Kaleidoscope Rabbit Project

Spring Rex litters

2010-04-15T08:45:00.000-07:00

Have started taking photos of the first spring litters, now right around 3 weeks old, out of the nest box and active. A lot of these photos will end up being used as references for artwork eventually. Three of the five litters were sired by Romeo and the other two are by a Romeo son.

All of these litters are standard Rex litters and three of the does are full sisters, out of my best producing doe by a buck that came from Indiana and has produced some winners on the show table. The other two does are related, just one additional generation away from the doe.

This one is the most adventurous of this litter and will probably end up being the primary "model" for the artwork.

And then there is this one, who appears to have cold feet

Rabbit Jerky

2009-11-06T11:51:00.000-08:00

I've always liked jerky. I used to carry it with me riding. It was a staple to carry with me when I was driving to dog shows for 20 years. For another 10 years I stocked up for my long distance hauls with the horses.

I no longer do dog shows or haul horses, but I have not lost my taste for jerky. Unfortunately, I haven't found a good source for *good* jerky, though I suppose some of the online sites would have it. However, I can't really see spending $12 or more for 8 ounces to try the various companies.

When I found a receipe for "oven jerky" I decided to give it a try ... although I actually did cheat. I'm not all that comfortable with raw meat, so I've come up with something I call "faux jerky", using cooked rabbit and using my BBQ sauce as a marinade.

I did one batch using one rabbit. I figured it was going to work pretty well, when I ended up with just a few pieces by the time it was "finished". The sampling process seemed to require quite a lot of samples as it was drying. Second time around, I used three rabbits. Worked better. Ended up with three one-pint containers ... which lasted four days.

I cook the rabbit, let it cool and then strip the meat off in chunks. My preference is for somewhat smaller pieces, as they dry faster in the oven and I prefer it bite-sized.. I put the cooked rabbit bits in a bowl, pour the BBQ sauce over the meat and stir until all of the individual pieces are well coated. Cover and refrigerate overnight.

The following morning, I spread the rabbit pieces on dehydrator screening laid on lightly greased tinfoil and placed on the oven racks. I've used just tinfoal quite successfully with my first attempts, though I do turn the rabbit pieces over so they dry from both sides. Set oven on the "warm" setting and crack the oven door. Depending on the thickness of the meat, oven temperature and probably humidity as well, you will have jerky in 6 to 10 hours.

BBQ MARINADE RECEIPE

1 24 oz. bottle of ketchup
1/2 cup brown sugar
2 TBSP finely chopped onion
1 tsp liquid smoke
2 TBSP Worchestershire sauce
1/4 tsp salt

Mix ingredients well in pan. Simmer for 5 to 10 minutes, stirring occasionally. Take off heat, let cool and use, or pour into storage containers and store in refrigerator.

I make up a double batch, which yields a little more than 2 quarts of BBQ sauce. I've "tweaked" the basic receipe a little for myself, so go ahead and experiment for the exact taste you prefer ... more onion, a little garlic salt, more or less brown sugar, a "dollop" of molasses, more Worchestershire, or substitute terriyaki sauce for the Worchestershire.

This is a good basic BBQ sauce for any kind of oven-baked barbequed meat and is delicious as a marinate for my "faux" rabbit jerky.

My birthday present!

2009-10-18T12:05:00.000-07:00

Oh, my. First the rabbit shelter ... now this. The Kaleidoscope rabbit project is really going "uptown".
When we went to the rabbit show last spring, I mentioned that it would be convenient to have one of the little grooming tables like the have at shows even if I wasn't going to be showing. No more discussion, just one of those passing comments. Until THIS showed up in the rabbit shelter!
Cedar wood, professional finish and absolutely flawless handwork
.Lots of bells and whistles, a little like my old, much beloved oak rolltop desk that I had years ago.
Just one small problem ... it is too nice to stay out in the rabbit shelter so it is now sitting on my kitchen table ... waiting for me to get my office space rearranged so it will fit in the office.

The rabbits will just have to come in the house to use it!

