Seward Show - 11/20/10

Philip and I attended the double show in Seward, Nebraska yesterday.  It was so good to see friends that we haven't seen for several months.  Seward is always a great show.  Philip won best of breed in both shows with LBF's Lane.  Lane is in good condition and just keeps looking better as he ages.  Kelly Bliven made wonderful plaques for prizes in the second show.  They are awesome. 

Congratulations to Sarah Huygens from Iowa.  She won BOS.  She also had the BOV and BOSV in the brokens.  Sarah has beautiful Hollands.  We will really miss her and her mom, Barb, at shows.  Sarah will no longer be showing Hollands after next week.  Good luck at college!

Kansas State Convention 2010

State Convention was this weekend.  It was a very good weekend for us.  Lane took Best of Breed.  He was mentioned as one of the possibilities for Best in Show.  Our juniors placed well.  It was great to see so many friends that we haven't seen for a while.  Heather brought us a BEW doe.  So we now have a BEW doe and BEW buck.  Now we will see how the BEW project transpires.  We hope to develop better type in our BEWs over the next few years.

Fall Sale

We have kept our juniors much longer than we normally do.  The last several litters have looked very promising.  So we tried to let the bunnies grow out.  I think we waited a little too long.  The barn is overflowing!  Now we need to sell some show quality Hollands that we would rather keep.  We need to sell them as soon as possible.  So we are having a fall sale & reducing our prices temporarily.  Despite the difficulties of letting go we are also selling some of our favorite brood does.  We need to move them on so other families can still have several litters.  Our for sale page on our website has been updated & is full.  We hope you will stop by.  Thanks.

Fall Juniors

Hillsboro Hollands' Kit

Hillsboro Hollands' Heather

Hillsboro Hollands' Callie

Hillsboro Hollands' Hawk

We are so excited about some of juniors this fall.  There was actually cage space to let these bunnies grow out.  Some of them are looking great.  We can't wait to show them at Gardner this weekend.  Some of the breedings definitely need to be repeated.  Cammie and Creme's babies are looking great!  Expo and Simon had some nice babies also.  Now comes the hard part of deciding which juniors we can keep and who we should sell. :)

Full Cages

I can't even remember the last time all of our cages were full.  It is time for a show so we can sell some bunnies.  We have several listed for sale on our website now.  We need to add some more to that list since it is time to wean Amy's babies.  We have some beautiful Hollands for sale.  I hate to see some of these Hollands go.  But they will definitely make good additions to someone else's herd.  We will be at shows in Gardner and Hutchinson in October.  It will be good to see our friends again.

Amy's Babies

It was a beautiful day!  So we brought Amy's babies outside to play.  They loved the grass.

Duncan

Much to our surprise we were able to attend the Duncan show last Saturday.  The weather was beautiful.  It was so good to see so many of our friends.  We have really missed everyone this summer.  Philip's rabbits did well.  Rico, his BSD, took BOB in the first show.  Lane took BOS in the second show.  We were really pleased with our juniors.  It was their first show and they placed well.  Philip found a BEW Holland that he couldn't live without.  Sarah Bloink was gracious enough to grant Philip's wish.  So we now have a BEW buck named Yeti.  He will be an interesting addition to our barn.  Now we need to make room for a BEW doe.  :)

Summer Breeding

Sometimes I think we should just skip summer breeding.  It is so disappointing to breed and have misses or lose several babies.  But 3 months is a long time to go without babies. :)  Since May 28th we have bred  8 does.  2 have been misses.  Raz had 8 babies and 1 survived.  Her surviving baby, Slinky, is looking wonderful.  Rocky had 3 - 1 doa, 1 peanut and the 3rd baby died at 5 days old.  Amber had 2 - both doa.  Bluebell had 2 - 1 peanut and 1 doa.  Fortunately, 2 litters were very successful. Charlotte had 4 kits and only 1 was a peanut. These are our first Bomb babies.  Amy actually had 6 with no peanuts. She has 5 different colors in her nestbox!! I was so thankful to have a full litter with no losses.  Fall will be here soon and breeding will be easier again.  Thank goodness!

Culling

It is time to sort through our Hollands again.  We have promising babies that we need to make cage space for.  So we need to decide who to keep and who to sell.  That is always a hard chore.  This time we are selling one of Lane's sons.  We really expect Spike to be a great show buck.  But we have some Bomb kits that are looking great and we still have Lane.  We selling a few of our brood does and a few young bucks also.  They are listed on our for sale page at http://www.hillsborohollands.com/.  Hopefully, we have made the right choices and not sold  a future grand champion.  But if we do make that mistake, it will be great for the person who buys the Holland. 

