Photos of 1st Place Winning Chin Found On Craigslist

[Spoof]

The amount of money paid for a chin is not directly linked to the quality of a chin. I've seen people sell crappy animals for hundreds of dollars and some poor, uneducated person has paid that for an inferior animal. Just because a name appears on a list, does not mean that they have the best animals either.

Agreed!

I'll be honest, I sell pets for ridiculously high prices. If you want a baby you're going to pay for it - otherwise go rescue one from NOLA, there are plenty that need homes.

If someone is serious about improving their herd I'll gladly give them one, often in exchange for future offspring or for next to nothing to help them get started. I want to see more people at shows and having a passion for chinchillas. )

 

[Caroline]

So if I were to go and purchase a chin from Ronda or the Cramers or Somalia, you would be happy? Or one that had s reserve grand.-champion or better as a parent or grandparent?

 

[Brittany]

So if I were to go and purchase a chin from Ronda or the Cramers or Somalia, you would be happy? Or one that had s reserve grand.-champion or better as a parent or grandparent?

I think your best bet would be to go to a show before buying your next animal. Look at the 'best of the best' animals that each of these ranchers produces. You won't have to worry about anyone misleading you because you'll be able to hear the judges comments, and they don't know which animal belongs to which rancher. Talk to more then one person, and go from there. You never know, someone may be willing to cut you a deal on good stock just to see you start out right.

 

[Godins Chinchillas]

So if I were to go and purchase a chin from Ronda or the Cramers or Somalia, you would be happy? Or one that had s reserve grand.-champion or better as a parent or grandparent?

YOU won't be happy till you know you have the best that you can afford and are breeding correctly the first time. You are going to do what you are going to do...but honestly don't be disappointed when you fail to achieve what you wanted to achieve the first time. We can try to steer you in the right direction but if heed our advice well you only have yourself to blame.

 

[Caroline]

YOU won't be happy till you know you have the best that you can afford and are breeding correctly the first time. You are going to do what you are going to do...but honestly don't be disappointed when you fail to achieve what you wanted to achieve the first time. We can try to steer you in the right direction but if heed our advice well you only have yourself to blame.

HUH??

 

[Amphy64]

I want to see more people at shows and having a passion for chinchillas. )

Me too, even as a relative newbie. ) After seeing Henry's breeder's herd and how enthusiastic he was about chins, I definitely 'caught the chin bug' as he put it. Going to shows and reading results in the NCS Gazette, I've been quite sad to see that attendance isn't really that high, and it's really the same names that come up each time, there don't seem to be as many breeders of chins as I would have expected. Probably only a certain number would be sustainable in terms of finding homes etc., but there does probably need to be new people, I just recently heard that one breeder I know may be giving up, and she was one of the (like me) younger in the hobby too.

So, and I hope woman in shoe understands this, the last thing I'd want to do is discourage someone who is after all in the same position as me, just wanted to share some of the basic information I do currently know, to try to help out, just as people have and are teaching me.

So if I were to go and purchase a chin from Ronda or the Cramers or Somalia, you would be happy? Or one that had s reserve grand.-champion or better as a parent or grandparent?

I don't think anyone was saying that you had to do that, they were just confused as to why your post made it seem like the relatively small sum of money, in most cases, to buy a quality chin, would be an issue (perhaps you thought they were far more expensive than they are?), when, after all, as you know, breeding is expensive.

I have as of yet not heard back from anyone regarding why they first started breeding. Could it be because they had a nice male and a nice female and decided they wanted babies so that their kids could experience it, or did they take the time right from the start to get a good breeding pair?

It seems those who didn't start out with a good pair now regret it, so it's something beginners like us can only learn from. Breeding so children could experience it would definitely not be a good idea, as as you've seen, things can go wrong. I know myself how heartbreaking it is to lose an animal when breeding, as I lost my lovely Campbell's russian hamster female when I was a child (10). We hadn't intended to breed, she became pregnant due to being missexed by the petshop, but my mum had actually bred hamsters before as a young adult, we learnt as much as we could, I read every hamster book I could get my hands on over and over, especially the ones on dwarf hamsters, I waited every day excitedly till we'd have babies arrive. She still died, on about the night, or close, she would have been due (a sudden heart attack, may or may not have been related to her pregnancy, she was quite young so it may perhaps have put too much extra strain on her), I came down happily to check on her and see if she'd had babies only for my mum to have to tell me she'd died. I think there was probably nothing we could have done but I still felt in many ways responsible, and so sad at the loss of both her and her babies, still think about her.
I say this since you mention the interest and involvement of your daughter, and since you do know from your past experience things can go wrong, you're in the ideal position to and I'm sure will explain this to her and make sure she fully understands before you begin breeding chins.

