The last litters of 2011 have been born and have added to the mixed feelings that I have been having for the past few months. 

We almost lost Delia last weekend, when her labor stalled and she could no longer pass her stillborn babies. We have had so much unexpected tragedy at the rattery, that I just do not know how we would have recovered from losing her. I am sad to have lost her babies, especially since this breeding was done to save this line, but Delia is alright and that is most important to us. 

Breeze and Wendy gave birth to their litters on Wednesday. Breeze's litter is absolutely beautiful. This is our very first litter with capped markings. Wendy's two little (BIG) babies are plump and content to be the only ones nursing on Mom. 

I know that there will be a number of potential adopters that will be disappointed by loss of an entire litter and the birth of such a small second litter. This is always difficult for me, as I just hate to disappoint!

We still have a number of babies available from past litters and will have quite a few adults available in the next month. 

I have decided to end a few of our lines due to poorer health than I would like and/or my lack of passion for that line. We will be breeding away from our "dedicated" Siamese line but, have since has a non-show quality (berkshire) Siamese pop up from a pair of rats from a completely different line. We may explore this further. 

Due to the lack of interest in our hairless babies, we will also be breeding away from hairless. This means that while we will continue to have a few pop up in our future litters, we will no longer breed hairless into our lines and are working to become an "all furred" rattery. 

I am going to slow down and only focus on the lines and traits that bring me joy. Even when I want to quit, I know that I can't simply quit something that I am so passionate about. My family life is going to get back to normal at the end of this month and, even with new career paths in 2012, I am looking forward to January. I feel that with all of the changes going on inside of QCR, it will be a breath of fresh air that I so desperately need. 


Thank you all for the kind comments, e-mails and phone calls. I am choosing to be optimistic throughout the "tough times" that we have been having for the past several months. 

1 Comment
 
 
I have decided to start a blogging about what's going on in the rattery as a way to help keep everyone informed and up to date with things going on in my life. I have had such a difficult time for about three months now and honestly, I feel like my spirit is breaking. 

My family has been going through some things that has kept me from keeping up with the website and e-mails. For that I would like to apologize (again) and thank you for your patients and understanding. 

I have also had a very difficult with the Rattery. This is were I am breaking... but, NOT giving up. Things are going to be changing  in the New Year. Adoption policies are going to be more strict to protect the rats and my sanity. It has been brought to my attention that some of QCR rats are being sold on Craigs List and that really hurts my heart. 

Through all of this, QCR is growing and we are looking forward to 2012! We will be limiting the number of litters to about six for the year

4 Comments