The 10 Kits are Here! with pictures....

winchester and pumpkin have a litter of 10 kits! Winchester has 3 legs, Pumpkin has one. Both have good bodies and wool. Both are very dense. More pics of kits & progress notes on the page "Pumpkin & Winchester's First litter" >>>>

New Chicks ** Coming Soon!

So, this year I said I would never get more chicks, only feathered-out pullets. Then, I found a breed that I could only get in chick-form.


Background: We have a coop that isn't working for us in the side yard, was used only temporarily while building big coop/run. It is a "mobile" chicken tractor type coop. We have been trying to sell it to someone who has a big enough yard to accommodate moving it with the large footprint (8x5 ft). We have too many gates.


I can't stand parting with it for 200.00, as we paid twice that. But, no takers on CL. It has a rather small upper deck nesting/coop area that is super easy to clean out, but...not too roomy for roosting.


Thus: we decided to get bantam hens & roo. Now, the lady at the feed store was kinda....skeptical ....about the ability of a bantam to fill a fridge with eggs. However, we are taking a stab at it. They lay from 4-5 eggs/week per hen, that are 1/2-2/3 the size of "normal" eggs. "Normal" eggs have a big variation in size, depending on breed and age of hens.


The Chicken Math: But, you can fit more bantams into tight spaces. They are good for backyard & urban settings, and have a tender meat that is larger than a quail when through laying. We figure at 4 ft/bird outdoor space....we can fit 10 of them into our little coop. IF they were all hens, laying 4-5 eggs/week, that are 1/2 the size of normal eggs, then our little hens would lay the equivalent of 20-25 "normal" eggs per week. That's a lot of eggs!

Dark Brahma Bantam roo, hen

Gold Laced Cochin Bantam, hen

Gold Laced Cochin Bantam, roo

Partridge Cochin Bantam, hen

Partridge Cochin Bantam, roo

We can also potentially sell chicks for show/pet/livestock. We ordered some pretty boutique-ish hens, with flashy feathers ^^^ . The Dark Brahma Bantams are not as broody as the Cochins/Pekins, and the Cochins will brood all eggs for us & raise chicks.


Modifications: Our little coop will require a larger roost/coop part, which we will build onto the back, as well as needing one side roofed in, and a large box/raised bed garden on the bottom. That a way, we can do the deep-litter method that is working so well for us in the larger coop.


And I have to brood the damn chicks. Grrrr.

West Coast Classic show results!

We attended the HUGE West Coast Classic show this weekend. And, I swear I will never do all three days again. Whew! It was exhausting for people AND rabbits. I think in the future one day is enough. I suffer from crowd exhaustion myself, and get pretty snippy at times.  The rabbits were all pretty crabby and stressed on day three.


In terms of goods and booths, it was fun to see the angora booth, with yarn and angora spinners (kicking myself for not getting a photo). Picked up two great books about spinning and caring for Angoras (future post). Evan also bought polymer clay french angoras, and a cage. We are thinking of making these ourselves. We picked up some awesome handmade felted soaps and felted bunnies from Black Diamond Rabbitry. We got to hand out our new business cards.



We sold our sweet bunny, Oyster, to Kelly and Christine from Southern California. We sold Coal and Cinder to Elodie, an amazing mom, spinner, and farmer from the Sacramento area. Sad to see them go, but to great homes! We now are lacking in rabbits to sell...thus...upcoming breeding.



We registered Winchester and Pumpkin with ARBA. Winchester won his third leg, this time as a senior, and he will be a Grand Champion now! Hot Cocoa got two legs, and did well competing against adult long-time breeders in the Angora Specialty Open (consistently came in second). We were surprised by Hot Cocoa, as she has consistently been judged second or third to her litter mates at previous shows. Oyster won his first leg for his new owners! And Baked Potato won first place, almost got a leg, but lost out to dad, Winchester. Both Winchester and Hot Cocoa were purchased from Black Diamond Rabbitry. Oyster and Baked Potato are our rabbits, bred from their stock.


