Sterling Silver Rabbitry

10/23/2023

SS Stevie Wonder, our lil one eye wonder, sure turned out nice!

09/13/2023

Winnie TX,
Ride to Convention and care off site,
If you need to add ears and bring down size, these boys can help achieve that!
Complete pedigree,

09/11/2023

Played with the cavy babies this morning, never posed a cavy before so I’m sure there not done to the best they could be, but they sure are fun!

09/08/2023

Some JR Otter Does, growing up here at the farm,

09/07/2023

Last chance for this guy
Winnie Tx
3/8/23 DOB
Have a ride to Convention plus off site care,

09/07/2023

Buck and doe can hop in 4 weeks,
I have a ride to convention, care and housing off site for a small donation,
Winnie Tx

09/05/2023

Velveteen lops &
Holland lops
Available
Winnie Tx

08/28/2023

Velveteen lops
Black Jr doe
Tort Jr Buck
Tort Jr buck
Sable point Jr buck

English Lop
REW JR buck

May have others to hop along also,
Winnie TX
Complete pedigree,
Work with transport,

07/22/2023

Good info…

Just a word about all the people looking for "show quality" Holland Lops and Netherland Dwarfs. You probably aren't going to be able to find quality Show bunnies. The problem I keep seeing is that good breeders offer these newbies brood quality, and they are like, "nope, I want show quality." I'm sorry, but you're better off finding a good breeder and buying a trio of BROOD QUALITY, because most breeders are keeping the best for themselves, which is how it should be. Brood quality produces show quality. So buy some brood quality from a good breeder (go join some show groups to find those good breeders), and produce your own show quality bunnies.

07/18/2023

Some great advise written by Keith Sinders when it comes to choosing breeding stock

10 Common Mistakes that Lead to Picking the Wrong Rabbits to Keep

1. Not knowing what to look for - New breeders should study the Standard of Perfection and find a good mentor.

2. Improper posing - Improper posing leads to improper selection. Make sure the foot placement is correct then accept the rabbit for what it is. Don’t try to fix flaws by shoving the rabbit up too much.

3. Inconsistent posing - Inconsistent posing leads to inconsistent selection. Sometimes the weather affects how they pose. If they refuse to pose, put them back and try later or another day. In hot weather, try early in the morning, late in the evening or on a rainy day when it’s cooler. It doesn’t pay to keep trying on a rabbit that just refuses to pose, because it will tend to get more fussy as the breeder gets more frustrated. Also watch that the feet placement is consistent EVERY time.

4. Culling based on one day - Build your opinion of the rabbit through numerous times of looking at the rabbit. Compare your previous observations with your current observation. Be patient. Cull rabbits that consistently look bad.

5. Culling during the ugly phase - Many rabbits go through an ugly phase. This is usually a phase when the rabbit’s growth rate is very high. Some breeders will avoid even getting their rabbits out during this phase so that they don’t accidentally cull the wrong rabbit. They will wait until the growth rate starts to slow back down.

6. Hutch blindness - We need to look at the WHOLE rabbit. Breeders tend to develop certain traits that they routinely look for. In that routine, we can miss other traits that we may deem not as important which others deem important. This is where going to shows and getting the opinions of other breeders can help. They can help identify the importance of traits that we may have accidentally overlooked or should pay more attention to.

7. Treating the development of another bloodline the same as your own - If you bring in another bloodline, listen to how the breeder tells you they develop. Grow them out and watch how they change. Another bloodline may develop totally different from your own. Some lines are late bloomers, others are early bloomers.

8. Feeding the wrong feed - Feeding is an art. Use the wrong feed and the rabbit may not get to weight like it should, fill out like it should, sheds too much, etc. The genetics for a great rabbit may be there, but if the feed isn’t right it will not reach its full potential. Don’t be complacent with a feed that’s not working. For example, a breeder may get rid of a rabbit because it sheds a lot. But if the shedding is the result of feed too high in energy….uh oh…. Got rid of a good rabbit.

9. Keeping rabbits with a poor health package - Good health should be the cornerstone of the foundation of a good show herd. Many people will get a beautiful show rabbit that is a poor eater, gets sick, milks poorly, etc. If not careful, those poor health issues can spread and become a nightmare to one’s herd. Breed for good eaters, good milkers, rabbits that don’t get sick, etc.

