Proper Convention Behavior!

I was shocked at some of the behavior that I witnessed at convention. I feel that it should TRULY be a blind judging. So take a look at the paragraph written below and compare yourself to it. If you find that you have some of these "nasty" habits, CHANGE THEM! I think the most proper way for judging was for group and BIS! It was completly anonymous!


"The ARBA Convention for 2007 has come and gone. Most of us are still tired and trying to catch up on chores at home. Tonight I was reflecting on the highest level of competition we as rabbit breeders participate in. The protocol for blind judging should give every exhibitor a fair and unbiased assessment from a qualified judge. Coop numbers and rabbit runners should assure anonymity. Exhibitors must refrain from "table talk" either with the judge or close to the judge. Perhaps as exhibitors we should be more careful to treat Convention; its judges and all exhibitors with more respect. The judge should not know who the owner is until BOB is over. The rabbits condition, type, and adherence to the Standard of Perfection should be the only thing judged. We do not compete with people; we compete with the Standard. The prize is in creating the most correct example of the English Angora possible. The real happiness comes from doing you best job, attending to details and loving care of your rabbits.and as my mother used to say: play nice"WRITTEN BY SILVERTONE ANGORAS!!

A Tribute!!

I think that the best buck that I have ever bred was GC Countryside Mohammed. I currently have three litters sired by GC Countryside Mohammed that are growing up! They are just about the cutest things that you could ever see. Little apple round heads, small ears, everything you could want in 4 week old babies!

Well I think that my BIGGEST mistake so far in the business was selling GC Countryside Mohammed 1 week after I bred these 3 does to him. Yes the money did pay for my trip to ARBA convention where we won the highest honor of Youth BIS with Countryside Paris a 3/4, littermate to GC Countryside Mohammed but I have the loss of not being to use him anymore. I have also sold his mother and father. I do have 2 remaing sisters Reg. Countryside Mariah and Countryside Mudslide! I also have two 3/4 sisters to him as well.

These babies I think are just going to be FANTABULOUS! I am really excited as they will be my entry for the 2008 Angora Nationals in Missouri. I just wish that he was still here with me as he hit the show tables with a SLAM and apparently is a wonderful producer. Oh well GC Countryside Mohammed is now living with a wonderful woman in Canada.

I have included a picture of GC Countryside Mohammed as a 4 month old Jr.!

Home at last, with good news to boot!!

We went to convention expecting to do well, we just didn't know that "well" would mean BIS youth at the 84th ARBA convention!! Countryside Paris took the BIS honors! She is sired by Silvertone Jester whom I sold to Kristine of huntersridge farm. Kristine also purchased two of Paris' littermates.

Although convention was "insane" we had a good time. One thing that did upset me was that when I got my checkout packet I found that Countryside Premonitions who was entered in the open competition and is a littermate to Countryside Paris somehow got scratched by one of the runners!! Oh well there's always next time.

In the open competition Jesse James my colored Sr. buck won his class of 15!!!! Emily my BIS open doe placed 2Nd in a class of 25 colored Sr. does! I am very happy with my results! I also got my pin from NARBC and I was 1st place by almost 1000 points! All were open points though. This convention was the first time I have showed youth. I will continue to show open and only at convention put one or two bunnies in youth.

We have three new litters to report as well. Silvertone Drama Queen bred to Reg.GC Countryside Mohammed has 5 beautiful babies. 4 of which are blue torts and 1 black tort.

Reg. Countryside Mariah bred to Reg.GC Countryside Mohammed also has 5 babies. She has 4 black torts and one that looks like a blue tort. One unexpected litter Countryside Daisy bred to Hunneshagen's Nikko it looks like one blue baby. Oh and I made a mistake in a previous post the "lilac tort" in IN QUESTIONS litter is a blue tort.

Pictured are photos of Paris from convention taken by Betty Chu and used here with her permission.

Convention!!

Hey all sorry no more posts until convention.

Eyes, Eyes and more Eyes!!!

There isn't much to report to day. In Question's litter of four have opened their eyes and looking very cute!! One thing that I want to put in the blog today is the importance of risers for convention!

Come on angora breeders you know how much ya need em. Make sure that you have your risers completed before we leave for convention! As always be sure to bring EXTRA pieces of wire because most likely the cages won't be the size they are supposed to be. You really should make them so that they are at least 1 and 1/2 inches above the floor but for me 2 inches is preferred.

When people make the risers that are only 1 inch off the floor long coats go right through the wire and soil.

I have also included a picture of our colored buck for convention! GCSilvertone Jesse James is an amazing buck! Many thanks to Linda Cassella. I got Jesse as a weanling and have done all the work since. He is an AMAZING animal with extremely dense wool. He is a lavish blue tort with a beautiful suede nose.

My email: JJan1993@aol.com

My website: http://burnsangoras.tripod.com/

My lil' Buddy

My angora friend in Wisconsin Kristine(who has purchased many bunnies from Countryside Angoras) has a daughter who just loves me!! Whenever I call to talk to Kristine she is just itching to talk to me!!

She calls me her boyfriend. She met me when I went out to angora nationals in May. Ever since then she has just adored me. I have included a picture of her with her bunny snowball. We will be sharing a room with Kristine and Katherine at convention. Katherine is so excited.

