Meet The Hot Cross Buns
We would like to introduce you to the Hot Cross Buns. Each and every one of them holds a special place in our hearts and in our breeding programs. We love color and lots of it, which is why you will see a wide variety of colors in our herd. Even more important than the color of their coats is the temperament they each exhibit. We love our Buns and want the very best for them. That means we need to know each of them from tip to tail, inside and out. We welcome your questions about our herd and their care.
The Hot Cross Bucks are the building block of our rabbitry. Without great sires, we can't breed great kits. Since we breed for sound temperament, our boys have to be sweet, curious, and loving. It would be impossible to choose a favorite out of these handsome boys.
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Pumpkin Roll is a gorgeous broken orange buck out of Goldilocks and Luigi. We planned to keep this Bun very early on and originally thought he was a doe. Imagine our surprise when we saw boy-bits when he was nearly 5 months old. That was quite a shock! Pumpkin Roll has inherited the loving, gentle disposition of both of his parents. |
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Hamish is our newest keeper. He is out of Goldilocks and Gulliver and is an absolutely scrumptious little bundle of love. He is friendly, sweet, and gently playful. His temperament is the perfect combination of his mama's mellow outlook on life, and his sire's "life of the party attitude." We love this little harlequin buck! |
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Finnegan has come back to us! He was born here at HCB, where he was originally called Rerun and we gifted him to Diane at Hook's Hollands, where he was known as Yoshi. When she announced the end of her breeding program, Diane asked if we would like him back and we jumped at the opportunity to have this little sweetie rejoin our herd. Finn is the son of Primrose and Luigi, and half brother of Pumpkin Roll. He likes to follow his nose, just like his lovable sire, and we often only see the top of his head as he sniffs and explores every inch of a new space. He loves to binky, bounce and play, and we love to watch his energetic zoomies.
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DOB: August 29, 2020
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Gibson is the youngest of the lovable bucks at HCB. The son of our doe Theodosia and buck Finnegan, he is a very handsome little guy, with his mama's more discerning attitude towards new experiences. He warms up pretty quickly, but likes to take a moment or two before deciding the correct course of action. He is a thoughtful little buck and we love his coloring.
As a dedicated fan of NCIS, I love this little guy's expressive face and think he could give Gibbs a run for his money, so Gibson's name is also a nod to one of my favorite TV characters who has one awesome "stink eye". Gibson is still a wee Bun and will hopefully be ready to sire his first litter in April or May of 2023. |
The Hot Cross Does are the ladies who do all the real work in the rabbitry. They have to deal with pregnancy hormones, build a nest, give birth, nurse multiple babies at once, deal with babies climbing all over them and eating all the food in their bowls, go through weaning...we get tired just thinking about it! We enjoy our special Hot Cross Does and provide them with lots of TLC.
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Genevieve (Jenny for short) is a beautiful cream doe gifted to us by our friends at Hook's Hollands. Isn't she lovely? She looks like a false dwarf girl, which will make kindling easier on her and removes the risk of her having any peanuts. Jenny is very sweet and spunky. We're so excited to have her join the Hot Cross Buns family!
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Posey is Primrose and Little Boy Blue's daughter, and litter mate of Rosie. Primrose passed away quite suddenly when her kits were four weeks old, and we had the honor of hand-rearing them for the next four weeks of their lives. Primrose was a favorite doe and we had planned to retire her and keep her as a beloved pet once her litter was weaned. Sadly, we never had that opportunity, but the gift of her little daughters was a double blessing at that difficult time. Posey is as sweet as can be and loves cuddles and snuggles (so does her sister!), just like her mama did and her papa still does. (Little Boy Blue is now retired and living the pampered pet lifestyle here at HCB). We are hopeful that Posey's larger body type will allow her to easily kindle her kits and have fun loving the babies in her future. Posey inherited her mama's beautiful chinchilla coloring and thick coat. She is more patient about waiting her turn for cuddles, and has a more playful nature. She is an absolute doll and we so look forward to welcoming her first litter in the summer of 2022.
