Baby Bunnies!

November 1, 2014

Opalyn:

In July, the kits were Three Months Old and we celebrated that milestone with their first shearing and photos. Mom was first to get sheared:

Here is mom, Sweet Pea, overly warm in her coat of Angora Wool

Shearing can be stressful and while my skills continue to improve and the time it takes to shear a rabbit is now under an hour that is a long time to be handled for a rabbit. So mid-shear we usually take a break.

Sweet Pea taking a break mid-shear

A few more minutes with the clippers and the job is finished! What a relief for that heavy coat to be off!

Sweet Pea enjoying the warm summer weather without her coat.

Ginger is next. He has a beautiful caramel colored coat and it is baby fine. I'm not sure how to use it in spinning but it feels even better then a mature coat but I don't know if it is strong enough to blend and spin into yarn.

Ginger showing off his full coat.

I put Ginger in a milk crate so that you can see the difference between a fully coated rabbit and a "naked" rabbit. Scroll down and you'll see a difference.

Ginger sitting in a milk crate.

Ginger was ready for a break so we took one. I endeavor to give them a break before they start misbehaving so I reinforce the behaviours I want.

Ginger: mid shear break

Another round of clipping and we are finished. Back into the milk crate for the photo I promised.

The Milk Crate with a shorn Ginger - look at all that space.

I didn't weigh the wool but it sure is silky and here is a box full of Ginger's wool.

Ginger's first shearing!

Oyster is up next and he is looking a bit dubious.

Oyster: ready for shearing?

That was quick and no mid-shear break was needed. Into the milk crate to see how tiny he looks with out his wool.

Ginger sheared and in the crate.

Enough of this box stuff. Lets play!

Climbing out :)

Back into the cage and ready to play with the bottle of ice which we use so that the rabbits can regulate their own temperature by how close they are to the ice.

Wow! I shrunk.