Update to Residents....Rabbits!

My parents have been coming over every week and Dad has been knocking out farm chores left and right! And Mom has chopped more than her fair share of onions in the past few weeks!  Many of the things that have been on the list for ages...are now done!  I'm so blessed!  

They surprised me today by coming up and just getting started while I was still out getting feed.  My guys were here so the Boy helped his Pawpa.

"Pawpa" got out the powerwasher and powerwashed the inside of the chicken coop...much to the dismay of the chickens!  

Then he and Boy set to work on the rabbitry.  They got most of the way done before the powerwasher broke.  (Lots of things have been breaking lately!!) The rabbitry looks (and smells) so nice!!

We currently have 19 Rabbits. Most are our breeders.

The newest addition is "Cory" named such because we got him the same day Boy got his "Licence to Drive"  (80's kids might get the reference...)

Cory is going to take over Spot's responsibilities. (But not replace him)

Spot has been here the longest and is Boy's pet Holland Lop, who is also the Lop Herd Sire.

When Cory is a bit older, he will become our new male Lop breeder.

The rest of the herd:

LOPS:

Spot (buck)

Duchess (doe)

Shadow (doe)

Cory (buck)

ALTEX:

Tex (buck)

NEW ZEALANDS:

Clyde (white-buck)

Biscuit (white-doe)

Gravy (white-doe-Biscuit's daughter)

Mopsy (red-doe)

Reba (red-doe-Mopsy's granddaughter)

CALIFORNIANS

Cali (doe)

Dumbo (for her big, big ears) (doe-Cali's daughter)

REX

Speckles (buck)

FLORIDA WHITE

Sally (doe)

GROW OUT LITTER

Sally & Rex's litter of 5

Smokey

9 days old

This is Smokey (AKA Quarter Pounder)  She was the only kit born from Mopsy on July 4th.  Because she is a "Lonely Only" she has been gaining weight at a quick rate (hence the AKA name) She has a wonderful demeanor and will become one of our breeders. (And likely Boy's "Showmanship" Bunny for Fair next year.)

Grow out Bunnies!

About 9 weeks ago, we posted pictures of the baby bunnies...

Here they are now.  One Mama had 4 babies...the other had an amazing 8!!  The Mama that had 4 is an amazing mama (Mopsy Jr) and we were able to foster the 2 smaller from the other litter to her.  Rabbits can be a bit violent and will sometimes kill intruders even if they are little itty bitty baby bunnies.  But not Mopsy!  She raised those bunnies just like her own.

Mopsy's other 3- a solid red and two broken reds.

Mopsy's daughter and her two fosters.

Can you say stew?!

"Fruits" from the farm...

Here is some of the "fruits" of our labors.  

Weldon Jerky in the dehydrator

Hot "Cowboy Candy" and a cool rootbeer to wash it down.

Happy March

Yesterday was a day full of prepping for this next storm. I am sooo ready for spring.  It was nice that the sun was out for the morning and it actually got into the mid 40s by the evening chores.

All the bunny cages got clean (which was a feat since everything was frozen) But almost everyone was moved. We have 6 potential mamas this week so they needed moved to bigger cages with nest boxes. The potentially pregnant Lops still need moved. 

Milking is getting a bit easier as I am starting to figure out a routine and how the machine works. Hershey has figured out that I am the "feed" lady so she will walk up to me. She is still very skittish about having her face or neck touched. So hooking her halter is still a bit of a challenge. 

Today she got her first look at the pasture. She walks around with a good stride and even trotted a few times. She followed me up and down the fence line. She even let Man approach her. I do think in time she'll settle down into a good family cow. While she wandered the pasture I got both of her stalls mucked out. Then let Weldon out to muck his. 

I am getting a good amount of milk, but it seems like she should be giving more.   I am trying to be patient with both of us, but know if she drops in production and stays there it's difficult to get it back up.

Enjoy this pretty day before the storms roll in again!

What to do while waiting...

So here it is, Monday...and Hershey might come today....

And then I get a call that no, the ground is not yet hard enough to get the trailer in....

SIGH

But God is in Control!

I had been chatting online with a gentleman who is one of the few breeders of "ALTEX" rabbits here in Ohio.  And he had a buck for me!! WEEEE!  I just needed to drive south about 1 1/2 hours and pick him up.

