Raising Rabbits Workshop!

  Are you thinking about getting started with rabbits but you aren’t sure where to start? Want to raise your own meat but you don’t know how to butcher it properly? Concerned with the way our economy is going and want to have your own personal food supply in case of emergencies? Rabbits are the perfect livestock for beginners, city dwellers, and homesteaders!

  Rabbits are clean, odorless, quiet, and productive. Two breeding does can supply almost 200 lbs. of high quality meat per year, and it can be done in the tiniest of backyards. Rabbit meat is known for its fine texture and its high level of protein; rabbit meat is twice as filling as chicken, so one 3 lb. fryer will go as far as a 5 lb. chicken from the store! Whether you are using rabbits for meat, fiber, breeding stock, show, or pets, you can learn all you need to know in just one day…

Come to the ‘Raising Rabbits Workshop’ and learn everything from handling rabbits, feeding, breeding, marketing, raising litters, butchering and more! Attendees will also have the opportunity to butcher a live rabbit of their own (this part of the class will be held at the end and it is optional to attend this part), and learn how to do the job properly and how to deal with the meat afterwards.

  Lunch is provided and will be a delicious rabbit soup and homemade bread. If you prefer to have something else, you are more than welcome to bring your own lunch.

Cost: $60 per person; a $30 deposit is required to reserve your spot.

Date: May 26^th, 2012 (Saturday)

Time: 10:30AM to 3:00PM

This workshop will be held in a barn, so please dress appropriately for unpredictable Oregon weather! Lunch will be held inside the house if the weather is undesirable.

Attendees will take home handouts from each subject covered, and will have the option to take home the rabbit they butchered (additional cost applies). Breeding stock may also be for sale.

For more information, or to sign up, please contact me by clicking HERE! There are only 6 spots left for this class so don’t wait too long to put your reservation down!

And for those of you who are interested in such a workshop but are unable to attend due to distance between you and the state of Oregon, I do have a webinar in the works that will be available for purchase soon! Just waiting for some good weather!

Farm Girl vs. Fluffy Bunny

Okay, so one of the little bunnies is back in a cage...

Ever since the little kits opened their eyes, there was one bunny in particular that seemed "possessed". Even as small as it was, you couldn't pick that thing up without it biting and scratching your hands to a bloody mess (my own hands can attest to that). It was a lovely Californian colored buck, who had blue points instead of black. He was a good size, had nice conformation, and showed potential as future breeding stock. But oy, was he aggressive!! I wondered if he didn't have some sort of mental problem...

When the youngsters all got put out to pasture, this little demon of a rabbit was always escaping. He never dug, but rather found the tiniest dips in the ground and would squeeze under. None of the other bunnies have attempted to get out, but instead have been content to graze and enjoy their spacious enclosure. Catching this escapee was a challenge, but I always got him back.

Then, two days ago he escaped yet again. And of course, he just had to do it during a "Nor'easter". The sun was hidden behind thick, angry clouds, and the wind pummeled the barn with such ferocity that I truly, honestly thought that the roof was about the blow off (scared the wits out of me!). Hail pelted the ground, stinging my ears and face as I scrabbled to secure the "rabbit tractor", and then I saw him: that wascally wabbit. He was out again. In the storm. And I couldn't catch him.

I darkly thought about getting the .22 and just picking him off. He's been nothing but trouble since he was born, and I didn't want him running loose in the wild. But I let him go; hoping that he would still be around in the morning when I had more energy and ideas about getting him. 

Turns out that he was clean gone by the next morning and I couldn't find a trace of him. I chalked him up as a loss, and continued on with life. But oh darn it, he showed his bewhiskered face in the pasture this afternoon as I was mucking the barn out. I threw down my pitchfork and prepared for battle. It was the Farm Girl vs. Fluffy Bunny. I actually think we were pretty evenly matched...

I used all the stealth, cunning and wit that I've accumulated over the years (which doesn't really amount to much, but hey...) as I stalked this red-eyed Thumper. He was fast... I almost had him when -- NOOOOO! He went and hid between the shop wall and a stack of straw bales. The crack between the two measured three inches. Now, if these were just plain ol' straw bales, then no sweat. Just move the bales, extract rabbit and be done with it. But alas, the bales started out last September as 90 lb. 3-stringers. They've sat in the same spot for seven solid months, soaking up copious amounts of Oregon rain. They were now twice their original weight, which puts them quite close to 180 lbs. each. Ouch. 

