Wow. I've been so busy this is the first time in a long time where I've been able to stay up, and not having to wake up early in the morning. Between School, Work, and Softball the last few months have been nothing short of hectic. Now that school, and softball are over hopefully I will have more time to spend for myself, and my bunnies. I am so excited for this year and the stock I have!
I decided to update the sites name, and honestly I like it so much more! Noah inspired it because he always goes around telling everyone we are bunny farmers. Anyway have a great week!
Oh the weather outside is frightful... you can say that again. It's been so cold lately!! Apparently America is in the middle of a polar vortex?? Whatever it is I don't like it. Tis too cold for Tressa! Good thing rabbits prefer colder weather. Speaking of rabbits there may be a new addition to the herd tomorrow! My mom and I are going to Drive to Wisconsin to look at some baby Hollands, and hopefully bring one home! So excited! It's a doe too, so I can't wait to continue to further my lines! Hopefully the weather will be good tomorrow, and we can go!
Last Saturday when I went to feed, and water my rabbits I decided it was a good day to take everyone out, check nails, let them run around in the run, ect. It had been raining a lot that week, and I recently started school, so I was happy to finally get to take out all the buns and have some bonding time. My rabbits hutches are set up in a sort-of horse shoe shape, and on the end was Augustus. Lately he had been acting a little off. He wasn't eating as much, and I couldn't tell if he was because the rain would soak his food and then it would expand so I couldn't tell if he was eating at all. He also didn't come up to see me like he always did. I had so much on my mind that I didn't think about anything that was going on, so I just would pet his face then close the cage, and on to the next bun. I was excited to get Gus out because I assumed for whatever reason that he was depressed. Then I got him out, set him down on my show table, and started to run my hand along his back. He was all bony, clearly he wasn't eating. I guess it never really clicked until then. I couldn't tell if he had been eating or drinking, he was eating his timothy, but then he stopped eating that a day or two before. I got scared because he looked healthy, but didn't feel or act healthy. So I went and got my mom to see if she knew what to do. I found an old medicine spoon thing, and got a bowl of water, while my mom called a vet. Gus was hopping around the run, and looked okay, except his gums were pale, and he got tired fast. I made him drink water, and he spent the night in my room, so I could give him water regularly. It looked like there could be some hope when I actually got him to drink water out of the medicine spoon. I asked a breeder I know if she knew what was wrong, and she said that he most likely had a hairball, and how I should treat him. We did everything, tried everything. Then I was going to let Gus run in the run a bit Sunday night. Right as I pulled up to the run and started to open the carrier he started freaking out, so I picked him up. He died in my arms. I couldn't control my tears. I hysterically cried for 20 minutes before I could even 'call' my house to tell my parents. That phone call was mostly my sobbing with a few words in between sobs. I held him in my arms for so long, too long. We found a nice box, dug a hole, and buried him out back. Close to his family. We're still not quite sure what caused his stomach problems, but now he may be at peace. I miss you Augustus.
'I'm so grateful for our little infinity.' Okay so the results of the show were pretty awesome! I didn't do as well as I did last year, person wise, but I am so proud of Anna! She won first place for Junior Does -Holland Lop- which she got a purple Champion ribbon. The judge said that she is a very nice rabbit. If her head gets a little wider as she matures she will be amazing, but if it stays the same she will be average. I'm so excited for her showing future! I won't be breeding her until after I have shown her for awhile. We also had to take our rabbits out for a promotion booth, and she did so good! She just sat there and let people pet her. A little girl who was there said her favorite animal was a rabbit, and said Anna was her favorite. She asked if she could hold Anna, and I was a little nervous because I didn't want Anna to get scared and freak out. So I said yes, but gave her some tips in case Anna got scared. But she was totally fine!! The little girl was so happy! The dad said it was defiantly the highlight of her day. Which made me so happy, and that much more proud. Also there were some little kids there. Some had to be about one year old or younger, because they still had little baby hands, and didn't qute understand how to pet rabbits. One little kid grabbed her head/crown/ear and pulled her, and she just sat there. I was a little worried because I didn't want it to scare her, but it didn't even phase her! It was like it never happened! She was such a good baby!
I also purchased another Dwarf Hotot! I was walking past the Best Of Breeds to see how the Best Hotot looked; and it was for sale, and it was a doe!!! She was absolutely gorgeous! I got nervous because a lot of people around me were thinking about buying her so I ran to my mom and pulled her to the rabbit and I'm like she's gorgeous, I need her! Botta bing Botta boom! Yay! After I talked to the breeder I got to take her out to look her over, also had her out for a little while on the promotion booth. She is such a good baby! She's 3 years old, but poses instantly as she is set on the table. She's super sweet, and friendly. Also really good at being carried, and petted. Defiantly one of the best purchases I have made so far for the future of my herd. I'd like to show her at least once before I breed her. I can't wait to see how she does on the table, and the babies she will have when I breed her to Oliver!! I named her DigiRose. I wanted her name to do something with that day, because it was such an amazing day for me. Also the shoes I wanted to wear to the concert I went to that night, but they didn't have in stock, were Vans DigiRose. I thought it was cute. I am just going to call her Rose for short, also other people may not understand. Rose won B.O.B at State Fair, and also has 1 ARBA Leg. I'm not sure if she has been shown otherwise, or how she did. I'm sure she did great tho! Anyway I have to get everything ready for school now... Yippie *She says sarcastically* so bye for now! So much has been going on! I've been so busy this year. I'm super excited for State Fair tho.