HEAT!!!!

It is just too hot today.  We hit 107 degrees today.  That is the forecast for tomorrow also.  But at least we should drop to 77 degrees tonight.  The Hollands seem to be weathering the heat okay.  The barn stayed at 92 degrees with the attic fan and floor fans running.  But Nick's french lop and mini lop are outside.  They are really suffering.  Loppy, the mini lop, cooled off in a fresh bowl of cold water.  We moved Twister, the french lop, into the barn temporarily to cool him off.  Hopefully, everyone makes it through the next few weeks.  Most of the days are forecast for 100 degrees or above.  But there are actually a few days in the 90s. 

Lyons Show

We attended a new show in Lyons, KS today.  The Smoky Hill Rabbit Club hosted this show.  The facility was wonderful & included air conditioning (a definite plus since it was 99 degrees today).  It was a great show.  We hope that Smoky Hill continues to host this show every year.  In the first show, Creme won BOV and Bluebell earned another leg.  Then Lane and Sadie took BOB & BOS.  In the second show, Lane took BOSV and Creme was BOB.  In the Holland Lop speciality show, Creme won BOV.  Then Lane & Sadie took BOB & BOS again.  Creme went on to win first reserve in show.  It was a great day for Philip and our rabbits. 

Wichita Show

The Wichita show went well today.  The numbers were down from last year.  We missed our friends who couldn't attend.  I can't remember the last time Philip only took 6 rabbits to a show.  Most of the does have babies or are pregnant.  The juniors are too little.  So we really didn't expect much.  Our 6 Hollands decided to go for quality today.  Creme and Lane won their classes in the first show.  Then Lane took BOSV.  Creme took BOB.  In the second show, Philip won 5 of the 6 classes he was entered in.  In the 6th class he took 2nd place.  We were thrilled especially since Mike Avesing was the judge.  Lane took BOV.  Bluebell took BOSV.  Then Creme took BOB.  Creme also took 1st Reserve in Show A.  What an amazing day for not having many expectations. 

Orea

I am so sad.  We lost Orea this morning.  She was our beautiful broken black doe.  We had just weaned her first litter last week.  She was fine yesterday morning.  Last night she had diarrhea.  So I gave her our prescription anti-diarrhea medication and probiotics.  That usually does the trick even for the babies.  I went out to the barn this morning and she was gone already.  I can't believe we lost her so fast.  My heart is really heavy. 

Summer

Summer is definitely here!  It is 98 degrees today.  I am so glad the rabbitry is shaded in the afternoon.  The inside of the barn is showing 84 degrees.  We have a solar attic fan and two floor fans running full time. This at least helps keep the barn a little bit cooler. I hope all of our Hollands make it through this summer.  We lost a few last summer.  Summer is so much harder on the rabbits than winter is.  Fortunately, spring was nice this year.  So we will hope for a more mild summer. 

Seward Show - Memorial Weekend

It was a good show this weekend.  Four shows - 3 best of breeds.  Lane won one BOB and Creme won two.  Basil picked up another leg.  Bluebell picked up her first leg.  It was great to see so many of our friends.  We love Seward shows - great judges, great friends!

Russell Shows

We attended 3 shows in Russell yesterday.  It was good to see so many of our friends.  Philip did well with his rabbits.  Basil earned 2 legs - first place in his class in two of the shows.  Lane picked up 2 legs - including a BOV and a BOS.  Creme earned 3 legs - 1 BOSV, 1 BOV, and 1 BOB.  We were pleased with the placements for our other rabbits.  It was nice to see 124 Hollands there.  The Russell show committee did a great job hiring excellent judges. 

Smash went to his new home yesterday.  I am sure he will be well loved by his new family.  Disco finally find his new home, too.  It was a good day!

Mr. B

This little guy was born 4 weeks ago.  His head is almost bigger than his body.  So Allen named him Mr. Bobble.  He is second generation Lane baby.  He is looking incredible.  He is also a sweetheart.  We are so excited about him.  Annie (one of Lane's daughters) is his mother.  Creme is his father.

Lane Grandbabies

We have our first Lane grandbabies!  Raz is a baby from Lane and Sabi.  She is a first time mom and had 9 babies this morning.  We haven't had a litter this big in the last 3 years.  We bred Raz with Creme.  So we can't wait to see how these babies turn out.

