Taking a Break :'(

First, I'd like to say I am not taking this break by choice. I guess this was inevitable but my family threw a fit because I had a "population explosion" in my rabbitry. This so called 'explosion' was 13 rabbits including babies. What really irks me is my dad has 12 rabbits right now that I am stuck taking care of plus 10 more in a couple of days when his NZ doe, Peach kindles. I'm about to go all teenager here but this is very unfair and I'm so sick of it. Last night, after being yelled at for 2 hours straight about rabbit and chicken care, I'm being forced to stop breeding until we move and I have to move the rabbits out. I am so disappointed, angry, and heart broken.
I'm tired of fighting with my family about the rabbits when they aren't even a burden to any of them. The only reason everyone is acting like this is because I'm younger and running a whole 'business' on my own which somehow invites all of the adults in the house to try to run it for me.
Yes, I am very angry but should I mention terribly heart broken over this? If I breed another rabbit, I will be forced to sell every last one. This doesn't seem like a big deal right? Well then we have to consider that my holland herd buck is almost 4 years old and is struggling producing. If I really have to stop breeding, he will sit idle for another 4-5 months. Now this doesn't seem like a huge problem but what about all of the does?!  Every single doe I own could stop producing after sitting idle that long. And who knows what could happen any rabbit in my herd in that time period? Who knows, I could loose my best, my favorites, or dare I say, all of them to what ever causes may arise.
I'm feeling very put down and hurt right now, honestly.

So I guess after the next litters, Little Rascal's Rabbitry will be done for the year.

**tears**

Barn Changes and Mini-Rant

Oh, how I look forward to the day when we have a nice barn completely designed and dedicated to the rabbits! I'm getting tired of all these big changes I am having to make in order to accommodate more and more. We will be starting to let the 28 young pullets into the outdoor part of the rabbitry/chicken coop. We will probably hold off for another week or two but in order to do this, we'll have to put my rooster and hen in a cage where they won't be able to attack the chicks as they are exploring and growing to adult size. I'm expecting my grandma to throw a tantrum as she usually does when I change anything of mine out there. But of course, it's our barn, not my grandma's. So we may just have to put a lock on both doors and light curtains over the windows. The critters will live happily ever after as long as no one throws tantrums! Lol!! This gets me so excited to move this Summer!! I can see it now... A big bunny barn... with chickens ever so far away. Haha!!
So we will have the chicks on the floor of the outdoor and a small portion of the indoor part of the barn just in case this Utah weather goes bipolar again. The two older chickens that my Grandma has suddenly inherited are going to be in our cage that was used to separate our chickens back when we had a huge flock. We will eventually get 2 stacks outside as well. I will be purposely making them as tall as possible to keep all the chickens off of them and so there is more floor space for the chicks to explore. Luckily, I'm 5' 9" and can reach pretty high! Lol!
I'm just getting pretty tired of being not only being yelled at but threatened for moving around my animals in my barn. It's driving me out of my mind! So tempted to lock everyone out. It would make it a bit more fun and a lot more peaceful in the barn! Whew! Okay, rant over. Lol! Here's a quick design I threw together to give you an idea of what the barn will be like assuming I get to follow through with my plans.

Growing Babies

There isn't much going on that is rather exciting these days. But there are a few growing babies in the nests right now. We have a young buck and doe in our junior cages, Arza and Lilly. Arza will be staying with me until July and then will be headed to his new home in Nevada to live with Mendi and Chloe as a 4H bun.
Lilly will be going to live with Linda in Utah as her 1st Dwarf Hotot and eventually she we begin showing and breeding! YAY, another Utah breeder! This is a nice pair of hotots and although I'm sad to see them go, I'm glad they'll be going to help someone else!
We also have Manda's litter which will be sold as pets. Adorable little babies!
We will finally be picking up our new holland doe this weekend as well! I can't wait to welcome home TNT's Katara!
And some great news, we'll be purchasing a new Holland Lop herd buck around Washington State Convention time from L&R Hollands in Oregon! So excited to be getting my herd buck from them! Their stock is phenomenal! I won't be able to thank them enough!

