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

[pinkfox]

hatch is slow lol...I didn't do well last batch, humidity issues so im inda paranoid about this one too...we'll see I know it takes a while from that first pip, but im dang impatient.

ive been looking into feeding fodder in terms of the technicalities...seems temp is a concern so im going to get an outdoor thermometer, hang it in my mini greenhouse over the winter and see what temps I get as an average on the coldest days.
technically given the amout of brush and grass and stuff they have I probably feed too much grain so im going to cut them back a little and see how they do...but I do still want to thin down the rabbits at the very least

 

[pinkfox]

what a day!
managed to get most of the laudry put away, all the dishes done and the kitchen cleaned (not tidy...but clean lol)

did some training time with tallie...shes smart but at 8 weeks old, obviously easily distracted. she knows how to sit though, next up laying down on command and door manners. (don't want her rushing the doors)
sit stay and down and recall are the big basics, then advanced leash manners (healing both left and right)
once those are good we can move to more advanced stuff that can eventually be developed into tasks that will help me...
seemingly simple ones like touch and paw that can be modified into interruption behaviours and memory assistance (ie touching the pocket where I put my car keys when I forget, which happens more than id like to admit.
ive got to get serious about making a task list so as we go through basic training i can start shaping behaviours i need as they appear.
unfotunatly due to a maor fire at petsmart, our puppy class will have to wait until probably closer to next month or possibly November, its the only group class in this area...found a few "private trainers" but nothing legit or within my very tight budget.
but shes intelligent and i have youtube and no salt added chicken hotdogs LOL!

decided sunday im going to expose all my does to the bucksi want them bred to, bluebell willgo in with thistle, blackberry in with silver, and acorn will go in the colony with the other girls. and im going to just leave them together for a week or 2 and see what happens.
if i cant sell silver hes slated for freezer camp along with the 2 young castor boys, as pretty as the rex are they are a meat breed and if they don't sell then they go to camp, its why i got em and ive got to stop being a sissy about it.
once silvers gone acorn will move into the colony full time. any female bunies that don't have a litter by the beginning of November will be put on the freezer camp bus, the goal is breed them this month, then do a back to back breeding around mid October, that should then give me babies ready to go for Christmas.
and after that they can just do what rabbits do, any that sell sell, any that don't will go to freezer camp at 12 weeks unless i need to replace bloodlines.

want to try and get the pigs bred in October, thatll give me late winter/early sping piggies who will be ready to butcher in the fall. will be keeping back 1-2 castrated boys for freezer camp each year. hoping by spring ill be able to get my old spot boar.
pretty much decided that once i get a little extra cash ill be sectioning off a section for the pigs seperatly...feeding everyone is a pain in the butt and ther emaking a muddy mess with the water trough where it is. (not a big deal as im going to be terracing off that area and eventually turning itinto a small vineyard (itll be fenced off too)
thinking of putting 2 strand around the area the goats used to inhabit, i can use the tree as corner posts and will just need some more nail ins. thinking 8 and 14" wires should do the trick...and still be low enough for the goats to jump should they need to. will move fix and expand the pallet shelter too its currently 4x8 good enough for 1 sow, but thinking if i add 2 more pallets to the length itll be more than big enough for the 2 girls for farrowing...will the build some simple hoop shelters (pretty much just a top with open ends) for the rest of the year/boys/freezer barrows.)
theyd have about 1/3-1/2 an acre in there...i could always fence off a different area to keep the freezer barrows in too if it came down to it no reason once weaned theyd have to stay with their mommies

oh so many plans...need to keep focus on the quail this month though, that's the job for this one as thatll save me meat money in the long run. which will seriously help with the budget.

i think that's why i ramble on about them here...helps keep things in check in my crazy brain.

 

[pinkfox]

well whent to the auction today with E...
had a nice time chilling out and took Tallie.
feet only touched groud in spots I could see (sure no standing poop at least) and the rest of the time she was up and on the seat.
she did EXCEPTIONALLY well, , didn't even flinch at the microphone or sounds of animals and lots of people, slept most of the time and we even worked on some basic sits wit treats while everything was going on (trying to teach her early to focus with distractions) she knows sit, and will wait a little bit too. I think next one is going to be "focus" or "look at me" so I don't have to say her name over and over jut to get her attention...once I had her attention though she was ontop of things super quick. E was even impressed.
she rode wonderfully in the car, again slept most of the time. and in all im VERY ipressed with how well she handled things.
had lotsof "shes adorable" and even a couple mid 20's guys commented that they loved her...not the kind of people youd expect to appreciate a cute puppy. had a few comments about how well behaved she is too once they found out shes a puppy and not an adult min-pin lol.

got home and she ran around like crazy for about 1/2 an hour, then stood and squeeked at me until id finished cleaning the back bedroom and now shes passed out...will have to disturb her in about an hour to feed and get everyone settled for the night but im thinking shel probably sleep most of the rest of the evening other than potty breaks.