I don't yet breed but would like to, I would love to be able to show chins I'd bred myself, and hopefully do Ok with them. I love velvets (would focus on velvets and standards), and would like to aim for chins that are show quality, hopefully very blue as is my standard male, one of his best qualities though he is on the small side, but preferably less extremely brevi than the velvets that are generally seen, still blocky as is required but with a more moderate head shape, as that is what I prefer. Right now I do not know enough, I need to learn more.

I don't know whether shows in the US have an assessment class, as ours do? If so, it'd be possible for the TC to take Gracie and Hayley, and if she doesn't want to compete yet, still get an evaluation of their qualities from a judge, which can be very helpful.


And now after having typed all that I've just had to go and chase my standard boy to retrieve a sock. Chins, eh?

 

[addictedtochins]

Who cares what your chins sire and dam have done in the show ring. What matters is what your chin has done and you understand it's strengths and weaknesses. Can you see that Gracie's fur is not very good, I don't see anything exceptional about her. She is simply a beautiful snuggly pet. If I am wrong, and it is hard to judge from a couple of pics tell me what she has going for her from a breeding standpoint. If you want to breed chins I think that is wonderful! Just start with a good foundation. I have read this forum everyday for at least 3 years and I have learned a lot. I hope you stick around here, go to shows and talk to chin people and you could be a top notch breeder in time.

 

[Ronda]

So if I were to go and purchase a chin from Ronda or the Cramers or Somalia, you would be happy? Or one that had s reserve grand.-champion or better as a parent or grandparent?

That's Craners in south eastern Idaho. Vin Samovia is no longer breeding - he sold his herd.

PNW chins did have a lot of malocclusion and a lot of her animals came from established TOP showing breeders.

You don't need to spend big money with me to get good quality. Ask Bobbie (bchins) in Wisconsin whether he got a good deal or not on the 20 chins I shipped him a couple months ago.

I've also hosted several MCBA shows and even had people drive over 15 hours one way just to come purchase chins from me. So the 3 1/2 hours from Seattle isn't so bad.

Attending a show is one of the best ways to learn but it is also crazy busy at shows. You just have to step in and help and ask questions and most people are really good about answering them. The MCBA show in the Seattle area in September has been getting bigger and bigger every year and you'll get to meet a lot of breeders.

I told my a small amount of my story here: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26127&highlight=ronda&page=4

If you want to contact me and talk chins/breeding I'm more than willing to talk to you and you can come by and see my chins as well. My email is [email protected].

Ronda

 

[Ash]

So if I were to go and purchase a chin from Ronda or the Cramers or Somalia, you would be happy? Or one that had s reserve grand.-champion or better as a parent or grandparent?

People are going to be happy if you learn what quality is and by that chin itself rather than its offspring. Two GSC's can throw crap offspring. You could buy something that isn't breeding quality from Ronda, breed it, and people are going to have a problem with it because it's not an animal that should be bred. (Not saying Ronda has crap, just using her as an example since you used her name). The name that is on the pedigree and what the parents have done isn't as important as the quality of the animal itself and that's why people are trying to explain to you.

Also, you can't tell the quality of animals until they are older (around a year is a good judge, they've usually hit full size by then). So buying a kit will do nothing, you won't know if its the quality you want/need. If you want to find a male to breed to your two girls, take them to the show with you and ask other breeders what they would pair with them. Most of them are probably going to suggest a strong standard male.

 

[Caroline]

That's Craners in south eastern Idaho. Vin Samovia is no longer breeding - he sold his herd.

PNW chins did have a lot of malocclusion and a lot of her animals came from established TOP showing breeders.

You don't need to spend big money with me to get good quality. Ask Bobbie (bchins) in Wisconsin whether he got a good deal or not on the 20 chins I shipped him a couple months ago.

I've also hosted several MCBA shows and even had people drive over 15 hours one way just to come purchase chins from me. So the 3 1/2 hours from Seattle isn't so bad.

