All Ready?

I have had my share of stressful times, busy schedules, harrowing events, but I can assure you I do not think I have ever been as busy and hopping around like an energiser bunny as the last couple of ...well.....weeks really... It was not only preparing everything for Bendigo (which is going to be HUGE this year I promise!!!! judging by the prepared fibres, yarns and Batts that now live in our spare bedroom and take up all the space !) but ofcourse it was also an amazingly super stressful time with the two litters that we are trying, so desperately, to save after poor Mojos death just five days after giving birth to 5 gorgeously beautiful babies.

On top of all this Paul, who plays with the Australian Rules Football team veterans of Warburton , decided to "play hard" last Sunday and......tore his ankle ligaments! ouch! his ankle is all black and blue now...he got himself some crutches to hop around with and tells me not to worry about me being away and him having to feed all the animals....let's hope it won't be hailing or raining that much or he'll slide down the hill , crutches and all......oh well ...

Topping has proven herself to be an absolute grumpy mum (only towards me and Paul I might add..lol) who is not only super protective of ALL her babies but gives them such an amount of care and feed that it is no wonder she is continuously eating like a bunny pig :)
There have been some heartbreaking moments though: two of her little ones did not survive (2 chocolate coloured tim tam bunnies) and the hardest loss was the agouti coloured baby of Mojo who was the gentlest, most sweetest kit but unfortunately also the tiniest. It died this morning. Its eyes were supposed to open today....

The other four babies of Mojo are doing fine, with the big white Pink baby being the winner of the litter! it is a red eyed white! and so special...cheeky too :) It was the first to open its eyes today! and all the rest of Mojos litter followed tentatively.

We did have to help the opening of the eyes along a bit and Paul is doing a very good job with that. As soon as we handled the last of Mojos babies, I let Topping sniff it and immediately she started to clean its eyes and lick its face. So precious! and then the baby got all exited expecting to get fed? and it was at that moment that Topping jumped out of her "powder room" and onto the nestbox to feed her babies ! I just sat and looked at the amazing scene and had to smile listening to the sounds the babies made while getting a much needed nutritious feed from mum Topping. She is feeding them for longer than I have ever seen any other bunny feed her kits: standing there over the nest gently and very patiently waiting until she thinks that the babies have all had their fill. Normally a feed takes about 1 minute, but Topping feeds them for about 5 minutes !..and then goes back to her greens corner and nibbles on some fresh broccoli, cabbage, curled parsley (very good for milk production) and bok choi.

One more day before I leave for Bendigo sheep and wool show and there is still so much to do, but then again : there is always more to do , isn't there? So at one point tomorrow I will just have to say to myself: this is it and have a breather, a drink and a good rest ! before setting off on Thursday morning with a wagon full of fluffy fibre :) See you at Bendi! or on line :)))

bunny baby update

just back from taking care of the bunny babies..and all the other angora bunnies (the girls are having a play and a run outside and even Mickey, our silver grey boy, is outside in a separate run! I had to clip a couple of dreadlocks off him he developed overnight,,,lol).
Mojos kittens are doing fine! no one has died, even Toppings litter is looking great! the only one who has lost 2 grams is the agouti coloured one of Mojo, but that could just be that he has missed out on one feed or has just peed...lol. Have got all the milk in place to give them extra just in case..."Babe" (the pinkie one) has gained 3 grams :) !
worked til 2.30 last night to prepare everything for Bendigo sheep and wool show and still haven't made a dent.....oh well....

Decisions, decisions.......

It is amazing really how at a time of a crisis you can be strong and clinical and very matter of fact and then the day after it is like a bus hit you...that happened to me yesterday..well, not actually a bus that hit me (plainly because there are no buses here to hit me....lol) but just the shear enormity of the life and death decisions that was suddenly thrust upon me. I don't know about you, but playing God is not a job I would apply for. I was on the phone ringing around so many people, emailing so many people for help, got so many (sometimes) conflicting opinions, that at the end of the morning I was just so numb. Nothing was really a good solution: let's face it: having a mum is the best thing for babies and all the rest is just a very poor substitute that could go horribly wrong: just handrearing has a succesrate of 1 in a 100, putting them with a strange mum in a strange environment with strange smells can be wrong as well (the new mum can reject them or even hurt them), taking Topping in and out of the cage would stress her out too much (and she already is a stressed bun) and make her milk dry up.......what IS a good solution? What would be RIGHT? What did I have to do? It was gutwrenching.
I finally made the decision that it would be best to put Mojos babies in with Toppings litter...I know all of them won't be fed every day, but we will monitor them daily and if need be will hand feed (using a wombaroo milk mixed up to suit bunny babies) the ones that lag behind, hoping for the best. Mojos babies are bigger so should be able to feed better and I think that any baby of Mojo that survives will keep her alive-if you know what I mean. It will be a lot of care, monitoring and love that everyone wil need, so Paul is staying at the fibre farm while I am at the Bendigo show next week.

