Babies....

Well babies were born sometime tonight between 4pm and 7pm. Lily has 8 beautiful little babies! We brought them inside and weighed them and checked them making sure all were alive and looking healthy. It looks like are all doing well and hopefully they will continue that over the next two weeks. By two weeks of age the ones that make it (hopefully all!) will be doing pretty good and we should not have to worry about them. Lily is a new mom but so far she seems to be doing great!

Finally....

So I have been working on a website for my rabbitry for awhile. Although I still haven't been able to get pictures with work and some camera issues I have published my website. I can't wait till Tuesday because we will hopefully have a litter of Cremes born. Everything is getting a little more exciting everyday! The name of the website/rabbitry is Midnight Acres Rabbitry. Click on the orange link if you want to check it out!

Loss....

I picked up my three Creme D' Argent rabbits on Sunday. They are big beautiful rabbits and they have been such a joy. Mr. Miller the gentleman I picked them up from is an older man who still shows rabbits and has a true passion for it. He was kind and even invited me to show his two with him at the show. The two does are timid and the buck was very friendly. At first I was worried I may lose the two does as their eating habits were not what I expected at that time. One of them I even had to coax a little. She has since bounced back to normal eating habits.

However, nothing is ever easy in the rabbit world and we lost our first rabbit today. Our buck "Charlie" passed away. Most of the time the reasons are unknown as it was for Charlie. He was great last night and passed this morning. We tried what we knew how to stall death even evade it but I knew this morning he gone before I even was able to get him out of cage. Laura was holding him when he passed and although she is a little less outward emotional then me I know she is deeply upset.

Our goal is to be farmers and that will include raising animals and with that will come death. I have had many people who know me personally tell me there is no way I will be able to be a farmer and be around the death. Yes, I do get extremely sad and yes I do cry far more then someone probably should. However, this does not make me weak. I know that Charlie had a good life while he was here. He had a clean cage, fresh food, water, and he was loved. I will know in the future that before every animal dies whether for food or by nature that they were loved and cared for. Yeah you may see me cry and you may think I'm a bit over the top, but I love with every inch of my body and I also ache with every inch when something I care for is no longer. I'll be sad for awhile but I'll eventually move on and just like every other animal I have ever owned I will look back on Charlie and be happy but also sad.

My original plan was to post pictures as soon as I got the rabbits. However, with the does being timid I am waiting and I just don't think I can put up a picture of Charlie yet.

1 week....

So it is one week till my Cremes come home. I am still unsure about what is happening with the Cinnamons. I have a busy week ahead of me. We still have not finished with the cages but I assure you that when we do I will post photos first thing. In fact the garage in general is getting work this week. We are having a doorframe replaced and also a window. This will help better insulate the garage and keep the rabbits at a more neutral temperature. I wish I had more to say but I have so much to do to get ready for the rabbits.

Peoria....

So this past Sunday I made the trek to Peoria, IL for my first rabbit show. I was only a spectator and I needed some supplies which is how I justified driving the 2.5hrs to go. However, Nicholas had been a bit cranky the night before and I was unable to get much sleep. I probably should have not gone but I had promised an equipment vendor that I would finally pick up some supplies that I had ordered a few weeks back. I also ordered some supplies from another vendor that was at the show. So in essence I had to go, I was excited to go, but I was tired. When I got there and was able to see all the rabbits it was awesome. It was all I could do to keep myself from buying all kinds of rabbits, but I have my heart set on Cremes and Cinnamons. It's hard to think that in  12 days I will be bringing home my first trio of Cremes. It's scary and exciting at the same time. We still have a lot of work to do in able to get ready to build their cages and I cannot wait to hold those bunnies in my arms. While they are for show and the will live in the heated and cooled garage they will also be my pets. We have done a lot to the garage to get it ready for the bunnies. We fixed the doors and windows to allow for better insulation. We have cleaned and organized it, although we will continue to organize it with better organiztion tools and tips. We have currently have a space heater which keeps the garage decently warm in the sub-zero temps but when the electrican comes in he will fix the large heater that the garage already had. We have fans to cool the garage but we are in the process of purchasing a window unit to keep the garage at a more bearable temperature in the summer. I also have good news about my Cinnamon search. I was contacted by Zach Sauer who is a respected Cinnamon breeder and has done really well in the Cinnamon realm. I may be purchasing two rabbits from him if he decides that I will be a good fit for his rabbits. It's small start but a good one.

Well....

Well the rabbits did not happen this weekend. Laura encountered many more problems then she thought she would when building the cages. She also is trying to sway my opinion on which breed of rabbits we should get. She would rather not go with the Silver Fox but rather Creme D' Argent or Cinnamon. I think the Cremes are prettier and I like that they are a heritage rabbit, but I will admit to an attraction to the Cinnamon breed. Both of these breeds are hard to find and I have contacted breeders around my area to find stock of either. I do not know when this will happen and I wish it could happen soon because I would like to start showing soon. While I will take whatever I can get if I find stock I do have a wish that they are at least 6 months of age so I can begin showing. I will update more as I know more but for now that is what is happening. I would also like to note that I joined the ARBA and I registered my rabbitry name. I am now the official owner of Midnight Acres Rabbitry. It was originally chosen because I thought we would have black rabbits and well it just kind of fit together.

Silver Fox....

So many of you may be wondering what is Silver Fox and I am here to tell you! Over the past several weeks, maybe even longer, Laura and I have talked about my time in Iowa. It hasn't been the best to tell you the truth. I have felt super lonely as I have not been the best at making friends (yes I know partly my fault). So we decided that maybe I need a hobby in which I interact with people. Last year I grew a garden but we had the drought and it is mostly a lonely but fun hobby. I will garden this year again and if the drought hits again I will allow my garden to wilt and support the local farms who depend on the money from their garden for income. We are even thinking about purchasing a CSA share. Chickens are out of the question this year and probably while we live in Iowa City there are too many laws and it is expensive to get the yearly permit. Yet, we decided that a hobby that closely identified with the desire for our future farm and something that would get me out interacting with people would be the best fit. After a little research we have decided that I will raise rabbits for show and probably to eat. Rabbit shows are decently cheap to enter, there will be tons of people to meet while doing it and it will be something to get me out of the house.

This is where the Silver Fox comes in. It is a breed of rabbit that is listed on the American Livestock Breeds Conservancy (you can read about them at that link). It was important to both of us to find a breed that was in danger of no longer existing and we will continue that pattern when we do eventually get our own farm. After finding that breed on the ALBC website I did a search of breeders in the area. Of course being a rabbit that is threatened it was hard to find, but I was about to find a girl that breeds them, Grace Jakes. She breeds for 4-H and has also done some showing beyond 4-H. I probably could have found a more prestigious breeder but I figured why when these rabbits have the potential as the have grand champions in their lines. Who knows in the future I may even hook up with another breeder to find some better lines. All I know is I'm excited and maybe Laura is too. After all she offered to build my cages and I can't wait to take pictures. This Saturday I will be driving to meet Grace and choose a rabbit or two. I already have my eyes set on a buck named Thirsty (this may have to change haha) but I may pair him with a girl named Elisabeth. I should note that Thirsty currently has one leg and this is good news, because if he gain two more he will be a grand champion but this will be a hard task. I will update you on Saturday after I go to see them, but for now I am excited! I am thinking my first show may even be on February 17th and this also happens to be a Silver Fox sanctioned show where I will meet up with lots of other breeders.