PERTH (WA) breeder of quality DWARF LOP RABBITS
About Myself
Let me take you on a journey in the past to see why I love the animals that have come into my life and they will not be forgotten.
I have lived in the southern suburb of Mundijong for the last 18 yrs. UPDATE: Now we have moved to Harvey of Feb 2012
I became interested in rabbits again when my teenage son moved back home(yet again) and bought with him three new additions, yes, rabbits(oh, don't forget the kitten aswell). Just ordinary orange dwarf crosses. They had been living in a very small cage at the time because when he got them they were babies and yes, they grew, too big for their cage and as we live on a hobby farm of about four acres we had plenty of room for them. We had an old disused open fronted shed of about four meters square, so this was created as their new home. We quickly learnt to put wire mesh on the bottom as they were creating their own kingdom and that included making burrows. I managed to put a broom handle down there to see how far it went and it was the entire length of it, so the mesh went down soon after. Who knows where they might have got to. They stayed for about a year and a half until I got my very first Dwarf Lop Buck and that was it, I was hooked. His name is Cyril and still in the rabbitry. With such a docile friendly nature, I new he wasn't going to be the last.
Flopsy (one of the three)
Previously I have owned rabbits many years ago and bred a few litters but had not got so dedicated to it like now.
Growing up in Kalgoorlie in an outer suburb we were able to have a few chooks, ducks and geese. I was always sitting among the feathered monsters. That was the extent of my parents animal collection(oh and one dog) but as I grew older I wanted more selection. I liked to care for these creatures. Behind our house was an old disused mine shaft with pigeons so I made a big bird trap so they would become homing pigeons. With my dads help he made a gigantic cage for them with a door for them to come and go as they pleased. I had great joy watching them breed.
Along the way, when I still lived at home, I managed to aquire Guinea Pigs, Budgies, Canaries and Finches. I just loved being able to breed and care for them. When I left home I always made sure I had cats, two usually.
We only ever had one dog growing up, a mutt and he lived to a very ripe old age. His name was Bingo, he's buried near the mine shaft (as that seemed to be the only soft ground, Kalgoorlie is all rock). My parents would never have a cat, but I had a plan. A stray cat was coming around near the chook pen and I would feed her when she visited, which was becoming quite regular until the day my dad saw her, I just had to say "She followed me home" hmmm. He grew quite attached to that girl eventually. I called her Poodles and she was a Calico Tortoiseshell. She live to a ripe age and is now buried in Mundijong.
I always wanted a horse but my parents would never let me have one. My Dad would say "I'll buy you a rockin' horse' He also said "When you have a job, buy your own horse". So that is what I did. After three months into my job I came home with a horse. Green and practically unbroken. No such thing as as float for me. I walked that horse all the way from the other side of town and yes, my dad built me a stable and yard. The chooks had to make way for my new addition, and I still have that horse today. Her name is Stubbie, a lovely Brumbie mare with big doe eyes. She is 29yrs old this September 2011. She dosn't have many teeth now and I wonder how long she'll be with me. I got her when she was 2yrs. Many interesting rides we had, riding out the bush as far as we could , no fences out there in Kalg at the time. One particular ride was my worst though, I broke my leg while riding, very foolishly, not paying attention and a bit of peer pressure to push the limits. My parents were on holiday in Esperance and when Dad found out, I was told he was coming home immediately to shoot her. Luckily it was at least 5-6 hr drive. When he arrived home he had calmed down and changed his mind. I was extremely relieved as it wasn't her fault. Within the same month my brother broke his arm riding a moterbike. They weren't very impressed having these two darn teenagers in pieces. I couldn't wait to get back on her, but it took a whole year and my leg and knee will never be the same again. She has taught many young children to ride, so patient. She had two foals and I still have them today also, they are 14yrs and 11yrs, both geldings. Along with my other horses at the moment, the count is nine, though it can fluctuate but I'll always have horses, I blame my parents for my horse obsession since they wouldn't let me get it out of my system when I was a child). Over the years I have shown in ridden and in hand with many different horses and always loved it, collecting many ribbons along the way.
Stubbie
Stubbie's boys (Kahlua & Shiraz)
With my husband Rick, we now breed Palominos, so that keeps us busy. We had our first crop on the ground in 2010. Our mares are now back in foal, so it will be mayhem come Sep/Oct. If you are interested, you could visit our website to have a look.
