For me, on a personal level, exercise is important for our rabbits.  I feel it helps them get fresh air on a regular basis and keeps them stronger and healthier.  I know not everyone has time for it, and to be honest I don't always have time either.  But for the most part on a regular basis I like to take our rabbits out one by one for at least an hour of play time.  Of course during rain and snow I don't bring them outside... so instead I bring them inside.  But even on days, like today that was bitter cold, I routinely cycled through them one by one until everyone has had time to run and play.  Our numbers stay low, specifically so that I always have time to spend with each rabbit on a regular basis.  I check every detail of our rabbits honestly several times a week.  I know so much about their little personalities that I can tell in a heartbeat if someone isn't acting right.  

Recently we have had our first bought with Barbering.  I like to keep my jrs together as long as possible.  I always feel so guilty separating them to live a life alone.  So if they seem to be getting along fine, then together they stay.  I may have to reconsider this method, as we had 2 pens of barbering.  This can be an issue in multiple ways.  The fur can cause intestinal problems, which can be fatal to the rabbit.  On the non fatal note, it makes your rabbit look silly and non showable.  So while this was easy to resolve, my next scenario has not been.  We now have a little buck, who must have enjoyed barbering his brother so much, that he has taken to barbering on himself.  This can become a habbit if not addressed immediately.  I instantly loaded his cage with toys and toilet paper rolls stuffed with hay.  So far this seems to be keeping him plenty occupied.  Barbering can also be a sign of poor nutrition.  While I know I give our rabbits lots of greens and fresh food and a consistent diet of high protein food, I am not overly concerned.  However, I was able to research and find that foods high in magnesium can help address this issue.  Spinach leaves, Pumpkin seeds and Banana are all high in magnesium.  Of course you want to do small amounts.  So I am giving it a test and hoping to see improvement in my little barber.  Now if only there were something magical to make his brother grow a nice show worthy coat instead of looking like a teddy bear.  

The more enthralled I have become in the rabbit world, the more I enjoy the beginnings.  So many people set out on the mission of showing.  Our beginning was a little bit different.  I never woke up and thought, I would like  a Holland lop (Oddly enough now I never stop).  No, I woke up one day and thought... real rabbits would make wonderful photo props.  And like buying props, I knew what color I wanted.  An orange one, a gray one and a white one.  To my delight after a week of searching on KSL I found a young man getting rid of all his over bred rabbits.  When I went I was in awe.  They were all living in huge pens together in a colony.  It reminded me kind of like picking out goldfish, you find the one you want but then it swims all over the place and you aren't sure after that.  Well, I headed home with my 3 perfect photo props.  We had no cages... because we weren't keeping them.  I had planned ahead and found homes for them.  So we used our Xpen for our dog and sat up a fun little play area.  Well within moments of being home, the orange one escaped through that small little gap in the xpen.  I was stunned.  So we captured it.  We named them, with no intentions of keeping.  We didnt' know how to sex them, so we just picked what we liked.  We had a Thumper (of course) and a Charming, and Ginger.  Poor Ginger ended up the only one with the wrong gender name.  Well before the end of the weekend, the props were  no longer needed.  Something happened though.  We were in love.  Completely head over heels, with rabbits.  They seemed to be the most functional animal for our family.  So the studying began on how to be an amazing rabbit owner.  It wasn't long before we failed.  Our dog had a run in with our doe.  He didn't bite her, but she died just the same, likely from the fact a big bull dog was in her cage.  Our next sad lesson, came when we learned brothers, do not cohabitate.  We lost Thumper.  This left us with Ginger.  The least friendly of the bunch.  Once he became a loner, he no longer wanted to be in his pen and would escape time and time again until we finally gave in.  Most of the year Ginger lives roaming free in the yard.  We have progressed into loving Holland lops, but it's always fun to look at "Gingie Buns" and remember where we started.

A huge rant of ours is often people who sell little tiny baby hollands as show animals.  For over 2 years we have grown out almost every junior we have produced, and the percentage that turn out to be show worthy is very very limited.  While growing them out, even young ones that appear to be show worthy, can take a drastic turn for eternal uglies.  This guy for example was born into a litter of 3 bucks, out of our favorite doe.  They all looked okay, then they all looked really bad, then one started looking amazing and one started looking ready for his pet home.  I would work with them every couple days and observe them.  I like to observe them best while at play.  A bunny on a posing table is nothing compared to a bunny running around the yard.  You can really observe shoulder, and length and a true pose.  Well we found a nice home for our cute little guy who wasn't going to make the show table.  And while we were falling in love with the amazing buck he suddenly became very out of sorts.  His head was no longer in proportion, his legs were way too long and he was clearly never going to a show buck.  Our less than average guy however took a turn for the better and is still here with us.  We are hoping to have a chance to  show him over the next couple of months.  Meet AceHops Razzle. 

It was very cool to look back and see how many of our goals were done.  The barn, well, my heart just isn't in it.  I love having them in the garage.  I never worry about the temps or predators or any problems.  I like that.  So until my husband forces us out... we shall stay.  So I guess I won't even make that a goal for now.

1.  Purchase more show cages and housing cages.
2.  Upgrade water system.  My husband has something in mind.
3.  Attend more shows.  Our plans were for so many shows, but something came up every time.  So a national show is for sure on the list.  
4.  Get a kit organized for meds and supplies.  We have it, but organization is the key here.
5.  Get a spray washer
6.  Learn to make cages.
7.  Complete a 3 generation line breeding.  
8.  Complete a Full Ace Hops Breeding.  Acehops buck x Acehops Doe.  Due this month!
9.  Be disciplined.  Don't keep stuff we don't need for our goals.

Lets review last years goals and see what we managed.
1.  Water Bottles.  We have learned crocks become gross very quickly.  Mission Complete
2.  More toys.  Our bunnies are so playful and are continually amused by any toys we happen to give them.  Mission Complete
3.  More cages.  A year ago, even six months ago I didn't think our space would fill up so quickly.  12 holes seemed like plenty.  Especially when we had so many misses and lost kits, etc.  But here we are almost in a panic needing cages immediately.  Work  in progress
4.  Assemble our lovely binder that was started for us by Little Rascals Rabbitry.  Organizing our pedigrees and rabbitry information.  Work in progress
5.  Grand Champion a home grown and continue showing more homegrowns.  Mission Complete
6.  Build a bunny barn and leave the comforts of our garage.  Sigh.  I do love just going out the back door into bunny world.  But we need more space so hopefully we can save up and make a fun little barn to move into. Didn't happen  
7.  Obtain a new Herd Buck.  Mission Complete
8.  Create our facebook page and Sell some of our stock.  This is the hard one.  This means I have to leave the cave.  We have to put our face out there for all to see.  We have to part with some of our beloved babies and seniors.  Work in Progress
9.  Be selective.  Our first year was a year of much learning.  We bred to learn type and growth.  We purchased stock to get us started.  We made choices we would not make now.  We have learned more what we want and we don't need to settle for just anything.  Mission Complete
10.  Take our time and have fun.  As much as I want to protect and raise wonderful typey Hollands, it is pointless if we aren't having fun along the way.  I don't want the competitive shows or the poor quality breeders to take away from all of the love and enjoyment that we put into our rabbits.  Mission Complete