Here's some information on the Altex Breed:

The Altex Rabbit is a relatively new breed, produced for meat and not recognised as a show rabbit. The name comes from Al from Alabama and tex from Texas, and pronounced "all-tex". It is the product of Flemish Giant, Californianand Argente de Champagne crossings, also with New Zealand.^[1] New Zealand crosses still have a large part to play in producing large rabbits for meat. Altex are predominantly albino.  (from Wiki)

So here is the newest additon to the rabbitry:

His name is Tex, and he is about 3 months old.

New Mamas for the Rabbitry

Boy and I went out to get some new mamas for the Rabbitry.

We've added a new Meat Breeder. A Californian Doe that we have named Cali 

And Boy has added another Lop Doe to his Rabbitry for "Pet Rabbit" .

Her name is Mittens

Good news and bad news....

The great news is the new calf was born on my friend's homestead.  She ended up with a pretty little heifer yesterday...

The bad news...Our lop bunny FINALLY kindled last night and had 3 babies.  a black, and two "broken" (Spotted) black and whites.  She pulled a lot of fur, but lost all three of them.  :(

Baby Bunnies!!

Just two days ago, one of our new Mama's had her kits.  We had 6 little kits, but 2 did not make it.  The other four, however, are doing well.  I just came back in from the barn to give everyone hot water (it's 14* here today with another new inch of snow) and checked on them.  They are all round bellied and plump.  They are all snuggled together and their mama, Rexella< has been continueing to pull fur everynight to pak into the box.  They are all snug and warm in rabbit fur and hay.  I wanted to pull them out and snuggle them, but it is WAY too cold out for that.  It was even too cold for me to uncover them for a picture.  I just took a little peek and then covered them all back up.

Our weather forcast is not looking promising for pictures int he next 10 days either.  BTW, 59 days til spring!

The other mama still has not kindled.  She is doing all the "things" to be ready.  Making a nest in the next box, pulling out fur to line it.  She's 4 days past due.  I'll give her 2 more days until we pull the box back out and try to rebreed her.  It'll be the last go around for her as a breeder, then she'll just become a pet that will likely be sold.

Daisy

Speaking of which, Daisy, our sweet little cross bunny (formerly known as Jacob) went to her new home yesterday.  Lovely friends of ours braved the cold to come out.  The young lady got a hutch and a promise for Christmas.  She wanted a white with brown spotted rabbit for her gift.  It just so happened that we have two white spotted rabbits looking for homes. Daisy and Speckles (Our only Rex (velveteen) rabbit). When we got Speckles, he was advertised as a girl....um...no.  So as much as we love him, he is looking for a loving home too.

With the losses and additions, here is the new Rabbit list:

Lops:
Spot (Buck-Boy's Pet)
Lucie (doe)
Shadow (doe-pregnant?)

New Zealands:
Jack (buck)

Does:
Mopsy (still recovering from the fires)
Mopsy, Jr (AKA Cottontail)
Nilla
Rexella
(4 baby kits)

Sally (Florida White Doe)
Speckles (Rex Buck)

Speckles
Spotted, Single White Male Looking for a Happy Home!

Baby it's cold outside!! Animal Updates!

So it's the second day of sub zero temperatures.  Weeee!  I LOVE my new coveralls that the guys got me for Christmas.  They are pink-alicious!! AND WARM!!  I will definitely never get lost in a snowstorm....Raspberry colored coveralls, Lavendar Boots, and my Sky Blue Grandma Coat. (And don't forget my new "darth vader" ish face mask and -22 degree ski gloves!!)  I AM READY!!!

Time for animal updates.

And so far, so good.  All the animals are surviving.  They are all locked into either the barn or the coop.  We haul out hot water twice a day (sometimes 3 times) to make sure everyone is drinking and to help warm them up.  I have 10 chickens that have decided they are "too good" or "too wise" to hang out in the coop.  These are the 5 meat chickens that really need to go to "camp" and 1 rooster and my 4 oldest hens.  The majority of the occupants of the chicken coop are the 30 "teenaged" pullets that can start laying-any-day-now-thanks! and the ducks.  (I'm to the point of being ready to rehome the ducks too.  They won't go to freezer camp because we don't like to eat them. I'll have to find someone that does.)

