Who is thinking about the County Fair in February???

That would be me. Not only does it help pass the time on a cold winter day, it helps me know what our plan is come spring time. For example: My boys like to enter the doe with litter and meat pen classes. We have to plan the breedings for those litters to be no more than 70 days old at the time of the fair. Same goes for the meat pens, but depending how your bunnies grow out, you don't want them too big because the meat pen bunnies have to be at least 3 pounds but no more than 5 pounds at the of the show. Roasters have to be under six months old but at least five and a half pounds but no more than eight pounds. Stew rabbits are required to be at least 6 months old and at least 8 pounds. Oh, and on top of all that, the entries need to be sent in by July 1st - 4 weeks before the start of the Fair. So as you can see it does take some planning. You can't just wait until the week of the fair to decide what you are going to enter.

This is my son *Z*'s Doe and litter

The meat pen that *Z* entered.

We took 24 rabbits to the fair last year. Here are both boys in front of some of the rabbits.

The boys were thrilled (contrary to the look on *K*'s face) that every rabbit they entered got something. All but one got at least 3rd place or higher. The one that didn't got fifth and still got an honorary which happened to be rainbow colored and my 4 year old (at the time) was into everything rainbows at that time so he thought he'd won the big prize -  and wouldn't you know that is the ribbon that got eaten by the rabbit. *K* was so bummed!
So, hopefully, with a little planning now we will have more bunnies to enter this year. The boys love showing their bunnies and goats at the fair. Planning for showing goats will have to wait for another post... oye.

We have a new arrival and some heartache here at the farm...

   Molly, the miniature Mediterranean Donkey, came to live with us two Saturdays ago. I have wanted to get a donkey for several years. Last week I was talking to a friend of mine who mentioned that he is trying to cut down on the number of animals he has, and also mentioned he had a mini donkey for sale. I had to have her!

   She has been here for a little over a week and seems to be settling in nicely. I'm hoping she will bond with the goats (especially the babies once they start arriving) this winter and stay with them once I put them out to pasture again in the spring. Some of my older does are pretty set in their ways so its probably going to take more than a couple of months for Molly to win those girls over. Any babies born this year and after should bond with Molly from the start win no problem.
   I'm hoping Molly will fill the void we have right now in the 'protection' department. We had our old Chesapeake bay retriever, Whiskey, who thought he was a Great Pyrenees. He was raised on a farm with a Great Pyrenees for a few years before we got him. He loved people but did not like strange dogs or other critters in the pasture with "his" animals. This past year he has been slowing down a lot and not quite been up to par in the protection department. I'm not really sure how old he was but we've had him for almost four years and the lady we got him from said she thought he might be at least 5 or maybe 6 years old then. Sadly, Whiskey passed away yesterday. He will be greatly missed.

R.I.P. Whiskey. You will be greatly missed by our family.

Four years ago today.

Six years ago today.