Much grunting, shoving, sliding, and glaring at too-curious goats ensued before I had those bales moved enough to see a rabbit tail in the wet depths of this tunnel. I boarded up each side of the stack to keep this furry fiend from getting away again and began working on shooing him into an area in which I could nab him.

Ten excruciatingly long minutes later, I nabbed him!! Aha! Victory is mine! Farm girl = 1 point. Fluffy Bunny = 0 points. When the little fluff ball realized that he had been caught, he let out an ear piercing scream. If you've yet to hear a rabbit scream, just know that it's louder than you would expect from something so small. It's a noise similar to a horse screaming, but harder on the ears.

He screamed. And screamed. And screamed. Shucks, I was being as gentle as can be, but that didn't matter to him. He twisted around, biting and scratching anything he could (you should see my hands NOW!), and still screaming. I swiveled my head around as I walked to the barn, looking to see if any neighbors were coming to see what the hullabaloo was about. Thankfully no one was in sight. Either they somehow couldn't hear it, or they were in their homes calling the ASPCA... Hmm. 

I finally got the little fella' in a cage and watched with raised eyebrows as he climbed up the wire walls of the cage and began clambering along them like a squirrel. Um, now I've seen rabbits do a lot of things, but have you ever seen an 8 week old rabbit scale wire walls and start madly running along the length of them? He soon stopped his climbing only to begin charging the sides of the cage and flipping back when his body made contact with the rigid bars. 

He showed no fear during all of this. Instead he just acted... Possessed. Almost rabid. It kind of freaked me out, and I carefully put him into a larger cage in the rabbitry. He definitely acts like he has some sort of mental problem, but I really have no clue as to what to do about him. If I can get him to grow for just four more weeks, then that will at least be meat in the freezer. But oy... It's like having my own personal "were rabbit". ;)

The Rabbits Are On Pasture!

The little bunnies have been getting accustomed to eating greens over the last week and a half, and have been doing extremely well on it. So, in a moment of daring, I decided to put the rabbits out to pasture while we were having such lovely weather.

It is SO cute watching them hop around with glee, and their enormous appetites are surprising!

So, here are the little fur balls in all their glory...

Colds And New Babies

The title seems pretty self-explanatory, so I suppose I could just leave this post like this and go do something else...

Or not. ;)

It seems that I caught a cold, and an impressive one to boot! So my day has been spent sitting down, watching Lord Of The Rings (attempting to watch the entire extended version of the third episode in one day), and eating crackers. Blugh. Why is it that when you have a cold, your entire body aches? Or maybe that's just me... But I feel like I've been bucking 3-stringed hay bales all day when really I've been sitting on my duff. [sigh] I had all these grand plans about what I was going to accomplish today, but none of it happened. I watched ma' movie, ate food, and read my book 'OXEN, A Teamster's Guide'. It didn't help matters that it rained all day...

 But when I went outside to do evening chores I found that things are happening in the garden! I have little radish, lettuce sugar snap pea, and spinach sprouts! Whoohoo! They look so cute... Little green gems nestled against a dark black background. 

 Another surprise awaited me in the rabbitry as I found that Doe #2 kindled this afternoon! Hurrah! There are now four chubby, little pink babies squirming around in the nest box. Cocooned in white downy fur from their mama. These little babies are purebred Californians too, so I'm looking forward to watching them growing and keeping any and all of the females. :)

 All the animals are doing well. Peaches has gained another 10 lbs. and is rapidly approaching 200 lbs. in weight. Bob is leaving on May 5th, for which I am MOST impatient for. I have 130 Cornish Cross chicks arriving on April 27th, which marks the beginning of broiler season, and the turkey poults will be coming in mid-May. Exciting stuff. 

Okey dokey, I must be off now... I still have two or three more hours to go before I finish my movie! Who knew it could be so long???

Thinning

There is always an ebb and flow to life. I enjoy watching it and seeing what happens... Today was the big day: I did some thinning in the rabbit herd, deciding who to sell and who to keep, as I prepare for new rabbits, and keeping some from the last litters. So here's the scoop! Up for sale right now is...

