The kits have reached the four week mark and as promised I took photos and descriptions to use in comparing the tort to the colored kits. Approximately a month back I posted an entry regarding the statement about the quality of the tortoise hollands being superior to color in general and how that statement could not be proven within my herd. I decided since I had one of the rare torts pop up in a litter that I would use him to compare against the color kits of the same age to see if he does actually turn out nicer.
The tort is out of Trio's Olivia and ELS's Jonah. Below her is a broken cream from the same litter. I am not being too critical on them at this stage because they are just over 4 weeks old and alot can happen between now and the show table.
The tort appears to be a doe and gets a 10 across the board in the personality category. Her bone is longer and more refined than the other kits. Given the time of year the ears tend to be longer from the heat so that is disregarded at this stage but hers are nicely shaped. She is naturally upright.
The tort appears to be a doe and gets a 10 across the board in the personality category. Her bone is longer and more refined than the other kits. Given the time of year the ears tend to be longer from the heat so that is disregarded at this stage but hers are nicely shaped. She is naturally upright.
This appears to be a buck who also has that incredible personality handed down from Jonah. His baby coat is more on the fuzzy side although I don't expect he will be a fuzzy. His ear is a bit more pointed than the tort and he seems longer in body. He also has the longer more refined bone. The third kit in this litter is a blue but more on the puny side and most likely headed as a pet. 
The two blues and blue tort (below) are out of Trio's Jolie and ELS's Royce. Interestingly enough, Jolie gave me an incredible blue brood doe (pictured on the juniors page) in her previous litter that happens to be by Jonah (the sire of the above litter). So the genetics are closely related in this comparison. Kit #1
This kit seems to be a buck and more along the lines of what I like to see in my 4 week olds. Short chunky bone, nicely rounded ear, beautiful topline already.
Kit #2
Another buck! Another example of what I like to see in my four week olds. He is beefy all over with short bone a naturally upright pose, and a cheeky little pout. The ear is slightly more pointed than desired but that may turn out to be the worst thing about him.
Kit #3
And yet another buck. This is one color I was excited to see show up because of it's rarity in my herd. I hope to see his confidence grow because he looks promising. He has an adorable head and ear that is nicely shaped. He has a short body and decent bone. It is not quite as chunky as the blues brothers above but more so than the tort/bkn cream litter.
I would most definately give this round to the blues!
My family and I spent the July 4th weekend camping in Vermont this year. Having been camping at this particular place in the past we knew there was a vast amount of wilderness surrounding our campsite so we brought our four dogs with us this time. We did a great deal of hiking in the Green Mountain National Forest during our stay. Each day we found a new location to explore and each new place appeared as though no one had set foot there in years. We stumbled upon a countless number of fresh moose footprints. It's a wonder we didn't walk right up on one! We even came across a small pine tree blocking our path that must have been within days of being knocked down by a rather large moose. The presence of wildlife surrounded us in the form of wild turkey, ruffed grouse, whitetail deer and of course the elusive moose.
Above: In the left side of the photo you can see an old beaver dam.
