All Hail Zwart

Zwart passed away unexpectedly two nights ago.

He had been fine. He was eating well and bouncing around. He was due for a shearing next week and I had groomed him before I left for the spinning retreat. I returned and he was great and happy to see me, with all systems looking fine. 24 hours later he exhibited slight twitching and seemed depressed in his cage. He did not eat his breakfast at all and I offered greens but no feed for dinner. I decided that on the following day I would let him romp around the yard and get a good look at his behavior. But, in the morning, he was already gone.

I will miss him. He was a dear, dear rabbit, without a mean or wayward bone in his body. A true lover.

When bunnies pass away this suddenly with no outward signs, I suspect a heart defect, a stroke or a real intestinal dilemma, but not woolblock when the stools had been normal right along. Without an autopsy, I will never really know, but he was in prime condition.

My daughter helped me bury him, right outside the doe's barn, where he had spent a happy week with them only 3 weeks ago. Hopefully there will be some Zwart juniors hopping around in a few weeks. That thought does ease his passing...a little.

Handspun Yarns
Topic: Handspinning

Each spring I head to the ocean for a retreat. I need to be by water for a few days to remain sane. I have combined this trek with teaching, and now enjoy the company of like minded folks for a few days. Yes, it's work, but work that I love.

In between the journeys, there is a lot of time to create. As I anticipate the spring, I end up creating yarns that remind me of the rocks on the beaches of Gloucester. I use angora to heather and "quartz" the colors, and variegated dyed fibers to simulate the jumbled look.

I'm packing to head out this week, and will be away from the blog for a while. The bunnies are all clipped and the barns tidied for the duration. When I return in April, we will shift into high gear as we get ready for litters to arrive.

Dyeing Angora...the final result
Topic: dyeing

I tried a few color combinations, but the highlights the angora gave to this natural dark brown wool roving I had was delicious, so I carded all of it up. It ended up looking good at 35% angora. I spun a few sample yards and it is wonderfully soft. There is over a pound of this stuff on the shelf for sale at the shop as I type. I plan to bring it to the Cape Ann Spinning Retreat next weekend, along with a few other spinning blends I carded up. Most contain angora.

Sometimes being the main event is not all its cracked up to be. I really enjoy what angora contributes to a wool based yarn. 100% angora has its place, but I find that 35% angora yarns wear better on a day to day basis.

Liebchen
Topic: black

One of my best, best does, Liebchen was born here four years ago. She is daughter to Matilda, who was the first German Crossed rabbit I used for breeding stock. Liebchen's dad was the wild man Rocky...part English and part French. Matilda and Rocky made fabulous kids, and Liebchen's sister Gretel is also still here. At 4 years of age, they are slowing down in the breeding department, but their coats continue to remain glorious. Her last clipping was 10 ounces, and this one looks even fuller. I had to leave it on this past week as the local newspaper came to take pictures of her. Now that she has the modeling session behind her, her coat will come off Saturday morning.

When this doe was 5 months old, she pulled her entire coat off, in anticipation of being bred. I thought she was too young, and passed her by. At 6 months of age, she did it again, and I decided that at 7 months we would give it a try. She had a wonderful litter and was the BEST mom. Each spring she is the first one to get that gleam in her eye...this is a rabbit who loves having bunnies.

Dyeing angora...day 2
Topic: dyeing
So, out of the dye bath came the angora, and I let it cool to room temp, which took 5 hours. I then rinsed it to be sure the dye had taken (!), and pulled it out to see what I got.

Mixed results. The angora on the INSIDE of the rolls did not take the dye thoroughly. I suspected I had not let it sit in the dye long enough for the dye to permeate all the way to the center of the sausages BEFORE adding heat.

So, I divided the lot into two piles...the first looked good to me:

and the second needed redyeing:


I redyed the second lot and it came out great.

Tomorrow (or soon!) I will post the results of what I am doing with this fabulous stuff!

Dyeing Angora
Topic: dyeing
I do not generally dye angora. I much prefer the glorious natural bunny colors when blended with wool.

However... This past winter, Gretel was housed next to Gunther, and he, being an up and coming stud, decided to mature early and sprayed Gretel mercilessly for the past 2 weeks. Her coat was a mess and I was prepared to toss it. Then, I decided that the lovely (yet decidedly smelly) 6" staple that I sheared off yesterday was worth saving. So, I did something I rarely do: I washed it:


All the angora was encased in netting so I could lift it easily as I rinsed.


