Let Me Outta Here

Why is it that some moms seem to want their babies around for an eternity, yet others seem to be desperately saying "HELP, LET ME OUT OF HERE!" after just 5 weeks?
We've all heard it, the silent screams of a frustrated mom saying "I've had ENOUGH!"
Sounds all too familiar, doesn't it? I suppose it really has nothing at all to do with how good a parent you are.

Human (and I guess bunny) nature is a funny thing. In bunnyland however, once they're gone....they're gone! In our world it's quite a different story! They're back, they're gone, they're back, they're gone. I guess we really wouldn't have it any other way. In our house we always said "If mom's happy, everybody's happy!" It worked for me!

Ginger Mendat

It Really Doesn't Matter who Wins

This happened one Saturday in January. Let me clarify this for you all. On January 12th in Perry, GA 4 fuzzy breeders showed up to compete. What is interesting about this meeting is that the rabbits were mostly related. This fall I purchased a number of show quality rabbits from Kim Roberts. Kim was planning to sell out at that time. Being new to fuzzies, I needed to purchase high quality animals to be the foundations of my developing line. This is how the two of us met.

Long story short, my daughter and I and Kim and her mother ended up at the same show. I brought some of the rabbits that I had purchased from Kim, and Kim brought some rabbits out of the rabbits I had purchased. When the judging was complete, mommas and babies and daddies and cousins took top honors. It was thrilling for me to see a few of the offspring from the rabbits I had purchased. I could see the traits that were passed along from the breedings Kim had done. It was also nice for Kim to see the bunnies she had sold were in good health and still competing on the show table. It was nice to see what she had worked on was continuing.

What makes this even more interesting is that Kim had gotten her fuzzies the same way I had. Someone else was selling out, and Kim had purchased many of the exact same bunnies that I recently bought from her. Doing a little research, we figured out that a few of the bunnies had been owned by a couple other people before the two of us. I wonder sometimes when exhibitors are admiring others’ bunnies, if they stop to think that somewhere in the pedigree their own name might be there? I know that I appreciate the hard work that those before me have done. Without it I would not have the chance to be involved with the wonderful American Fuzzy Lop.

Results for Jan. 12th Perry, GA

Show A

BOB Broken Senior Doe – Jennifer Burns
BOS Solid Senior Buck – Jennifer Burns

Show B

BOB Solid Senior Buck – Kim Roberts
BOS Solid Senior Doe – Jennifer Burns

Why do we do it?

For the love of the babies, of course!

Ringing in the new year

We all love rabbit shows. But New Year's Eve shows are especially fun. Nicole of District 3 gives us a summary of a great way for AFLRC members to ring in the New Year.

I attended WeBe RC's New Year's Eve double show. Fuzzies weren't sanctioned, so I paid for that (again!). We only had about 10 Fuzzies among 3 exhibitors.. .

WeBe's show is GREAT! It's in Hutchinson, MN - a mere 7 HOUR DRIVE for us! We got up at 6 am Monday morning (after getting to bed around midnight the night before!) and loaded up. We had to do a lot of extra weather proofing on the truck, since the HIGH TEMP for the shows was 4. Yes, 4. Just... 4. BRRR! This does not include the wind chill. So we had some extra work to do on the truck before we could leave. We covered the windows of the back with poly-fill egg-crate material. We also lined the bed of the truck with the same stuff - and then added a layer of cardboard. The Minilops we took got carriers full of straw. But no straw for the Fuzzies (what a mess that would be!). But we loaded the carriers so the Fuzzy carriers would be insulated with the Minilop carriers.

We left around 9 am on Monday... Arrived around 4:30 for a 5 pm start. Got our entries in and all of that kind of fun stuff. It wasn't as cold in the show room this time as it was when they had this show 2 years ago - I would say it was about 45 in there this year, compared to about 35 last time. I think we got our first rabbits on the table around 9:30 pm for the first show. We finished completely around 5:30 am on New Year's Day.

I won BOB in both shows, with BOS in both going to Nicole Schoenhals. Debbie McLaughlin was also there with Fuzzies.

After finishing the BIS Extravaganza (I had a Fuzzy going up, and Michelle had a BEAUTIFUL Minilop going up for BIS, so we HAD to stay for it!!), we loaded the rabbits back up in the minus 10 degree truck and took off for home. Luckily we were able to do most of the drive in daylight, so it was a bit warmer. We arrived back at the farm at 2 pm... We were awake (and COLD!) from 6 am Monday until 7 pm Tuesday when we finally got to bed! Then of course we had to go to work on Wednesday morning, which was a total drag for me because it was my birthday...

Forever young

Have you ever noticed how special certain Fuzzy Lops are? One of our favorites at the "hoploppitry household" has always been the guy featured in this post, AK's Lassen (LT11). Lassen was born December 29, 1998. He was in one of our first Fuzzy Lop litters. As he grew into the fluffy little junior buck pictured above, we thought he had promise and might be a "keeper". At four weeks, his ears were doing a helicoptor impression but he was short and compact, smooth and round. When he was ~5 mo old, he won Reserve in Show at a small open show.

In his prime, Lassen was beautiful (see above). He was seldom in a molt, so his wool almost always looked clean, dense and even. When on the show table, Lassen had a presence. It may seem silly, but it was as if he enjoyed the attention. His show career spanned more than 5 years. Eventually his sons started beating him regularly so it was time to stay home. Altogether he won 67 Grand Champion legs, including 8 Best in Show wins. Three of his BIS were at open shows, winning over more than 1000 rabbits in each!


At 10 years old, Lassen still lives in our barn and begs head rubs daily. The photo above was taken today and you can see that he still is a good lookin' Fuzzy Lop. I have been wondering to what I should attribute his long life. It must be largely good genetics and luck, but I would rather think its because he has a positive attitude and Lassen knows he is well loved!

Happy New Year!!

Thanks to Jennifer Henderson of California for her lovely photo of "Blue" with her New Year's mask. Its been quiet here on the AFLRC blog over the holidays, but I'm sure its been as busy at your homes as at mine. Presents, family gatherings, cookies, and parties all pulled attention away from the rabbits.

We wish all of you the best in 2008!