DAY 15

This happy PERKY little fellow surprised me today by jumping 8" up and out of his drop nest box to roam the 6 foot long cage he shares with his mom. He immediately found "her" corner and proceeded to pittle there. Good boy.

Rabbits are pretty tidy creatures, and with the right setup will litterbox-train themselves before you can say "Peter Rabbit". Many of the bunnies born here have gone on to blossom as House Rabbits and we hear stories of their tidy habits.

So here he is...at 2 weeks. He came in to visit the knitters at Charity Knitting Monday night in the shop:countrywool He spent a half hour with them and then snoozed for another half hour. But we managed to take his picture on the table.

Most 2 week old bunnies are just peeking out...staying safe in the nest with their siblings while watching the world. This guy is way ahead of the pack!

DAY 13

He is becoming more and more courageous as I enter the barn. As he listens to me when I talk to him, he comes out of his nest and presses his nose against the wire edge to investigate this large aspect of his world. His color is starting to confuse me. His eyes are a clear gray (from what I can see). I will spend some time working on the basic color genetics and definitions of TORTOISESHELL patterns in the weeks to follow. Since there is a whole other litter of siblings to clarify some of my speculations, we can arrive at an educated guess as to his color genetics.
The sun finally came out today (it has been raining or cloudy since he was born) and I got a shot of him in natural light. That is why his coat is so much warmer a gold in the second picture. I hesitated to doctor the beginning photos for color as I wanted as true a comparison of how the color PATTERN emerged as I could.

DAY 10

His eyes opened today! They are wee slits, but they are definitely open. It always amazes me that the ears will stand erect as the eyes open with 10-12 day old bunnies. He still looks like a guy and I check every day. He is starting to recognize my voice when I speak to him. I swear this fellow will be more bonded to me and I to him than most of my bunnies, since I have taken the time to take his picture every day or so.

DAY 7

Well, he has stayed with us for the first week, and he and his mom have worked out a compromise so that his diarrhea is held at bay, even though his belly is huge. My angora buddy in CA, Erin, tells me this is OK and she says to have faith. So, I sit and wait and have faith. This bunny is growing at a PHENOMENAL rate....

WEEK ONE

A bunny's first 4 days of life are crucial and the time when most things, good and bad, will happen. At the end of that time, color is showing through enough that one can make an initial guess at the color PATTERN one will see in the adult rabbit. Some colors evolve past this point, and nuances show up later on, so at this time, it's an educated guess.

This Wee Fellow had no competition in the nest, so the milk supply was ALL his. I expected him to grow quickly. And he did. See the pictures below for the differences in the growth of his belly.

What I was fearful of was the appearance of cheesy diarrhea, which I saw on day 3 and 4. I had lost most of a litter to this years ago, and have since done some investigation. COMPLETELY ANGORA by Kilfoyle and Samson addresses this issue and suggests removing the "overfed" kit from the litter for a 24-48 hour fast. Well, this left mama in tough shape if I did not hand express some milk from her burgeoning supply.

With some friendly advice from folks on the GERMAN ANGORA LIST I reduced the doe's food to hay and water for a day, which seemed to make ALL the difference, and after a 24 hour fast, the Wee Fellow returned to his nest and the doe returned to mother and feed him (groan) some more, but all was now better and he continued to thrive.

A doe can feed many, many bunnies or just one. Her milk supply will adjust itself to what she has to deal with. Sometimes this takes a little time.

DAY 1
On the 27th of July a single Wee Bunny was born to Hans Olo and Glinda. Hans was born here and is a handsome tortoiseshell fellow with a complacent manner, who enjoyed his dalliance with Glinda. Glinda was born at Nordic Angoras in New Hampshire, under the maternal care of Kim Kaslow. Glinda is also a tortoisesell, but she has a/some rufus gene modifier(s) which adds a deeper red shading to her coat. She is simply lovely and a lover, to boot. Her first litter with Hans numbered 7 kits, just five weeks before this kit was born. Why there was only one this time is a mystery, although the kit was HUGE at birth.

The gender guessing game is just that at first...a guess. As bunny gets older and "things" get bigger, one can get better at guessing, but for now, this kit looks like a "he" Here is one of my favorite rabbit gender identification sites on the web:identifying rabbit gender

Since both parents were mostly German, this guy promises to have a coat as good as Mom and Dad, if we can just get him through the first week.....

THE BEGINNING... OR WHAT I HAVE BEEN DOING ON MY SUMMER VACATION

Back in 1991 when I held Racca, my first French angora, it came to me that Color was Everything in angora rabbits. The difference between light brown and dark brown, soft grey and charcoal, fawn and golden orange rabbits was mysterious, ethereal and haunting. They all looked wise yet elfin and fairy-like to me. Each color said something different. I adored them then and still do.

Then The Fur became everything. How long can you/they go before you have to comb out tangles? How much will an angora share with you every year so you can spin the luscious stuff, knit it and then WEAR it? How soon can they make more?

Then The Personality became everything. Sweet, sweet bunnies that turned into sweet, generous and patient adults. Beautiful creatures who uttered not a sound, but who's moods you could gauge by their body language.

Then Health became everything. Clear eyes that do not drip, noses that do not run or sneeze, hind legs that are straight, teeth that do not curve, hind quarters that are large and square and heads that are beautifully held. What food makes the bunny healthy and how do they Make It Through the cold winters? How do you keep an animal from getting Wool Block?

And, at the end of the day, for me it is Color again. Fawn angora yarn is golden and warm; black angora yarn is a grey that has incredible depth; chocolate angora yarn is an elegant and charming cool brown. These naturally occurring colors are all I've ever wanted in my knitting projects. Breeding more angora rabbits with the deepest natural color possible is my goal. I do this for the spinning and the color and the critters. I am addicted.

This web log starts amid the droning heat and humidity of August, with Leo blazing extra creativity, in the Hudson Valley of NY State. The bunnies out in my barn are Enduring It. There is one Wee Fellow who will be the first to have his color and growth shared here. I look forward to this on-going presentation and documentation of Color in Angoras.