Greenberry's Blueberry Bell

It's shaping up to be another cold, wet spring here, with a couple of thunderstorms to make things interesting.  We had hail on Sunday; it didn't seem to hurt anything but it drove us away from the craft tent.  I've spent most of this week on the computer.  Monday we went to a series of seminars on starting businesses.  The most useful seminar was about the tax requirements; most of the rest was pretty general because of time issues.  More stacks of paper to bring home!

I sheared two rabbits this week so far; Blueberry, my blue doe, had a wonderful fleece that I packed up and sent off to a buyer that was waiting for it.  She's a nice doe that always has lovely color.  Chocolat was fine for shearing, too; he's always such a sweet fellow.  There are baby bunnies in the bunny house: Joy has a litter of five and Mary has nine.  I don't think all of the nine will survive but Mary has raised eight before.

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It seems that we're getting our April showers now.  Normal, really, but I want to be out a-planting and cleaning the bunny house.  I did get a rabbit sheared yesterday, a nice old buck that is slowing down a bit with age.  He's almost six, seems a little stiff in one leg sometimes, but eats well.  His wool production is way down, though.  This is the oldest rabbit here, and he and one doe have been here almost since I started with the rabbits.  There have been some longevity issues with the Germans, and I'm glad to see that these two crosses are doing so well at this age.

No big news here; I've been working on my crocheted rug for the craft booth and doing a lot of computer work.  Sales of Angora wool and books have been good lately; I need to rework the web page and put some of the new rovings up.  Hard to be inspired on such a wet day but time to get to it all!

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Greenberry's Autumn Joy

Lovely day yesterday, warm and sunny and great for working outside.  A bit windy, so I brought this doe inside for shearing, so angora wouldn't be floating away on the breeze.  Joy is one of my favorite rabbits, with a sweet personality, lots of lovely chocolate chinchilla fiber and she is a terrific mother.

After a shearing

This is what these lovely rabbits look like after I get finished with them.  Sad.  But the rabbits don't mind and it grows back quickly.  I bred Joy to my gorgeous lynx buck, Delly's Delight Quenten.  They were both happy with the idea of being parents so hopefully soon I'll have a lovely nest box full of chocolate bunnies.  By the time the bunnies come, Joy's wool will be just the right length for her to build a cozy nest.  This will be her last litter; she's almost three years old and has done enough work mothering.  She'll retire to grow lots of gorgeous wool. 

A Yarn Order!

Getting yarn in the mail is a rare treat for me.  This is Brown Sheep Company's Lamb's Pride Worsted, which is 85% wool and 15% mohair.  I've been eyeing this pattern for a felted rug in the last issue of Interweave Press Crochet magazine, so I ordered the yarn from Yarnware.com.  My local yarn shop doesn't exist anymore, and this was the only company I found on-line that had all the colors.  As it turned out, they didn't have one of the colors called for, so I substituted another blue for turquiose.  Figures that the turquiose was what caught my eye in the pattern.  But I think it will be OK.  This will be a rug and chair pad for me to use with the spinning wheel and chair during shows and demonstrations.  I desperately need to revamp my whole booth situation and this is a start!

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Busy day yesterday cleaning more trays in the rabbit house.  The morning was cool and cloudy and I was afraid it would rain, but the sun came out and it was a pleasant day for chores, although a little windy.  I had two bucks blow their coats last month just a couple of weeks before they were due for shearing.  Annoying when that happens.  It seems like one day you're looking at a beautiful coat of wonderful spinning wool, and then the next day it's all dreadlocks and useless.  It doesn't happen that fast but it seems to.  I think this was triggered by the weird weather we've had; cold then warm and then cold again.  One buck is a youngster but the other was here last winter and has produced some wonderful wool.

A young cousin and her daughter came over to discuss getting a rabbit for the child, but we decided together that maybe an angora wouldn't be the best choice for a busy family.  The coat care is always something I point out to a prospective buyer, and now that the rabbits produce so much wool I stress the point even more.  My cousins are interested in fiber arts, so I invited them to come to the shop this summer and experiment.  If the interest lasts, there might be reason for them to try a German Angora in the future.

A storm last night prevented me from working on the last of the articles about my grandmother.  So I crocheted awhile on the mohair purse; it's finally reached a point where it's going along a lot faster.  I find with this yarn I have to loosen the tension a bit; the stitches seem to tighten after I make them.  Strange.

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Slip-stitch Purse

I am really enjoying this project.  As I said, this technique with crochet is new to me and I really wasn't sure I would like doing it.  Slip-stitch can be so fussy sometimes.  But this is flowing right along.  I'm doing alternating bands that make a smooth surface to the fabric and then a raised area; very pleasant to look at and feel.  The sturdy yarn is perfect for this stitch, and I find myself eyeing the stash for something to make a bigger bag.  This is fun!

Thanks, everyone, for visiting 'here' at my little Victorian cottage in the mountains yesterday.  I do enjoy the old place; it has a quiet charm for me.  The fact that it has been home for much of my life probably has a lot to do with it.

