Savingdogs-Saving the chickens

[savingdogs]

So we are going to the chicken show in Chehalis tomorrow and meeting my friend to buy my bunnies, two pair of Creme D' Argent. We have some construction to do on their hutches still tomorrow when we get them home, but I have large carriers for them that they can stay in for quite awhile while we finish getting them set up. My hubby works best with a deadline staring him in the face. Like me standing there holding a rabbit in a carry cage. Or four.
:bun :bun :bun :bun

We are hoping to get a bit of an education tomorrow from my rabbit breeder friend. She is only 18 but knows a lot more about them than me. She is bringing her showiest Cremes to demonstrate to me what I should breed for. I plan on trying to sell some of the showier ones from each litter to help offset feed costs and want to know how to pick the prettiest, best Cremes, even if they are just pets. It is an old breed but there are only around 1,000 left, so I'd like to contribute responsibly to the breed and its descendants. I've done rabbit RESCUE in the past so I don't want to contribute to overpopulation. It seems like in the case of a meat rabbit however, there is a solution to the overpopulation probable that is quite, ahem...palatable to me.

Other than anticipation of the new rabbits, my life has been rather dreary. Had a horrible vertigo attack at work yesterday, went and slept off my meds for FOUR hours in the car, then went to bed early that night. I do hear better today, which I appreciate, but since it doesn't last very long the whole ordeal seems hardly worth it. It isn't like I have tickets for a concert for this evening or anything. I really have to get myself onto disability somehow, I keep dissapointing as an employee even while I try so hard. But I have to get myself layed off, I cannot quit else I have no money to pay the mortgage. And it could take longer than a couple years to get approved for disability sometimes. But if you are still working your case isn't taken very seriously. So I'm kinda stuck.

 

[framing fowl]

Have fun at the show and going to get your rabbits! What a fun project.

On the job and disability front. Very frustrating. Sometimes all you can do is keep on keeping on.

 

[Denim Deb]

I feel for ya w/the vertigo attacks. I've found that when I'm getting them, I'm more likely to get them later in the day, rather than earlier. Is there a certain time of day for you when you're more likely to get them?

 

[savingdogs]

Yes, Deb, when I want them to come the least! The most inconvenient times.

No actually there is no pattern.....Friday it was because of stress. I recieved my paycheck and it was 400 dollars short because of all my abscences. I spent the next few hours juggling bills in my mind, and pretty soon I was sick. But it is so hard to keep myself from worrying. I come from a long line of worry warts. I do try meditation sometimes but when I'm working I tend to get worked up instead. I really don't feel that I work up to my potential at this job, I'm a very smart person but I'm doing a lot of janitorial stuff, because of my communication issues. So work tends to make me morose, literally. No mental stimulation or conversation for a smart talkative person makes you depressed. I'm also a "pleaser" and was usually always the most favored employee or top employee whereever I worked before, before MD got bad, so it is a big humbling experience for me. I've decided this is the lesson God wanted me to learn, humility. He is smacking me down. It is very hard for an ex-smart-ass spoiled kid to become humble and quiet and do mundane tasks, but I finally have learned, just not learned to be happy about it. Still working on that one, prayers appreciated cuz it is a hard task.

So I'm out of toilet paper and dish soap and can't go to the store, and just forget about Christmas, not that we do much about it any year, but now we will be quite short this week. At least I'll have rabbits, right? But even if they contribute one meal a week to the freezer, it should really help feed my family over the next year and that should be more important. I do have what it takes to feed everyone until next payday so I should count myself blessed. But this month is going to be lotsa PB and J and water as the main beverage, only the animals are eating well.

I really hope to offset some of my start up costs by selling the offspring show bunnies. Or selling them as pretty pets. My goal is for each animal to pay for themselves. The chickens and ducks have actually done a good job, especially the ducks considering this was the first year we raised them, I got a lot for those cayugas we raised and sold. I think it pays to invest in the more exotic breeds. Or maybe I would have gotten as much for plain pekins, I'm not sure. But I seemed to have been doing excellent selling livestock on Craig's List. So far the goats have been the biggest investment, but we bought 3-month olds to start and they are just now getting to first freshening.

The goats will no longer let us touch their bellies, by the way.

I'm starting to wonder if I should just place an ad for my wethers just as soon as they are born, since we won't be keeping any. Do any of you goat experts have an idea for me, or perhaps I'll start a thread about that. I think I will because other people might want to know what to do with their wethers and be afraid to bring that up on BYH.....they might ask me what in the heck I'm doing raising "mutt" goats again and I'd have to get back under my chair. I've had enough humbling this month, thank you very much.

Anyhow, wish us luck with the bunnies!

 

[Denim Deb]

SD, I don't know if this will work for you on your stress or not, but it's something I've found to help, actually 2 things.

1. Start to sign praise and worship songs, whether they're old hymns or some of the newer ones. I've found you can't worry or get stressed if your mind is on God.

