Pink Fox: its Raining...IN MY HOUSE! :/

[pinkfox]

rabbits are pretty fastidious, they will generally pick 1 corner of thier cage to use repeatedly as thier potty spot so the idea is either give them a few days and see which corner they choose, or choose yoryr own and "block" the other corners. personally i like to let them choose lol
then simply place a litterbox of some kind n said cornr and tada, most buns can be quite reliably litter trained within a week.

asto what kind of litter to use its completely personal choice, i wouldnt go with a clay based or clumping litter as rabbits also tend to liek to eat while thier pooping and will often drag mouthfulls of hay to their litter box to munch on while taking care of business, and clumping and clay can both cause impation issues.

im personally using kiln dried pine shavings right now (make sure if using pine that its kiln dried to remove the essential oils, aspen is better but more expensive and never use cedar)
ill probably switch to the flaked stuff next (its an extra $1 a bag but tends to be more absorbent) and continue using the regular shavings in the "nest boxes" so theres some differential.

i use a kitty litter scoop each morning to take out the bulk of the poop, every other day i give it a mix around then top it with fresh shavings (so the urine doesnt cake) then once a week i dump the whole tray out and give it a rinse and a spritze ith white vinegar mixed with water (about 50/50) and let it dry for a few mins.
right now the plan is twice a month to remove the box and spritz the floor of the cage (i have solid floors) with the vinegar and whipe with a paper towel just incase of "misses" (rabbits tend to pee up and out so a high backed litterbox is the best bet) and then once a month the hutches get a thourough clena out and the boxes will get a 10% bleach soak on that day too.
acorn and bluebell took to the litterboxes with no issues (but i had to replace the little kitten pans i had with bigger ones as they were both occasionally aiming high on the pee lol) i dont find stray bunnie berries in either of thier hutches.
the 3 mini rex babbits seem to be doing well, there about 80% right now with the poop and 100% with the pee, not a big deal as bunnie berries are easily swept and as they get older and a little more controled over thier bowel movments (there only 9-10 weeks old) we shoudl have fewer accidents. the 3 newest buns are so-so but they were introduced to the boxes yesterday and had been on wire untill then so it may take a few days.

its a little more work than having the wire floors so everything can just drop through but at the same time i like not having to worry about hock issues, plus if i ever retire a bun and dont want to butcher it i can easily sell it as a litter trained house pet lol


in other news, moved everyone around today, bluebelland acron are ow on the top floor of the new bank, with blackberry and rowan on the bottom floor (this way all the girls are together) and BigWig moved to Bluebells cage, acorns cage is now empty awaiting buck #2 who im in no rush to find at this very moment so ill either hold back one of the kits from this litter *fingers crossed* or keep looking for my Blue Boy lol.
i painted the outside of the new bank, just got wome white trim to finnish up and its complete, and did a little tidying around of my disaster area..i mean...work zone...lol.
its lovely and sunny out but theres a breeze thats just chilly enough to make the sweater a must lol.

so yeah good productive morning...
just stopped for lunch, bacon egg and cheese sammich and 1/2 a bananna

gonna give lunch about 1/2 an hour to settle then go back outside and get the white trim done.
then probably spend tomorrow playing with the salvaged wood to see how many planting beds i can get started

and wednesday is supposed to be possble rain so itll be the perfect day to get my house cleaned

 

[pinkfox]

figured id post some pics of the current rabbit set up

and the completed 4 hole.
the Rex does are in this bank now

the rex bucks are in the 2 hole and the minis are in the 6 hole.

Id like to build the next bank next to the 6 bank finnishing the L shape.

 

[snapshot]

They look wonderful!!!!! You have done a great job!!!!!!!!