We lost 3 of our rabbits before the cold really started.  It's sad because all of the rabbits currently are the ones with names that have been here for over a year and have given us litters.  All the ones that generally remain nameless (because they will eventually feed us) went for their drive in November.  We lost Waldo (AKA Killer) our big New Zealand White Buck.  He was very friendly, and loved to be scratched.  He was the daddy to most of our litters.  We don't know how old he was when we got him, and he started stumbling and not keeping his balance and then we just lost him.  Then there was our Florida White Buck, Lightning.  He scratched his eye and it got infected.  We treated the infection for almost 3 weeks.  One night I brought him in for his nightly wash out and treatment and he was fine...I made a decision that I was going to keep him in the house until he was well (something we DON'T do-keep rabbits in the house) and as I was telling Boy to go get me a cage to keep in the laundry room, he (the rabbit--not the Boy!) thrashed his legs, screamed and died.  It was very upsetting!  He was very docile and sweet so it wasn't the stress of being held...I think the infection took over more than his eye...and at least he died being held and loved.  Finally was the most upsetting, it was my "designer" rabbit that we got "free with purchase."  We bought some cages and she came with the cage.  She was a Trianta rabbit which is a fairly rare breed.  She was gorgeous with bright auburn hair.  She gave us a really nice litter this past summer.  She passed right after Christmas.  And even sadder is that her namesake is one of my Besties.  :(   We also don't know how old she was when she came to us, she wasn't actually sick, so we're going to call it old age also.

So we are down to 11 rabbits, and 1 is promised as a delayed Christmas gift.  My Man has been researching a new breed that we are going to incorporate into the rabbitry.  They are called AlTex Rabbits.  As soon as it is warm enough to bleach down cages, we're going to get just an AlTex Buck and breed him with our New Zealand Girls.  We have two that are currently (hopefully) bred.  We'll see around the 15th of this month if they took (fingers crossed!!)  Bred is Rexella (our new white New Zealand Doe that actually was born and raised here.) And Shadow, The Boy's black lop bunny.  We'll breed our other lop next week for Easter Bunnies.

Weldon is getting BIG!  He is doing just fine in the cold. He has his routines and doesn't like when they are messed with.  The other night I watered him and then had to go get feed from the chicken feed for the "uppity" birds in the barn, and he ran to the door out to the pasture and didn't just MOO at me to get back there to feed him his nightly ration of sweet feed...but seriously BELLOWED the whole time I was walking away.  And didn't stop until I turned around and was heading back to the barn.  Silly Bull!

Our Yellow Cat (Timmy) has taken to disappearing for days at a time, but I have recently discovered that I am pretty sure he actually is living in the loft and usually can't be bothered to get out of the hay to come be social.  Unless I call for him, which means I have some scraps for him and Iona.

When I went out to the barn this morning, I hadn't seen Yellow Cat for 3 days.  I had prayed over all the animals in the barn as I listened to the 30+ mile-an-hour winds that howled all night causing -20 degree + windchills.  I prayed an extra prayer that I would see the cat, so I would know he was not out on a prowl...I came into the barn this morning to find the cat cozily sleeping in the dog house, basically under the Pyrenees.  That is one smart cat.  That is the best place in the barn--under a big dog blanket!!  Iona (the Pyrenees) loves Timmy.  We are so blessed that all the animals get along!!  And I was blessed to see that the cat (and everyone else) was doing just fine.

In the house....it's COLD!  It's a very old, very drafty farmhouse, even with the new siding and putting plastic up on the window.  We have suspected for the last few weeks that there is a blockage of some sort in the chimney as we get smoke every time we open the door to add wood.  And really we don't seem to be getting much heat from it.  So tonight we will have to forgo our woodburner....(softly crying) and go with the emergency back up heat pump (that seems to only work well if it's OVER 30 degrees) and crank up the electric blankets. The fireplace needs to be completely cool when they come to work on it.  I think the predicted NEGATIVE 10 degrees will cool it down sufficiently, don't you??

Two more bunnies looking for a home

Well, all of the Lops that were for sale have found new homes.  But I still have people asking about them...so I am going to post the other two rabbits that aren't part of our "breeding program".  When we got our last set of cages, they came with rabbits.  One was "Scottie" as he kinda looked like a Scottie Dog.  He's a full grown Polish Rabbit.  They are very small and have huge eyes.

 

Isn't he cute??

 

The other one is "Speckles".  We got "her" from the small animal auction.  She was supposed to be a Broken New Zealand Female.

 

BUZZZZZZZZZZZZ....thanks for playing...NO.

 

Male Rex.  We discovered he was a male when we put him in with Black Jack to breed and they both looked at us like "Really? Now what?"

