Rabbit & Cavy News

The first show of 2008 for me, and the first time I’ve attended this specialty show for Polish rabbits. 

Held in the Richfield Fire Station, which is between West Bend and Sussex, I began the drive worried about the forcasted snow flurries.  The snow did come during the show day, but melted as it hit the ground so my hour-and-a-half drive was not treacherous as I thought it might be.

The building was heated, and had a nice kitchen and showroom area - everyone brings their own batch of chili which is all combined in one large cooker and sold by the bowl at lunchtime, along with other goodies.   There was a nice raffle which the kids always like, and Roger Moeller’s rabbit equipment was there to offer just about anything you needed for your rabbitry.

I only brought 5 Polish rabbits to show - I have more, but since I am only in week 7 of recovery from my surgery, I didn’t want to carry and handle a whole lot just yet.  

There were a lot of Polish there!  Many of the senior classes had more than 10-12 rabbits in each, which is plenty for Polish!  My black senior buck didn’t do well in his huge class, being out of condition compared to the other nice rabbits there.  My broken does only had each other to  compete against in their class - and the judge did not pick the one I thought would do well at this show!

My chocolate doe who just turned senior, won her large class and then won Best of Breed!  I was surprised by this one - she’s got a very nice body and nice coat to her, but to me, her head is not as nice as my pretty little brokens’ heads.  But I am not a judge……and I am fairly new to this breed.

Funny thing about this doe is that twice she was not going to be shown:  I originally planned to take my black senior doe to this show, but she seemed a little ‘off’ in the morning, so I grabbed this chocolate doe instead, and the second time was when I became so tired around 1 pm, that I came close to scratching my chocolate doe so I could leave for home……… but I stayed and this is the doe that won!

The Polish breeders here in Wisconsin are the best I’ve met.  Every single one has been so nice and helpful - and I noticed so many of them offering assistance, advice and encouragement to the youth that participated in yesterday’s show.  This in itself is very refreshing to me- everyone works as a true team to better the Polish in our area!  

If you are pondering what breed to begin with, you can’t go wrong with the Polish - this small breed is delightful to handle and breed, and in Wisconsin you can get quality stock readily and plenty of good advice to go along with!  You will only encounter encouragement showing against the other Polish breeders around here - the Polish are just a very nice breed of rabbit!

Cathy

I am hoping to go to the Misty Hill’s Fall Frolic rabbit show tomorrow.  Everything will depend upon whether or not I get all my other chores done today or not - you know…the fun stuff like laundry, cleaning and food shopping…aaarrgghhh.

My small show string of only one Holland and three Polish are all molting, of course, so I can’t expect to be there for any reason other than to increase class sizes so others can win legs. 

It will be good for my Holland doe - she acted so crazy at her first show despite me working with her a lot at home.  I am hoping she gets used to the show routine so I can send her to convention this October. 

This show is held in Dodgeville, WI at the Harris Pavilion (name?); the drive is less than an hour long, making it one of the closest rabbit shows for me.  At less than 5 years old, this building is very large and offers exhibitors a lot of room to spread out and get comfy- I don’t have to rush there just to get a spot, like at some croweded shows. 

What crazy weather around here!  Frost warnings last night, very windy and chilly - reminicent of late fall, and the weather forcast for next week jumps us back into the +80’s.  Only in Wisconsin - heat and air conditioning within a day’s span!  Impossible to expect good rabbit fur right now.

Hope to see you there, signing off to start all the fun stuff……

Cathy

Since I still can’t update or change my website, I guess I’ll post a little bit about convention here at my blog:

What a fun time!  This was the first time I’d ever been to the Eau Claire County Fairgrounds - what a great place - large buildings and lots of green space surrounded by woods. 

The open building was large enough to easily house us all plus two vendors, and the youth building seemed roomy enough also. 

Because I had procrastinated early in the week, getting ready on Friday afternoon was a rushed event, filled with frustration, but I did manage to leave home around 3:30 pm, only a little later than I originally planned on leaving.

The interstate drive was easy and I had no problems finding the fairgrounds when I arrived in Eau Claire around 6:30 pm.

Nice fairgrounds!  Newer, roomy buildings, nice grounds, and best of all, wonderful cooler weather and no mosquitos!

After I set up my few rabbits, I spent some time visiting with other breeders and checking out the facilities.  How nice to see everyone again, but I have to mention how strange it felt to be in the OPEN building, when for the past several years I had been with the YOUTH group! 