 

[pinkfox]

thank you, it feels good to see things comming together

this morning ive taken advantage of this LOVELY weather...

i put together 4 planter boxes out of some of the salvaged wood from the shed. i had to trim some rot off, so right now i have 4 raside beds for planting in.
2 are aprox 6ft x 4ft and the other 2 are 6ft x 2ft. ive got enough salvaged wood to put together another 6ft x 2 ft box right now...

then its a case of probably having to buy wood unless i can get the shed riped to the ground so i can pry it apart, i cant get the the boards that are left now because im not tall enough...

i would like in addition to the 4 i have...
another 6x4 and another 3 6x2 boxes for the kitchen arden area...

plus id like 4 at 4x8 for the rabbitry...

i may try to do just regular beds in the rabbitry this year (because its going to cost me a fortune in soil for the raised beds i think) and i dont have any good soil on the property to haul in...and im mostly planning greens in the rabbitry area for obvious reasons, so leaf lettuce, spinach, kale, boc choi. i might try a row of short carrots and radishes for them and see how they do in ground but not planning any other root crops in that area so i cant see it being too much of a problem...

i had a little fire burnt through some of the rotted wood cut offs, will probably relight a little later for the rest and some leaves ive got gathering by the fence line...

had bacon egg and cheese for lunch, gonn alet that settle then back outside, i want to make the rain covers for the rest of the hutches since rain is in the forecast for tongiht/tomorrow...i might try and get that final salvage wood bed made too and then take the rake to the rabbitry area and clear up some of the pine needles and pine cones...i know they will burn REAL quickly lol. infact i may save the pine cones to try and make fire starters with...(wil have to put an add on craigslist for dryer lint since i still havent hooked up my dryer lol.

anywho...drinkage then back outside for a bit i think.

 

[mrscoyote]

Wow! you have made great progress. I have yet to start on mine and still need to decide on a breed. I want them for meat, the fur and the possibility of selling extras for pets. Any suggestions?

 

[pinkfox]

if your going for meat as primary...
some breeds to look into:

Rex: my breed of choice, but it can be hard to find large rex. these are my bred of choice for a few reasons.
1: pelt...theres nothing like a rex pelt. you can use a baby rex pelt (fryer age) its soft but not as dense or luxurious as an adult rex pelt. if fur is a big mission your going to want to allow some of your buns to reach 6 months for PRIME pelt (the meat is still good just not as tender, makes good sausage/ground and stewing/roasting meat.
2: mothering ability, rex are well known to be some of the best mommas out there and there frequently used as foster mothers...
3: personality...rex are just incredibly mellow (even the minis are mellow) ive never met a truly mean rex...nervous yes but even realy nervous freeked out bunnies tend to tame down realy quickly in this breed (this makes them a good "pet" breed obviously)
ive found rex tend to make a nice but slightly smaller fryer at 12 weeks...but ive had 6 month old rex roasted and its still very nice meat...i find they tend to get crock pot/stew age after 6 months lol. and the average litter size seems to be 5. but it tends to be a realy good survival rate.
personally i think as an "all around" breed the rex is one of those breeds that can fill any niche.

that being said...if demand is anythign like im being told to expect once i get my name out there i may have to add a couple of "cheapy meaties" in order to actually have buns for meat LOL.

theres the obvious,
new zealands and calis...the pelts arnt going to be anything close to as plush as a rex or some of the other pelt type breeds, but they will give you a nice craftingpelt thats easy to dye all kinds of fun colors, and "the most bang for your buck", thell give you the largest litter size with the quickest grow out...again to get the best pelts youll need to give them about 6 months (thats when the hide thickens and the full adult coat comes in) but its certainly usable at 10-12 weeks.
theyll hit fryer size the quickest and be ready for the table at 10-12 weeks with no problems.
personally i dont like them as "pet" buns, ive always found them kinda jumpy and even tame buns tend to be a little skitish...

You might want to look into the american chinchilla...this is one of the most popular breeds for the fur indutstry and a realy good meat to bone ratio too...
once again prime pelt is 6 months...and like the rex your going to have a slightly smaller fryer size at 12 weeks...but they will give you a nice sized litter good survival rate and im told they make nice pets.
the giant chinchilla (origioanlly am-chin x flemish giant) is a good option but has a higher bone ratio so while bigger they still average out about the same meat range as the standard sized chinchilla lol.
i think chins are a good "all around" option