UPDATE: We have now scaled back the breeding side of things and now consentrating on horse agistment.
http://www.tinseltownpalominos.com/
Proud Dad WOODY Foals learning to tie up
Still in Kalgoorlie, when I moved out of home (only to my Auntie's house) I bought a puppy home. The old lady where I kept Stubbie agistered was going to put down a litter of puppys that her bitch had, all mongerals. There were about ten of them. I had to choose quickly, they were only four weeks old, I chose the runt, a black and tan kelpie cross, a girl. She was the only pup that was her colouring and kelpie looking. I named her Tara, a beautiful dog, we did everything and went everywhere together. As I didn't have a car licence yet, I rode my bike alot. She used to fit in my jacket as a puppy as I rode on the bike. Getting too big now, I got a basket for her, she like that, sitting in there at the front but as she got bigger and heavier we had one too many accidents going around corners, she'd go crashing on the aspalt. So it was a lead attached to the bike seat for her from now on. She loved it, running along, we'd get a bit of pace up aswell. She would have been the fittest dog in Kalg at the time. Later we did dog training with the local dog club and took it to lots of levels. Dog obedience shows and classes, agility training and shows. She won about a dozen trophies, in Kalg and Perth. My proudest moment at a show for obedience was in Kalg when she won 1st place with a score of 198 out of 200. There were about ten in the class. She lived to a very ripe age of 17 and 1/2. I had her put to sleep as her body had just worn out. It was the saddest day of my life. I have her ashes keeping guard at the front door as that was her favourite place to meet visitors. RIP my sweet Tara.
I now have a Wippet girl called Xena and Rick has a Border Collie girl called Cody. Unfortanatly, they don't get quite the attention that my Tara got, too many animals now.
Xena Cody
Since moving to Mundijong, I got interested in chooks again and started breeding Pekin Bantams. So many colours and I wanted to breed them all. It takes many years of breeding to get the right colour and type. I always get a buzz out of watching a new chick hatch. They look so gangley and alien, but I think they are cute. One day I did a count and I would have had approx 500 chickens at my busiest time, but it doesn't take long to add up when you breed clutches of a few hens. I probably had one of the better collections in the district. My hobby of chickens came to an abrupt end after I had left a trusted friend to them while on holiday. He would let them out to free range on the farm during the day and lock them in at night (which I asked him to do). The day we came home there was an awful noise out the back only to discover two Jack Russells were having a field day with all my chickens, chasing them for fun and killing them, not eating them, just murdering them. They ran away when they saw us. I think I buried about 50 chickens. So I sold the rest and had a break from them. Many years later, we just have half a dozen chooks for eggs now.
The farm at Mundijong always has cats, two usually. My favorite was a ginger and white moggy girl (I've only ever had moggies, they seem the best). Lovely girl, my son named her Persion after the Pokemon rage at the time. We got her as a baby and lost her in 2010 after I notice a snake, about 1mtr long, going across the grass and the two cats were walking beside it, one each side and no more than 30cm away. I shooed the cats away as quickly as I could and as I was carrying a small bucket at the time I managed to get the snake to go into it. Having caught the darn thing, now I had to get rid of it. None of the reptile places wanted to come and collect it, so I drove to some bush to release it. Later we couldn't find Persion, for two days. Then Rick found her, she had been bitten and succumed to the venom. I had done the snake a good deed but we lost our beautiful girl. She was about 8yrs old.
Persion
So now I'm mad keen on my gorgeous Dwarf Lop rabbits. I know they will be equally loved like all my previous animals. When it's in your blood what else can you do?
I look forward to showing and meeting fellow breeders along the way. I've always like that side aspect of having animals. To breed something, no matter what type of animal or bird it is, it is a great accomplishment to show it of to its best ability that you have bred.
So between raising my two (well one now as the big one has moved out yet again) teenage boys, working, running the farm, horses and now rabbits (oh-don't forget the husband, who I couldn't do without, fixing hutches/cages ect), there isn't much time to do anything else. But I wouldn't have it any other way, I'd be lost if I didn't have an animal to look after.
This is just a small snippet into my life to date and as I'm only just past the other side od 40, I'm sure there'll be many more animals that come into my life (if I can help it).
May peace find all your animals and keep them safe.