Despite all my efforts to become a proficient camper, I always fail miserably………  Again, as at previous rabbit shows, I slept in my van.  I was grateful that my air mattress stayed inflated this time; but Mother Nature still got me good when she dropped the thermostat close to the 50 degree mark.  I woke up around 1:30 that night shivering and remained frozen until about 5 am when I decided to scrap the crazy idea of getting any meaningful sleep. 

Saturday 4-class showing in Open was exciting - first I showed my Polish.  I only had three to show and I was pleased when one of my bucks placed 2nd out of the five black junior bucks.  My other buck placed 4/5, and my black junior doe placed 4/8.  I learned a lot from watching the other rabbits get judged and from talking to all the nice Polish breeders!

With intentions of buying a new Holland Lop breeding doe or two, I looked at several from the Open breeders.  I saw many nice does of which any/all would of probably worked well for me, but I settled on one from Laini’s Lovables - a nice brood doe with Swandt’s, Sarah’s, Swade’s and others in the background.  I really like this doe - she’s got a nice body and bone, and a good crown with should help with my herd.  I forgot to look at some breeders’ rabbits because I was kind of a zombie from lack of sleep……

I felt kind of strange bringing only one Holland Lop of my own to show but this spring I just didn’t breed much - then when my daughter decided to sell out of her French Lops in June, that threw a wrench of uncertainty into my rabbitry plans so I didn’t breed for summer litters either.  This one solid junior doe is out of a litter of two - and her brother turned out to be a normal sized rabbit.

I was pretty happy to hear that Allan Ormond was going to judge Hollands - he’s an excellent, high quality Holland judge and you can take to the bank any comments he makes about your Holland Lops………

Despite my doe acting like a psycho on the show table, judge Ormond did get some good poses from her and she showed off a bit.  She won her large class, then Best of Variety- and with some awesome comments from the judge!   I guess she’ll go to ARBA Convention even if I don’t go.

Patrick Reilly won BOB with his broken black buck, and I didn’t see who won BOS - but it was one of the broken does.  Congrats!!  Really nice Hollands everyone has! 

After the Holland judging was over, I left for home - I debated on whether or not to stick around and visit longer, but knew I had so much to still do at home so I ended up leaving at about 3:30.     

Of course I went home and bred some does…….   next show is Dodgeville  - one of my favorites because of the short drive, large building and homemade pie! 

Cathy

This may be the last post I can make for a few weeks or so - the computer I have some of my website stuff on is on the fritz and I need to replace it, or at least replace my hard drive.  I am in the process of transfering all my files over the the newer computer we have…I should of finished doing that when I got the newer computer this past winter, but never had the time.

During July, Reilly’s loaned me a broken chocolate Polish buck to breed to two of my does - so I could get some brokens.  Last week my chocolate doe had a litter of 5; four are broken chocolate, plus one solid chocolate!  She is an attentive mom too - I keep pulling fur off her litter (it is still quite hot around these parts!) and she covers them back up with more pulled fur! 

My black Polish doe finally had her litter - she had only two kits on the 33 day.  One kit is quite large and had more fur than a newborn normally has, so I suspect this was delaying the birth-luckily both came out ok.  The other kit is a normal sized solid chocolate. 

One young Holland from our last litter is looking pretty nice - she poses quite naturally and her timidness actually causes her to ‘freeze’ into a pose when manipulated gently.  Her head is just starting to pop out too - so we’ll have to wait to see how she developes. 

Her brother is appearing to be a ‘normal’ Hollands, but does he have a nice body, nice bone and his head is going to be huge!  Jody named him ‘Big Friendly Guy’, of all things, because he pulls a lot of antics to get attention!  Actually…….if his ears were not so large (they are shaped nicely, just simply large) he’d probably show well given that the standard took out the smaller ideal Holland weight……..

This thick, humid weather has everyone suffering lately - usually our Wisconsin summers don’t get this brutal until August, but this heat spell started at the beginning of July without a let up, and I don’t see any relief anytime soon either. 

All my rabbits are beginning to molt now - so I am constantly battling flying fur in my rabbitry - what a challenge to keep all the fans cleaned and running smootly!  I am sick and tired of inhaling fur, pulling it out of my eye sockets and, by gosh, I can’t even bring a soda out in the rabbitry (unless it is in a capped bottle) or I’d be drinking fur also!

I have to admit, I am getting more and more excited about the start of the fall rabbit show season!  I can’t wait to get back into it all - and see rabbit people again!  I am hoping to not have too many weekend conflicts so I can attend several area rabbit shows, and since Jody and Kelly will not be showing, I will be able to count on them to take care of my bunnies at home while I am gone! 

Off to rabbit chores, stay cool!

