Rabbit & Cavy News

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

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 

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. 

Well it seems that it was so long ago that we finished up with our huge Badger Rabbit Breeder’s show, but in reality it was only a few short weeks ago!

During March and April of each year, my personal (or family) appointment books seems to just explode - all of the sudden spring high schools sports take off with a flurry of activities, rabbit shows heat up and just general chaos.  This year I have one graduating and getting ready for college, and one right behind him too, so I’ve been really busy!

Finally, we just got our  juniors tattooed today - a task I never look forward to even though it never turns out badly.  I just don’t like the idea of it so I tend to procrastinate as long as I can.  

Kelly’s last two litters of French Lops are looking nice - all finally getting their adult coats in.  A few are already nearing the top junior weight and still have a few more months to go in junior age.   Kelly thinks every single rabbit from both litters are all does! 

I have two Polish and one Holland bred - all due around mid-month.  I should of bred a few more Hollands along with this group, but wanted to treat everyone for coccidia so I decided to hold off till April.

Looks like we’ll miss all the rabbit shows in April; Jody has two out-of-town soccer tournaments in April, and the other two weekends are, well, Easter and then airsoft games.

May looks brutal also - I am hoping to make at least one show during May, or rather, I am determined to make at least one show!

Enjoy the weather while you can!  

Kelly has gotten a couple of chinchilla babies out of her recent French Lop litters - and she so loves this color!  What a nice surprise since we were only expecting all chestnut agoutis……

Back to work tomorrow - yuk - hope your Monday goes fast for you

The French Lops breed so easily compared to our Hollands…..

Kelly bred both her Garrett does; Star and Acorn for December litters.

Acorn had 5 kits yesterday - all solid agouti as was expected since she is solid agouti and LaReau’s Talon is solid agouti….

This morning, Star had 6 babies and I am not sure if we got any different colors out of that litter or not, I was already at work when Kelly called with the news - but we bred her to LaReau’s Thunder, another solid agouti, so I guess we are not expecting much other than solid chestnut agouti from this litter either.

We are planning and counting on some excellent typed French Lops though - these crosses should be very nice!

Both moms and litters are doing great!

Sweety doe (Naragon doe) finally had her first successful litter - 5 were born but two were dead and a third is a peanut - but we are very excited!

Our tort doe out of Little Bear had her litter, but two were on the wire, the third in the box - a blue sired by Zack!  Due to the extreme cold at the time, I put this baby in with Sweety’s surviving kits and all have been doing well.

Our new Camelot doe from Zablers did have one baby on the wire, but this is a young doe with her first litter so we didn’t expect a lot more….

The fourth doe we bred did have one baby but I believe she had a hard time with it and had to pull it out as the baby appeared so and was dead. 

Not much luck this fall with Holland breeding - not sure why, everyone seems very healthy and active - guess it just isn’t in the cards right now.

I did not have good luck with my new Polish this December - I had three does bred and due for last week - two only have one baby each and both were dead (one was kind of mangled so by the new mom), and one was too cold (born during that cold snap)

The only other Polish I had bred didn’t come in.  And I was so hoping for these litters!

Well I guess we’ll try again for next month…..

We are very excited - Kelly has two French Lop litters due this week, although she isn’t sure one of her bucks was quite old enough to produce a litter, so we’ll have to just see if the doe has any.

Jody and I bred 4 Hollands who are all due this week - keeping our fingers crossed - especially since two will be first-time moms.

And of course,  most importantly (hehehe) I have a couple of my new Polish does bred for this week too - I can’t wait for my own Polish bunnies!

If the weather would cooperate here - been pretty cold, blowing wind, temps in the teens all week……

Today I finally installed our new Rabbit Care booklet on our website.  You can find it here:

http://www.lopsandcavies.com/pdf/Rabbit_Care_Breeding_Book.pdf

This is the same booklet we hand out to new pet rabbit owners and new breeders who buy our stock, and it covers basic rabbit care for both pet owners and breeders.

We cover basic cages requirements and best places to keep your rabbit, along with tips for keeping bunny comfortable in a variety of weather conditions.

We also cover feeding, with info on rabbit pellets, hay and supplements, plus we discuss the importance of water.

We touch on rabbit behavior and habits and how to keep your rabbit happy with toys, excercise and play.

Several pages cover rabbit health and illness, and how to check your rabbit for health problems.

For new rabbit breeders, we have information on basic rabbit breeding and kindling plus tips for making pedigrees, culling rabbits and tattooing.

Lastly we offer descriptions of rabbit club types, how to join and how to show your rabbit at both 4-H fairs and ARBA rabbit shows.

We hope this booklet is helpful to you - our other book was downloaded a lot, despite it not being well-optimized (and very slow-loading) so we hope this recent improvement will make this booklet easier to download for those rabbit owners who want to use it!

Have a happy Turkey Day! 

Cathy