Doe #1. Purebred Californian doe. She's two years old, but still having healthy litters. She had four kits this last time (typical of a 2 yo. doe), and wouldn't you know it? All are bucks... Which is wonderful if you're raising them for meat, since the males get a bit bigger, but I was really hoping for some does from her. She's being replaced by a younger doe. I'm asking $15 for Doe #1, since she's a bit older.

Glenstorm. "Glen" is my New Zealand/Beveren buck who is jet black in color. He's 1 year old, and has thrown some really nice kits! I had thought that I was going to keep him, since I like him so much, but I've decided to stick to light colored stock, not dark colored. $20 for this handsome fella'.

Babies!! I have four strapping, 6 week old bucks that are out of Doe #1 and Glenstorm. So they're New Zealand/Beveren/Californian crosses. They'll be good for the freezer, or for using as herdsires. Two bucks are black, and two are marked like Californians. I admit I really wanted to keep one of the blacks... Ah well. $10 each.

And I also have two Californian/New Zealand Jr. bucks, plus a little Jr. doe of the same cross from Rosie Cotton and Basil Stag Hare. They're 6 weeks old as well, and all are marked like Californians (I think some are blue, but I can't tell yet if they'll darken more or not). $10 each.

And I have more litters on the way! Doe #2 is due to kindle any day now (thought for sure it would be last night), and this will be a purebred Californian litter. Plus, I'm getting a copper Satin doe in a couple weeks who is bred to a New Zealand, so I'll have some really nice crosses from that as well! Rosie Cotton is about to be rebred, but I haven't decided who I will breed her to yet.... Decisions, decisions... 

I am open to trades as well! Whatcha' got? ;) I'm looking for young does (rabbits) of any meat breed, and am also on the lookout for an angora doe... But hey, if you have an idea (poultry, goat kids, lambs, a milking Jersey cow [wink], or a pickup truck) give a shout and we'll do some haggling! 

You can contact me by clicking, HERE.

The Kits

The kits are officially in the "cute" stage. I found all four babies in Rosie Cotton's litter scampering around the cage this morning. Alas, I didn't have the camera on hand for that...

(and by the way, Doe #1 is the annoying blur that keeps getting in the camera lens. She didn't believe me that cameras weren't edible.)

And this second video is of the Tupperware rabbit that I brought inside to warm it up. I had completely forgotten that I had gotten this footage until just now. But you can see just how sluggish the poor thing was, compared to his livelier siblings in the above video. Poor fella'.

He Didn't Make It

The little Tupperware rabbit didn't make it through the night. :( The poor little fella' missed out on dinner again, and was too weak to survive. Phooey.

The Tupperware Rabbit

It looked dead.

Strewn carelessly across the cold wire floor, the baby bunny lay motionless and stiff. The word, "Danggit." quietly fell from my lips when I found it this morning. The little thing must have crawled out of the nestbox in the frigid night (as they have all begun doing, much to my chagrin) and couldn't find its way back in. I couldn't afford to lose another kit, seeing as I had already lost four, but it looked like my swearing wasn't going to help the matter much. I gently pulled the white ball of baby fluff out and set it down on a bit of clean hay. I would deal with it once I fed and watered the rabbits who were still among the living. 

Moving smoothly through the simple chores, I mentally argued with myself about what to do with it. Should I compost this one too? Bury it? Let the neighboring hawk have it?

Feeding and watering took five minutes. My boots were squelching in the damp floor bedding, due to a massive amount of rain we got last week, and I noticed that the buck's cages needed to be re-wired on the bottom. Every move they made caused the six foot long cage to swing like something on a child's play structure. Yep, this little rabbitry needed some work. 

But such matters would have to wait. I needed to dispose of the kit. I picked it up, and looked at it. Its snow white coat was softly tinged with a shade of soot, giving it an interesting dimensional look. Its ears and nose were a quiet shade of iron; this little kit took after his Californian daddy in looks. 

Beginning to turn towards the door, I took one last look at the kit and stared in shock as I watched its red eye slooooooowly blink. So slow, that I wondered if I really saw it move at all. Then its left front leg sluggishly moved a fraction of an inch. 