Attending a show is one of the best ways to learn but it is also crazy busy at shows. You just have to step in and help and ask questions and most people are really good about answering them. The MCBA show in the Seattle area in September has been getting bigger and bigger every year and you'll get to meet a lot of breeders.

I told my a small amount of my story here: http://www.chins-n-hedgies.com/forums/showthread.php?t=26127&highlight=ronda&page=4

If you want to contact me and talk chins/breeding I'm more than willing to talk to you and you can come by and see my chins as well. My email is [email protected].

Ronda

I live in Renton, just outside of Seattle and have been invited to a Lipizzan breeding farm in Goldendale Washington next week. My Lipizzan is getting older and am starting to scan the horizon for another one to purchase down the road. Since it takes several years to properly train them it doesn't hurt to start looking now. Hopefuly it won't be for a few more years until we have to say goodbye. Looked at a map to see where you are in relationship to Goldendale, it says that you are about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Hmmm, don't know if I could ask my daughter to do the drive, but you never know.

 

[Shahna]

I am sorry if I am repeating another thread, but I simply couldn't read every post, word for word... this thread has gone 10 different places.

In my opinion, the number one goal in breeding should be to improve the breed. So to do this, you need to find a male that compliments your girls. The best advice I have, is to bring your girls and enter them in the show in September. This will not only give you the experience of grooming and showing your animals, but you will be able to get feedback on the faults of your chinchillas and thus know what to look for in a mate.

Between myself, Sumiko, Sarah, Tabitha, Ronda, Craners and all the other chin people there (at the September show), you will have lots of help transitioning into the chinchilla world, as well as many different opinions on your animals. While everyone will be busy grooming animals before the show, feel free to pull up a seat next to one of us while we groom and fire away with questions. We are quite the multi-taskers.

Not breeding for a year is a wise decision. This will give you lots of time to pick peoples brains, attend shows and be sure that you are on the right path.

 

[Ronda]

I live in Renton, just outside of Seattle. Looked at a map to see where you are in relationship to Goldendale, it says that you are about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Hmmm, don't know if I could ask my daughter to do the drive, but you never know.

You're more than welcome - Sundays are best for me. Come on down across the Columbia River on 97 and take a left when you get across the bridge at Biggs Junction. It really Isn't that far - about 1 hr & 20 minutes. Then when you go home you can cut across the Columbia right down here at Umatilla and shoot off diagonally towards home - about 3 1/2 hr drive. Email me and I'll give you particulars.

IThe best advice I have, is to bring your girls and enter them in the show in September. This will not only give you the experience of grooming and showing your animals, but you will be able to get feedback on the faults of your chinchillas and thus know what to look for in a mate.

Most assuredly the best way to learn quality fast!!! It makes your head spin sometimes but you will learn more and understand at each show you attend.

While everyone will be busy grooming animals before the show, feel free to pull up a seat next to one of us while we groom and fire away with questions. We are quite the multi-taskers.

Yea, and the fur does fly! Everybody keeps their heads down and grooms like mad to complete the chin prep in time, but that doesn't mean we don't have time to talk and answer questions!

Ronda

 

[Caroline]

You're more than welcome - Sundays are best for me. Come on down across the Columbia River on 97 and take a left when you get across the bridge at Biggs Junction. It really Isn't that far - about 1 hr & 20 minutes. Then when you go home you can cut across the Columbia right down here at Umatilla and shoot off diagonally towards home - about 3 1/2 hr drive. Email me and I'll give you particulars.



Most assuredly the best way to learn quality fast!!! It makes your head spin sometimes but you will learn more and understand at each show you attend.



Yea, and the fur does fly! Everybody keeps their heads down and grooms like mad to complete the chin prep in time, but that doesn't mean we don't have time to talk and answer questions!

Ronda

I am afraid that Sundays do not work for me, like you on Saturday I have church on Sunday. I have not firmed up the date, I am driving down but it will probably be Monday after work or Tuesday and staying for a couple of days.

We could come to you afterwards and then like you said head home through tri-cities etc. Great time of year to be driving through Eastern Washington with all of the cherries and other fresh veggies to buy from the roadside stands. Yum!!

