September 3, 2007

Oh, it's finally Fall !!!!!....at least in my book;) September always counts as the beginning of Fall to me;)

I'm not going to be very good at this blog thing if I don't remember to update it more often;) Since I've last posted, I have made a long run to Pennsylvania to pick up two Giant Angora babies (both does) from McMahon Rabbitry in Brushy Valley, PA. Along the way, I delivered about 15 angora rabbits. My first stop was in NC, where I delivered a nice buck, second and third stops were in Virginia, above Richmond. After that, I met with a lady in PA (she drove down to meet me from New England), and at the same stop, I picked up my two Giant does. After that, I drove back south to Summersville, WVA to deliver the last of my hitch-hickers;) My daughter Jessie and grandson Luke (who was only three months old at the time) rode with me, making the trip MUCH more enjoyable:):):) Luke is a GOOD little travler, even at such a young age;) So....despite very frequent nursing and diaper stops and a flat tire on our rental van, the trip was fantastic!!!! All bunnies arrived to their new homes with a minimal of stress, I met lots of wonderful folks and had a nice little getaway road trip;)

I MIGHT just have another road trip coming up....will post here when my plans are more definant;)

As for my rabbitry....all is well, I'm extremely pleased with the rabbits that I have aquired and bred over the past several months:) I do intend for my rabbitry to be a mainly French Angora Rabbitry, however, at the present, I have more Giants than I do French;) Three of these are babies out of one of my does, who was purchased from Jan's Giants in PA:) They are only 7 weeks old right now, too young to know MUCH about, but I can say that so far, so good!!! Out of this litter, I will eventually have at least one buck for sale, so check back here and on my website, www.mgangoras.com often;)

The next show I plan on attending will be on September 15th in Greensboro, NC....the Sandhills Rabbit Fanciers show, which is a TRIPLE open show!!! The folks associated with that show have been really helpful and friendly in our correspondence:and have graciously offered to sanction Angoras, even though they were not initially sanctioned):) I have never attended a show hosted by these folks before, but if my initial impression counts, so far, I would feel pretty confident recomending it;) Oh...it's an AIR CONDITIONED show hall!!! How great is that???...especially to us Angora Breeders!!! Sounds like it's going to be a GREAT show!!! I hope other Angora breeders will plan on attending:):):)
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Guess that's it for now. I'll get some pictures up here before TOO long....and in the meantime, check out my pictures on my website at http://www.mgangoras.com/ !!!

Lauren
Morning Glory Angoras
http://www.mgangoras.com/
ARBA member, UARC President

Getting Started...

Well, I've decided to jump on the blogger bandwagon and start a blog for my rabbitry:) My name is Lauren Waters, and I own Morning Glory Angoras, which is an Angora Rabbitry located in rural east GA. I raise French and Giant Angora rabbits for show and fiber production, am a member of ARBA and UARC (am also President of UARC, United Angora Rabbit Club). I live on 5 acres with my husband Rik, my adult daughter, Jessie, and her two month old son, Lucas Wyatt. We are in the process of building a house..hopefully it'll be done shortly after Christmas. In addition to the rabbits, I have four black and tan miniature dachshunds, four parrots, and a couple cats. In the future, I hope to start a heard of Boer Goats, maybe a couple dairy goats as well. Besides my Angora interests, I also LOVE making handmade soaps:) Maybe in the future, I'll add some pictures and information on my soap here as well;) But for now.....

On this blog, I will post items that will hopefully be of interest including club stuff (UARC, United Angora Rabbit Club, www.unitedangoras.com ), shows that I will be or have attended, etc., as well as pictures of my rabbits, babies I might have for sale, and general "stuff" about what's going on here in my rabbitry. My posts here will not be on a schedule for the first few days, while I fill in my blog, get some pictures posted, etc. After that, I hope to post twice a week.

Today I learned a big lesson about what one of my does will and will not tolerate! She is a Giant doe, aptly named Huffy, and has always been very protective of her cage. When I go to feed her, I have to stop, call her to the front of her cage and pet her (while she acts for all the world like a cat being pet) before attempting to refill her feeder, give her hay, treats, whatever. More than once, when I didn't go thru the order of events that she dictates, she has growled/spit/hissed and at the same time pounced on my hand with both front feet;) LUCKILY she's kind enough NOT to use her teeth LOL...but a fast moving, pouncing, growling rabbit can sure scare me;) Today, I decided to move a little 3 1/2 month old French Angora buck into the cage next to Huffy...he was sweet as always and totally oblivious to her. She on the other hand (and to be fair, she does have a two week old litter , but come on....he doesn't even have his "boy parts" yet! ) started staring him down, running around her cage, climbing the side of her cage between him and her, etc....all while he calmly expored his new cage and ignored her. Finally, she jumped up on top of her nest box to stare him down, so I gave her and him a big handful of hay to distract them. He dove right in to his in a far corner, while she burrowed beneath hers, to sit and glare at him with a big pile of hay on top of her head lol. After about 15 minutes, I realized that she was NOT going to "get over it", so I moved his water bottle, dropping pan, feeder, hay and finally him back into his old cage:( Guess he's going to have to reside on the New Zealand side of the rabbitry for a while longer;) (My rabbitry is an Angora rabbitry, but I also keep a line of New Zealand Whites for meat.)

Guess that'll do it for now:)

Lauren