10. Letting a good trait disappear - If a good trait disappears in your herd, probably the only way to get that trait back in your herd is to bring rabbits in from some other breeder. That can potentially result in setbacks.

Bonus 11.

I almost forgot this one and it’s the main reason why I wrote the post…

If you find yourself KNIT-PICKING to decide which rabbits to cull and which ones to keep…BE PATIENT IF YOU CAN!!! When very little separates the top rabbits from the bottom rabbits in a litter, it’s wise to let the rabbits grow out more if you can. Otherwise, you may later find that the rabbits you sold end up becoming better rabbits than the ones you decided to keep. In such litters, where the rabbits are really close the worst can become the best and vice versa. By letting them grow out more, it can often become much easier to pick out your favorite later on in such litters.

I realize that many breeders are limited by cage space, feed costs, etc. But when I find myself knit picking, I try to be more patient and let them grow out some more.

07/07/2023

Copied from a friend,

Breeding in the summer with better *********conception rates**********

This is a very touchy topic for some and we all have ran into this, especially in Texas summers. Any temperatures over 75 degrees can cause bucks to go temporarily sterile and how you handle it matters.. There are so many factors that are at play with this but it is not completely out of reach to work around it.

Here are some ways to help with sterility:

1. Always keep younger bucks and older bucks this is important.. One may be less prone to sterility than the other and vice versa. GENETICS is an important factor in this and so is raising your rabbits for heat tolerance. You can't always bring in rabbits from other parts of the country everytime and expect to compare them to rabbits born and raised in this state. Rabbits born and raised here are adapted to this climate and tend to handle heat and high humidity better.

2. There is a trick to fighting sterility, but always remember what works for othere may not work for you and you have to find whats works for your herd. A tried and true way that works majority of the time is breed very early morning and then repeat the same pairings late late at night.. TAKE ADVANTAGE of the cooler temps because it makes a difference. Bring the doe to the buck early morning around 5-6am try for 2-3 falloffs. If you can only get one its ok dont panic, DON'T push them too hard because too much stress especially in heat can do more harm than good. Then repeat same pairings in the evening, I always try for one falloff but two is great if they can do it. If you cant get another then its ok DON'T panic.. I have had just as much success with just one falloff as I have with multiples. This brings in the part that rabbits dont cycle they are induced ovulaters, which means exposing them to bucks multiple times causes them to ovulate and come into heat. If a doe isnt willing them keep trying.

3. Never just keep breeding the same buck back to back, give at least 15 mins in between to let the s***m count build back up.. I breed others with different pairings in between.

4. Too many bucks is not always a bad thing.. Always have at least a couple. My rule is 1 buck per 3 does and I never breed more than 3 to a buck in a 24 hr period

5. DON'T overwork your rabbits in the summertime, if they seem like they are struggling a little then don't push them as this can cause more harm than good.

6. In summertime, it's best to always keep breeders trim and slightly out of condition because they will do better at handling the heat and with breeding.. A rabbit in show condition for breeding is not always good, you will be more successful and have better rates with slightly out of condition rabbits.. An overweight conditioned rabbit is more likely to not tolerate the heat better and you may have issues with does lifting and bucks breeding. After breeding, then you can concentrate on getting them into condition prior to kindling. You can give the rabbits you plan on breeding a tsp of oats for a few days prior to help get them more into breeding to help with stress as well as probiotics.

7. Now I CAN'T stress this enough, keeping rabbits comfortable during the summer is crucial. As long as they aren't heavily panting with mouth open or drooling they are ok. Always provide fresh clean but not hot water 24/7, this is very crucial!! Always have adequate ventilation and keep that air moving.. Air movement is very important!!

8. Now closer to kindling time, does will have more abnormal panting and this is normal. This is the time where you can add frozen water bottles or balloons to keep them more comfortable as well as ceramic tiles can help as they lay on them to stay cooler.

I hope this helps a little, next article will be on how to prepare for kindling and litters in the summertime.
Amy Yelverton

06/30/2023

Babies in the box💃💃💃💃
English lops, Argente Bruns, velveteen lops, Holland lops, and Jersey woolies,
Expected to have some cream D’Argents as well.