This baby was still alive. By a thread perhaps, but there was still life in this little form.

I wish a had a record on how many times I've done this, but since I don't I can only guess. But what I did next, I have done countless of times over the years. Left hand holds baby. Hand goes under shirt. Furry ice cube snuggles against your skin. Chores are awkward with one hand. I've done this trick with four babies in one hand when, a couple years ago, I found that a doe tipped the entire nest box over, and the kits were barely breathing. I do enjoy it though, when it's just one kit. They start out literally feeling like a cube of ice, and it's coooooold. Then the discomfort slowly wears off as the baby begins to warm up. You go about your chores as best as you can in your position, and after a while you are startled by what feels like a pin poking you. It's a little claw. The baby stretches and bends, looking for the warmest spot and rolls its sharp little feet right up against you. This farm girl is ticklish. Give it a few more minutes, and the baby gives out a few squeaks. What was at first taken for dead, is now crying for food. I love that moment when you pull the little kit out and find a wriggling, living baby, when before you had a lifeless, cold being. It's a good feeling.

 But that wasn't quite what happened with this kit. The poor thing just couldn't get warm, no matter how long I held it. The temperature this morning wasn't that bad, but to a newborn kit, it was as ferocious as a Malamute/Wolf hybrid that bites. So I did the next logical thing. I invited him inside for tea.

Armed with a well powered heater, I sat cross legged on the wood floor for the next 45 minutes. Holding that little baby bunny in front of the heat. Its perfect, little ears wiggled and stood straight up upon feeling the warmth flooding over him, and he curled himself up into an adorable ball. He fit perfectly in the palm of my hand.

 After maybe 20-30 minutes, he started rooting around, looking for a meal. He sucked on my hand, but upon realizing that I had nothing to offer him he found a substitute. His paw. In all my years of rabbit raising, I have never seen a rabbit suck its paw, but this one did right before my eyes! His little mouth was still making sucking noises as he looked for a food source, and promptly stuck his fat, little paw in his mouth and sucked on it just like a baby sucks its thumb. My heart melted.

When he seemed warm enough, I moved him to more comfortable quarters: a Tupperware bowl lined with English Angora fluff, which I had bought at the Flock and Fiber Festival to spin up. A family member came in the room, and noticing the strange contents of the kitchen bowl, she said, "Well there's something you don't see every day. A baby rabbit it a Tupperware dish!"

 And so this little baby was dubbed the Tupperware rabbit. 

Little "Tupperware" stayed inside for another hour yet; lazing in the gentle heat procured by the behemoth of the wood stove. 

I was tempted to keep him inside a bit longer, just because he's so darn cute, but I figured he should probably try and catch a meal, so back outside he went. He is now snuggled down deep with his four litter mates, and I firmly told him to stay there.

Leaving the rabbitry, I looked in Doe #1's cage and saw a little black ball of fluff sitting in her food dish. Yet another wayward kit, breaking the rules I set down in stone. No bunnies can get out of the nest until it warms up! It looked at me with a look that seemed to say, "Ooops", and I swear it looked sheepish as I helped it scamper back in with its siblings. Baaaaad bunny.

It smirked as I left. 

Who knows what's going on out there right now, while I'm sitting here and they're out there. Little Tupperware will be checked on again tonight, and will most likely come in again if he doesn't seem up to par before night falls. I'm such a softie... Some farmer I make, bringing baby rabbits inside when I should firmly put them back in with the litter and let nature take its course. 

But I rather liked bringing the one kit inside... It's not every day you find a baby rabbit in a Tupperware dish, after all....

Up For Grabs

While feeding the rabbits this morning, it occurred to me that it's time to let Basil Stag Hare find a new place. So far I have one of his sons, who is already growing bigger than Basil is, and I plan on keeping one more young buck out of him, so he's sort of being a hay burner right now... It's time to make room in the rabbitry, so Basil is now up for grabs to anyone who wants a good meat buck.

I weighed Basil yesterday and he's roughly 8 1/2 to 9 lbs. which fits the ARBA standard. He's thickset and has a meaty build. He also throws offspring that have a really nice meat/bone ratio (meaning tiny bones to lots of meat).

