Rabbit & Cavy News

Today I bred two of my Polish does to a broken chocolate buck that the Reilly’s loaned me!  I am so excited - finally some brokens!

The weather has been climbing up into unbearable, but I’ve been able to keep the rabbits fairly cool using our huge exhaust fan and many other portable fans strategically located throughout our rabbitry. 

It also helps that we are really low on rabbits right now, and the remaining rabbits are placed right in the path of cooler air flow.

Off to the barn to check on the mare- a few days ago I found what feels like a thick sliver or almost a pencil-thick stick lodged just under the skin of her neck- it is strange - about 2 inches long and at first the opening was not apparent.

Now it has become apparent that this sliver entered from the top, and my friend pulled out some of it today - I am headed out with some Nolvasan to try to finish it up…..

cathy

Wow did we get the rain here last night - drowned those worms right out of the yard! 

Glad my rabbits are behind screens - as this will surely be a busy season for mosquitos and bugs of all sorts.  Lately, I’ve seen some flying bugs that I can’t even identify; kind of short, fat fly-beetle looking things, kind of like flies on steroids - they look imposing to me so of course I’ve got to run from them, I hope they don’t bite!

Well I think Jessie Miller is coming down this way Sunday to pick up one of our large cages.  I am hoping to start powerwashing cages today, but may put it off till Friday depending upon our plans today. 

Happy 4th to you and your family!

cathy

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

Well I’ve found it very difficult to eek out time to publish anything lately, much less work on any of my websites.  My time has been divided among track and soccer meets, endless meetings and planning for graduation this year.  Between all this, I’ve been taking care of bunnies and the horse. 

After graduation, I’ll gradually get back into more web work and also more reporting about our rabbitry.

Sorry for the delays and excuses!  Have a super weekend.

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. 

We were planning to attend the Sunday Tri-County Rabbit Show held in Jefferson, Wisconsin tomorrow, but it looks like I’ll be in Illinois again instead.

Jody is in a huge soccer tournament this weekend in Rockford - in fact we just got home after a long day in brutal freezing weather! 

He plays again early Sunday morning then possibly in playoffs, we’ll have to see.  Either way, we can’t be at two places at once, so the soccer tournament wins this time.

Kelly has some nice juniors to show - hopefully we will hit a show or two in May.  I also have a few Polish and a Holland due within the next few days and I can’t wait, especially for the Polish babies!

Well, goodnight all.  I can’t wait to climb into my nice warm bed and sleep away any thoughts of today’s bone-chilling wintery winds.

Cathy

We may be moving our rabbitry soon!  Currently we are pretty space restricted and it takes us more time to get to the rabbitry, than we’d like. 

The place we have in mind is much closer to home and is larger so we can spread out a little more!  I don’t mean more rabbits….I just mean it will be easier to work in the barn when we have more room to maneuver!

A few more details to work out yet - but it looks good!

Cathy