Josie's Jersies

I have been showing and breeding Jersey Woolies since I was 6 years old (3 years now).  I spend a lot of time together in the barn with my  Mom and sister and at shows with friends and family.  It is a lot of work to groom and condition Jersies, but I love them and I don't mind the extra care they require.  They can also be a challenge to breed.  I have learned all about the "ugly" stage with this breed..... I am working very hard and carefully select each rabbit and who I breed them to, in hopes of obtaining the best possible results for each variety.

After starting with 4 very impressive rabbits from Fox Hill Farm, I have added, Brian's, Serapic Farms and Cook's to our breeding program and have been very serious about my goals. 

I have a ton of fun at shows!  I take pride in just about everything I do, especially my rabbits!  I work hard in the barn to keep the bunnies happy, healthy and well groomed.  I get up very early for the shows with no complaints.  I have learned a lot by listening to the judges, other exhibitors and also from some great friends I've met along the way.

 After the cages started to spread out into the yard, my Dad built a nice 10'x 20' barn to house them more comfortably (it's much more comfortable for us, too).    We have hanging cages with wire bottoms and drop trays below that are at a slight angle that lead to gutters at one end.  This system separates the liquids from the solids, making it easier to clean and also leaves a lot of air space between the rabbits and the waste. We spend a lot of time in the barn and are always improving it. We poured a concrete floor two summers ago and ran electricity out to it.  We have installed a large exhaust fan in one eave and use it throughout the year.  We run it even in the winter, twice a day while we are out feeding, just to get a nice exchange of fresh air.  There are 2 large windows (2'x 5') and we also have a full screen door that we attach in the warm months.  In our experience, ventilation is one of the most important things to good rabbit health.  We have 32 cages that are 24"x 24"and 4 cages that are 24"x 30" which we use for kindling does or when we need to separate babies from Moms.  Next summer we are hoping to get running water out there.  We also have 3 sets of 3-high stack cages that we keep in our basement for the does that we breed during the winter.  It is nice to know that we won't have to deal with any frozen babies and we feel good that the Moms are in a warm, comfortable place to kindle.  Also, it makes for nice new young juniors when the show season begins!

Since then we have made several upgrades to the barn.  In '05 we added electricity, a concrete floor and a sky-light in the back.  We hope to add  hot & cold running water very soon.  We added 8 more cages to the top of the back wall and made the two 4-holes into 6 smaller holes to use when splitting our litters .  With limited space, I have to keep my herd at a minimum.  This means I can give each rabbit the attention it needs.  It stinks to have to decide who stays and who goes, but it forces me to be serious about what I do and keeps me focussed on my goals.  

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