Pine Haven Acres

08/21/2024

Yes, this! 👇

This is good to know but, just remember neither pedigreed or registered means the rabbit is WELL BRED. It just means that the rabbit’s lineage is documented.

Also, pedigrees can be forged or simply made up so I encourage you only to buy from a reputable breeder especially if you are purchasing from photos. Photoshop is a beautiful thing and bait and switches happen.

08/20/2024

Wisconsin friends! 🐖⬇️

08/05/2024

I have a few rabbits looking for new barns.
Pm if you're interested!
The Silver Fox are all siblings.
Located near Stevens Point, Wisconsin

07/22/2024

Rabbit Show Results and Auction:
Shout out to Eagle Tree Care LLC!
Thank you so much for bidding on my turkey! Enjoy!

Show Results under Judge Allyse Sullivan:

PHA203 jr buck- 2nd
PHA200 jr doe - 3rd
PHA118 int doe - 2nd
BP REA sr. doe - BOB & Reserve in Show!
PHA162 int doe - 1st
PHA211 jr buck chocolate - 1st
PHA210 jr doe chocolate - 1st
Goober - BOS

Creme d'Argent int buck - 4M05 - 2nd

What a great way to finish my last Amherst Fair😄
I will miss the busy fair season.
One more county fair in September then I'll officially be aged out of 4-H.

07/20/2024

Rabbit show update - Amherst Fair 2024:

My Silver Fox Sr. Doe BP REA bred by Misty Polasik received Reserve in Show today!!!!🤗🥳
(She took BOB Youth at Convention 2023 too)
Congratulations to Claire for Grand Champion with her French Lop!

Thank you Allyse Sullivan and Amanda Smith for judging😊

More updates to come.

07/19/2024

Ms. Mash Potato won Reserve Champion Turkey this morning!!!! So excited!😁🥳

A HUGE thank you to everyone who contributed to my turkey project this year! I couldn't have done it without you guys❤️

Thank you to:
● The Amherst Fair poultry judges for picking Ms. Mash Potato.
● My parents for allowing me to try out a new species and raise more animals.
● The Kugel family for ordering the chicks for me and Preston for helping me show two hens at once.
● My 4H leader Michelle Waltenberg for helping evaluate my birds and giving me tips and advice.
● Fleet Farm, Olmsted’s Big Falls Mill, and Arnott Feed Mill for supplying the feed for the Turkeys.
● Amazon for the amazing poultry pen that I turned into a movable turkey tractor.
● River Hills Farm for helping butcher the turkeys.
● And lastly my auction bidders, Eagle Tree Care LLC and Bit of Earth Design.

Ms. Mash Potato will be in the Market Animal auction this Sunday at 1:00pm in the Amherst fairgrounds.

07/19/2024

07/19/2024

Amherst Fair, here we come!
Got the animals settled in and projects dropped off today. 🐰🦃
Between my sister and I, we have 9 Silver Fox and 1 Creme d'Argent that we'll be showing on Saturday.
I also raised turkeys for the first time this year.
I'll be showing two hens tomorrow morning.

Aannndd...I am also doing an auction cake again this year! Come on out tomorrow night (Friday) at 7pm to the Ruth Otto Building at the Amherst fairgrounds to bid on it!🎂
It is a turtle cake - rich chocolate cake made from scratch, with caramel buttercream frosting and chocolate ganache and caramel sauce spilling over the sides. There are pecan pieces around the bottom and turtle candies on top🤤

Fair updates to come!

07/13/2024

⚠️Wisconsin Rabbit Owners⚠️
Get those bottles of water in the freezer TODAY if you haven't already!
Wet towels, fans, cold tiles, frozen water bottles, fresh cool water a few times a day are all great ideas for your outdoor rabbits.
Avoid bringing the rabbits inside the house for AC during the heat of the day. The temperature change will cause more harm than good.

06/24/2024

It's tattoo day! 9 down, 11 to go 😅

I tattoo the rabbits ear as a form of permanent identification.
Per American Rabbit Breeders Association rules - the left ear is for personal identification. This can be any combination of letters and numbers but no symbols. This tattoo is required to show the rabbit.
The right ear is reserved for the tattoo combination appointed to the rabbit by ARBA when it has been registered.

My combination method is to use "PHA" as the first three letters to abbreviate Pine Haven Acres.
After that there are numbers. And odd number at the end means it's a male and even means it's a female.

For example:
PHA200 is a female
PHA201 is a male

I started at 1 and am now tattooing my 221st rabbit today🥳
Obvious culls don't get tattooed but "maybes" do. Everyone gets weaned, separated and grown out serval weeks afterwards so identification is necessary.

