Taking a little time off and a note about the show

Hi Al!

Well there has been a lack of posts lately because it's two weeks today until the wedding! We are busy trying to get some last minute things together and get the little details done. For this reason I won't be answering my e-mail every day so it may take a couple days to get back to you especially closer to the 28th. After that we are taking off on a honeymoon for two weeks and I'm not sure how much internet access I will have. So I have probably gotten your e-mail it'll just take some time to send you a reply!

On the bunny side of things, there are three new babies out of SLR's Kaylee, two blacks and a chestnut. We also had the Chestermere show last weekend and the show itself went pretty well. There's always a few kinks and things that cause it to be a little slow that's why I encourage everyone to take an active part in the local show in their area. If you are going to show your rabbits you are obligated to help with the set up/tare down and planning of at least one show per year. Also please don't be hard to get along with to the show committee, they are just doing their best to have a great and successful show, instead thank and praise them for giving their time and money to put on a show for you!

I am very disappointed with some happenings that went on during the show from exhibitors. Show's are meant to be fun and educational for all and the etiquette that makes that possible was just not there that weekend. Here's some common show room rules to keep in mind.
Don't argue with the judges decision, you are paying him/her for their opinion and that is what you just got. Different day, different judge different opinion and not all of these are going to agree with what you think of your animal. 
Stand back from the show table so that everyone can see and don't hover over your animals. The judge is NOT supposed to know which animal belongs to who.
If you would like a more detailed opinion or to talk over the reason of why the judges thinks what he does wait until either the breed is finished or the very end of the show.
This last one goes for mostly for the breeders who have been to a couple shows before. Be nice to the new breeders!! They are just learning the ropes an don't always know what to do or where to be at a show. Cut them some slack and help them to learn because that person you are annoyed with for not bringing up the right animal at the right time was you a couple or shows ago so be humble! These new breeders are our future and the people purchasing your stock, help them get the right leg up into the show world.
Lastly don't brag about your wins or rub someone else's lose into their face, the later of the two is the worst but remember to be humble and treat others the way you want to be treated! There are breeders out there who have bred their animals for thirty years and that's what make up their show string, these are the breeders to learn from because they can not only buy a winner but they can take that winner and produce generations of winners. These are your true breeders and the people to look up to.
Anyways that is my little rant on some things that happened at this last show. We're all in rabbits because we love our animals and because we look forward to seeing all our friends at the next show so just try to remember this!    

Here's a cute engagement photo from April!

Spring time means more new babies

If anyone thinks that having a spring wedding to plan for and calving at the same time is easy, is probably nuts! It's been a very busy calving season so far and we've only just started here on the farm last Sunday with one cute little black calf. We've now got seven youngsters running around and doing well.

On to the bunny news. . . We've got more new babies out of both GC SLR's Bailey and her full sister SLR's Hailey both litters out of GC SLR's Tritan. Haileys babies are about three weeks old right now and do they ever look promising! Huge bone, fat chubby faces short compact bodies and short fat back feet. There's two broken bucks and one solid buck in that litter growing like weeds. Bailey just had a litter of four with two peanuts a few days ago now that are doing really well.

There's also a harli buck and tri doe out of GC SLR's Tritan and SLR's Kaylee which are just stunning little guys. The harli buck may come out to a show or two just for the fun of it, he's looking just like dad but in a harlequin color!

GC SLR's Tritan has been proving where he is most valuable and that's not on the show table dispite his multiple BIS & RIS wins but in producing babies that are almost look alikes. He's been used a lot in the tri program and even though the babies are torted the type on them has made a huge leap! We've got some of the best looking kits in the box than we've ever had in the past 11 years that we've been breeding, now that's some exciting news! Just to work on cleaning the color up in some of the tris now and they will be gorgeous.

SLR's Bumble has babies

SLR's Bumble has had her first litter of six kits! She's out of SLR's Buster and GC SLR's Moxie and was bred to SLR's Starburst. Her full sister is also expecting any minute now and has plucked a nice nest of fur so it's just a waiting game!

We're hoping to make it down to Calgary on the first weekend in April and then again for the May 7th show in Chestermere so can get some photos then.

Below are photos of Bumble as a junior.

Here's the sire of the litter SLR's Starburst.

Torted and clean tris

So I'll post a couple photos of some torted and clean animals today to hopefully get a good ccomparison between them. First I'll post some photos of torted tris.

 These guys all have the classic torting going up their sides and on their ears & nose. The nose marking is probably the easiest one to tell if they are torted or not on full grown animals and the side marking are probably the easiest on a few day old animals.

These are all tris that are clean and have a good density of orange color. They have no torting marks on the nose ears or sides and have good clean orange color. I was going to incude torted and clean harlis and tris/harlis tha are too light in the orange color making them a cream but there would be way to many photos for one post so I'll post those one's tomorrow. If there's ny questions on this topic please feel free to e-mail me!

New babies at SLR

We're happy to announce the arrival of new babies here! Both litters are out of GC SLR's Tritan with one doe being GC SLR's Bailey and then other SLR's Hailey her full sister who was never shown. There looks to be four brokens and one solid between the two sisters but we'll post more info at a later date. SLR's Kaylee's two babies out of GC SLR's Tritan are doing very well and are now weaned from mom and doing some growing up.

We've also bred every doe that is able to be bred or not with a litter right now when I was at home in Feb. So they are due starting on the 21st of March and there should be about 15 litters coming - now that's a few little ones!! Look for photos and info closer to when the mom's are due. Until then enjoy the first day of spring on Sunday!

SLR's Hailey

GC SLR's Moxie, mom of the sisters GC SLR's Bailey and SLR's Hailey(above)

SLR's Kaylee

GC SLR's Tritan sire to the three litters out of the does pictured above. These should be some pretty nice little one's based on their parents!

Robin & Shannon

Well I thought to share one engagement photo of Robin & I on here! The weddings planned for May 28 2011 so is getting to a busy time. I've been mucking around the farm all day today dealing with a horse that has a bad case of colic along with a cow that's feeling under the weather and trying to get some dog training in on the side as well. So it's been a busy day and I'm sure it's just the start as calving season starts for us at Easter.

Since it's planning to be a busy spring we're not planning on showing all that much this year. We missed the Wetaskiwin show for the first time in probably close to ten years and don't have a whole lot of show's planned either. We will be at the Chestermere show however as it's only about 20-30 mins away from our barn in Calgary. Anyways there's a bit of an update from us here and we hope you enjoy the photo! Robin's sister April took all the engagement photos and they are beautiful so hats off to her!!

Rain

Here's new photos of our youngest ABCA registered border collie Rain taken on March 4 2011. She was born Feb 28 2010 so is just a couple days over a year old here. Her sire is Cody from That'll Do Ranch(http://www.thatlldoranch.com/) and her dam, Tess is owned by Tammy & Keith Klassen. We've really enjoyed this little gal and she is my constant compain around the farm from working cows to playing with the horse to just mucking around. We're planning her first litter for the spring of 2012 so look for cute little pups out of her then! You can also e-mail me at starlitrabbitry@hotmail.com with any inquiries about pups, we may not have any but I can direct you to someone who does!

Here's the new photo's!