Baked Potato and Black Diamond's Spook being judged

Hot Cocoa and Black Diamond's Heather being judged on shoulder width

Pumpkin (with a very short wool coat) being judged. She is not "in coat" yet.

We mainly lost some points due to the softness of our baby coats on our juniors, although it cannot be said that we did poorly at these shows by any means. Our juniors are not yet balanced out with lots of guard hairs, and some have very few to no guard hairs. I don't find this to be a problem, Winchester has always been cottony, and will soon blow his first coat and start to grow "real" wool, which will be exciting to see. His kits still have two months left competing as juniors to balance out more. Since Winchester is already a Grand Champion, I don't think their future is dim by any means. They take time to grow into real true adult wool coats. The dam of our juniors is well balanced with plenty of guard hairs. Pumpkin, who is just about a year old, is just starting to grow in her first ever adult coat. It just takes awhile. I am excited to see how the remaining juniors grow!

Oyster's show comment card went home with his new Mamas. Baked Potato's not pictured yet.

Our next show: West Coast Classic April 8-10th, 2016 in Reno, Nevada AND Feeding Angoras in Spring

We are going to the West Coast Classic April 8-10th

We are going to bring four junior bucks, one junior doe, and one senior buck. Two junior bucks are FOR SALE.

Pudge will be on-site, but is not entered into competition, as he is not a show buck, but rather a fiber buck, despite his excellent body and wool! He is there to promote his upcoming litter, in which we expect and hope for all very light-colored fiber bunnies (almost pure white). Pudge has one leg, despite his being a DQ for incorrect color.

We plan to bide the time during the long weekend talking to people about ANGORAS, visiting the Northwest Angora Rabbit Association booth (angora fiber contest, garment contest, spinning demos), and spinning on our travelling spinning wheel!  Not to mention that we are entered in 4 different shows, and Evan will do showmanship.

Whew!

An update on FEEDING your bunnies & chickens in Spring, Summer, and Fall:

We feed the outdoor birds. We love to do so, as they are a very natural method of pest-control in our yard. They also bring beauty and song into your backyard, and are interesting in all seasons. We have 25 regular species that visit our yard in the Winter. The number decreases by the Summer, as some birds move up elevation back into the Sierras.

The natural by-product of feeding the birds is sunflower sprouts under the bird feeders. These used to be pesky little problems to me, and got quite thick. You can do several things with them, however! The first is to eat them yourself.

Organic sunflower sprouts under our bird feeders.

The second is to let the chickens root around under the feeders when free-ranging. And indeed, they will do this themselves without encouragement.

The third, is to pluck the sprouts and feed them to your bunnies. Sunflower seeds are on the list of foods ARBA recommends to "show condition" a rabbit up to two weeks before a show, for coat condition & flesh condition. It contains natural oils. Our little sprouts contain pieces of sunflower seed & shells, as well as the yummy sprouts. They also contain soil microbes and flora, which rabbits are supposed to get in the wild. Just pluck them and knock off most of the dirt. I feed now that they are growing nicely in good healthy clumps.

Clump of sunflower sprouts, leftover seeds, a little soil

Yum! Says Pudge

Planned Breedings & West Coast Classic Update

Our next breeding will take place THIS weekend.


First off, we are going to breed Pudge back to Blueberry. We will have rabbits then to spin from. We wanted more white-ish rabbits, as they went fast to spinners. Also, I want a couple more white rabbits to keep for myself, to make sure I have plenty of wool to spin from. We also want white-ish rabbits WITHOUT red eyes (kinda creepy to some people). Pudge and Blueberry should make just about all white-ish smoke-pearl chin rabbits. And maybe some does this time, that would be nice. Pudge also has a very nice body & wool, which will be great for breeding and spinning. He will definitely add quality, along with Blue, of course, to this litter.


Winchester and Pumpkin will breed for the first time together, and Pumpkin will kindle for the first time. They should make nice agouti rabbits, as the parents both have very nice bodies and dense wool. I like the prospect myself of having interesting agouti colors to spin from, without having to dye the wool. I have been looking into adding in very small bits of flashy material to my agouti wool, to make it really {POP}. I like the wool rings. These will be show, pet, and fiber bunnies.