once we got home I realized the house has an ammonia smell, heat, humidity and 6 cats using the litterboxes right now..so the boxes got dumped and scrubbed, and while doing that I noticed a few little accident spots, they got scrubbed with some natures miracle "just for cats" and the back bedroom got vacuumed. I NEED to rent/borrow a steam cleaner once the kittens go home...

tomorrow morning the livingrooms getting a through vacume and mop, I noticed today while weve been out jasperhied his leg (hes not done it in a while so ive been la abouthis band since his neuter...but im betting the ammonia form the cat boxes sent his mind into overdrive. so tomorrow morning livingroom "deep clean" meaning moving furniture and vacuuming/mopping undr things rather than just around.
Im also going to take the measurments of the couch and chair and start keeping my eyes open for some ice slipcovers...the covers on the lovesteat come off for washing but the ones on the chair don't. they'll probably also get a good steam clean when I have the unit, might as well while I have it.

otherwise...

got a kitten going home Monday, that leaves 3, fluffy black boy, ginger boy and tuxedo girl...they need to go asap.
got a fix on a low cost clinic thatll spay dusty locally for $20 so as soon as I have that cash, ill go book her in...that just leaves Binx to get neutered, at least until tallie is old enough..wont be doing her though until shes close if not already ful grown...theres just too many growth plate risks and with no intact male in the house...not so much of an issue with her.

and got 3 ducklings in the brooder, another 4 hatched today drying off, another 2 unzipping and another 2 with new pips...theres 8 that haven't pipped yet but I set them a few days after the frst batch (collected 1 weeks and set them, collected the 2nd weeks set them...) so im giving them another week before worrying. did a quick candle on one and saw a shadow and it looked to be moving...ust no internal pip yet so im thinking they need a little longer to cook lol.
ive moved last batches duckling (now about 3 weeks old) to a sheltered hutch in the back yard, shes not big enough to hold her own with the big ducks, butt h weather should be mild enough...heck she hasn't even had a heat lamp on her in about 2 weeks, lol, she was acting like it was too warm even on its lowest setting and has been growing like a weed without it.

im pretty sure this hatch is all "sold" between 2 people...and that's more than fine by me going to start collecting again next week for another batch.
also going to be looking up plans on how to make my own cabinate style incubators...going to need more room.

todays auction also reaffirmed that im not going to be taking any buns to auction...
there worth a lot more as meat than what folks are willing to pay live. the higest bid was for "bred" NZ mixes at 3.50 a doe...though it might be worth BUYING rabbits at auction for that price full gorwn specifically for the freezer, and that might actually end up being something I start doing buy meaty buns justwaned for 2-3 a piece raise em 2 weeks on clover/grass to clean out their ssytems of any junk and off to freer camp...heck I cant raise em myself from birth for that much.
so right now in terms of buns the plan is.
put bluebell in with my e-lop, and blackberry in with silver...they have till end of October to prove their worth keeping.
silver will be sent to freezer camp mid October, the 2 young rex boys should be a good size and ready by then too (about 14 weeks.)
acorn my red buck will move into the colony for a while while bluebell and blackberry are out "on dates" (probably 2 weeks) if I breed in the next week I should be able to rebreed intime to have some babies for the Christmas market.
if bluebell and blackberry have nice litters ill probably keep them, if not they'll either be sold or go to feezer camp, and ive got 2 young does to go in the colony too.

but either way ill be down to 1 buck.

I do want to sell the hollands and the mini rex though, but will probably wait till Christmas time, see if I can get some holiday babies out of them first. the mini rex is mean enough that she may end up being freezer fodder, but the holands are too pretty and small to bother. id rather sell them.

gonna try and get the angora bred too...got 1 doe to groom out so ill put the other doe in with my boy Monday, goom the other doe out and swap does come weds.
gonna keep my eyes peeled for an English lop doe too...so thistles not ust there for 1 breeding every few months lol. right now hes just my guilty pleasure lol, love his ears, but I may put him up for sale come Christmas time, as much as I like him...I cant afford ornaments that eat lol. depends on if I can find him a girlfriend.

so eyah that's the plan...cut back on rabbits a little bit and put more focus on meat, bring in the cot quail for meat, expand the ducks a little bit since they do seem to do well in terms of duckling sales, (and I LOVE the eggs lol)

 

[Denim Deb]

Pink, I've thought of doing that w/chickens. You'll see cockerels going sometimes for just a buck. I figure I could get a few, stick them in my chick pen for a week or two, then butcher them.