Satin: another lovely pelt rabbit with a realy unusual coat...its very soft silky and shiny, again 6 months for prime pelt but the gloss makes them a realy nice pelt for clothing crafting sale ect...its very pretty. ive never tried satins for meat but im told they make a nice meaty, slightly smaller fryers but a good litter size and realy nice meat to bone ratio. they also tend to make nice pet buns too, definatly a good "all around" option

i also hear great things about palomino, american sable, Champagne and Creme D'Argent, Cinnamon, Dutch, Altex, and Silver Fox as meaties...of those ive heard good thigns about palomino, cinnamon, dutch and Altex as pet buns, and all would give you lovely pelts


right now my focus is the standard rex...as an "all around"
but if demand for live rex gets high ill probably add a couple of New Zealand Does to the herd specifically for meat production ill breed to my rex bucks for mixed meaties...

and thanks for the compliment im getting there...ifi had unlimited funds id be much further along but the bunny project kind of developed a mind of its own so itll end up pushing other plans back a bit untill they start producing and paying for themselves.

 

[mrscoyote]

Thank you for the wonderful information. It is very helpful. I think I will try for the rex's (I love the colors) and maybe add in some cali's or new zealands later. Meat is my main focus and having the other options is a bonus. I am such a newbie at this and you have been a great help to me. My plan is a trio to start with. Have I read it right that they should each be caged separately? and maybe an extra cage for a grow out or something.
Thanks again. Nancy

 

[pinkfox]

i would deinatly house the male seperatly...
the females can possibly be housed together in a simple colony type setting assuming you have enough space (a 10x10 pen would be fine for 2 does and their litters assuming the babies will be removed before 8 weeks old, but if your planning on expanding later i wouldnt do less than 20x20 (or a similar footprint) they would need some kind of shelter in the pen and youll either want to make it dig proof or sink some fencing around the edges to prevent dig out.
(or use a shed/stall ect)

if thats not doable id definatly suggest seperating the does. rex are typically very mellow BUT does are very territorial so you do need to space to do a colony.

the geenral size for rex sould be a minimum 30x30 but i personally prefer bigger, these are 9lb rabbits my girls are in 48x24
rex are slower to mature so you dont nessicarilyhave to seperate males and females at 8 weeks like you do with many breeds but im planning 4x4 dividablegrow out pens and will be seperating males and females at 8 weeks just for ease.

two things to be warned about the rex is
1eir claws grow faster than any other rabbit breed
2: due to their coat type they are HIGHLY prone to hock issues when raised on wire. they can be raised on wire but you have to provide them with plenty of resting boards/tile/solid flooring.

i think youll like the rex, they are beutiful bunnies so that helps but they have lovely temperments and i think even if breeding for meat you should enjoy your breeder buns.

oh and they can be REALY hard to find...do your homework, ive seen people trying to pass off large mini rex as standards so be sure to invest your time and nejergy into finding good stock if going this route. if buying adults youll know there standards, by 6 months there already rather large rabbits...but at 8 weeks old it cna be hard to tell them apart form a young mini rex...(an 8 week old standard is about the same size as a 4-5 month old mini...but ive seem people selling older minis as baby standards (or just not understanding the differnce in the breeds)
I definatly suggest attending some bunny shows too if theres anything "local" just to get a feel for a good rex.

 

[SSDreamin]

The bunnies condo's look great Pink!

Have you ever considered the Angora type rabbits (I think that's what they're called)? I think they're cool looking, and would be interesting to work with, but not much for meat.

 

[pinkfox]

the funny part is the wool breeds are actually meat type rabbits lol, they have good meat ratio...
id LOVE to do angoras one day...LOVE LOVE LOVE to...
but theres a few concerns 1: price, at anythign from $85-$200 for a bun from good wool lines there not realy "budget friendly" and 2: heat...normal coated buns have a hard enough time with the heat, i can only imagine how rough summer heat must be on a wool breed...obviously youd pluck/shave before the height of summer but still...i would worry about heat issues.
i think one daydown the line i may consider a few wool buns especially since i woudl also like some shetland sheep and alpaca for fiber and i do love rabbit angora
yup bunnies aparently have a way of getting themselves all kind sof out of control LOL!

my other one day wish list is english lops...i LOVE english Lops!