Tribute to Snowy

Sadly I lost my D'Lynn's Snowy Lady (top photo). Snowy was a sweet gentle rabbit who taught me so much. She and her sister Misty will always hold a special place in my heart. They were my first rabbits purchased from Donna in Indiana. They were 50% english/50% german, and excellent import bloodlines on the german side. Snowy had a wonderfully matt free but yet very soft coat. Generally she sheared around 270 grams, not as much as a german, but since her coat was much finer and softer the volume was still the same. She passed away last night, still investigating with the vet to determine the cause of this mysterious illness that seems to only attach my does after shearing. I've lost 4 so far in the last 6 months, but Misty had the same symptoms about a year ago. If I knew the cause maybe I could do something to prevent this.

Anyway I still have Snowy's daughter Storm Warning's Zephyr who is a chestnut agouti from a fawn french father. Zephyr has her mother's disposition and coat. I've bred her to the choc agouti buck in my last post, I'll be saving some of these babies. I'm finding I prefer this type of coat for my own spinning.

Cold again this am, I don't think I will ever get used to these temperatures. The bunny barn was down to 35 this am, the little heater just can't keep up with 15 below zero and 30 below wind chills. I had to dethaw of few of the bowls in the bottom tier of cages. The rabbits don't seem to mind the temp, the ones who have been recently sheared have coats on and the rest are growing out nicely.

Here is a picture of a buck I sheared last weekend. Noah is a chocolate agouti whose father is a 1/2 2006 import german and his mother is a nice fawn doe who is only 47% german. Noah never got to be very large, but he still has wonderful spinning fiber and has good depth of color. He is bred to a chestnut doe who father was also fawn. Looking forward to having some nice fawn/agouti babies in early February. These will not be high percentage german, only 50%, but I'm love their texture for spinning. It is softer than german, but still matt free and both parents have been extremely carefree. This babies should make really nice spinners bunnies. I plan to keep a fawn for myself, but the rest will be available if anyone is interested.

Bye for now

Bitter Cold

17 below zero this morning, and so far we have only gotten up to 6 below. Had to go run errands though, we all have to eat, but boy the wind sure does cut right through when it is this cold. I'm spending the weekend spinning and reading. My copy of Ravenshade has arrived. My friend C.S. Marks has written this fantasy series, and it is hard to put down. This is the third book and the last in this trilogy. I sure hope she writes some more though. If anyone is interested you can find more info at the website www.elfhunter.net.
I finished the merino/alpaco roving and I've now started on a little bit of pygora in shades of purple/lavender. It is a lovely fiber and glides right through the fingers. It was expensive though and I didn't purchase much I'm not sure yet what it will become after spinning. Sometimes I just get pleasure out of trying a new fiber.
Bye for now

Black Germans

Very cold this morning temperature is 2 below zero and I'm sure the wind chill is much lower than that. The new snow is pretty, and I don't mind it as much as the cold. Seems like the wind cuts right through any cloths you can find to put on. I'm currently working on a 50/50 wool/angora sweater, but I don't think it will help me much this winter. I'm a slow knitter :>(

I'm sharing a Christmas picture of my pure german black doe SWF Mariah. She is from the first litter of my pure german black buck. I've got two more does bred to him, should have litters in early Feb if they took. I'm currently taking a waiting list for these babies if anyone is interested just send me a note at atlantisranyan@yahoo.com. I'm really pleased with the depth of color in the pure german blacks. They have more even color distribution than the german crossed with other breeds do.

Bye for now.

Rocky

I haven't seen my little friend for a while now. We had a blizzard right before Christmas with the wind blowing the snow very hard. Since that time I've not seen the squirrels. I miss their antics, I would fill the bird feeder almost daily just so I could watch them. I hope they are sleeping somewhere nice and warm. I find it amazing that any creature can survive the winter cold. One thing I really miss about the farm/woods back home is being able to walk even in winter and see all of the creatures scurrying around. The squirrels were a link to the woods, so I hope to see them in spring.

Winter Cold

Cold and more snow on the way. This morning it is 9 degrees F. Wind Chill -10. 5 inches of snow forecasted for Wed-Thur. It is only January and I'm very tired of winter. So far the bunny barn has averaged 50 degrees, but with a forecast high of 4 this Saturday it will be a real test for my little heater. Fortunately I'll be able to monitor it well on the weekend. Several rabbits have been shorn recently so if the temps in the barn drop too much they will have to come in the house. They get to wear nice little coats, so as long as it stays above freezing in there they should be fine.
In the past I've struggled every winter to thaw water bowls and worried through every shearing. When we moved to Wisconsin, not knowing really what the winters were like, I invested in a bunny barn and spent many long hours getting it insulated. Well the work has paid off and I've learned a few things. When we move back to Indiana I again will create a climate controlled area in the barn. Winters are much easier, but the big worry there is summer heat. Several friends lost rabbits due to the high temps this past summer. So I'm thinking that if we want to create high producing angora rabbits, it is only fair to give them comfort in the summer.

New Beginning

After several years of reading other's blogs, I've decided to create my own. Transplanted from home this may give some of my friends a chance to keep up on what is happening in my life. I'm currently spinning a lovely blend of merino and alpaca. Once I figure this blogger out maybe I can post a picture. I did manage to post a picture of my darling boy Lightning. Lightning is the son of my 2006 highest wool producer in IAGARB doe Samson's Sunny Suzanna. Lightning is the best of the 4 having reached 10 lbs at 9 mths of age. I've currently bred him to a tort doe to see what color genetics are hiding under the white.