Last night the dogs cornered a visitor to the farm; a possum has been filching cat food and they caught him by the apple tree.  He retreated into the old dog house by the trunk, hissing and frightened.  Usually I'm with the dogs at night, but I was late getting home and went down to feed the rabbits.  I went to the rescue, coaxing the spaniel away, with the puppy retreating at our heels.  He has a firm sense of self-preservation; now way he's dealing with a frightened possum on his own!

There's a nest box in with the chocolate doe; if she kindles at all she's due tomorrow.  She seemed a little thin not long after I bred her but looks fine now.  I'm no good at telling when a doe is pregnant; I just wait the 31 days and see.  The time does vary; I've had does kindle as early as 30 days and as late as 35 from the breeding.

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Laurel Fork Creek

With the lovely weather I'm busy hauling manure out of the bunny houses, piling it up by an old apple tree stump for composting.  The gardens are always lush, thanks to this by-product of having animals.  I was behind in tray cleaning, because of the bad weather and other work, so it's been quite a project to take care of.  I sheared a gorgeous bunny, Woolybuns Crystal, during the weekend.  The Woolybuns rabbits always live up to their name; Crystal had her usual lush coat and I clipped a nice boxful of wonderful white wool.  Since I sent off all the white wool I had here with the merino to be spun, I need to replenish my suppy.  The rabbits are obliging!

A friend came this weekend to work on a water line down to the barn, to make keeping water for the rabbits easier during the summer.  He's also running an electric line underground, which will be nice for a light on dark winter evenings and for fans in the summertime.  I have a long extension cord right now, but I have to be alert when the mowers come!

I took some time off this weekend for a walk along a country road with the dogs.  The road is unpaved; a narrow dirt road that wind a leisurely path through a beautiful valley.  Laurel Fork Creek curves between the hills, crossed twice within a quarter mile by wooden bridges.  I sat with the dogs on one bridge, looking down into the water and listening to a whispering silence in the breezes.

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Greenberry's Thomas Delaplane

This lovely fellow is, along with his sister Eliza, my favorite rabbit in the barn right now.  He's descended from one of my two first does here and I've been working with his line for nearly seven years.  They have all been gentle rabbits but Tommy has a special sweetness.  He and his sister are right up front every time I walk into the rabbitry, wanting to 'talk' and be petted.  Tommy is 92% German and has a lovely dark pewter coat that usually produces 10 to 11 ounces of wool every three months.  He's a dream to shear, patiently lying still while I carefully harvest his wool.  Yesterday, with the warmth of the day and the sunshine, he fell asleep, lying on his back in my lap!

More hauling manure up to the compost pile yesterday.  I'm a bit sore today, either from the gym or from carrying heavy buckets.  It's cold this morning, a still gray dawn after a wildly windy night.  I'm hoping to work on a crocheted scarf special order today but also want to get one more rabbit sheared, if it warms up a little by afternoon.

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Healthy German Angora Crossed Bunnies

Today it's raining.  So I'm planning a run to the feed store, for supplies for the rabbits, the cats and the dogs.  It's a bit of a trip so I'm hoping a good friend and cousin with go along.  It's a pleasant road, even in the rain, and we enjoy the company.

I'm a bit fussy about what I feed the animals.  Back when I started with the angoras, the breeder told me what she was feeding and, since it was available not far away, I started feeding the same thing.  But the climate here isn't the same as Piedmont North Carolina, and during the first winter I started noticing some things that did not make me happy.  Temperatures here can fluctuate dramatically in January.  One day might be a balmy 50 degrees with sunshine, while the next can dip into the twenties.  The rabbits had problems: mild diarrhea, some episodes of not eating, some weight loss and some coats that didn't produce as well as they should. 

In consulting with other breeders, I tracked down the possible cause of these difficulties to corn in the feed.  When I started with rabbits, the feeds available in my area were corn based.  In my climate, for angoras, this just wasn't the right grain for them to stay healthy and happy.  Corn provides a lot of energy, but it's not as digestible as other grains but works well to grow a bunny quickly for the meat market.  Since German angoras tend to grow slowly and are meant to produce wool, corn wasn't the appropriate feed for my purposes.

I went to several feed dealers in my area, and finally found one that could special order a wheat based feed for my rabbits.  I saw an immediate improvement, but in short order this dealer grew tired of bothering with my ten 50 pound bag a month request.  Another problem with rabbit (and other pet) pelleted food is freshness.  Nutrition is lost quickly when a feed sits around, especially if it is exposed to temperature fluctuations.  It can even become dangerous to the animals, because of the buildup of toxins caused by molds and other contaminants.  Even the family dog is at risk if fed a commerical dog food that has been lying on a shelf too long. 