06/09/2023

Several JR Jersey Woolies looking for new cage cleaners, ears are all with in standard,,

Black, blue chin, chestnut out of Frosty/black dob 3/26

REW, black otter out of Black otter/REW dob 3/9

BEW out of BEW/BEW dob 3/27

Also some proven SRs can hop also,

Winnie TX work with transport,

06/08/2023

10 weeks old bucks can hop in 2 more weeks,
Broken blue mom, sable dad.

06/07/2023

Amazing what 2 weeks do…. Now 13 weeks old, first 2 photos taken June 6th,
Last 2 photos taken May23rd.

Don’t mind the photo bombing from the freeloader goats😆😆
Winnie TX both can hop.
Velveteen Lops.
Work with transport

06/01/2023

The ears on this buck! 💃💃💃 15” at 8weeks, oh and that crown….NFS,

05/28/2023

Another couple I’ll never admit I like,
There is a REW blue tort and 2 broken torts also,
The lil Silver Tip has the same face markings as it’s momma Fancy, gona be twins on the show table!
Fancy like and Franklin,
NFS, (this litter has a long wait list and close breeders first, if any even leave,)

05/23/2023

Jr buck and Jr doe (2 photos of her)
Winnie TX
11 weeks old
Complete pedigree.
Mom is REW, (out of broken blue and broken black)
Dad is sable out of sable and sable point.
Pm for more info.

05/10/2023

12 kits born last nite from BS FancyLike our silver tip blue doe, and FlopsNLops Franklin our sable point buck! These should be some beefcakes when grown!
Sterling Silver Rabbitry

05/10/2023

SW Clover had 2 beautiful blue otter kits last nite, bred to our chocolate carrier blue otter buck, decided to move 4 of Fancy’s kits over to Clover so it lighted Fancy’s load, and ensures more survival rate, will adjust as needed, there is quite the size difference, even tho they were born with in 6-12 hours of each other,

05/10/2023

I’ll start off by saying….. I do not love her, will never admit it,
Sterling Silver Rabbitry
NFS 8week old
24K802
24k37 (Glory Days)

05/08/2023

Why you should not be handling your rabbits the day before a big show:

1. The more you handle them, the worse they look. Rabbits get looser in flesh the more you handle them. Keep handling to a minimum before judging.

2. You want to keep the stress level at a low. Coop them, feed and water them and leave them alone. They need to recover from the long trip and get accustomed to their surroundings. Your goal is to get them to clean up their pellets by Saturday morning.

3. I know you are excited and want to show your best rabbits to your friends. But your friends will not be judging your rabbits. Your friends are also your competitors. Some think they are experts and will pick apart your rabbit and tell you all the faults. I think they do this to sound relevant. They’ll also gossip to others what is wrong with your rabbits. I noticed it’s the second tier breeders who gossip the most. Best time to show and tell is after judging is completed and do it with only a few of your most trusted friends.

4. I used risers for years to keep the rabbits clean. Ryan Harrah taught me a trick using pine shavings. Put a lot of shavings in your coops and let them roll around in it. They will not get dirty or stained as long as you use plenty of shavings. What I noticed is the coats feel much slicker and finished after a night in shavings. Ryan thinks the oil from the pine shavings gets into the coat. Not sure if that explains it but I’ll never use risers again. In fact you can have my risers for free. First come first served. I will not ship.

5. Have you ever looked at a rabbit one day and it looks great ? But the next day it looks awful? You’ll play mind games with yourself if you do this at a big show. Coop them, feed them, water them and LEAVE THEM ALONE.

Conclusion: I learned all of this through trial and error in the past 3 years. I made the mistakes listed above and learned a lot about both rabbits and human nature.

Original Post by Joe Kim

04/02/2023

Amazing farm logo💕💕💕

03/14/2023

So excited to be adding this gorgeous buck to our line up!

03/02/2023

Get her nest ready,

03/02/2023

And so it begins💃💃💃 we have 32 rabbits bred due by the end of the month, 10 boxes today, 13 boxes for tomorrow, and 9 end of the week,

English lops
Hollands otter,
velveteen lops,
Jersey Woolie,

Meat breeds (California, New Zealand, Argente Brun, and cream d’Argetnt) will be due in April,

02/25/2023

Frenchi and Bartender also had a date,