Katherine has taken the dutch as her project and she has done VERY well. She won the best steel display youth at dutch nationals with only two rabbits entered! Katherine is only about 4 so this is a huge accomplishment! She is a big help in the bunny barn, she helps her mom feed and water every night. She picks which rabbits she wants bred and even checks the babies when they are born. This is one intelligent little lady!!

I have two does due October 12th:
Reg. Countryside Mariah X Reg. GC Countryside Mohammed
Reg. Silvertone Drama Queen X Reg. GC Countryside Mohammed

The Mystery Uncovered!!

Yesterday I said that I would right about a mysterious something that my family found at the end of our road. We live out in the country so our road is a prime spot for people to dump trash and even live pets!!!!

Well last week my grandmother(the famed Tamika, her nickname from De and Linda) was driving down the road and there just around the last curve by the bridge was a small dog. It was running in circles in the middle of the road obviously lost and afraid and would surely be squashed if something wasn't done!

Well grandma(real name Cheryl) stopped the car and opened her door. In bounded the little dog!!! So grandma brought her home and then went to the store to pamper this pooch!! ~She is only about 8 pounds and is the true meaning of a lap dog!!~ We just love her!!

Were aren't so sure that my sister's two kittens Oreo and Domino "love" her though! They got all the attention before she arrived and they have been shut up on the porch so she couldn't get to them. They are getting used to one another but there are the usually sudden outbursts of hissing,from the cats, and barking from the dog.

It looks like Molly(that's what we have decided to call the dog) will be staying!!! She is very sweet and we just can't understand why anyone would do such a thing! It makes us SICK.

I have also included pictures of some of our other animals including ex. house cat Fargo. My sister rescued him from the barn after his mother was hit by a car. Another drop off!!! Well we brought him home and for a while he was sweet then her turned mean because he couldn't go outside. So we took him up to the barn where he lives with his little friend Lola!

Our Newest Arrivals!!!

Well like I said before right now we only have one litter in the nest box! So I thought that I would take a couple of pictures to show y'all:) As you can see there are 4 bunnies. From left to right the colors are, lilac tort, black tort, blue, and a black. A very pretty litter indeed! I am very proud of their mother because although this is her third litter it is the first one that she could raise normally.

Her first litter was born 3 days late, all the babies were quite small and dead in a beautifully made nest! It was very sad because she wanted her babies. Her second litter she had one stuck so I gave her oxytocin and the first bunny was alive but bruised at birth and died minuets later. The next two were born on the wire. She hadn't made a nest so I had to do that. Those bunnies survived but I had to force her to feed them everyday until she got the hang of it.

This time I got home from school to check and sure enough there were 4 healthy bunnies in a beautiful nest! So I am very happy! This litter is special to me because their sire is Reg. GC Countryside Mohammed one of the best show bunnies I have bred. I sold him because just about all of my bunnies are his sisters. Their mother is Adore's In Question. I am expecting this litter to be FABULOUS!!!!!

Also pictured is Countryside Mudslide a 6 month old doe that is a full sister to Countryside Mohammed! She will be one of two does for our youth entry at convention!! She is a beautiful rabbit! She is out of my WONDER cross of Countryside Midnight Star bred to Silvertone Jester! I have kept so many bunnies from this cross that I let Kristine Leverich of WI buy both Midnight and Jester! Check out her blog at http://www.dutchworksrabbitry.blogspot.com/!!

TOMORROW I WILL POST ABOUT A MYSTERIOUS SOMETHING THAT MY FAMILY FOUND AT THE END OF OUR ROAD. SO CHECK BACK FOR MORE!!!!!

My email: JJan1993@aol.com

My Website: http://burnsangoras.tripod.com/

Countryside's Going to Convention!!!

Pictured above is My BIS doe Adore's Emily! The picture to the right is our colored doe line-up for convention! I picked Emily out at 8 weeks old and have groomed and cared for her since!

Here at Countryside Angoras we are all geared up for the Michigan Convention. We will be arriving on Friday so that we have plenty of time to get the bunnies comfortable in their cages before the crowd arrives.

My good friend Linda Cassella's theory is behind our arrival! As she has told me many times one of the MOST important aspects of convention is having your bunny(s) comfortable in the their cage. Since we are arriving on Friday the bunnies can have all of Saturday to just sit in their cages after the long trip(9 hours) and get used to the surroundings.

I am VERY excited about convention!!! This will be my first convention and I have only been breeding for almost 2 years. For those of you who don't know me my name is Collin Burns. I am only 14(going on 15) but I do show in open and will have bunnies entered in open at MI. Since I started showing I have taken over youth sweeps points and have done incredibly well. All of my points are earned in open though!!! I show against Linda Cassella((Silvertone Angoras)BIS ARBA convention 05' at INDY the largest ARBA convention EVER held and Best in Group last year as a combined entry with Margaret Barthold. They won with Silvertone Carmella) I am able to grand bunnies and recently won my first ALL BREED BIS!!!

Linda is my mentor and and has helped me a lot. I wouldn't be as far along as I am without her help!! I do put in the work that it takes to make a winning English and believe that every rabbit should have quality care!

I am taking bunnies to convention that I feel are quite beautiful!

I have one litter in the nest box now and have completed my fall breedings. These bunnies will be my entry for the Angora National Show in Sedalia Missouri. Some of these bunnies will be available so If you are interested email me at JJan1993@aol.com. Also check out my website for additional information on the buns http://burnsangoras.tripod.com/!!

Thanks for stopping by! I hope to see you in MI!!!!!