Thank you thank you thank you all so so much for your calls, help, support and understanding: it was heartwarming ! And just when I needed it most the postie delivered a gorgeous present from Fiona (Fibi) for me: yes, she is so sneaky...lol....A gorgeous handknitted cowl she made for me! Truely a work of art and I will cherish and cuddle it forever: it will def come in handy at Bendi! Thanks Sweetie you put a smile on my face on a dark day like yesterday :)

Please understand that I will not be putting up a shop update on tomorrow, but instead will keep you posted on the bunny progress. I know it is hard for some and I can just say go to my www.flickr.com/photos/ixchelbunny to get a virtual fibre fix every now and again (for all of you not going to Bendigo this year..) you can all stalk me there on the 17-18-19 July or after I get back ! Hugs to all :))

Horror at full moon

I still cannot believe it and I am crying at my computer as I type this..so please forgive my chaos: at 9pm last night Mojo died, leaving her 5 young kits orphans. It is devastating ! The only explanation I have is that she was blocked up (just like Flopsy was, because she just stopped eating the day before and was listless and floppy) or that there was a foetus left in her womb (although there was no bleeding or any symptoms for that). I am frantically looking for someone who has a litter that I could possibly foster out to. Toppings litter is already made up of 7 kits and although I have fed two of Mojos babies off Topping last night, the situation is very very difficult. So, if anybody knows anybody with a bunny litter that could help, please let me know.
Hand rearing bunnies is really not an option since the bunny milk they get form their mum is so rich and has not been reproduced yet. Even with the products on the market the result is often disastrous: the kits don;t survive or grow up to be very weak and sick.
I will alternate feedings with Toppings babies and Mojos babies for now, but please please let me know if you know of anybody who can help ! In the meantime please send good thoughts to the little ones.
So sorry I had to post this bad news to you all.

Topping delivers 7 gorgeous babies

yesterday morning at 7:05 Topping delivered 7

gorgeous baby bunnies ! I only report it now because the computer was playing up and wouldn't let me blog...Topping had been building a nest , or attempted to, but NOT in the luxuriously built nestbox, no she wanted that as her powder room so she could have a good view of her babies she delivered in the corner of her cage with lots of hay around them so they wouldn't easily crawl out. This morning every baby was fine and warm.

We are a bit concerned for Mojo. She has not eaten for a day now and looks listless and that is so not like her. It is so hard to tell what might be wrong, but I have put her in a little outside run this morning and I am preparing some critical care food for her that I am going to try and give to her with a syringe. Hopefully all will be well.

The preparation of the Bendigo show is well on its way again after the sending out of the Ixchel Fibre club and the Batt club. There is so much that I still have to do though ! so much fibre so little time..

a Fourth of July Bunny Update

All five kits are doing great! eating well and looking very well fed :) even the wrinkly wee one that still is very tiny and then ofcourse there is a HUGE pink piggie (Babe?)in the litter as well, almost always on top of the litter , ready to be the first one to have a drink when the mum goes in the nest to feed them :)

I removed some of the angora covering the nest to take these photos, but put it back immediately after so the babies stay warm. I also added some more short angora hair from Mojos previous haircut, but made sure that they were short staples.

I never use long hair staple in the nest because of all the wriggling that goes on by the little ones. The long hair can very easily get around their little necks and they might strangle themselves. So always be careful preparing the nest and cut long staples down if you think they are too long.

Topping has not delivered yet ...so we are all very anxious. I could not feel any movement in her womb anymore..so fingers crossed for Chocolate Topping.

Mojo delivers a gorgeous litter

It was very exciting today! I knew that Mojo was getting close to delivering her babies, but you never really know. So I have had a sleepless night, being on watch and popping to check in on her every 20minutes. Finally Mojo was ready aand at 11.52 she delivered 6 kits. Two of the darker kits were stuck together though and one of them was stillborn, so I seperated the liitle one from its dead sibling, cleaned it up and put it in the warm nest together with its brothers and sisters. You can see who it is: it is the littlest one on top of all the well filled out kits wriggling around happily. Fingers crossed! I will leave you with some photos of the proud mum and dad and a first photo of the litter:

Mojo

Gandalf the dad, a silver fox, english angora bunny

Mojos litter at 12.10 on June 2nd