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DOB: October 19, 2021
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DOB: October 10, 2021
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Rosie is Primrose and Little Boy Blue's daughter, and Posey's litter mate. Primrose passed away quite suddenly when her kits were four weeks old, and we had the honor of hand-rearing them for the next four weeks of their lives. She was a favorite doe and we had planned to retire her and keep her as a beloved pet once her litter was weaned. Sadly, we never had that opportunity, but the gift of her little daughters was a double blessing at that difficult time. Posey inherited their mama's coloring, but Rosie inherited her wonky ears, which I always adored. Rosie is quite demanding of cuddles and interaction and practically leaps into my arms when she determines it's her turn for some cuddles. She has always been on the petite side when compared to her sister Posey, but she is still a nice size for a mam Bun.
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Moxie is a lovely little opal doe who may look vaguely familiar to some of our eagle-eyed followers, even if her new name is unfamiliar. Moxie is the daughter of Jenny and Little Boy Blue and was one of three opals in our "coin-themed" litter consisting of Penny, Nickel, Dime, and Quarter. She was the Nickel in the litter. She had been placed in a wonderful home, but it soon became clear that her temperament had changed drastically from what it had been when her new family initially met her at about five weeks of age until she was ready to go home. After offering some suggestions and nothing working, we wanted to make things right and offered to take her back and place a different Bun with her. After learning of her penchant for leaping into bathtubs when free-roaming and doing zoomies, we knew "Nickel" wasn't going to suit her any longer, and the name her first Bun-mom had given her was a name we had already used (we have a no-repeats rule), so we needed to come up with something unique. Miss E suggested "Moxie" and it worked!
We find her to be very sweet, but relatively active and curious. She's a lot of fun. Moxie is on the petite side, so we aren't certain if life as a breeding doe will be the best choice for her. We'll see how she does, and if it doesn't suit her, we will have her spayed and place her in a loving pet family who wants a Bun with some zing! |
DOB: October 18, 2021
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Francesca (Frankie, when she's in a binky frame of mind) is the daughter of Smudge and Hamish. Born on March 15, 2022, she was originally called Taquito and was part of our Tex-Mex themed litter. Francesca is a gorgeous doe and has the magpie markings we love. She can be very spunky and playful when the mood strikes her, which is fairly often. When she isn't bouncing around happily, she likes to observe the goings on in the rabbitry with an indulgent look on her face. Her mother Smudge had a history of cannibalizing her kits at birth, so we retired her at a young age. Keeping Francesca is something of a risk. If she follows in her mother's footsteps, we will have her spayed and offer her to a pet home immediately. It is unknown whether this tendency is genetic or not.
1/2/23...So far so good! Francesca has her first litter and is looking after them beautifully! |
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Pigeon is a gorgeous, sweet little doe whose heart is in her very expressive eyes. She is very pleasant and can be a bit timid in new situations, but tends to quickly overcome her cautious side and dives into playing with great joy. She is the daughter of Will-o the Wisp and Joey. We had been calling her a frosty doe, but I'm not sure that is technically true any longer. She has gotten more color as she has matured and now looks more like her mother in coloring. She could be a very light squirrel. We don't care what she is because we think she's beautiful, inside and out. She was born on March 19, 2022, and we hope to breed her for her first litter in November 2022.
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Penelope
Date of Birth: June 6, 2022 Parents: Rosie & Hamish Color/Pattern: Orange We went back-and-forth quite a bit over whether to add Penelope (previously called Rigatoni) to the rabbitry or not. She is extremely sweet and lovable, has a gorgeous coat, a gentle demeanor, and is wonderful in every way. After we talked it over, keeping her became a "duh" decision. |
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Periwinkle, or Peri as we call her, is a lovely lilac doe. She was from our musical instrument-themed litter and was initially known as Mandolin. She is a bit on the shy side, but truly enjoys gentle interaction and cuddles. She is a petite little girl and has incredibly soft fur. We hope that she will take to motherhood like a duck to water, when it is time to try her paw at motherhood.
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