did me! He is the one who said we really didn't have a choice anymore, they  have to come inside. I couldn't even talk him into the garage, he said "Basement, just do it". What a guy. We'll let you know if anyone is successful- 3 due this week and 3 more next week.

Could this mean spring is on it's way?!?

I doubt it, but we have a couple of chicks, anyway! Chris set 40+ eggs, but only 2 have hatched, so far. The others aren't even pipped, so we are worried they may not hatch. But he has 40 more ready to go. These will be mixed breed chicks for egg-layers. Since we put all the chickens together for the winter there have been all sorts of 'couples'!

Sparky is a Grand Champion!

Here is Rebecca's Netherland Dwarf. He is a Siamese Smoke Pearl senior buck named Sparky. She had one leg on him from an earlier show and this weekend at Huntington, which was a double show, he won Best of Breed in both youth shows! Three wins that have enough comptetion to earn legs = Grand Champion. She also won Best Opposite Sex to Sparky with her Smoke Pearl Marten senior doe named Taco. Rebecca has bred all the Netherland's she showed. She was very excited to do so well at her first show of the year.

Avis Acres had the only Silver Fox in the youth shows, so we swept BOB and BOS in each.

Our Hollands are getting better, we earned lots of seconds and thirds, but no big wins.

It was a long day, we got up before 6am and didn't get home until after 10pm. It was so worth it to see all our rabbit friends again. Noble County and Whitley county shows are next month in Columbia City. Hope to see more of you there, weather permitting!

We did learn a valuable lesson regarding our new "rabbit-mobile"- it has a great alternator! Nicholas ran the battery down watching movies, so we had to beg jumper cables and a jump at the end of the day. The battery re-charged before we got to the restaurant for dinner so we were able to eat without leaving it running!

A word from Rebecca

I was very excited to win so much at the show considering it was my first generation of Netherlands. I took four rabbits and each at least got one leg. My mother was a bit flustered that my first year of breeding Netherlands I have won so much and she has been breeding Holland for a few years and has only had one BOB and one BOS. I am very grateful to have started off so well.
So long,
Rebecca

Our "Nursery"

 

Here are our three January litters. After our December losses and lessons learned with the cold the nest boxes are coming in this month. We take them out to their Mommas to nurse in the morning and then keep them warm the rest of the day. We need to clean the boxes and give them fresh straw this weekend so we'll post some baby pics soon.

January litters

Several litters born last week. After losing so many in December due to the cold I decided we were bringing nestboxes in this time. So every night we bring the boxes in the house to stay warm and take them back out in the morning so Mommas can nurse their babies. It did warm up so we can leave them out more during the day, but we are still bringing them in every night.

Cybil's 3 Hollands born on Jan 18 are doing great. looks like a broken black and two REWs.

Sasha, a Silver Fox had 8 on Tues Jan 19 in the morning.

Blue Belle is a spas Holland- she is always flying around her cage so I was concerned about breeding her in the first place. She delivered 3 Tues night, but 2 were peanuts. Peanuts are a result of breeding two true dwarf rabbits - the kits get a double dwarf gene and rarely live for more than a few days. The good thing is that now I know Blue Belle and Dare Devil are both true dwarfs!

Sylvia, Silver Fox, had 3 live kits Wed morning, and several more dead ones throughout the day, I think we found 9 total. By the end of the day there were only 2 still with us.

Wednesday night I was trying to decide what to do, I knew Blue Belle was not taking care of hers like I wanted and I was worried that the two peanuts wouldn't be enough mass to keep the other kit warm. I decided that Thursday we would need to do some fostering, but I was too late. All three of Blue Belles were gone Thurs am. We also decided to foster some of Sasha's 8 to Sylvia to even their loads out. Anybody have a good way to mark black kits whewn you foster them?!? Usually we mark the ears, but their ears are black and nothing shoews up! We colored a front foot, hope we can still find it!

Emme, Onawa, Google, and Lucy all missed- so they are re-bred now. Diana just weaned a litter and Blue Belle lost hers, so I will re-breed both of them next week. So hopefully more babies in February! I like to have at least 2 does due the same day so you have back-up in case something happens. So far it is working very well, as long as I decide quickly enough what to do! So many lessons to learn.

Cybil ( x Zoom) is the first to deliver!

Three kits born sometime between 6 and 8pm. A broken black, and two surprises. She has thrown a REW before so we will have to see when the fur comes in. Why is it my only doe with a nasty personality is my most consistent producer?!? I really do not like her, keep saying I'm going to get rid of her, then she gives me babies! After my cold weather lessons last month I am not taking any chances and brought the nestbox inside. I hope I don't make her mad and that she will nurse them when I bring them back to her.

Hopefully more updates tomorrow!

Time for new homes

Check out my sister's blog to hear how the grey kitten got a new home!

We also placed a ND buck in a 4H home and a sable point Holland doe in a pet home. It makes it all worth it so see the looks of joy on these kids face when they pick their new friend.

Babies due this week so hopefully I'll have some new pics soon.

Cold Weather Lessons... we've learned the hard way

1. Newborn rabbits really are wet and will not survive in 9 degree temps no matter how soon you find them.
2. Metal chicken waterers are not a good idea, even on a heater- the chickens combs freeze to the metal above!
3. Breaking the ice out of water dishes is really painful on your wrists at about #36 ( we have 65 to break daily).
4. Cats will use the barn floor for a litter box when it is cold and snowy.
5. Cows look really funny eating hay when they are covered with snow that does not melt on their backs
6. Metal chicken feeders are not a good idea either- they go from the water straight to feed and freeze again!
7. There are never enough dry hats and gloves for 4 people
8. The tire on the tractor will go flat when you have 6" of snow to plow before your wife gets home from work
9. It is not possible to plow snow with a flat tire on the tractor
10. Life on a farm with animals is very educational in every season!