I like to keep things simple so this is the method that has worked for me.
I know of other rabbit breeders that tattoo part of the parents tatts as well as the birth date and an individual number all in one tattoo combination.
There are many different ways to do your tattoos.

There are two ways to tattoo them - a clamp or a pen.
Opinions will very with the pros and cons but my choice of the pen was because it offered more freedom on how long the tattoo could be, while the clamp was limited to how many digits it could hold.

I'm curious to know - what tattoo combination do you use for your rabbits and do you use a clamp or a pen?

06/23/2024

Beautiful weather today! 75° and sunny🌞
The pigs got rotated to fresh pasture this afternoon. Thanks for helping dad!

06/21/2024

I'll be contacting everyone who is on our waitlist this upcoming week so watch your email inboxes!

06/07/2024

The garden is growing 🌿
How are your gardens looking?

06/03/2024

Quick piggy update 🐷

05/26/2024

~ Rabbit Show Saturday ~
Happy Hoppers Club in Weyauwega WI
I didn't get many photos but had a great time chatting with friends😊
I also got a new Creme d'Argent buck from Jim at Sterling Rabbitry. Name suggestions welcome!

Show A (Judged by Sue Dietzman):
Sr. Buck Whiskey Tango Farms - WTF "Goober" - 1/3
Int. Doe PHA162 - 2/3
Jr. Doe PHA178- 3/3
Blue Jr. Doe PHA170 - 1/1

Show B (Judged by Bryant Miller):
Sr. Buck "Goober" - 1/3 BOS
Int. Doe PHA162 - 2/3
Jr. Doe PHA178 - 1/3 BOB
Blue Jr. Doe PHA170 - 1/1

05/21/2024

The garden is coming along!!
So excited to see everything growing!
I finished up planting yesterday so a few more weeks and this space will look full☺️

05/20/2024

It's International Heritage Breed week! 🥳
Comment with a photo of your heritage breed animals.

I raise two wonderful breeds of heritage rabbits -
Silver Fox and Creme d'Argent. 🖤🤎🩶🧡

SILVER FOX
"The Silver Fox rabbit is the third breed developed in the United States. It was created by Walter B. Garland of North Canton, Ohio. The Silver Fox is truly a multi-purpose breed, raised for meat and fur. The breed was recognized and a standard approved in 1925 under the name American Heavyweight Silver.
In 1929 the name was changed to the American Silver Fox and later to Silver Fox." - American Livestock Conservancy
The Silver Fox was developed at the height of the fur trade industry. The unique standing quality and texture closely resembled the Arctic Silver Fox fur and was much easier to produce the quantity of pelts needed for the demand than harvesting from actual Arctic foxes.
Today, Silver Fox are known for their calm and gentle personalities and great mothering skills as well as their meat producing and fur qualities.
They have grown tremendously in popularity in recent years and may be removed from the American Livestock Conservancy breeds list in the near future.

CREME D'ARGENT
The Crème d’Argent was developed in France during the mid-to-late 1800s.
The first mention of the Crème d’Argent appeared in a written piece in the Live Stock Journal describing the 1877 Jardin d’Acclimatation rabbit exhibition held near Paris. The breed soon became popular and was sought after for producing fur trimmings, which were used on fashionable garments of the time.
The first Crème d’Argents arrived in America prior to 1924 and were imported by several individuals in the New York state area. These first importations were bred pure and crossed with other breeds, such as the Golden Palomino. The “Americanized” Crème d’Argent was developed to have a meat type, unlike those that matched the original European standard for this breed.
In America, Crème d’Argent rabbits were first shown at the Fort Wayne, Indiana, Convention and Show in 1936. A working standard for the breed was established in the U.S. in 1938. Today, the breed has become extinct in all countries except the U.S. and United Kingdom. The global population is estimated to be less than 1000 animals, according to the American Rabbit Breeders Association and the Crème d’Argent Rabbit Federation (2006). - Information used from the American Livestock Conservancy website

05/10/2024

A little upgrade in the rabbitry today!
I finally added the hole part to my evaluation table😁
So excited to use it!!
I may add wire doors in the future.

05/06/2024

These came in the mail recently ☺️
To be honest I don't know a whole lot about sweepstakes and how it all works but thought these are kinda cool.
3rd place for Youth Chocolate sweepstakes and 7th on fur (on both medals, maybe for both black and chocolate varieties?)

Either way, there's something new to learn every day and this is one of them lol
I'm still a newbie when it comes to the rabbit show world. Though I think I picked up fast on learning the commercial body type and confirmation aspect.

