Friday, December 30, 2011

The great cage debate...

     So I have been trying to convince my dad to let me raise rabbits on a small scale while we live at my grandparents house. Now that he is thinking about selling my calf (more like my dog) I think I may have a chance at striking a deal with him. If he sells Boomer (calf) then I get to raise rabbits while we live here. If he sells Boomer, I won't have a hobby anymore. My only agriculture related hobby I can have here is training Boomer. I will desperately need something to do.
     Well, why not let me get a 7 month head start on my rabbits? It will be small scale so feeding would only take me about 10 minutes max. Cleaning will take about 30 minutes. And I will play with them and their sweet little babies in my free time.

Here's a list of some benefits if my dad lets me:
-The manure will be good for my grandmas garden
-Food storage if the economy "died"
-My culls that don't sell can go in the freezer.
-Chickens enjoy pecking through manure for small insects
-Something enjoyable for me to do
-BABY BUNNIES!!!!
-etc.

To be honest, I can't think of anything bad that would result from starting my rabbits now besides small numbers, but hey, that could be a good thing!!


I can bring friends and my little cousins over to play with babies which will benefit the babies. They will be okay with being around young children when they are older and possibly ready for their new home.


So anyways I drew something up really quick of a small temporary design for my bunnies. Here it is!

The dark lines are chains attached to the roof holding up the hanging cages. I drew this really quick so it looks pretty bad, lol!

This could be just a silly little fantasy, but I think it could possibly work.
Have a great day everyone!

Thursday, December 29, 2011

I think I did the right thing...

     A few days ago I gave away my Mini Lop buck. I have had him for 3 years. He developed an eye problem and our vet gave us all kinds of medicine to treat his eyes. He said if the problem didn't go away, we couldn't do anything for him. Well, to make space for my two new does, I gave him to a young man who planned to butcher him. I think I did the right thing here. I wouldn't want someone to have to spend all of that money on vet visits and medicine, and I would not want my buck to have to live with eye problems.
     For some reason I feel guilty for sending him to butcher. Maybe its just that I have had him for 3 years and got a little attached. Well, Just in memory of Rodeo, heres a little picture of him.

                                                 "Is that a cow?" (Our cows were staring at him.)

Wednesday, December 28, 2011

Introduction

     Hello! Welcome to my rabbitry blog. I will be mainly using my blog as a way to look back at how my herd has improved. I also hope to teach you about my two favorite rabbit breeds. The Dwarf Hotot and the Holland Lop. I plan to work mainly on Hollands and work on Dwarf Hotots on a smaller scale. I plan to start showing in late 2012 when I can really get my rabbitry up and running again.
     I have had rabbits my whole life. We raised meat rabbits in 2006, but we sold most of our rabbits in 2008 due to financial difficulties. I have been keeping pets and a few hotot breeding stock around for my future rabbitry.
     I have a Dwarf Hotot buck by the name of BA's Cookies N' Cream. He is a sport, but he will be a nice brood buck. I am very attached to this little boy and plan to keep him even after he retires from his breeding career. I will be purchasing two Hotot does from that same breeder soon. I am just waiting for the right ones.
     I hope you enjoy reading my blog as much as I will enjoy updating it! Have a great day!!