 

[pinkfox]

seems a good idea to me as ong as you've got somewhere to put em away from the others...

in ducky news we have 8 hatched, lost 3...don't know if airflow is too low, or humidity is not high enough, but had 3 that had piped and hadn't mde any progress, when I pulled the newest 5 I grabbed one and popped the otp back on...and gently started picking away where it had pipped....dead...2nd one, sme, 3rd one same, membrane was thick in all 3 but not realy stuck so im confused...since my last hatch I had humidity issues I closed the vents a little more to help keep humidity up...swondering if this caused not enough fresh air and thus issus.

stil got a few more in there, gonna give a little while...due to them likely being the ones a few days younger than the other...but who knows. gonna have to do some more research on this octobator and see about troubleshooting. out of the ones I set ive got 19 out of 24 fertile, but thus fr only 50% live hatch rate...loosing the 3 realy annoys me because they were hatching...and just didn't finnish...always wonder "if only id stepped in sooner" ect.

Also annoying because I got such a good rate on my first hatch...got a little overconfident mabe?! lol

 

[pinkfox]

been up since 6...*yawns* im soo not a morning person lol.

todays plan involves giving the dog crates a disinfect...I whipe down daily after meals but sinc thye eat their chicken in their crates I figure a good wash once a week wont hurt anyone lol.
and clean the livingroom.

also need to take a shower, and then spending some time with friends this afternoon in Jackson.

ive already put bunny girls in with their respective dates.

Strawbery and Hazel are getting a visit in the colony from Acorn, should get castors, opals, black otters (in elf and broken) and harlis, tri-colors and possibly reds from that.
Blackberry is in with silver, should give me castors, black otters, possibly chinchillas and mabe even silver marten and REW.

Bluebell is in with Thistle the blue tort E-lop, should get broken and charlies inall kinds of diluted form blue and opal to fawn and lynx...they will be F1 velveteens and im planning on keeping a doe or 2 back to breed back to rex to get rex coated E-lops)

Nutmeg the choc tri is in with Ash the broken opal Holland, should give me castors, blacks, black, blue, and chocolate otters, opal, plus possibilities for chocates lynx ect...they'll all liely look like normal buns but could get some nice colors out of them...will be sold as cheap pets.

Primrose is in with cotton, that should give me white, smoke and pearl angoras...
cotton will also breed clover for more light colored angoras
and AsH will be put in with laurel the chin Holland for some potentially fun Holland lop colors.

*fingers crossed* we need babies...these guys have to earn their keep in babies or meat...

still got 8 eggs in the bator, they have till the end of this week coming....
hoping to get at least 4 of those hatch as I have 2 people waiting on 1/2 doz each. would be happier if ALL of them hatch though.
going to strt collecting again tomorrow for the next batch but the girls are slowing down again...they lay n waves, they'll go a month and lay 1-2 each er day, then NOTHING.id like to get at least one more hatch of fall babies (I like fall babies that way they start laying in spring )
wont be hatching anything out after October though...don't need ducklings in my house all winter if they don't sell.

still no broodiness form the banty cochins, but they are laying well...and those little eggs are so cute, im going to pickle the ones I collect, will put some in the incubator if I don't have enough duck eggs to fill it for the next hatch.

after that winter incubator space will be reserved for Quail an only quail. going to be getting 2 breeding groups in the next couple weeks...will probably bring in another group from a different source for unrelated lines asap to bring me up to 12 females and 3 males that should give me a full incubator per week...im going to hatch out 1 weeks and sell/pickle the next, I should, assuming good hatches, end up with 60 quail chicks about every 2 weeks...more than eough for meat for me, the dogs, the cats and mabe even a few to sell to pay for feed.
Once I get a bigger incubator (or something) there will be no stopping me. looking at plans online for uilding my own cabinate incubator...im just uselss when it cmes to wires/electronics for wiing fan and heat source up...
ill figure it out though.

 

[Wannabefree]

I'll have a spare foam bator you can use in the next few weeks if you wanna. I need it next week...or week after next as a hatcher...can't remember, but then it will just be collecting dust for a while, so if you want, you can borrow it if that would help you out.

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Dadgum it Pink - now you've got me wanting quail again. Years and years ago I raised Pharoh Quail. They are soooo easy. They are little laying machines, eggs hatch in about 17 or 18 days, the little ones start laying quickly, they're the easiest thing in the world to process, they're cute AND they taste good.

I'm not even gonna consider it for awhile cuz I'd need all new cages....

Oh dang.... you know what???? I've got pens already that I totally forgot about. Last year I made a bunch of chick brooder pens out of a set of shelves with 1inch square wire and solid bottoms. They would hold quail just fine and they are ready to go. The only thing I don't have is a brooder with small enough wire to keep the babies in. Hmmm, that can be remedied pretty quickly.

I"m doomed... lol!

I do not need quail - I do not need quail - I do not need quail.....

 

[Wannabefree]

You do not NOT need quail....you do not NOT need quail...you do not NOT need quail...

 

[frustratedearthmother]

Thanks, WBF... didn't I just say the other day that I need to cut DOWN on the critters??? I do not need quail!