I have a REAL rabbit shed now!

2009-09-09T13:31:00.000-07:00

I have been adding rabbits ... and more cages ... to the horse shelters as the horses go out as a part of our "downsizing" program but thanks to a rather unlikely set of circumstances ....

I NOW HAVE A REAL RABBIT SHED!

We have used these shelters for the horse sheds as well, our first one was put in 4 years ago and a second one added the following year. The covers are the same material as the covers on the "CoverAll" buildings, with a 15 year warranty and while the framing isn't as heavy, we've had very good luck with them using the portable corral panels on the inside.

Two years ago we sold 4 acres to a young couple with horses and they planned to put these shelters up since we liked ours so well. Dick showed them the way to anchor it solidly, helped them with the first shelter and they were planning to put up three more. They got two more up and the frame on the last one up, but unfortunately they had decided they could get by with fewer anchors and lighter strapping ... and then, of course, we had a bad storm!

The shelter Dick supervised is still up, the other three shelters have been lying on the ground up in the field since the storm (yes ... two years!). They finally offered us one if we would put the other one back together and repair or replace the framing that was bent or broken so they could try to sell it.

Dick spent a week digging everything out from under the weeds, laying the framing out and welding some of the broken braces, then getting the first corner and end set and squared up. He made a call to his son, who "suggested" his two stepsons come down and make themselves useful, so today we had a "barn raising" ... 21st century style.

Helps a LOT to have young, athletic (did I mention YOUNG?) men to help with something like this and they had the framing up by lunchtime and the cover washed off, a couple of small holes repaired and the cover up by chore time tonight!

I now have a RABBIT SHED that is 18 x 40 which will have a single row of rabbit cages down each 40' side, plus a panel down the center with back-to-back single row cages ... a total of 160' of hanging space for rabbit cages! This gives me a 4' alleyway between the center cages and the side cages, plenty of room for a walkway and the wheelbarrow for cleaning. Some of that will be taken up with feed barrels but that should still give me all the room I will ever want for rabbits.

Although, one panel of rabbit cages, along with their occupants, were moved twice during the construction ... and again after the shelter was completed ... and they did not seem to be all that impressed by their relocation. In fact, at least one of them was just downright grumpy about the whole situation, I think.

I think most of them are happy with their new accomodations, however and seem to be settling in well with no problems.

Velveteen Lops

2009-06-20T11:19:00.000-07:00

I fell in love with the plush, velvety Rex coat more than 30 years ago, when I first began to raise rabbits. I'd also found the lop eared rabbits absolutely adorable, but stayed with the Rex because of their coat.

I was absolutely delighted to discover, once I got back into rabbits, that there was now a lop eared rabbit with a Rex coat! Both of my "wants" in one package, which led, of course, to my owning my first Velveteen Lops.

"Kritter" was my favorite of the first Velveteens, people oriented, very laid back and perfectly happy with life, a true ambassador for the breed. A very plush black, he was wonderfully hugable.

I had hoped these would be my show rabbits, although they are still one presentation away from ARBA approval. Having been a livestock breeder all my life, being involved from the ground floor, so to speak, with a new breed, was definitely appealing.

Since I was very focused on the pinto color pattern in my horse breeding program, it was only natural that I have gravitated to the "brokens" in rabbits and Thumper was my first young Velveteen Lop. Truly a character.

I had problems getting does bred and have only had two litters of pedigreed Velveteen Lops to date. Since vision impairment from an accident now prevents me from driving, my plans to show are on an indefinite hole. Consequently, I am not sure I will continue actively breeding Velveteen Lops, although I still have several.

Attack rabbit!

2009-06-16T12:24:00.000-07:00

The Rex breed seems to tend to be a fairly docile breed, in general. Since this is the breed I've always had all of my rabbits have accepted handling with resignation at least and some have been actively friendly.

I've always been a bit surprised at the number of people who have mentioned having rabbits that are difficult to handle, that will bite when they attempt to remove feed pans or reach in to feed. I have had does that will grumble at me when I count babies or handle them the first week or so but I've never had any of my rabbits show aggression otherwise. I've been scratched, of course, picking rabbits up that are not handled routinely and are apprehensive, but I have never had one offer to bite.