Cathy

The other day I learned that Gary Smith of Creek Haven Lops decided to sell out of his entire rabbitry.  Gary has been raising French Lops for 20 some years and has developed a successful line of colorful French Lops here in southern Wisconsin.

Although I will greatly miss seeing Gary at our area Wisconsin shows, I can understand why he’s decided to hang it up; with retirement looming he’s decided to take on some new interests.

If you are looking to add some quality rabbits to your herd, just starting out in French Lops or you are interested in cages, carriers or other equipment, contact Gary directly:

Gary Smith

Wisconsin: Cottage Grove

email

phone:  (60 837-8250

French Lops

Now that our last two French Lops are gone, I decided this is an excellent time to powerwash all our cages - our currently low rabbit population will make powerwashing cages a whole lot easier - for once I won’t have to figure out where to put all the rabbits when we clean the cages - with the French Lops gone, I now have enough carriers for everyone!

Powerwashing is such a huge task - I really don’t look forward to it - but it surely is needed.  Since we feed hay everynight, our cages sides seem to have more of a hay/dirt build up than those who don’t feed hay - and the powerwashing really cleans them up nicely. 

Time to rearrange the rabbitry too - since I’ve decided to sell two of our larger stackers, I’ll be able to rearrange the rest into a more easily accessible design - right now things are tight in some spaces and pan cleaning of a few cages is a feat of physical acrobatics, so I can’t wait to make that all easier.

Beautiful weather finally…cooler….yesterday my rabbitry gauge showed only about 35 percent humidity inside!  How nice!!!  I wish it could stay like this year round.

After I get all my cages cleaned, and the sale cages out, the rearranging done - then I’ll move rabbits around.  Now my Hollands will be in the larger French Lop cages - I am sure these active little rabbits will just love it!  My Polish will go into the cages I currently use for my Hollands - they are all 24×30 and 24×24.  I decided to keep my two stackers of 6-hole cages.  I’ve never liked these smaller cages for my Hollands, (24×18)  and in fact haven’t even used many of the cages in these stacks - but they are plenty big enough for Polish, even full grown Polish, so they will stay here!

Oh….if you are looking for some nice cages, I do have the two stackers for sale - read about it on our French Lops For Sale page at our website.

Well…..enjoy your weekend, I certainly will!

Cathy LaReau

Friday Madelyn is coming down from Minnesota to pick up our last two French Lops; Amber and Bacon.  We’ll try breeding Thunder to Amber in hopes that this cross will give Madelyn some nice rabbits - she’s had good luck with others from Thunder’s lineage….

After these two leave we will only have Thunder and Star left - well, I guess I should be clearer, they aren’t going anywhere! 

This will be an excellent time to powerwash cages and rearrange the rabbitry.  I’ll be selling two of the larger cages to free up some much-needed space - but I’d like to powerwash them first.

Signing off to do chores.  Can’t wait for some cooler weather!

Cathy

Yesterday, the first day of summer, I lingered in my rabbitry after I finished chores.  I looked around to the many empty cages and thought of all the different French Lops that had once inhabitated them.

Those very first rabbits from Creek Haven Lops - how Kelly was so excited when we brought them home!  Our first litter, which Kelly took out and played with for hours- feeling sure that every one of them was a grand champion!  Kelly’s first win with Creek Haven Janet.

Breeding, learning to identify faults and buying rabbits to correct those faults.  Kelly developed a natural eye for these large rabbits and became very accomplished at producing her own quality French Lops.

Our first significant win with her own-bred rabbit, Thunder, was memorable and so worth all the hard work that brought us that far!   The subsequent wins…rise in the points…more litters born….producing several more grand champions.

I never thought it would end so suddenly with Kelly!  She had always been such an ‘animal person’ and I never thought she would pass by her rabbits, so readily, for other interests!   She has decided to move ahead though and seems to have the ability to simply move on without looking back.  I wish I could do that so easily!

So here we are, with only Thunder and Star left as permanent residents, and only two more French Lops to sell.  Tons of empty cages.

After I get over the ‘finality’ of it all and get moving,  LaReau Lops & Cavies will go through another transformation.  I am not sure exactly which direction I’ll take, but I have no intentions of getting out of rabbits myself. 

I will always have the Hollands - no bones about it, they are permanent here and I’ll continue to breed but with more gusto, now that I have a lot of cages to play with!  My Polish endevour is still new to me, and I’ll keep trying with that breed to.  I may decide to pick up a new breed, perhaps a rarer breed.  Not sure. 

Our website will need a major overhaul too.  It is still painful for me to look at, so many memories and rabbits that were once here.  I’ll have to redo a lot.