We are going to West Coast Classic show in Reno on April 8-10th. Just about everyone I have left is going to the show, if I can manage to get them there (short on travel cages). At the show, I will be on the lookout for a "self" buck or doe to purchase. It seems I have a lot of agouti. Some, would prefer selfs for spinning and show. Want to have something for everyone.


The Northwest Angora Association (which we just joined) will also have a booth, and be hosting the fiber event at the West Coast Classic. I am super excited to see what others have been spinning with their angora! I also want to talk to more spinners about blending angora, and spinning techniques. They will also have demos. Can't wait!


I have seen people spinning directly from angoras on videos, and I wonder if anyone will demo that technique. Although, I have enough problems learning to spin without also holding a rabbit on my lap. Pudge, however, would be perfect for that, as he is VERY calm, almost to be point where you wonder if he is "okay" at times. He has been hauled around since birth by the kids, and it shows.


It will also be time to register Pumpkin, Blue, and Winchester with ARBA. All are "at weight" and "of age."

Pictures of our Rabbits, updated

I realized that I haven't posted recent pictures of our rabbits. All the adults have just shed in January, hence them looking not-as-fluffy. Winchester, as I think I mentioned, I harvested wool from prematurely. Thus, he has longer wool & lots of guard hairs still, but hasn't actually shed his first coat. Oops. We are missing Coal, Baked Potato, and Pudge from the line-up. Will update tomorrow.

Black Diamond's Pumpkin, Senior Doe, Fawn

Plum Crazy's Blue(berry), Senior Doe, Smoke Pearl

Black Diamond's Winchester, Senior Buck, Blue Steel/Self Blue

Black Diamond's Hot Cocoa, Junior Doe, chocolate (carrying agouti)

ENS' Oyster, Junior Buck, Lilac Steel - bad picture

ENS Cinder, Junior Doe, Self Blue

Our New "Baby"

This weekend I got to meet and take home my new baby, this cute little spinning wheel! Yes, I am in LOVE....


Ashford Traveller spinning wheel.

It is an Ashford Traveller, single drive, and it spins very well. It is almost meditative, as my brain could use a little, um, slowing-down, let's just say. I have to constantly remind myself that my foot needs to SLOW down so my hands can catch up. It is very mindful, but also relaxing.


We purchased the wheel from Salli in Calpine, who lovingly taught me to begin to spin, and inspired me with the amount of beautiful yarns and weavings she produces. She is just amazing! She also pulled out a baby loom for Evan to learn on while I spun. He loved to weave! He wants his OWN loom now, that is after he learns to spin, he says. He liked weaving much better than the needle felting we tried.


Can I tell you what a joy it is to go from raw wool (from either a sheep, or a llama, or a French Angora rabbit)....to having some yarn to make a garment or blanket? I feel so proud. We fed, loved, and took care of these rabbits. They in turn supplied fun & happiness, and...WOOL! Then we harvested their wool, then spun it into yarn. Wow. I am in awe of how amazing it feels to produce something. That's it, I am hooked!


So far I have spun wool from a sheep and tried a little of our angora. I am going to try some alpaca from local suri llamas as soon as my machine oil gets here from Oregon (see earlier post on processing alpaca - whew, makes me glad our angoras are so clean to spin from). I put in an internet order for extra bobbins, hand carders, ball winder, machine oil, & wool dye from Pacific Wool & Fiber.


Here are my first four test skeins that I made from "bumps" of sheep wool roving. I hand-drafted the roving first, so I would be able to learn about long draw & short draw, learn where my left hand goes and what its job is, and the right hand, and learn to SLOW my foot down! All at the same time. Sounds complicated, but it's really therapeutic and rewarding. I feel pretty accomplished.


The earliest & first skein is on the right, latest skein on the left. I'm getting better....

Close-up of last skein. Very "homespun" looking, but will crochet up nice I think.