That is, until I started photographing a litter of Rex babies, just three weeks old and discovered that I have an ATTACK RABBIT!

He insisted on sitting in the corner, looking grumpy and definitely uncooperative.

" I don't WANT my picture taken!"

I told my husband to put his finger in and poke him to see if he would move away from the corner. Bunny responded with aerobatics that landed him in the middle of the cage, in fact, I think a backwards somersault, but he definitely was not impressed.

He began by sneaking up on that "thing" that poked him through HIS cage.

Then, he decided he wanted no part of whatever it was in HIS cage. He attacked, trying to bite! He was so fast I couldn't get pictures of the actual attack though it didn't help that we were both laughing so hard I couldn't have focused the camera anyway.

And I have to admit ... now ... I have seen an attack rabbit ...

Tri-color Rex

2009-06-14T12:30:00.000-07:00

When I decided to raise rabbits again, I already knew I wanted Rex and my first purchases gave me castors, opals and blues. As a self-confessed color breeding enthusiast, the next step, naturally, was to decide what I wanted to add with all the gorgeous colors to choose from.

The first pictures of the tri colors settled that question. Since an allergy to cats had always kept me from having a calico cat, calico bunnies seemed a reasonable substitute. Since the ARBA convention was being held in Louisville, KY I found a breeder with exactly what I had in mind who planned to attend the and she agreed to deliver her to me at Louisville.

I also found a breeder in Kentucky who was forusing on the tri colors. She had a tricolor buck with a heavier pattern as well as a solid red doe. With the purchase of these two, I now had the breeding trio of the tri colors I had hoped for and was on my way with the tri color Rex.

Since then, a friend of mine decided to go into rabbits as well, buying several Rex from a breeder in Indiana. One of her bucks is a broken black, which can be bred into the tricolors without problems, so I now have several options for my tricolor Rex breeding program although I will most likely keep a promising black junior buck to breed to Star, the tri color doe, in the future.
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Beginnings ... the Kaleidoscope Rabbit project

2009-06-13T11:24:00.000-07:00

My livestock raising adventures started when I was five years old. My grandmother gave me six baby chicks to raise when a coyote killed the mother hen. I raised those baby chicks, sold them in the fal, saved the money and bought 25 baby chicks the following spring. By the time I graduated from high school, I no longer owned chickens, but had four commercial Hereford cows that I ran on shares with my parents, under my own registered Montana brand.

As an adult, even though I did not live on a working ranch or farm again until recently, I have always managed to have animals around me and have usually been raising something. Although rabbits were not something I had as a child, I raised them for several years for the table when I lived on a "hobby farm".

Very recently, I started with rabbits again, for the table, going back to the Rex breed I had before and of course, as usual for me, it has expanded into a more extensive project that I planned for.

The first thing I found was the new colors! I had blacks and blues before and had never seen all of the new-to-me colors that now exist, so I'm now like a kid in a candy store ... I've got to have one of those ... and one of these ... and ooooh ... look at that one!

The sable point kit in the above photo is one of my first "fancy colored" litters and I am spending a great deal of time reading the various rabbit color genetics books I've collected. Unfortunately, it does seem that the learning curve is a bit slower than it was with the horses, 20 years ago, but I can't deny I'm having fun.

When I had the Rex before, I loved the feel of the pelts, there is absolutely nothing as plush and luxurious as the Rex fur and I not only had them for the table but also used the pelts for some small craft projects. With more time I have hopes of doing that again.

I can't convince myself a patchwork fur sleigh robe could be considered a necessity in Kentucky as I did in Montana, as there hasn't been enough snow in the 10 years I've lived here to even use a sleigh. However, I'm thinking that I could justify a lop robe at least. After all, this is a project to keep me busy in my coming "old age" and I'm sure the arthritis in my knees will eventually require a lap robe to keep me warm in my recliner some day.