He's a purebred Californian, but not pedigreed. His previous owner couldn't find the papers. 

 I'm asking $25 for this big guy, and if you would like to contact me about him, you can do so by clicking HERE.

Beautiful Life

If goat kids are the epitome of life and joy, baby rabbits vie for second place. It never fails to make me smile as I watch them wiggle around, or holding their chubby bodies, or seeing their funny pink ears. :)

All the kits are doing well, and they are now fully furred. Their eyes should open on Saturday, and I am looking forward to that. They're cute right now, but once they hit the 2-3 week stage, they are flat out adorable! 

So here are some pics for y'all to show you their fuzzy coats. :)

Aren't its ears just the sweetest things???

Death and Life In The Rabbitry

Doe #2 did indeed kindle on Thursday night, and had three kits. One white, two black. Alas, she had them on the wire floor instead of in the well-stuffed nest box. I found all three of them dead in the morning. Ice cold, and stiff. Doe #2 repeatedly nudged the white kit with her nose; you could see the puzzlement in her simple face, as she tried to get her litter to nurse.

Today, Doe #2 has me concerned with her sluggishness and lack of appetite. It's not like her to not want to eat, and I worry that there might be something more serious going on here, such as a retained kit. I also found that Rosie Cotton killed and partly consumed one of her kits last night. I'm praying hard that this happenstance was just some sort of fluke, and that she won't go cannibalistic on the rest of the litter. 

A handful of years ago, these little scenes would have had me in tears. I would have been kicking myself for letting Doe #2's litter die, that she wasn't acting normal, and I would have mourned for the little kit that died last night.

When I found the litter on Friday morning, I simply pulled the deceased kits out, and quietly buried them in the compost bin. If the kits could not provide meat for the freezer, then I wanted them to provide dirt for this healing land. I will re-breed Doe #2 if she perks up in the next week or two, and if she fails the next litter, then she will go to freezer camp. Everyone must pull their weight here, one way or another.

Such things would have never entered my head when I first started rabbits, but today they are commonplace. Life and death, decomposition and dirt. I have changed much over the last year; I can see that in myself. As I dealt with the kits, it struck me just how much I've changed, that I should want to respect their stolen life by composting them. That certainly would not have entered my radar a few years ago.

On a brighter side of things though, Doe #1's litter is doing beautifully. They're fully furred now, and are so fat and velvety that I feel like hugging them every time I peek beneath their warm layer of down, within the nest box. :) They open their eyes in about 7 days, so stick around for pictures!

Bunnies!

Cap'n, We Have Bunnies!

Sheesh, the rabbits have been holding out on me this week! I thought those ornery does would never pop, and family members started questioning as to if they really were pregnant. But, I can now say that, yes, they really are/were pregnant!!

Rosie Cotton spent the entire day pulling fur and building the biggest pile of fluff that I have ever seen a rabbit make (and I've seen quite a few nests!). I figured she would kindle soon; maybe the next morning.

But lo and behold, I went in the rabbitry this evening to feed everyone and found that not one, but TWO of the does finally kindled!! Yippee!!!! :D

I have no idea if they're finished kindling, or if there might be a few more kits by tomorrow, but in Rosie's nest box, I found 7 wee babies. Alas, one kit was a stillborn... But the other six are chubby, velvety, pepto-bismol pink sausages of wriggling life. Sooooo cute! (if you don't mind the fact that they're hairless and blind, anyway...)

Doe #1 was the other proud mama. In her nest I found four fat blobs of babies. All very much alive and kicking! Two are white, like their dam, and two are jet black; noting who their sire was. :) While I hope that Doe #1 might surprise me with a few more kits by morning, I'll be okay if that's all she has. 

I'll be sure to post a video in the morning for y'all!

Now, if only Doe #2 would pop... 

Not Yet

No baby bunnies this morning! Phooey. But Doe #1 and Doe #2 have pulled fur to line the nests, and Doe #2 skipped out on her breakfast, which is usually a sign that kindling is imminent. Soooo, don't get too far away! ;)

Soon

All three of the does are nesting today. Doe #2 looks miserable. We should have babies soon!