I went back to the breeders, always helpful in those days, and discovered that many of them were using feeds made by a company called Blue Seal.  There are other excellent brands on the market, but a new feed store that carried Blue Seal opened within driving distance and I made the trip to consult the young store owner.  Unlike my local feed man, the new feed store owner was enthusiastic about helping me discover which formula was perfect for my rabbits and he has been dedicated and punctual about keeping a fresh stock available for me.  I never feed a bag that is over a month old, thanks to his dedication.  My older spaniel was also having a few problems and so I switched her to feed provided by this young man.  Now all the animals here eat food that I can be sure is fresh and healthy for them.

The pelleted rabbit feed I use now is a wheat-based formula and the rabbits have done very well on it.  I supplement it with whole wheat and whole oats (when I can get them), greens, a little fruit, carrots, a little birdseed and a little sunflower seed.  Nursing does get broccoli and I put all the rabbits out to graze as often as I can in a pen.  Next to creating my own feed completely, this system has been the best for my animals.

I think any feed would have worked as well, as long as it had little or no corn and was as fresh.  But the key factor in the success of the current system is the feed store owner.  Thanks to this excellent young man's dedication to his job and enthusiasm for his product, my rabbits are healthier and I'm happier with what I'm doing to keep them well.  I drive much further than I would have to if my local man has been as cooperative, but it's worth it to support this small shopkeeper who is concerned about his customer's needs.

There have been some longevity issues with German and German crossed angoras.  Most breeders reported life spans of three and four years when I first started working with the breed.  Right now I have two bucksand a doe that are all over five years old, and they seem fit and healthy despite the cold weather we've been having.  Better breeding selection is probably part of the improvement, but I think a better feed without corn has been a contributing factor to the better overall health of the current animals in my barn.  Wool production has improved dramatically over the years as well.

This is just my experience, mind.  I'm not an expert on rabbit nutrition and the conditions here are very different than elsewhere in the country.  This is what works for me and the factors that have influenced the decisions I've made on how to keep angoras healthy in my barn.

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The wind picked up here yesterday afternoon and was howling in the early morning hours.  I thought it might mean a change in the weather, but the sun is out and the temperatures are warm.  I watered the grape cuttings heavily yesterday evening, hoping to keep the pots from blowing away.  All seemed secure this morning!

Woolybuns Snickers

This lovely lady is a chocolate doe, from one of my favorite breeders in Connecticut. Snickers is a sweet girl that grew very fast to reach her current nine pounds.  She's about a year and a quarter old, so she may grow a bit more.  I've had some pure Germans reach their top weight at two years old.  Snickers is a cross, 81.75% German.  This means that back in her pedigree other breeds, either English Angora or French Angora, were bred to pure Germans to produce rabbits with lots of wool that has color.  The cross was too far back for me to know for sure what the added breed was.  She has legs that don't have wool on them, though, like the French Angora, so that's one clue.

Snickers also has marvelous color.  Chocolate is one of my favorite colors to spin in the natural color, with silver and caramel tones that make a lovely yarn.  The nine ounces of wool that Snickers produced with this clip is all beautiful, with nice texture and deep, rich color.   She was very good for shearing, enjoying the warmth of the sun as we sat in front of the barn.  Fortuately the wind didn't pick up until after I was finished, or all that beautiful wool would be strung across the grass in the field.

The spring-like temperatures and the sun have made Snicker's thoughts turn to motherhood.  She pulled a little wool last week, wading it into a corner of her cage.  So after I sheared her I thought she might be receptive to breeding, and I popped her in a cage with Delly's Delight Quenten, a handsome lynx buck that produced some beautiful bunnies last summer with Greenberry's Autumn Joy.  Snickers was most obliging, so we should see a litter of nice chocolate colored bunnies in the middle of March.  Here's hoping a blizzard doesn't arrive at the same time! 

Not much progress on the knitting yesterday, but I did manage to get a few rows done.  I'm still awkward at transferring the stitches from one needle to the other, which makes me a bit slow.  Handspun on wooden needles may be making it a trifle harder, or, as I'm sure is the case, I need a lot more practice!

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Coopworth Walnut Dyed Hand Spun Yarn

It may be my age or the fact that I'm a little bit of a control freak, but I have a few issues with learning new things.  Knitting is something I have attempted at various times over the years, and every time I try I get frustrated and put it aside.  This time I'm determined, and thanks to a great knitting coach, Chris of Woolybuns, I'm getting a handle on very simple garter stitch for this scarf.  Maybe!

Living Water Farms Angel

After wrestling with myself and knitting all morning, it was a relief to go out into the fresh air and get a nice doe out for shearing.  Angel is a pure German, not one of my largest does at 8 and a quarter pounds, but well built and of very good temperament.  She was overdue for shearing.  I don't like letting that happen but sometimes weather prevents me from getting them done when I want.  I try to time shearing to miss our coldest times but this year the weather has been strange.  The rabbits don't seem to mind the cold, even when I shear them during cold weather, but I mind sitting outside in temperatures below freezing trying to do it.  Yesterday was moderate, not too cold but not warm enough to feel strange, and last night the temperatures stayed above freezing.  Angel was a little matted around her face and hindquarters, but the rest of her fleece was lovely.  She seemed happy to get rid of all that hair!

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