Figuring out color genetics in my rabbits (in progress)

First doe, agouti with steel and non-extension: Aa? B_ C,(ch or c) D_ Es,e (unknown mechanism for white foot)

First buck, agouti: Aa? B_ C,(ch or c) D_ Ee

First litter

Two agouti: A_ B_ C_ D_ E_

One steel: A_ B_ C_ D_ EsE

Three all black: aa B_ C_ D_ E_ OR __ B_ C_ D_ Es,e

One all black with one white foot: aa B_ C_ D_ E_ OR __ B_ C_ D_ Es,e (unknown mechanism for white foot)

Second litter
One all black: aa B_ C_ D_ E_  OR __ B_ C_ D_ Es,e

One steel with non-extension: A_B_C_D_Es,e

Two agouti: A_ B_ C_ D_ E_

Two steel: A_ B_ C_ D_ Es,E

Two Himalayan/pointed white: __ __ ch,(ch or c) __ __

White fur after birth.

Black on top of tail at 4 weeks.

Black nose at 4 weeks.

Black on feet and slight amount on ears at 7 weeks.

One light red with white stripe on right shoulder/leg: A_ __ C_ D_ ee (unknown mechanism for white marking)

Red rex buck from Tunnels rabbitry: A_ __ C_ D_ ee rexrex

Spinning yarn over Christmas break

I'm glad that I splurged on a folding travel wheel with my Louet Victoria. I spent most of my free time over Christmas break spinning yarn. I finished up the targhee gray/orange/yellow top, which I named "matchstick."

The top unbraided.

First single.

Finished three ply!

Practiced chain plying with a leftover single. That is HARD.

When I was doing the third section, I spun it from the wrong end. I coerced my dad into holding an empty bobbin on a skewer while I spun it by hand and guided the single onto it. Time to order some Bobbins Up storage bobbins that you can wind on a power drill.

Transferring a bobbin by hand.

I received two braids of merino/silk top by Greenwood Fiberworks, my favorite source for roving. I had picked these out while my mom and I were at Lambtown in October, and she bought them and then took them away to be put under the Christmas tree. I told her that I would probably forget about it in the meantime, and yup, I was surprised to see them again!

I immediately started spinning the green/red/yellow one (the label was missing, but I'm calling it "spring"). I forgot to take a picture of the braid, but here it is spread out horizontally to unsmush it..

I decided to spin this top end to end and then chain ply it to preserve the color changes. Here's the first part.

I decided to do less thorough pre-drafting lengthwise before spinning, to challenge myself to learn to pull out the right amount from the top. Last time I was at a spinning circle, another person was spinning straight from her braid with no pre-drafting and I was impressed. However I made the mistake of leaving the wheel set on the highest speed ratio (13:1), and my hands were slower so it's way overspun. On the bright side, that's easy to fix by running it back through the wheel in the opposite direction at 6:1. It's also going to be sitting on that bobbin and relaxing for a while before I finish it.

The 50% silk content makes it so shiny and the colors are gorgeous. I was practically drooling as I worked on it.

The other braid's colorway was labeled as "crocus."

Rabbit kits at 2 weeks old

Here's a photo of the kits at 10 days old, with eyes starting to open:

And today, 15 days old, with eyes and ears fully open and the nesting box taken away:

Individual photos. The blue and red markings in their ears allow me to differentiate the four pairs of identically colored kits.

Third litter of baby rabbits

Ten kits were born on 12/12/18! For the first few days, all ten looked healthy and fed, though three were a bit smaller than the rest. Then one of the smaller kits was clearly getting pushed away by the rest. I didn't see the early signs because it was on days that I was extra busy and didn't do individual checks. Once I saw him, I tried forced feeding (holding the doe on her back and placing the kit on her belly), but he didn't suckle enough to get milk out. So I brought the five largest kits indoors for the night and left the other half to eat with less competition. This morning, the healthy four had extra large bellies but the runt had passed away. (My dog got to eat the runt with her breakfast. Circle of life.)

There are more fur colors in this litter! One pale red or light brown:

Two white:

Two medium brown/agouti:

And the others are black or close to it. Pictures taken at five days old.

First rabbit litter dispatched and butchered

My lovely friends Chase and Andrew joined me for rabbit harvesting day. The litter was 11.5 weeks old. Chase decided to keep the baby that had been consistently most curious and least fearful, and in her opinion was the cutest as well.

She named him Comfit. He has his own pen for now and she'll collect him when she has all the supplies set up.

The other bunnies were destined for the table. I attempted to dispatch the first two with the captive bolt gun but they were not immediately killed as I expected. We had to follow up the gun with hanging them to slit their throats. I later asked for help online and then emailed the company and was told that my placement was a little too much toward the eyes rather than ears. So I will try again with the bolt gun next time. In the meantime, since we weren't getting quick, humane kills, I switched to the broomstick method with a heavy metal pipe that was lying around because this is the country. That worked very well for the remaining four buns.

Emotionally speaking, it was easier to dispatch the rabbits than I'd expected. They were mostly calm and comfortable with me cradling them until the final moment. I was glad that I'd spent so much time handling them as they were growing up.

The butcher station was great except that it wobbled because the supporting legs aren't totally straight and we weren't on even ground. I can fix that later.