Arza, although he is in major uglies in this baby stage,
you can see his promising head. Those ears are also promising,
you just can't tell in this uglies stage. Lol!

Pretty nice eyebands on Arza :-)

Manda's 4 little babies! I need pics where you can see the
3 black ones individually!

Lilly and Arza enjoying their toy.
I'll need to separate these two sometime soon.
I'll probably wait until after these stackers are finished!

Time for an Update!

What a long break! Well, a lot has happened at Little Rascal's Rabbitry during the time I wasn't posting! Manda had a litter of 5 with 4 surviving and she is an excellent first time mother! There are 3 solid blacks and 1 broken black.
We also just sold 12 of our cages so I can build new stackers which will fit in my barn better. I had to take all of the rabbits that were in those cages and put them in the brood barn while I wait to build the new stackers. It's almost making me nervous to have so many bunnies in the brood barn! I need empty cages! Lol! Hopefully we'll have our new stackers finished by this weekend!
Some bad news, our sweet little junior buck, Sterling passed away yesterday. Turns out, he was a fader. Yesterday was not my day! :-/
But back to the good news! Little Rascal's Arza may be going to live in Nevada as a 4H show bun in July which is way exciting! He will be a great buck and I'm excited to see how he matures up until July!
Also, we picked up our new Dwarf Hotot herd buck, Thunderhill's Buddy Holly! I can't say enough about this buck! He's absolutely amazing and the best hotot I've had the privilege to own! Thank You Lindsey King!! <3

 

Buddy <3

Driving home, I couldn't resist holding him!

*drool* You can see his gorgeous type even when he's relaxing!

Little Rascal's Arza, fighting the pose...
Gotta love the adventurous age!

Arza, he has nail polish in his ear! Hehe

Lil' Lilly exploring, I may keep this gorgeous girl. She's soooo typey!

Pistol Annie practicing her pose. Beautiful doe!

Lol!! Mia... :-)

This describes Gilroy's personality perfectly!
"I is squishing my face for attention."
<3

The little monsters that have taken up the floor in the rabbit barn.
Chicks! Hopefully I can move them outside soon!
The dust from their feathers is not healthy for rabbits. :-/

Full house! I was very lucky to have just enough cages
 to combine the brood and show barn! That was lucky! Lol!

Yet another new doe!

I happened to be scrolling through my news feed on Facebook last night when I saw a massive, thick doe. I glanced up and spotted the words "For Sale" so I frantically messaged TNT Rabbitry asking for details. Eventually I put the doe on hold and found transport! She will be arriving on May 6th after the West Coast Classic show in Reno, Nevada. I'm so excited to be getting this doe! She's beautiful.        
She will be a year old on the 13th of April so she is almost the same age as Manda. Her name is TNT's Katara and she's a Solid Sable Point.
Katara is a great producer and a thick doe with perfect bone. She showed well as a junior but was then retired to the breeding program. I'm sooo excited to add this doe to my program!

TF Pistol Annie

Introducing our new doe, TF Pistol Annie! She is a Broken Black Tort Junior doe. She is currently going through a funny stage as she is still very young. I think with time, she will thicken and mature very well. I'm so excited about this doe! She has never been shown but I may show her in June depending if I decide to show at the Wasatch Rabbit Breeders show in Woodland, Utah. If I don't end up showing her, I will add her to my breeding program in July.
I love this little doe. She is still quite shy but she isn't panicky which is nice. Usually when I bring home new rabbits, they are very nervous and will frantically dart around their cage trying to stay away. It usually takes a lot of time before they calm down but this doe has been great ever since I got her!
Forgive me for the pictures. She was more interested in the new barn than posing! Heehee!

"Hey you!"

Herd Sell Out

After some consideration, I've decided to sell out of rabbits. I would like to focus more on horses and I just don't have the time with a rabbitry. I also don't have the money to pay for a rabbitry and horses. It's been really fun raising rabbits!! I'd like to thank all of my amazing friends that kept me going in this hobby, encouraged, and taught me so much!! I'll miss my rabbits but I think it's for the best.

I will be keeping Gilroy and my new herd buck, Buddy Holly as my pets.

Thank You everyone! We'll miss you all.