But the day was early and I decided that it was time to play with dyeing the stuff. So, I mixed up a quarter envelope of Cushings dye in TAUPE and along with a 1/2 cup vinegar, added it to a dyepot, and let it soak for an hour.


Then the angora/dye went into my dye-only microwave for a 20 minute cook time.



Tomorrow (or so)...look for the results.

Shearing Reports as we wait for Breeding Day
Topic: shearings


I spent this morning shearing rabbits. The does are due to be bred tomorrow and Wednesday, so I am spacing the shearings accordingly.

Sidney was a lamb to shear, and although her coat is not spectacular, her conformation, attitude, chocolate color and health are. So, she is due to rendezvous with Neo. Her clipping was 4 oz prime 3-4" angora and 2 oz waste. I expect tortoiseshell (if I am lucky), white, chocolate and black bunnies.

Grindle exceeded my wildest hopes and expectations. She had a prime coat of 10 oz and waste of 3.5 oz. My goal is a pound...eventually. This kind of report gives me hope, as I head in the right direction making breeding choices and moving some rabbits out when they don't meet the standard. She, too, will have a date with Neo. I expect the same colors in that litter.

Last spring and summer I was plagued by weepy eyes in the barn, and lost half of my breeding stock as I moved them to other homes when I couldn't clear up what was going on. Many of the rabbits are fine now...but they aren't here. A new buck arrived here 18 months ago and that was when all the trouble started. He left pretty quickly, but the eye thing had spread to the other rabbits. I still don't know what was going on.

At any rate, the herd I have now is in tip top shape and my breeding stock is all without a flaw. There have been years when I had only one doe to work with who met my standards, or one buck. I now have 3 bucks and 4 does.

I am very grateful.

By the way...Vanessa has a new home.

Doe For Sale

Vanessa has been here since October and has been very healthy, but she is not happy here, and I am not putting her in the breeding program. Some rabbits really want to be the center of attention, and in this place, that simply doesn't work.

And the rule here is that if you aren't in the program, then you get to move out.

She is almost 8 months old, which makes her a candidate for breeding this spring. She was easy to clip yesterday... perfectly behaved! Her first coat was 3.4 ounces of spinnable 4-5" angora, and another 3 ounces of waste since I left it on too long because of the weather. I can see her being a very happy single rabbit or part of a group of 2 or 3.

She is $50 and comes with her Giant/English pedigree/breeding history from Twin Ponds Fiber Farm in PA.

Anticipating spring
Topic: Breeding

The bucks are getting all...er...warmed up with thoughts of spring in their minds. I am planning for breeding to start in 2 weeks, which gives me a window to get everyone clipped and cleaned up. Tomorrow Neo (pictured left at a younger age, but his behavior remains the same!) gets his winter coat shorn off. Then Gunther, his latest son, gets the same. That will leave the bucks all set to go, as Zwart is in short coat already.

But, they are already ready to go. Neo is beside himself with anticipation. I may have to send him to the Guy Barn to chill.

Plans are to have Grindle, Gretchen and Sydney rendezvous with Neo and Zwart in 2 weeks. But plans don't always pan out here, so stay tuned for what happens.

It has been my experience that rabbits in short coats will be more responsive to the mating process. And does that are newly shorn (within 24 hours) are the most responsive. So, in that vein, everyone EXCEPT the three does will get their coats off in the next two weeks, and they will then be shorn the day they are bred.

Wish us luck. I have 6 people waiting for new bunnies, plus I need more tortoiseshell and chocolate colored angoras to stay here in the barn crowd for fiber, so 2005 will see many, many litters here at the Bunny Barn.

Winter In The Barn


















In the cold, dark and dead of winter, very little happens in the Bunny Barn. A whole lot of feeding and bringing of fresh water while watching for problems with the cold takes up a chunk of each day. Since it takes longer to do even the most basic of chores, fewer chores get done, and the whole mind set around here is "endurance" while waiting for signs of spring.

We get the occasional sunny day (like today, or rather; this morning) and my thoughts tend towards cleaning or trimming faces/feet. But I am holding off removing full coats, even though 3 rabbits need to be shorn. The temps this weekend are expected to be 0*F and I will, instead, treat them AGAIN with Ivermectin to hold fur mites at bay. Fur mites LOVE thick, full coats, and seem to multiply wildly in this kind of weather.

It's even been hard to get some time to shoot pictures. The weather has been SO cold, my digital camera fogs up or won't work well. So, again, as time and temperatures allow, I will be posting pictures of the bunnies.