I was going to show Oliver in Open Class, but I wasn't sure how to sign up until after the deadline. At least I know for next year! I'll be at fair August 21-24, Saturday is show day, and I bring Annabelle home at 3:00 on Sunday. If you see me come say Hi! Whoops almost forgot! My grandpa and I are also building a 6 hole hutch! Super excited to see how it turns out!!
So today was the last day of the Isanti County Fair. Friday was the show, but this is the only chance I've had to post about it!
(I'll go in order of events) Showmanship was first. It was my first year as a Senior, and I didn't practice, so I got blue. haha! Then for showing it was nice because their was another breed in between my two breeds, so I was able to stand beside my rabbits, and hear what the judges had to say about them. Holland Lops went first. Oscar went first because he is a senior buck. There were also a couple other senior bucks. The judge said they were all nice rabbits, but were all molting, so he didn't give any call backs for state fair line up. Next was the juniors. They judged all the juniors at the same time. Annabelle and Augustus got to stay at the table with some juniors, and then there were a couple senior does that came back. He went through them all, then came back looked at Anna, then Gus, then a Senior Doe, then Anna, and back to the Senior. After that he stepped back, took the microphone, and started talking about the rabbits. Finally he said I'm going to give Grand Champion to the little Junior Doe. THEN HE LAYS THE PURPLE RIBBON DOWN IN FRONT OF ANNA!!!! I almost cried. After I thanked him he continued... And I'm going to give Reserve Grand Champion to the Junior Buck right next to her. I WAS WITHOUT WORDS. I was extremely surprised for Anna to get GC, but for Gus to get RC too?! All I could say was Thank You! I looked over at my mom, who was behind the fence, behind the judge, and she looked like she was gonna cry. Mothers are so emotional. Haha! Anyway I went to get my ribbons and rabbits, and I totally forgot that GC takes a picture with their rabbit, ribbon, and get a plaque! It was so cool!! After Netherland Dwarf it was Other Small Breeds. This year that consisted of Dwarf Hotot, Dutch, and Mini Satin. They judged all the rabbits together because it's a rather small class. When he got to Oliver he's like oh! He was excited to see some Dwarfs because they are so rare in Minnesota. He said they were all really nice, and they were really clean. The judge also asked me if I had anymore Dwarfs, so I told him about the rest of my DH Herd. It was nice being able to talk to a judge about my rabbits. Last year the judge took one look at Oliver's coat, threw him at me, and told me to leave the table. This year the new judge took the time to look over the entire rabbit, and noticed all the good things the rabbits have too! Anyway back to the results! He gave Grand Champion to the white Mini Satin. Then came over and said "And your Reserve Grand Champion goes to the Junior Doe Dwarf Hotot" TRIS!!!! I wasn't expecting Tris to get RC!! Again all I could say was Thank You! ~Mom cried again~ There were also a limited amount of Champion ribbons they could give out. Which allows the rabbit to come back for State Fair line up. Tobias got the last one!! Oliver had to receive blue because he was going through a really bad molt. Everyone then left the table. I was attempting to, but carrying two ribbons, and three rabbits is hard to adjust to carry. I motioned to my friend, who was sitting on the side watching, to come help me carry them when the judge came over to me. He said that Oliver was by far the best out of them all, but because of his coat that's why he didn't get better than blue. He also told me tips about what to do about molting during fair time, and really stressed that I should take him to state. "I don't know how it works (because he didn't get state fair callback), but you should really try to bring him to State Fair because he is by far the best." he said. I didn't know what to say except thank you, and I will try to bring him to state! So happy I didn't retire Oliver! State Fair Line Up: There were 44 rabbits selected to come back for State Fair rabbits, and I had four of them. My friend Cierra had to stand with the Dwarfs at a different table, because there wasn't enough room at the first table. They go from last to first, so the closest you get to first place, the better your rabbit is. Tobias was the first of mine to leave the table as number 32. which made me nervous because that was pretty early in the line up. Then some more, and a Holland or two. After a couple others it was Augustus at 24, and Tris at 23!! You had to take the rabbit, tell three people your name, rabbit breed, and rabbit tattoo. By the time I got done, and walked back to the table the judge handed me Anna. I was a little sad that she had to leave the table, but she placed 19!!!! That was good!! So proud of all my babes! Now to wait and see if i get a trip. Oh geeze. That's a story. So there were only 7 trips this year, and last night I was told there were only two people who had to say No for me to go. I would have rather not known in case someone said yes, then I wouldn't have know I was close. When I went to the 4-H Barn today I looked at the list. One person said No, and the other got to decide if they wanted to go. I went to the Minnesota State Fair Exhibitor Meeting just in case the person said no. All day we went back, and forth, back ,and forth. We probably went into that barn over 50 times today. Each time it was the same thing. Nothin. Then at 5:00, one hour before the deadline of turning in the papers, my friends parents come up to me, and go "Unless I counted wrong your going to State Fair, huh?" I didn't know what to say because we had just checked, and there was nothing. So I grabbed Cierra, and we ran to the barn, looked at the list, and the space that seemed as if it would forever be blank said no! IT SAID NO! Me and Cierra hugged, and I almost cried, and ooh happy day! Now I can also show Oliver in Open Class too! STATE FAIR HERE WE COME! July just started, and so far I've been busy almost every day of it. Camping, parade, rodeo days, and rodeo. My turtle won 2nd place in its heat at the turtle race, and me and my friends went to the rodeo twice, it was so much fun! I have almost a week before fair that I can enjoy summer, but I'll probably spend in preparing for fair. haha:) I love fair so much! It is so much fun!!:) Well that's just a quick update! Have a great summer!
|
TressaArchives
July 2015
Categories |