 

He has really soft velvety (short) fur.  And a really nice personality.  Too bad he's not a she and a New Zealand.  Hopefully I can find a new home for them both really soon.

 

Comings and Goings

It's been a day of coming and going here on the farm.

This morning I picked up 10 Golden Comet pullets (baby hens), 1 Barred Rock Chicken (I don't know if it's a pullet or a roo, yet). and 10 Cornish Cross Meat chickens. Praying they get through the night in the brooder in the barn.  The last set of chicks discovered that they loved the taste of styrofoam and pecked most of it off the walls of the brooder!!  They have a heat lamp and each other. (and me worrying in the house-grin)

 

UPDATE:  9:26 pm I'm too much a MOM, so they are now sleeping in the laundry room!

 

Today, the bunny, Jacob finally found a new forever home. A young man promised to love and spoil him and I feel like he went to a really great home. 

 

And Bess...is not coming or going.  She planted herself in the doorway of the barn and just spent the day enjoying the sun. 

Enjoying the Sun

It's still a frosty 30*, but it is very sunny.

 

Bess apparently needs to boost her vitamin D...

She contentedly chewing cud despite all the grass being covered.  My DH Is (I think) hilarious.  He say's she appreciates the need for chilled milk!

Iona is loving the sun, too..

I love that face!!



My dad is all concerned that Bess doesn't have enough to eat, so I took some pictures of our hay supply so he knows that she will be fine:






I realized that 4 of our rabbits kindled in late November, but I haven't posted pictures

Niki and her 6 babies (I love the pointy ears!)

Pfernuessen and her 6 babies (delicious!)

Mopsy and her 6 babies.

Mopsy, Jr and her 6 babies. 

The one with the white spot may becoming part of our breeding program-

Her name is Flash.

 

 

Sadly last night, our banty chicken-Sassy-died.  I had brought her inside hoping she was just cold, but unfortunately, she is gone.

Oh, and the two bunnies that we were trying to sell have both gone to new homes!

Bunnies....bunnies....bunnies!

We have lots of baby bunnies!  Now not so much babies as they are old enough to go to new homes.  And it looks like 3 of them may be going home later today, so I thought I better get these pictures posted:  Here is the craigslist ad:
http://columbus.craigslist.org/pet/3382802322.html

The Odyssey of Snowball AKA Wiz

Odyssey: a long wandering or voyage usually marked by many changes of fortune .


When we first got Snowball, the white lionhead bunny, it was because we bought more cages and she came with the purchase.  Lionheads were not in the homestead "plan".  Nonetheless, she came here to live..Man has always called her Wizard (or Wiz) which is bizarre as we are not into "that" kind of stuff, but he says that the eyebrows and hair going every whichway made her look like a wise old wizard.  And Wiz stuck, and somehow we got it into our mind that she was a he....

After about a week,  I came into the barn to milk at O'dark:30 only to find Wiz's cage open.  Great!  About a day later, Boy saw him outside and tried to chase him down, only to have him run inbetween rows of our woodpile.  Then part of the pile fell and an upset boy thought he had crushed Wiz.

Fast forward another week, Man calls me on the cell phone while I was at Ace Hardware.  Using his "I don't have good news" voice, he starts a story (also usually not a good sign).  "I went out to check on the rabbits, on my way back from the barn..."  He saw Wiz in the cow pasture!!!  WooHoo!

When we got home we tried to catch her.  Well, yeah, she's been eating on the pasture and say possibly the 80 acre soybean field around us.  So not so interested in the pellets in the have-a-heart cage.  We thought we might put a girl bunny out to entice "him" into the cage...only to remember....despite the name "Wiz" it is a girl. 

Everyday we see Wiz as we walk to and from the barn.  Sometimes she even comes all the way over to the fence near the chickens.  But still WAY too fast for anyone to catch.  And off into the weeds and soybeans.  I took comfort in the fact that she was fine and still around and held the hope that eventually we will catch her.

Until this past Monday, this past Monday was different.  I was on the phone with my cousin....and I looked over and I am sure I heard her (the rabbit, not my cousin) snicker at me.  She stood very tall and proud....and mockingly.  Yes, the rabbit is mocking me!

And the Odyssey continues......

Well....Man and Boy just butchered our first rabbit.  I am not going to include pictures as I am not involved in that part of the homestead.  Maybe someday, but right not I'm not even sure I'm ready to cook it to be quite honest.  It's my job to keep things alive....