Fun fact: my first ever rabbit show was Silver Fox Nationals 2022 in Stillwater, MN.
One of the best experiences!🖤

05/05/2024

The Rabbitry has been getting revamped this week!
Everything has been deep cleaned, a new floor put on a buck hutch, a fresh coat of paint on all of the hutches, rabbits have been rearranged and organized, five Does have been bred, and flowers planted around Rabbitry 🥳🤗
I still have to make a few cage tags and spread some new wood chips once they arrive.

I've been listening to the The Rabbit Habbit Podcast while working in the Rabbitry. Excellent content!!
Lots of conversations with fellow breeders and judges.
A wealth of knowledge is being shared during these conversations, it has been inspiring and very informative. Definitely recommend!

04/29/2024

Local folks:
15% SALE on our pork products this week only!🐷
Send me a message to see discounted prices and an updated inventory list.
Located at the Stewart Grassfed Beef farm in Almond, Wisconsin.

04/24/2024

THIS Saturday! Pioneer Women's Day is still open for registration! Workshops are held at Riverside Bible Camp in Amherst, Wisconsin.
This is a great opportunity to learn more about homesteading, gardening, and self sufficiency in general with other like minded women. 🌱🧑‍🌾
Sign up today and we'll see you there!
(I'll be teaching on meat rabbits😁)

Pioneer Women's Day registration is open! Head over to our website to register today! Certain classes will fill up fast.

Pioneer Women's Day is an event filled with a variety of pioneering and homesteading workshops designed for and catered toward women. This is an awesome event filled with a wealth of knowledge. You won't want to miss it!

https://riversidebiblecamp.org/programs/the-heart-of-the-pioneer-woman

04/24/2024

https://youtu.be/1QSem6xvB-E?si=JClFiipbBI52IV0v

No more long nails or struggling to keep the rabbit still! Learn to clip the easy way!

04/21/2024

Mom and I got the garden netting up this afternoon.
Anyone else excited for garden produce?
🍅🥦🧅🥬🧄🫛🌽🥒🍓🥔🌶️

04/19/2024

✨Doing a little spring cleaning in the rabbitry today✨
Here's some available brood stock👇
Pedigreed Silver Fox and a pedigreed Holland Lop.
Located in Amherst, Wisconsin.
Local pickup only.
Pm if you're interested!
Post will be edited as rabbits are sold.

04/16/2024

https://youtu.be/XK0VY0rkEVQ?si=8y-tO-nWBZB5WMgV

The turkeys get an upgrade! Let's turn the Amazon Poultry Pen kit into an epic mobile turkey tractor!Link to the exact kit I got (not sponsored):https://www....

04/16/2024

The nest boxes are full 🥰

04/07/2024

Silver Fox National Show weekend recap in Decatur, IL

Great weekend overall! I got to know friends better and make new ones😊 I was able to observe a large number of Silver Fox and learn more about different body types & coats. I gotta say - there were SO many beautiful Silver Fox there this weekend!
We also were able to make several stops along the way to and from the show to drop off stock.
And...I brought home a new rabbit 😁 - Chocolate Sr. Buck - Wehner's Hero.
Super excited to add him to my chocolate program!!

FRIDAY
I showed 6 rabbits in the Open Specialty show judged by Louis Potter.
It started out rough with several rabbits coming off the table early and my big girl GBD3 getting DQ'd for a deviated spine deformity causing a second dip in the vertebrae behind the shoulder blades. She has won several Legs and no judge has noticed that before, but it was a good learning experience.
Then the show took a turn for my rabbits with my homegrown black Jr. Doe PHA162 receiving BOB!!
AND my homegrown *12 week old* blue Jr. Doe PHA170 receiving BOV.
I was shocked lol. What a rollercoaster!

SATURDAY
The morning started out with Open National Show judged by Josh Humphrey.
The rabbits did well and most placed in the top 6 of their classes. No class winners though.
After that show, mom and I visited the Lincoln Trail Homestead (Lincoln family's first Illinois home) over lunch. The rest of the afternoon was spent in the show room chatting with friends and checking out rabbits.
The last show of the day for us was the Renegades Club Rare Breed show. Again the rabbits placed middle to upper class with Jr. Doe PHA162 receiving 1st and Sr. Buck Whiskey Tango Farms "Goober" also receiving 1st in his class.
Mom and I got Panda Express for dinner (one of my favorites!) and started the drive home.

Everyone is settled in back here and doing well.
I'm expecting a few litters this week and I'm excited to plan for more breeding soon.
Does anyone else get a "rabbit rush" after going to a show - like you are so excited about your breed and think about all of the possibilities for future litters in your herd and just want to spend hours posing your animals??
Happens to me every time 😂

Here are some pictures from the weekend.