Haha! Looking at the map of Hermeston I am reminded of our adventures at the big truckstop near Hermeston. We were coming back from Utah last October and stopped there to get gas. As I was going in my daughter asked me to pay when he was done filling the tank. I said ok, did my business, chatted with some people and then got in the car and drove off. We got all the way down the freeway to where 82 turns off to go across the Columbia River when my daughter asked me if I had paid for the gas. !!!!!! We had to drive several miles further on 84 till we found another exit to turn around, drove back to the truckstop and paid for the gas. Boy were they shocked when I walked back in at about 2 a.m. to pay for the gas! hee hee

 

[Caroline]

I live in Renton, just outside of Seattle and have been invited to a Lipizzan breeding farm in Goldendale Washington next week. My Lipizzan is getting older and am starting to scan the horizon for another one to purchase down the road. Since it takes several years to properly train them it doesn't hurt to start looking now. Hopefuly it won't be for a few more years until we have to say goodbye. Looked at a map to see where you are in relationship to Goldendale, it says that you are about 1 hour and 50 minutes. Hmmm, don't know if I could ask my daughter to do the drive, but you never know.

That said, before anyone jumps on me again about purchasing an expensive horse and not wanting to spend a few more hundred on a chinchilla, I said "A FEW YEARS DOWN THE ROAD". By then we will be down to ONE child living at home instead of four (down from 7 children).

 

[Caroline]

I am sorry if I am repeating another thread, but I simply couldn't read every post, word for word... this thread has gone 10 different places.

In my opinion, the number one goal in breeding should be to improve the breed. So to do this, you need to find a male that compliments your girls. The best advice I have, is to bring your girls and enter them in the show in September. This will not only give you the experience of grooming and showing your animals, but you will be able to get feedback on the faults of your chinchillas and thus know what to look for in a mate.

Between myself, Sumiko, Sarah, Tabitha, Ronda, Craners and all the other chin people there (at the September show), you will have lots of help transitioning into the chinchilla world, as well as many different opinions on your animals. While everyone will be busy grooming animals before the show, feel free to pull up a seat next to one of us while we groom and fire away with questions. We are quite the multi-taskers.

Not breeding for a year is a wise decision. This will give you lots of time to pick peoples brains, attend shows and be sure that you are on the right path.

Sounds like a great idea, I mentioned it to Lauren and she is excited to attend! She has been doing a lot of reading and will hopefully know more than me soon. She is showing interest in the genetics, not bad for an 11 year old. Hopefully the interest will continue, you can never be sure with these girls once they hit age 14 or so.

 

[Caroline]

Me too, even as a relative newbie. ) After seeing Henry's breeder's herd and how enthusiastic he was about chins, I definitely 'caught the chin bug' as he put it. Going to shows and reading results in the NCS Gazette, I've been quite sad to see that attendance isn't really that high, and it's really the same names that come up each time, there don't seem to be as many breeders of chins as I would have expected. Probably only a certain number would be sustainable in terms of finding homes etc., but there does probably need to be new people, I just recently heard that one breeder I know may be giving up, and she was one of the (like me) younger in the hobby too.

So, and I hope woman in shoe understands this, the last thing I'd want to do is discourage someone who is after all in the same position as me, just wanted to share some of the basic information I do currently know, to try to help out, just as people have and are teaching me.







It seems those who didn't start out with a good pair now regret it, so it's something beginners like us can only learn from. Breeding so children could experience it would definitely not be a good idea, as as you've seen, things can go wrong. I know myself how heartbreaking it is to lose an animal when breeding, as I lost my lovely Campbell's russian hamster female when I was a child (10). We hadn't intended to breed, she became pregnant due to being missexed by the petshop, but my mum had actually bred hamsters before as a young adult, we learnt as much as we could, I read every hamster book I could get my hands on over and over, especially the ones on dwarf hamsters, I waited every day excitedly till we'd have babies arrive. She still died, on about the night, or close, she would have been due (a sudden heart attack, may or may not have been related to her pregnancy, she was quite young so it may perhaps have put too much extra strain on her), I came down happily to check on her and see if she'd had babies only for my mum to have to tell me she'd died. I think there was probably nothing we could have done but I still felt in many ways responsible, and so sad at the loss of both her and her babies, still think about her.
I say this since you mention the interest and involvement of your daughter, and since you do know from your past experience things can go wrong, you're in the ideal position to and I'm sure will explain this to her and make sure she fully understands before you begin breeding chins.




