AL - Recording baby steps: Newest Addition

[AL]

FF - yeah I asked the lady yesterday at TSC about spay / neuter and she said they couldn't be.... so that is when I started dismissing her as just a "know it all whether I know it or not" kind of person. I knew the local exotic vet here does spay / neuter rabbits on a regular basis.
I had an angora rabbit many moons ago (bought him on a trip to Denver, so named him Denver and then had to ride back to Florida with a rabbit in a box - my parents weren't impressed ). I don't remember anything about it though. .. Except having to be super cautious and aware during warm weather.
Believe me - Rio freaks out at the word "rabbit". Any bun that comes to my house will be in the Ft Knox of rabbit cages! And the big dog will not be allowed in the backyard where the rabbit pen is, unless I am there.

My friend had a baby Flemish Giant and it ended up getting too hot and dying. I figure to buy one of those "starter kits" and when the summer heat gets ridiculous I can bring the rabbit inside. It shouldn't be too much of a shock for it, since I plan to bring it in to hang out sometimes.

I found a website all about rabbits and it said if you spayed them you could have 2 females together. I guess regardless of if I get one or 2 I will get female. Which kind of stinks because all of TSC's females were the red-eyed whites (Californians? N Zealands?). The males were black, black and white, the "wild bunny brown".....


glenolam - Really? I see them off and on for $600- $1200. Mostly around here it is Jersey / Brangus or holstein / x.


We are in for some big thunderstorms if the weather guy is actually right for a change. My youngest nephew has baseball games today so we'll see what happens with that - otherwise maybe I'll think about considering cleaning up some in the house. Maybe.

Or I will work out in the garage on my rabbit pen

 

[Shiloh Acres]

Hey AL!

I hope you get your house cleaned up. I SO want to work on mine and do other stuff. I should probably be careful with this silly cold-whatever-it-is. Ugh.

I'm glad to see you got so many replies about rabbits. Sounds like you just want a pet, so it's really open for you. Too bad you don't like the red-eyed whites, but I can understand. For color, I actually DO prefer the more "normal-looking" colors.

I have Calis and NZ, all red-eyed whites. They are meat rabbits, but they really DO have such nice temperaments that I almost wish someone wanted to buy some as pets. They are generally so calm and easy to handle. I don't treat them as pets by handling them a lot (can't afford to get attached and that would be easy to do!). But they are still pretty easy to catch and handle and while they sometimes kick when I sex them they never try to bite. They're very curious about what I'm doing even though it's pretty routine stuff and I don't give them treats. On the few occasions I've had one escape, they stay close by. The first time one got out, it ran right up to me and let me pick it up and pop it back into the cage with no problem. They ARE white and so very visible to predators, and being such large rabbits, they need large and strong cages. But ive often thought that it's a shame no one considers them for pets, especially when I hear breeders say how nasty some of the smaller, cuter breeds can be.

And I am keeping some junior bucks and does housed together for now. Rabbits .... breed like rabbits, LOL, and I could use about three or four more cages at least! I've decided who I'm going to sell and who I'm going to keep so hopefully my numbers will be going down (just before they go WAY back up with the new litters I'll expect soon). But my point is that I've had no issues housing mine together (except a mis-sexes buck -- BIG trouble!) but no fighting or other problems like that. Mine are littermates though, and under a year still, so it could be different if they got older.

If you're planning to spay/neuter it could be different too. If you're not wanting them for meats, that might be a good idea. If they are really nice from a pet angle, do you think you might want to raise them to sell? I don't really much like the idea of breeding for pets though -- they sell best when they are tiny, and really I think they are much better off to be left with their mothers until old enough. I'm glad not to be faced with that dilemma. And I have enough breeders that I'm not needing to cycle litters at a maximum rate as I thought I would.

As it is, I'll probably live mostly on rabbit this year.

But I think they'd make great pets. Someone on here also mentioned ceramic tiles in the freezer as well, so I give mine tiles and frozen 2-liter bottles, as well as set a fan at one end that blows past most of the cages. Deep shade is good, and I made my pens ALL wire and set them in a frame with a roof higher above them for good air circulation. I wrapped blankets around mine in winter too, LOL, though probably they didn't need it. The ground does a lot to cool them, but I bet they will dig deep to escape the heat. I've thought it would be nice (not practical, but nice) to build and enclose a huge "cage" underground and fill it back in with dirt and give them access to dig there. I can't do that though.

Good luck with them when you get them.

And have a safe trip!

 

[Farmfresh]

Shiloh brings up a good point. A friend of mine raised rabbits for the pet market as well as for the table. She constantly remarked on how the small dwarf breeds most people want for pets are so much more aggressive than the large breeds. If I was getting a pet I would probably get a checkered giant. They are just my personal favorites.

 

[BarredBuff]

Get a big breed. My small is MEAN.

 

[ohiofarmgirl]

wow!!!! look at that on the cows!!!!!

how is your good old dog today?

 

[AL]

Thanks for the info, Shiloh! If I can have more than 1 I wouldn't mind a white one, but I jsut love the black or black/white ones. I would LOVE a Flemish Giant, but they are ridiculou Definitely not breeding! Not even once... no way no how! I just want a pet with ready made compost as a bonus.
I bought a starter kit cage today, but I will wait a couple of weeks to get the rabbit (since I am going out of town next week and will have company coming the next).

Wooo-weeee it rained this evening!! I think we are supposed to get a little more late tonight - but while I was outside feeding the horses the rain and wind combined to make little rainy needles hitting my face. Wow.

Hey OFG... Buford is doing great today! I was expecting him to have a hard time since we are having such bad weather, but he has really been cruising.


I have Rio's big wire kennel with some deep straw and I put it in the chicken house. I moved Pat the bullied hen into that since the tarp shelter keeps getting destroyed by the wind. She is not happy, but she is dry and out of the wind.

 

[glenolam]

That's what I usually do if a hen is a little on the beaten side - put a large crate/kennel inside the hen house.

Glad to hear about Buford but sorry to hear about all that rain! Got to say it was a beautiful day here!

 

[AL]

WOOOT!!! I have a pip!!! I thought they were cooked, or cold, or dry or drowned.... it hasn't hatched so there is still room for disaster... but I have a pip!!!

g- I have her in a pen I had built for the meat chickens. When it was cold I would put her in the chicken house at night and she would follow me to her pen in the morning. They have strted beating her up in the morning, so that is why I had to move the kennel. Now I don't have to get up at daylight to get her away from them.




I HAVE A PIP! (come on little chick, you can do it!)

 

[glenolam]

Ahhhh....I see.


YEAH ON THE PIP!!!!!!!!!! Hopefully mine will be not far behind!

 

[AL]

So I noticed around 7pm... but it hasn't done anything since. I hear it cheep every now and then... just now real softly, but earlier it was good and loud. Is it just resting? Is this really going to take all night? I am going to be a basket case! (moreso than normal )