Bronte's litter born 9th March 2008

[Spuds Mum]

Well we have taken individual photos today so I am very pleased to present to you - Bronte & Grey-ham's babies.

Firstly the boys:

boy 1 - a shorthair



boy 2 - a longhair - this one has really tugged at my hearstrings -the longhaired ones seem to have better faces to my inexperienced eyes, and this one is just so sweet and fluffy!



boy 3 - a shorthair



boy 4 a longhair



boy 5 a shorthair



boy 6 a longhair - or no - is it this one that I really love - he is so chunky and laid back !



boy 7 a shorthair - our little runt who is now growing so well - and bullying his brothers!



And the girls - both shorthaired

girl 1



and girl 2



I still dont know what to do about keeping any. My heart says to keep a longhaired boy, but my head reminds me that we have a golden boy coming soon, and want to stay with shorthaired. They girls seem more 'pointy faced' although still beautiful, so I really dont know what to do.....advice gratefully received

[Mollz]

Oh, I do love boy 6 - if I was you, I'd keep him!
Although, like me, you do need to think about future breeding plans - but it would be so hard not to keep one of those cuties!!!

[Matty Day]

i vote you keep girl 1 shes somthing specail there just somthing about her. and its a wife for your golden boy

[Spuds Mum]

I know Mollz, I know I wanted to keep a girl, and then when my golden boy arrives (courtesy of Posh and Becks) then I could do two lines. The girls are sweet, and maybe I just am not judging them as well as I should, but compared to boy 6 dont seem as good type. In an idea world I would keep one of each....but Ive got to be realistic.

I need Sue and other breeders opinions really (oh - not discounting yours Mollz - you know what I mean) to tell me if any have potential for breeding, as I know showing will be out really as they are very light due to the cream.

[Spuds Mum]

Originally Posted by Matty Day

i vote you keep girl 1 shes somthing specail there just somthing about her. and its a wife for your golden boy

yes its a nice photo isnt it Matty, and she looks quite good type in it - that still might be an option..

[Bunsey]

they're lovely! i have to say i like the LH boys best, too.

[Mollz]

Originally Posted by Spud's Mum

I need Sue and other breeders opinions really (oh - not discounting yours Mollz - you know what I mean) to tell me if any have potential for breeding, as I know showing will be out really as they are very light due to the cream.

No worries - I know what you mean!

[Bourne Valley Hams]

Lovely looking bunch!
The colour is really not too bad and will hopefully improve as they mature. I have seen worse on the show bench!
The broadness of face is to an extent an illusion - long hairs do tend to look chunkier in the face.
Girl 1 does look quite a cutie - Beckham & Posh's lines both carry black so their offspring may be a little on the dark side which could compliment her slight paleness.
From a showing point of view longhaired golden boys don't tend to do very well as the grey underskirt shows through washing out the top colour. Having said that, I have a weakness for LH in all colours and have even won a show with a LH gold satin boy.

[Spuds Mum]

so you think girl 1 may be good enough to breed from Sue? That would be great as I would dearly love to keep one of the litter, and a girl is what I need for Beckhams baby boy (he already has 1 girlfriend waiting, so goodness knows, he is going to be a busy boy). thank you so much for your advice - I do really appreciate it.

[souffle]

They are all lovely but I like Boy 2 coz he is just so sweet and girl 1 who seems to have the best type. I know judges seem to like the really heavy ticking these days but to my mind the standard does not really call for such heavy ticking as some show. I wish they had the three colours of Golden still as then it would be easier to place the hamsters in a specific colour and judge it to that standard.