Holland Lop Nationals 2010

Holland Lop Nationals was in Loveland, Colorado last weekend.  The Hollands and Friends club put on an excellent show.  Philip did great with his rabbits.  He showed 10 rabbits and 8 of them placed.  He had 5th, 9th and 13th SJB.  His BSB placed 5th.  He placed 4th, 9th and 14th with his SJD. His best placement was his SSB.  Lane took 1st in his class.  That was unbelievable by itself.  Then Lane went on to take BOV in the solids.  Hollands and Friends sponsored another show on Sunday after Nationals.  Lane took BOB at that show.  There were some really incredible Hollands at Nationals.  We were fortunate to be able to compete with them. 

Seward Show

Basil is Creme's first son.  Creme was Best in Show last month at Gardner.  Yesterday we attended the Seward show.  It was a double all breed and Holland Lop Specialty show.  Basil took first in his class at both all breed shows.  Then he took Best in Show at the Holland Lop Specialty show.  I guess it is like father like son.  Basil is very promising.  Philip decided to take him to Holland Lop Nationals next week.  He is still very young.  So I don't know if he can place in the top 10.  But it will be exciting to see him on the show table.  We took a few pictures of Basil with our spring flowers today. 

Emporia Show

We attended a rabbit show in Emporia today.  There were 92 Hollands entered in youth.  Philip's rabbits won 4 of the 8 classes.  Lane took SSB, Basil took SJB, Creme took BSB and Charlotte took BJD.  We were really excited about Basil.  This was his first show and he just made weight to show.  He needed some road trip experience since we taking him to Seward next weekend.  Creme went on to take BOV for the brokens and Lane took BOV for the solids.  Then Lane won Best of Breed.  It was a good show.  Lane is pictured above. 

Spring has arrived!

Spring is finally here.  At our house that means flowers and baby bunnies.  This is the longest winter I can remember in recent history.  It is so good to see the flowers blooming and experience some warm sunshine.  Expo had two babies last week.  Amber and Sadie are due next week.  In this picture is Mocha.  She is one of Sugar's babies. 

Gardner Show

We had a great day at the Gardner show today.  This morning Creme, our BSB, took BOB.  Then he took BIS this afternoon.  This afternoon Philip managed to win BOS and BOSV in both solids and brokens.  Lane took BOB and Cammie took BOS.  Creme and Cammie were both granded today.  Spike, one of Lane's babies, earned his first leg as a SJB.  We took pictures of Creme, Lane and Cammie when we arrived home. 

New Pictures

We tried to take pictures yesterday to update our website.  However, we had a few hams in the barn that wanted to show off instead.  Spike and Simon wanted to look around.  They are so cute!

Spring is coming!

We have crocuses peaking up in the flower beds.  Suga had a litter of 5 babies yesterday.  Sabi had a litter of 3 today.  New life is popping up everywhere.  Now the snow just needs to stop and the sun needs to come out.  We are definitely ready for spring in Kansas.

Illustrated Guide for Holland Lops

I found a great post on Hollands last night.  Oak Ridge Rabbitry has a new post that describes what the different parts of Hollands should like.  They also have pictures that illustrate good and poor characteristics.  You can find this information at http://oakridgerabbitry.weebly.com/holland-lop-type.html.  Thanks to Oak Ridge Rabbitry for taking the time to put this information together.  It is excellent. 

Abilene Rabbit Show

We finally had a rabbit show this weekend.  We haven't been to a show since the middle of November.  But it feels like much longer than that.  It was great to see our friends again.  We were able to show our new juniors for the first time.  They did great under Scott Wiebensohn.  He was very complimentary.  He judged for our Holland Lop specialty show.  We showed 12 Hollands and 11 of them placed in the top 5.  We know we are on the right track when we do well under a judge who likes posed breeds.  Creme, our broken sable point buck, took BOS.  We did okay in the 2 all breed shows.  I think we have decided to attend a few less shows this year.  Then we can continue to focus on our breeding.  We are so thrilled with the results of focusing on breeding last year.  We want to continue to make those improvements.  Then we can share our Hollands with others. 

For Sale Updated

Well, after 3 weekends straight of Christmas celebrations the holidays are over.  I finally had time to update our for sale page.  It is time to start selling some of our quality Hollands and keep their babies.  I really hate selling the Hollands I am already attached to.  But to keep improving the Holland breed it only makes sense to keep the babies who are better quality than their parents.  Maybe some day this will get easier.  But somehow I don't think it will ever be easy to sell a rabbit.  I wish I had the time, space, money and energy to keep all of them.  But this is not reality.  So the sales page must be updated.