2. This one takes a bit of practice until you get used to it. Now I can do it w/out the preliminary steps.

A) find a place where you're not going to be bothered, someplace where you can sit back and relax.

B) close your eyes (unless this makes you have a vertigo attack) and take a deep breath.

C) visualize some place in your mind that you find peaceful, whether it's the beach, a mountain stream, a meadow full of flowers or whatever. And, the place does not have to be real. I have a few different places.

D) let out your breathe slowly while you visualize this place, the sights, sounds, smells, etc. Just let the peace of it steep into you. You'd be amazed at how calming this can be. I can now go to my places w/out thinking about it and even if I'm stressed, I can feel myself relaxing.

As for not having much money, if you're a Christian, remember God has promised to supply ALL your needs. So, don't worry, trust him.

 

[savingdogs]

Yes, I am Christian although somewhat of a New Ager- universalist-reincarnationist and I'm not churchy. I honor and respect churches however and what they do for our society, I'm just not a joiner. And I do pray to the same God and believe in Jesus.

But I do what you were describing about visualizing a special place, I call that meditating. I should do it more often however. I went through a sort of spiritual awakening in my 40s and did a lot more meditating right then. That was when I decided that God wanted me to save dogs and I do know now that I understood his purpose for me very well. We are on hiatus but were on dog number 358 when we took a break in September when Harry got adopted. I do think God is happy that so many of his creatures (also 51 cats) had their lifespan because of hubby and I. I reflect on how my younger life shaped me into the kind of person who wants to do this.

We brought the rabbits home and got them all settled. I should take some photos of the cool cages my hubby made for free. They need a little more work to be perfect, but each rabbit has 4 1/2 x 3 feet and the cages are four feet high. They were originally storage cases and it is an interesting way to recycle, they made great rabbit cages. We just need to finalize the roofs and get a little smaller mesh for the bottoms, we had to put boards down temporarily but they seem to like it. But we were pretty proud of ourselves, getting them bought and all set up for a total $65.00 dollar investment plus a half a tank of gas and their food. The rabbits are truly gorgeous and have such fine fur. I'm so ready to work with rabbit leather, I'm already picturing mocasins for my granddaughter out of that beautiful fur. And two breeding pairs could produce quite a few rabbits for us while we do something we like, care for animals. These particular bunnies seem quite tame and look extremely healthy and well cared for. I'm so pleased about them. They could use more handling but are doing excellent for their first day and I think this time, I am not starting out with any "mutts"....they don't even look like average bunnies, they look special. It is cold here and we just stood outside, staring at them for the longest time and making sure they are all tucked away. We put them right next to the goats so the hay will be easy to distribute.
I have to say I'm pleased with the day.

 

[CrimsonRose]

Congrats on the bunnies! Rabbits are my favorite farm animal to raise... They are so easy to care for and just so fun to watch!

 

[savingdogs]

They are awfully cute! I like it when they stand up, and that nose twitching stuff is adorable. My bunnies are this very pretty cream color with a goldy-tan undercoat color they call "orange" but it is more like a golden retriever color. Of course I describe it in dog terms. Bright light gold.

 

[savingdogs]

I'm off today and spent the morning doing animal chores and getting everyone straightened around. We had snow and it was hard to get around for a few days and it is now melted and I had a lot of tidying up to do.

I count my ducks and only see four (I had five). I look and look and don't see one of the hens. Finally I climb in the pen and upturn everything. She is stiff and dead under one of the duck-shelters. Looks like it happened last night, like she went to sleep and didn't wake up.

And worse, a second one is acting weird. I started a thread about it so I'll refer any duck experts to my thread about the sick and dead duck.....but it is pretty dispiriting. If I lose this second one, I will only have one drake and two hens left! And I'm not sure what is happening. I cleaned the pond again and made sure the sick one can eat and drink, but I'm worried I'm going to lose her too.

Everyone else seems fine except Yikes! I'm missing four chickens! What a morning. I find two of them, the orloffs, who are known to fly out. We had clipped their wings but apparently they can still fly out. One of their "babies" is also missing, a half grown BO pullet. And a RIR hen, although not our favorite thank goodness. I'm hoping I find them trying to return to the coop at nightfall, but I'm nervous. I let the rest of them free range in the protected yard so they get that urge out without escaping to the wild like the four did.
So at the end of the day I'm down two chickens still and of course the dead and weak duck.

My new rabbits are doing excellent at least, but I'm a little shell shocked that so much happened in one day, everyone was fine Sunday. And to tell you the truth, the chickens could have been missing longer because no one counted heads Sunday night, we were so excited about the rabbits and setting up their cages. I feel a little like I neglected my first babies because of the second, but I know we did nothing different in reality, I just didn't have the chickens or ducks foremost in my mind.
If anyone has any insight for me, feel free to lecture me or give me advice! I really hope I don't lose this weak duck.

 

[BarredBuff]

Id take that duck carcass to a lab so they can find the problem and diagnose it. I hate losing chickens its a pain. Post pics of those new rabbits!! I love rabbit pics