Well, the one thing I am really looking forward to is getting back to rabbit shows, beginning this fall.  Now I can just pick up and go without so much work!  I really am excited about this…….

Well, have a great weekend everyone

Cathy LaReau 

Hi everyone, here is a quick update about LaReau Lops & Cavies.

It is finally going to happen - Kelly is selling out of her French Lops!  A few years ago I would have never thought this could happen, with the way she loved those big ole rabbits, but high school has really been a busy time for Kelly, plus she is making plans for college next year.  We knew the rabbits were going to go next year for certain, but I was a little dismayed when she decided to sell out now instead of waiting another year.

I will be keeping at least a few of these large creatures; Thunder is staying for sure - he is retired now and I can’t imagine our rabbitry without the ‘big gouti’ there.  There are a couple more I am thinking of keeping, and perhaps I’ll show a few down the road. 

Kelly has two litters from this past winter that haven’t even been shown yet and many look pretty nice.  

We’ll be getting pictures and info posted to our website by the end of June.  It was our wish to be able to attend a rabbit show or two in June, to bring along and sell her herd, but with my son’s graduation, other family graduations and all the other end-of-year stuff going on, we can’t get away!

Because of this busy schedule, I will be unable to meet with people or even respond to emails in detail, until the third week in June or even later.  Sorry!

It looks like I will be the only family member showing rabbits from now on - oh well, I think this will be a lifelong hobby for me; I can see myself doing this for years and years! 

My recent Polish litters are so funny - the youngsters are quick little characters.  I let each out on our large carpeted table so they can run around and just get used to handling.  Each younster is quite a show off!  They buck, run, and all do the ’scared bunny’ thing, you know- where they run really fast, darting back and forth on the table as if they are being chased!  All the sudden they stop and for a brief moment they are statue-still before darting off bucking - I just love watching them!

I’ve only got two Holland babies right now, one seems to have some show potential, but the other already appears to be a larger brood type rabbit, hopefully it is a doe!  I’ll be breeding more Hollands this week hoping for litters before any bad heat spells hit.

Well that is all for now.  After graduations this June, I’ll be updating our main website within info on our sale French Lops, then I’ll begin working on all my other website projects again!

Cathy

The two Polish does I bred last month each had their litters over the past few days!  Finally I’ll have some Polish babies - I am so excited!  I was worried that the one doe could have some lilac babies with the coloring in both her and the buck’s backgrounds, but the kits are all black. 

Sweety doe, Jody’s Holland, also had her litter.  She had 5 babies, but crushed two of them and one looks like it was pulled apart at birth (perhaps she had trouble delivering this last one, it looked abnormal) but the two remaining are doing fine.  We should of bred more Hollands along with her, but I wanted to treat all the other rabbits for coccidia last month so no others were bred.

Kelly hasn’t wanted to rebreed any more French Lops.  I truly think she is easing back on her rabbits - and already has a lot of them to care for.  I can’t fault her - she seems to know when she is nearing her limit of animals to care for and refuses to breed more.  She’s got the last two litters still; none of them have been shown yet because we haven’t been able to get to any rabbit shows in April! 

Well I am just excited to actually have my own Polish babies - I’ve always wanted my own rabbits to show myself.  Soon I’ll be able to attend rabbit shows, even when the kids can’t go! 

I suppose I can bring a few Hollands along to show also, since Jody and I ‘merged’ all our Holland stock at the beginning of the year.  Jody and I are now just one ‘open exhibitor’ as far as the Hollands go.  Jody hasn’t much interest in showing anymore, but does not want to give up his funny Hollands - he still cares for them every day without fail.  I have to say, the Hollands are the funniest and most personable rabbits I’ve ever seen - they captivate us daily with new antics. 

Each rabbit has a distinct personally and is so different from the next one; Little Bear is so spastic and never stops running back and forth for attention - if you listen closely to him, you can hear him humming loudly and blowing air out of his open mouth - while he runs back and forth in front of you!  “Prairie Dog”, a younger buck out of Shorty, is always sitting up on his hindlegs while he eats his hay every night, and of course, Wire, or ‘Musso’ as Jody calls him has to have a fresh piece of cardboard every night and he’s specific about it - the cardboard must be approximately 4″ square and we must put a small hole in the center so he has a ‘handle’.  In response to anyone talking to him, Wire picks up his carboard piece and carries it around his cage, whirling in small intricate circles, all the while making sure his audience is watching him.  He is truly insulted if we give him a too-large piece of cardboard, or an awkward-shaped piece and admonishes us by stuffing it in his water bowl instead of carrying it around.