I thought I would explain my "emergency nestboxes" a bit... I was supposed to have some wooden ones built before the girls were due, but that didn't get done, so I had to do some quick thinking! The metal nestboxes are worth their weight in gold, but they're also quite expensive ($25 each), so I wanted to see about making some this time around. Plastic buckets weren't exactly in my radar of thought, but they work right swell! ;)

So, if you're getting into rabbits, and you're trying to keep costs as low as possible, try this scheme!

First, you need a 12 quart plastic bucket like this one:

Next, drill holes into it. You'll notice that in each corner I have two holes next to each other. These are for wiring/zip tying the box to the floor. The holes in the middle are for drainage. 

Once that's done, zip tie it to the wire floor! I ran each zip tie up through the bottom, and then back down, so that the floor of the box would remain smooth. 

That's it! All total, these cost about $3 to make. I just scrounged buckets that were around the house and barn, so this was a ridiculously cheap and fast nestbox. I don't know if I would use these as permanent nestboxes, but for a temporary fix, they're great. :)

I Take That Back

In my rabbit post below, I mentioned that Rosie Cotton was leaving her nest strictly alone, and didn't seem to be nesting at all.

I take that back.

Since then, she has created a beautiful nest all by herself, and is still trying to perfect it. Maybe we'll have little kits tomorrow morning?!?! We'll find out! Stay tuned! 

A Rabbit Day

Today has been a rabbit day. 

It all started out with finding a yummy-sounding recipe for "Rabbit ginger soup" over at Jenna Woginrich's blog. Skimming through the list of simple ingredients, I figured this would be an excellent way to cook up my last rabbit that I had in the freezer. I had been putting it off for a while, since the rabbit was a 6 month old (normally you butcher at 12 weeks; this guy was a cull), I had no idea what to do with the meat so that it wouldn't end up being tough. So soup it was! If you are new to eating rabbit, or you're trying to win someone over as to how delicious this meat is, I very highly recommend this recipe!!  

In short, lunch was awesome. Five star, two thumbs up, third helpings all around, kind of awesome. ;) Normally I'm not a huge fan of ginger, but it was such a small amount that it contrasted surprisingly nice with the garlic. I had some grand plans to take a picture of my lovely ensemble, but -- I forgot. I was too busy eating it...  Hehe. But if you ever find yourself with some rabbit meat, throw some ginger soup together! The smell alone is to die for.

Lunch having been digested, I next set out to put nestboxes in the doe's cages. You're supposed to put the nestboxes in on day 27 of gestation, but *cough, cough*, I -- um -- didn't have any nestboxes at that time.... So they were put in today, on day 30!! Thank heavens the does didn't kindle early! I love watching them start nesting. They get huge mouthfuls of hay and awkwardly try to place each bundle in precisely the right spot. Then they give up, scratch it all into a mound and start over. Over, and over, and over. Rosie Cotton hasn't started nesting quite yet, so she may wait until the last minute (I hate it when they do that though... I have no forewarning!). 

Walking back up to the house, I thought about the breed that a friend of mine, and I created years ago... We were both in 4-H (I think I was maybe 14?), and we created what we considered the "ultimate" meat rabbit. We called them "Checapalizealhosatins". Can you say that? "Check-a-pali-zea-lo-satins. ;) LOL. These strange hybrids were a motley collection of bloods that included Checkered Giant, Californian, Palomino, New Zealand, Hotot, and Satin. The name derives from all of these breeds being squashed together into one long spiel of letters. 

Our goal was to create a fine-boned animal that had hybrid vigor, grew quickly on a forage diet, and would hit 5 lbs. by 6-7 weeks. We line bred, cross bred, inbred (only slightly), and played with genetics. I LOVED it. We worked through generations of rabbits, over a period of years, and then finally, we realized that we were in the "perfecting" stage. We had what we were after, and now we just had to fine-tune it.

Below is what our breed looked like. They all had a spinal stripe, solid colored ears, a butterfly smut (nose marking), eye rings, and they came in black and blue colors. I was partial to the blue, personally. :)

This first fella' is Domino. He was our favorite buck, and threw awesome traits to his offspring. I think he was probably the closest we got to our standard...

Here is a litter that Domino sired. If I remember correctly, this was a line breeding to either his daughter, or a half daughter...