Quick update!

Are you wondering what is going on?  Three posts in ONE NIGHT!

This evening while I was milking, my Man told me that two of our 6 pregnant bunny mama's have kindled!

Boy's Lucie had 2 kits.

Mopsy, Sr (my Red NZ that we've had the longest) had her litter (her third).  This time she had 5 kits.  3 black, 2 grey.

Right on time....tomorrow we should have some more!!  I'll update then.

Our new bunny, Niki

The Thrianta rabbit is one of the newest breeds to be recognized by the American Rabbit Breeder's Association in 2006. Thriantas (pronounced Tree-an-ta) are known as "The Fiery Red Rabbit" or the "Fire of the Fancy". They have a beautiful orange-red coat and brown eyes. Thriantas are between 4-6 lbs, which makes them a good small sized pet rabbit.

The Thrianta traces its history back to the Netherlands in 1938, when Mr. H. Andreae, a school teacher, began developing the breed as a tribute to Holland's royal house, the House of Orange. Bred from Black Tan, English Spot, and Havana rabbits, the Thrianta was accepted in the Netherlands in 1940, but the original standards, stipulating a hint of tan coloring under the orange top coat, made the breed difficult to maintain. World War II also took a toll on the Thrianta population, as the Netherlands were invaded by German forces just days after the breed's first official recognition. By 1966, Thriantas were no longer listed in the Dutch standards.

Thrianta rabbits look like a larger rabbit in a small package. For those interested in the longer ears and sweet personality of the large breeds, but don't have the space. You might be interested in these fiery rabbits. They probably come with a higher price tag though, since they are still fairly rare and hard to find ($75-$100).

 

 

The new rabbits..

My Man and Boy have really gotten into the rabbitry this summer.  We started out the summer with two rabbits: Spot, the pet lop buck of the Boy.  He has been a survivor, I think because everyone that comes onto the farm either holds or pets him.  Then there was Mopsy, the red New Zealand doe.

Mopsy had a litter of two in April:  Mopsy Jr (a red doe cross) and Jacob, Jr.  A white and red 'broken" (Which means he has spots).

Jacob, Jr.

Mopsy had another litter in June.  8 kits: 4 red, 4 broken.  They mostly have floppy ears like their dad.
All the broken are girls and 1 red girl.  We had an unfortunate accident and ended up having one of the boys for lunch....long story....some other time. 

We've sold the solid red girl. 

The "girl" cage

We wanted to get a male New Zealand so we weren't using Spot to breed as he is very small and ultimately we are breeding rabbits as a protein source.  So Jack and Jill because a part of our herd:

Jill is the broken black, Jack is the solid black buck.
Well then, along about July, Man decided that he would like to breed Florida White rabbits.  They are smaller than the New Zealands, but have a great feed to meat conversion.  Finding a breeding pair was quite a challenge and Man hunted and inquired for a month.  Finally for his birthday, I went and picked up:

Lightning

Lightning is the Buck, Sally is the Doe.

In the meantime, we needed to add cages.  Man and Boy went up to Manfield and got two really nice sets.  The next day he found a nice breeding White New Zealand near Waldo

Waldo...otherwise known as Killer (sorry blurry picture)

Boy decided that he wanted to be just like Dad, but breed rabbits as pets, so he needed a pure bred Holland Lop Doe.  We found a nice one on Craigslist.  He did all the email correspondence and arrangements.  Lucie was added to our farm.

Then a week later found a family that was getting out of rabbits not far from us.  They had a nice 6 cage set up with all the accessories....the only thing was....it came with 3 more rabbits.  And all different breeds than the ones we currently have:

A Lionhead, named Snowball (or Wiz) I personally think the name should be Einstein:

Snowball

A Thrianta Doe named Niki.  Seperate post about this one as it is a fairly rare breed and I have some more info to share.

Niki

 And a little Black Polish...that I don't seem to have a picture of named Scottie-dog.

You would think we were done.....you would be silly!  Then we went to an animal auction last week.  Man wanted just 1 white New Zealand Doe for Waldo.  Boy won a Black Holland Lop that is already pregnant (and due this week).  Two white New Zealand Does, and my broken red New Zealand Doe, Speckles. (no picture of Speckles, yet)

 

So....as of now...we have 19 rabbits, with 6 of them expecting litters in the next two weeks.