The past 17 months has been a reset for the Laughing Lapins Rabbitry. While I seriously considered closing the rabbitry due to heavy losses (including a doe to encephalitis and Chester, my French Angora), Onyx’s retirement, the shows being canceled, mandatory quarantines, the arrival of Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease Virus and having to downsize to half capacity, I ultimately chose to stay open. Thus I have had lots of time to re-chart the course for Laughing Lapins Rabbitry. Due to space limitations, I will be focusing on only one breed at a time and have chosen Netherland Dwarfs as my focus. So without further ado, here’s my goals for the rabbitry this year.
First, vaccinate all breeding stock against RHDV2. If you are interested, you can go to the RHDV2 page for more information and links about RHDV2. There, I will try to give a very basic, easy to understand explanation of what RHDV2 is, how it spreads and what can be done about it. I will also talk about what measures I am taking to protect my rabbits. And how this has affected my current policies.
Second, a replacement for Duke. Barring any medical or psychological reasons for an earlier retirement, I retire rabbits once they reach 5 years old. This is so the rabbit is still young enough to enjoy their retirement. Onyx was not 5 when she retired. But she decided, by completely rejecting a litter (something she had never done before), that she was done raising babies. So instead of pushing her, I let her retire at 3 years old. Duke is 5 years old now, and will be retiring soon. However, before he does, I would like to have a buck and doe from him as he has the exact personality that I’m trying to promote with my rabbitry. The litter that Onyx rejected, and which consequently died, was the litter I was supposed to pick from to replace Duke. Well, now that I have another doe, I will be breeding duke to my new doe in the spring (around April or May). And hopefully there will be a kit from that litter that will make a good replacement.
Finally, sanctioned shows are the only way to earn points toward Grand Champion. Currently, Duke has 3 points. If he still has what it takes for the show table, he could easily get his 4th point this year and become a Grand Champion of his breed. Snickers has 1 point and hopefully there will be enough shows this year he can earn 3 more. That would be awesome!! My new doe, Munchkin, has not been shown before. However this year is the first year for her to be showable as her pattern was listed as show quality this month.
So that’s my goals for this year. While the third one is slightly ambiguous, I consider it a goal that can be rolled over to next year if needed. Although I probably wouldn’t try showing Duke at 6 years old. The stress of shows could make him more susceptible to illness due to his age. Anyway, I hope you enjoyed reading this months update and as always, happy hopping!
Laughing Lapins 