 My friend and I were pleased as punch over our work, and I remember spending late nights looking over their pedigrees, deciding whom to breed to whom next, so as to continue to improve them. Alas, the breed didn't last long, or receive the glory we dreamed of. It turns out that in all of our line and inbreeding, the males seemed to all have a genetic fault, in which when they hit 3-4 years of age, they would suddenly die. Poor Domino had that fate, and we started seeing the same thing happen with other bucks of ours. To this day, I still don't know what on earth caused that, but upon the realization of our problem we took the slash-and-burn route in our breeding. We exterminated our entire herd. All of them. They're extinct now. And I rather regret that. Now that I'm older, I wish we had kept some stock, maybe some does, and continued to breed them, and figure out what the genetic fault was. Live and learn, I suppose.

 But as I walked back up to the house today, thinking of our breed that we created, I realized just how much I missed that. Playing with genetics and mixing breeds. It makes me happy to know that I'll be doing it again soon, now that I have litters coming that will be mixes of New Zealand, Californian, and Beverens. Gotta' love rabbits... ;)

So Far So Good

Today is day #14 since I bred my three rabbits. Typically, on the 10th day you would put the does back in with the buck to see if they conceived or not, but I didn't have time when the tenth day rolled around, so I did it today!

Doe #1, a Californian, was re-bred three days after the initial breeding, so today was more like day #11 into her pregnancy. I gently put her into the cage with Glenstorm the New Zealand/Beveren buck and kept a weather eye on the pair. In her typical fashion that she seems to have, Doe #1 pressed her body on the floor, and didn't budge. She wouldn't allow Glenstorm to re-breed, but she didn't fight him either, which is what most does will do... I took this as a good sign, and pulled her out. I'm putting her due date at March 5th.

Doe #2, my second Californian, who is monstrous in size, was up next. I hadn't even put her in the cage before she started growling! She was definitely NOT interested in Glenstorm, and growled loudly as she ran in circles, away from the eager buck. It was a mess trying to keep Glenstorm off her and try and fish her out at the same time! So I would say there's a very high chance that she's preggo, and I'm keeping her due date at the original March 3rd. 

Rosie Cotton, the New Zealand, was last. I had bred her with Basil Stag Hare, the Californian buck, so back in with him she went. 

I can honestly say in my eight years of rabbit raising I have never seen a doe react like Rosie did. If that girl ain't pregnant then I'm a monkey's uncle. When I put Rosie in with Basil, she took one look at him, screamed (it sounds like a horse whinnying) and lunged at him. Basil backed into a corner, confused at the onslaught and started running when Rosie bit him on the ear. Funny what those hormones will do to an animal.... LOL. I actually had to pull Rosie off of Basil, and she still growled and fumed for five minutes after she was back in her cage! Ya' think she's pregnant??? 

Satisfied with the test results, I braved the ill-humored does and did the next step: palpation. This is actually pretty fun once you get the hang of it, but it's basically just where you gently feel the doe's stomach and count the growing embryos. Doe #1 isn't far along enough for me to palpate her, but I was able to feel 6 or 7 kits in Rosie, and at least four kits in Doe #2. Alas, Doe #2 was extremely uncooperative, and vehemently fought against my advances, so for all I know she could have ten kits in there! But at least I know that there's something in there, so I'm content. 

Now y'all stay tuned! Baby bunnies are on the way!! I'll be keeping a lot of does for future breeding stock, and I might keep a buck or two, but we'll see. 

Does anyone else here raise rabbits? 

Quiet Inside

All day long I have been telling myself I need sit down and write today's blog post. Just sit down, and type... But my mind has been in too much of a whirl. I have been working on my first book proposal, content outline, and have been working away on the manuscript itself. I have spun a skein of yarn, and knitted a chicken. Heidi and Ivy are in heat today, and I mourned the fact that I won't be getting a buck until next Sunday. At this rate I may not have goat kids until August!! My mind has been going at what seems like 120 mph... Going, going, going. Plotting, scheming, wondering... I was in no frame of mind to sit down and write a coherent post! 

I went out to do evening barn chores, in the same hurried, absent-minded way.

Until I went into the rabbitry.

I can't think of a single time that the rabbits haven't managed to calm and focus me. 