I don't yet breed but would like to, I would love to be able to show chins I'd bred myself, and hopefully do Ok with them. I love velvets (would focus on velvets and standards), and would like to aim for chins that are show quality, hopefully very blue as is my standard male, one of his best qualities though he is on the small side, but preferably less extremely brevi than the velvets that are generally seen, still blocky as is required but with a more moderate head shape, as that is what I prefer. Right now I do not know enough, I need to learn more.

I don't know whether shows in the US have an assessment class, as ours do? If so, it'd be possible for the TC to take Gracie and Hayley, and if she doesn't want to compete yet, still get an evaluation of their qualities from a judge, which can be very helpful.


And now after having typed all that I've just had to go and chase my standard boy to retrieve a sock. Chins, eh?

No, because they keep implying that I bought an inferiour chin with absolutely no knowledge as to what she looks like, how much I paid etc. I am not going to share how much I paid because it is none of their business, I will just say that it was comparable to what the going market rate is at that moment.


There again another assumption, sorry but it is. My daughter has a very level head on her shoulders when it comes to death. She has a firm grasp on it and especially on the fact that baby animals die easily. When one of the animals at the barn dies she accepts it matter of factly and moves on

 

[Claire D]

Pardon me for being slightly askew of the thread but I want to comment on the bold intalicised text in this post.

After seeing Henry's breeder's herd and how enthusiastic he was about chins, I definitely 'caught the chin bug' as he put it. Going to shows and reading results in the NCS Gazette, I've been quite sad to see that attendance isn't really that high, and it's really the same names that come up each time, there don't seem to be as many breeders of chins as I would have expected. Probably only a certain number would be sustainable in terms of finding homes etc., but there does probably need to be new people, I just recently heard that one breeder I know may be giving up, and she was one of the (like me) younger in the hobby too.

I think it takes a certain type of person to want to show chinchillas (or any animal for that matter).
Whilst I agree that it is sad that numbers of people showing their chinchillas here in the UK is small I think you may be surprised at how many people continue to breed good quality chins outside of the NCS. Some breeders are quietly producing superb quality chinchillas but not showing them - I can think of at least 3 breeders off the top of my head who are not NCS members & do not/no longer show but who have won good awards consistently when they did. A good number of members have dropped out of the society over the last few years for various reasons.
There is an inevitable (& well-worn, if not slightly tedious) argument about not being able to judge a chinchilla's (or herd's) quality unless the animals are shown - to a certain extent that is true but showing is not the be-all & end-all - some people just don't like showing & all of the 'baggage' that comes with competitive organisations.
In general, it is a circular argument that the only way to prove quality is to show (partly because judging is largely subjective) but it is one which gets trotted out if anyone dares to suggest that they have decent chins but don't show them. There are chinchilla enthusiasts in the UK who are equally passionate about their animals & are aiming to breed good quality, long-lived, healthy chins; they just don't show them.
As others have said, buying 2 Grand Show Champions does not guarantee the offspring will be any good - sometimes it is the scruffiest looking chins who produce show winning offspring!


Please don't let your judgements about dedicated, enthusiastic, passionate chinchilla breeders in the UK be clouded by numbers of breeders showing.

 

[ticklechin]

People travel hours and hours to attend shows if they are serious, you need to make time and take Ronda up on her offer.

 

[Caroline]

People travel hours and hours to attend shows if they are serious, you need to make time and take Ronda up on her offer.

??????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????????

You know there are those people who will walk midway into a conversation, make there own assumptions, interrupt the speakers to express their opinion and by making some comment that leaves the speakers staring at the person and saying, "What are you talking about?" Well that is exactly what you did here.

If you had read my posts properly you would have seen that Ronda and I are already planning on me visiting her next week when I am in Eastern Washington.

In the future please stay out of this thread or IF ever I make a comment in this forum again, do not comment, you have done little but make assumptions about me and disbaraging remarks. Your reputation precedes you as others have writen me and warned me about you. On the lighter side, your comments have brought many of us amusement because they are so ridiculous, considering what your chinese proverb quote says.

 

[Caroline]

Now I am going to duck to avoid the backlash from the comment I just made. My kids would be so proud of me because they often tell me that I need to have more backbone and stand up for myself. Hee hee