Rabbits for Sale
Mood:  a-ok
Now Playing: KC and the Sunshine Band "I'm Your Boogie Man"
Topic: Rabbits
It's time to move some of my rabbits out to new homes. I have three bunnies I'll be taking deposits on. They are from Samson's Mia, a (fabulous mom, and Samson's Gewurztraminer. They are purebred Germans with new import lines behind them. They are showing signs of good density and are very sociable!

I have a doe from Samson's Annie and Samson's Merlot (brother to Gwurtz) from a litter born here in September 2004. This doe is READY TO BREED! She has a lovely silky coat, and she is getting great growth on her coat.

I also have a pet/spinner quality angora ready to go. He is a buck directly from Leslie Samson. This guy is one of the sweetest rabbits I've ever known. And if his density was there, I'd keep him for myself. But because he doesn't fit into my breeding program, he would be a wonderful spinners rabbit for someone.

If you are interested in any of these rabbits, please let me know. I can send pictures of them, and will quote prices. Please contact me at Baycolonyfarm@aol.com for more information.

A Sad Thing
Mood:  rushed
Now Playing: Bananrama "Cruel Summer"
Topic: Rabbits
Unfortunately, this is true. There is a case of RHD in the U.S. in Indiana. There is no need to panic, but rather educate yourselves about this disease if you have rabbits. Keeping a closed barn is a very good idea right now, and not bringing rabbits in and out is very important as the incubation period can be rather long. This means not taking rabbits out to demos, and doing what you can to keep your rabbitry biosecure.

I keep a closed barn. But for now, there will be no new rabbits introduced to the herd.

If you would like to learn more about VHD/RHD, please join Pam Alley's group on Yahoogroups called VHDInfo. The list goes back to 2001, when I originally joined and have been a member of it since (under another e-mail address other than BCF). Please read the achieves, and educate yourselves about this disease. There is no cure and the vaccine is not allowed in the U.S. at this time.

Be smart, practice good hygiene around your rabbits, especially if you are between 4 and 6 hours away from the areas where the disease has been found. Allow no new people to enter your rabbitry and READ WHAT YOU CAN ABOUT THIS DISEASE. Join the VHDInfo list. Check out various government websites. Learn what you can from KNOWLEDGEABLE people (and I'm not pretending to be all knowing on this topic, but I have read quite a bit about VHD/RHD. Instead of me telling you what I know, I prefer for you to learn about it for yourself). You can visit the IN BOAH site and click on press releases for more information. Currently, they have not released any information on that site, but have promised to do so when they have some new information.
Here is the APHIS site which explains a bit about the disease.


----- Original Message -----
From:
Sent: Wednesday, June 08, 2005 2:51 PM
Subject: Emergency Management Notice : Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (Viral
Hemorrhagic Disease of Rabbits ) in Vanderburgh county, Indiana


On June 7, 2005, Rabbit Hemorrhagic Disease (RHD) was confirmed at a private residence in Vanderburgh county, Indiana by the Foreign Animal Disease Diagnostic Laboratory (FADDL) on Plum Island, NY. Specimens from these rabbits were positive for RHD antigen on ELISA, electron microscopy, and PCR.
>
A FAD investigation was initiated on June 3, 2005 on a premises that raises rabbits primarily for sale to reptile owners as a food source for snakes. The investigation revealed that many of the 200 rabbits on the premises suddenly died during the past 10 days. Less than a dozen rabbits had recently been purchased from Kentucky and introduced into the herd. An epidemiologic investigation has begun in Kentucky. The remaining rabbits are quarantined and will be euthanized and disposed of in accordance to State regulations. Cleaning and disinfection of the area will follow. The Indiana epidemiological investigation is ongoing.
>
APHIS, Veterinary Services (VS), the Indiana Board of Animal Health, and the Kentucky Department of Agriculture are working together to address this situation. VS will assist the affected State in the euthanasia, cleaning, and disinfection of the premises.
>
VS will continue to investigate reports of suspect RHD as part of its foreign animal disease surveillance program and will continue to diagnose suspect cases at FADDL. The last known positive RHD case in the US occurred in a captive exotic animal facility in Flushing, New York in December 2001.
>
APHIS, Veterinary Services (VS), the Indiana Board of Animal Health are working together to address this situation. VS will assist the affected State in the euthanasia, cleaning and disinfecting of the premises.
>
VS will also investigate reports of suspect RHD as part of its foreign animal disease surveillance program and will continue to diagnose suspect cases at FADDL.
>
Please forward this information to other Federal, State, and industry counterparts as necessary.
>
> -----definitions---------
> Emergency Management Issue is for information with no impact on APHIS Emergency Management Notice is an ongoing incident with potential impact on APHIS Emergency Management Warning is an ongoing incident with almost certain impact on APHIS
>

Posted by baycolonyfarm at 12:22 PM EDT

Updated: Thursday, June 9, 2005 11:20 PM EDT

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Those Spring chores
Mood:  chatty
Now Playing: Cutting Crew "(I Just) Died In Your Arms Tonight"
Topic: Rabbits

O.k., I can't really say anything about the IAGARB meeting, as the minutes of the meeting have not been published to the general membership, but I can say that it was great and I'm really looking forward to the next one! :)

Yesterday, after Leslie and I completed some of the IAGARB business that needed immediate attention, Leslie left to go back to Canada, and I headed out to the bunny barn. I moved Mia's four babies out to the barn on Sunday, as they are now 2 weeks old, and getting to the point where they want to start exploring. Exploring in my office isn't a good idea, and Mia is doing a fine job of keeping them warm. She even pulled a bit more wool so that they would be cozy last night. However, I'm not quite sure just who's wool she is pulling. I noticed that the buck placed next to her has a rather large bald patch on his right rear quarters. I noticed this last week, and I suspect that she pulled a large quantity of his wool (he is such a sweetie, and just loves attention, so I'm wondering if he was letting her pull the wool through the cages just because he likes her?). Anyway, Mia has been doing a very good job of mothering, and is now more relaxed with her kids back in the cage. My check on them this morning at 6 a.m. revealed that they were covered with lots of beautiful warm angora wool.

With it being 70 degrees outside, I decided to do some barn cleaning. Each Spring, the barn needs a major cleaning. So yesterday, I hauled a lot of bunny poop and hay out to the garden. The really great thing about bunny manure is that is isn't a "hot" fertilizer, and can be put directly into the garden. However, I had several bales of hay that got wet this year, and since I couldn't feed them to the rabbits, those too went out into the garden. This weekend, I'm going to have a major bonfire out there, and burn it all. The ash is very good for the garden.

Today I'm also meeting a new bunny owner, who is buying Precious. Precious (if you remember) was the little doe that I saved from chill last May. She was almost 3 weeks old when I found her in the cage, with Mia laying up against her, trying to keep her warm. Well, Precious is going to a new home today, and I believe that the owner is going to be very good to her. It was a tough decision to sell Precious, but sometimes we just have to let go.