They're so quiet, it gives me cause to be quiet. My goats are talkative, so I am talkative with them. They yell when they see me leave, and I holler goodbye to them. The rabbits though, make no noise whatsoever, save the soft sound of their feet on the wire...

Silence.

I give each rabbit food and water for the night; noting that Doe #2 is getting noticeably rounder, which means that she is harboring babies in her womb. Rosie Cotton, the New Zealand also is getting larger. This will be her maiden litter, and I hope that her instincts will kick in.

It is dark in the rabbitry... I have no electricity in there, and there is no moon tonight. 

Dark.

Quiet.

Still.

I have no choice but to move slowly in with the rabbits. I can see nothing in there, and swift movements would not only put myself at risk, but it would startle the rabbits.

I must force myself to be calm and slow. After eight years of doing this work, my movements are repetitive and natural. Inhale, exhale. Camillo, my youngest buck nuzzles my hand as I give him his dinner. Glenstorm dances in crazy circles, impatient for his pellets. 

My work in the rabbitry takes ten minutes. Ten minutes to cause me to slow down and relax... I sit now in my comfy swivel chair, with a cup of tea next to me. I think I will watch my Polyface Farm DVD tonight before heading off to bed. 

I am quiet inside now. I have the rabbits to thank for that...

A Good Feeling

One thing I love in life is that nice feeling I get when putting food up. Whether it's homemade bread into the freezer, canned foods that we have worked on over the summer, now going into the pantry, or homegrown meats going into the deep freeze. Ever felt that way before? It's sort of a "Come what may; I am prepared" feeling. I always smile when putting that food away for future meals. It's a good thing. 

Today's work consisted of, ahem, *harvesting* the meat rabbits. I find that the word "butchering" bothers some folks, so I stick with the slightly more discreet term of 'harvesting' for sake of courtesy. 

Now, I really don't like harvesting animals. Believe me, I don't. I am an animal lover right down to my toes, but I'm also a carnivore. And I'm a carnivore who feels convicted to take part in the responsibility of knowing where my meat came from, how it was raised, and then how it was processed. I just feel that if I'm going to take part in eating meat; in eating another living, breathing creature, I want to take full responsibility for it from start to finish. If you have never raised your own animal for meat, and then butchered it yourself, let me tell you something: It will change you. Eating meat from the grocery store is a mindless act; you simply consume it, not knowing any of the animals history. Eating an animal that you raised yourself gives you a sense of pride and self-sufficiency. But raising and then processing your own animal will give the ultimate feeling. It's a mix of pride and humbleness. You know the entire story. You see before you on the plate what was once a black rabbit with a white blaze, who's name was Felix. You'll say to yourselves: "My goodness that rabbit could jump high... Remember that day he escaped and we let him stay loose for two whole weeks? He dug tunnels through the entire rabbitry floor, and made such a mess of things... But he never strayed far." Good ol' Felix. 

There's pride in knowing that he was a happy creature, and lived a good life. But oh the humble feeling when you see him on a plate. No longer looking like a rabbit... There's a feeling of respect too. You took his life, now it's only fair to honor what was taken by eating him. It's a dance of death and life that has gone in circles for hundreds and hundreds of years. This is just the way things are. Perhaps you are a vegetarian, or a vegan, or something else. That's fine with me. I certainly have no qualms with folks who have such a strong measure of self control. I'm hopeless... I love meat. But my hat is off to you who have chosen a different path in life than mine. 

I didn't finish harvesting all the fryers (term for a young meat rabbit) today. Poppet, that annoying brat sweet darling of a Nigerian Dwarf was continuously getting in my way, escaping from the pasture, and otherwise making a muck of things. So the majority of my day was spent not dealing with rabbits, but running down a roly poly excuse for a goat and trying to keep her in one place. I was tuckered before I had hardly started! But I got enough fryers done today that I can easily finish tomorrow or Saturday. So it works out.

I came inside the house to cut the fryers up into pieces, wrap them into nice, neat packages, and then put them in the fridge to cure for 24 hours. They are sitting there quietly now... Little square packages that hardly resemble a rabbit. I looked at those packages and felt that nice feeling wash over me. 

Come what may. I am prepared.

It's a good feeling.