bird in the hand is worth... A LOT!

My two wonderful adult children woke me early Wednesday morning excited like it was Christmas or something.  This is what I was shown....

Aaron found this bird outside on the ground this morning.  The winds were very strong and I think it fell from the nest or was just overcome by the strong winds.  It was able to fly a little so we took some pictures and put in in our rabbit condo and let nature do the rest.

Later in the day he was gone.  We know he was safe from predators in our rabbit kennel so he must have decided to fly away.  Here are a few more pictures.

What you see is an earthworm next to our birdy.  I am guessing he is a sparrow!  So cute dont you agree? 

Beat the Heat-

Rabbits do not do well in heat.  So yesterday I went to Menards and got them ceramic tile for their cages.  Just one 12"x12"  for each one, not a whole floor!  It was funny because I went in to Menards and said in a normal voice, "Please show me the cheapest 12x12 ceramic tile you have.  It can be chipped and ugly, I dont care."  I kinda got a funny smile from the guy helping me and so I continued, "because they will be going in my rabbit cages to keep them cool."  He chuckled a little.
I also stopped at Goodwill and got heavy dishes to put water in.  The water bottles were dripping and the dishes would stay cooler and the rabbits could lean on them to keep cool.   As soon as I put one in Bucks cage he drank from it.
I have been putting frozen water bottles in their cages and even wetting towels down with water and having the fan blow on them.  It seems to be helping.

 You can see the dish in the back corner and the towel hanging behind him.
More in a day or so.  Thanks for visiting. Please comment and let me know you were here!

Rabbit Condo update!

Hello everyone!

I thought you might like to see where we are on our rabbit condo!

We purchased 8 panels from a man who has some small animals on his property.  He was downsizing so the panels were for sale.
Dakota Ron's son, was here for a visit and helped design and assemble our new enclosure.

Here is a picture of him working hard.

 This is a completely enclosed area that is 10'x10'.  Nothing larger than a chipmunk can enter here!  Now we must get a roof on top because rabbits do not do well if they get soaked.

 I have to say my husband has been very patient with all of my 'specifications' (suggestions from others) on what the rabbits need to be healthy, happy an terrific!  (if you know him, this is one of his favorite sayings)

 Rabbits do much better in the cold than this heat we are having.  I am going out each morning and putting a few frozen water bottles in their cages so they have something cold to lean against.

We are expecting our first litter of kits later in August.  Tomorrow, I hope to post about how they enjoyed running around in their new Rabbit condo!

Buck and Beauty

Yesterday I cleaned the tarps under our rabbits and they seemed to be settling in pretty good.  I felt the timing was right to introduce Beauty to Buck.
I was a little worried that Beauty would be difficult to get from her cage but it went well and not a scratch on either of us.  Good thing because their nails are pretty long.
She ran around the cage a good 10 times until she settled down.  I observed about 4 times his successful mount and 'falling' off which means she was in the right position.  This was about 6 pm.  It is recommended to allow the rabbits two sessions so I got up at 6 am this morning and put her in his cage again.
Yesterday she was quiet, today she made noise the entire time.  She allowed him to be successful one more time and then her chatter changed so I removed her.  I sure did not want to break up a fight.
I will check her in about two weeks to see if I can palpate the kits.  Then the nest box goes in about the 28th day.  Beauty should give birth (kindle) about 28-34 days.  I will check the box for the first couple of days to make sure all is doing well. 
I am excited to see what kind of markings we will get from Buck and Beauty.

Remember Buck is all white with pink eyes.  All the rabbits are a very large, healthy size.
Beauty is all black with silver tipped fur. 

 

I do not want to be away from home the first time our rabbits kindle so I will wait to breed one of the other does for a little while.  I will be gone on a scrapbooking retreat and will set the timing so I am back before the next kindle starts.  Its pretty nice that I can 'schedule' when we want kits, or should I say when we dont.  No guarentee we will have some but as long as the buck is not in with the does, we can say we wont have kits:)  

Come back in a few days to see how things are going.  I appreciate your stopping by and will keep you updated.

Rabbit Condo

My husband and I have agreed that a "dog kennel" with the caged rabbits inside is the best way to make sure predators do not eat our fur balls.  We did some research and pre-designed cages were to expensive.  So I checked Craigs list and found quite a few of them but they were all too far away.
What we want is a 6' wide by 10-12' long caged in area.  We have some lumber so my husband decided to build his own.  He now has the chain link and the other supplies, he just needs to find the time to build it. 
What we will have is a 6' high caged area that will have chain link on all sides including the top.  We are still trying to decide how to protect the area from being dug into from the bottom.  He has some ideas and I am sure I will get the picture as it comes along.
He will build me a door and after it is complete, he will put a roof on the entire caged in area and actually make it a little bigger.  He is hoping to use the extra sheltered in area to dry wood for our burner.  So the whole project area might get to be pretty big.  But for now, the Bunny Condo is our main concern.
We will hang the cages from the top of the structure and allow the droppings to feed the ground below.  At some point we might make it a worm bed or prepare for mulch but for now, it will just be easy clean up.  Rabbit pellets are great for gardens.  Not my specialty and if you are interested in more info, the internet is loaded with all you need to know.
Once we have the projects started I will take photos so you can see the progress.  
Since the rabbits are settling in so well, I decided that Beauty and Buck are ready to be parents.  They are both a year old and well past the 4-5 month recommended waiting time.  Come back to see how that goes.
Thanks for visiting.  Theresa

Settling in nicely -personalily

Buck is the only white rabbit we have and, as you guessed it, our buck.  I picked his name to be Buck because I kept calling him Buck Rogers.  He was very scared the first day or so but has let me pet him every day.  I come out to the garage where the cages are and he always jumps around and gets excited.  Buck always greets me at the front of his cage.  I know he is still scared because he stiffens up like a board (scared stiff) but still lets me pet him.  The 'girls' are not quite so friendly yet, they usually move away.

Black Beauty is our only black doe.  She is called Beauty for short.  Her black fur is tipped with silver but only on the body.  Her head seems to be completely black.  She has let me pet her a few times and she too becomes stiff but does not move away as fast at the other two does.

Now we have Thumper.  She is all grey.  The first few days here, she did not seem to be getting comfortable but today, she seems much better.

The last one is another grey doe.  I named her Silver Fox.  She is the same color as the other but I called her Foxy once and decided that was just as good a name as any other.

Welcome to Wascally Wabbits Rabbitry

We are starting a new business of breeding rabbits!  I would like to introduce you to our founding family!  They are all New Zealand Giants and yes they are HUGE!

Here is our only buck.  I was able to pet him today but he was tense.  Couple more days and I think we will be good friends.

Here is our first doe. She is a little darker gray than the one below.

Here is our second doe.  She is a lighter gray.

  

And at last, our black doe.

We are giving them a few weeks to get settled in while we set up their condo.  What our plan is would be to set up a dog kennel in the back and put the cages in there.  Double protection from coons and such.  We would cover the top with more chain fencing to secure the unit.  Then put a roof over the top to shade against the sun and protect against the weather.  

Ron would like to build a structure around this large enough for the kennel and an area to store wood out of the weather.   So we started gathering building materials and we are trying to narrow down the kennel.  We do not want to buy new so we have searched on Craigs List.  We have found a few options but everyone is so far away.

     So if anyone has and outside kennel, let me know right way.  Thanks for stopping by!  See you next time.