Rabbit manure is such a useful thing to have around when you are a gardener and if you are a gardener...the rabbits will thank you. :) IN this garden I have planted various items that will appeal to the rabbits. Peas, beans, carrots, various lettuces, plaintain, radishes (love the greens), turnips (love the greens), parley and more. My son was very helpful in getting the garden planted and marked off. The sticks are leftovers from the bunnies nibbling this winter. I needed to replant my parsley as it didn't manage to over-winter this year. Last year my spinach got so huge it was amazing! The rabbits loved it in small quantities so they kept me busy mixing spinach in with their other greens. I often needed to chop the spinach into smaller bits for them as the big leaves they just wouldn't finish. But it grew well and lasted almost all summer for me. I was delighted with it's longevity. I am very hopeful that the garden will be as productive for me this year as it was last. It keeps us all happy (animal and people) quite happy. One of the greatest things about having the rabbits is they will eat 99% of all the weeds that come up. Different times of the year they prefer different things, but they'll eat it up regardless. Mind... if you don't know you weeds, either have a tester rabbit OR research it to learn what it is. If it is toxic to rabbits then don't feed it. I have one weed here that is not good for horses... if it's not good for horses it generally isn't good for rabbits either.
So what's growing in YOUR garden? :) I thought this an interesting article from the dog channel. . I'll include some excerpts below. A recent visit to a breeders showcase, however, provided a shining example of how one organization, the American Rabbit Breeders Association (ARBA), celebrates its heritage, protects its interests, and encourages the participation of breeders and exhibitors, both young and young at heart. ARBA (not to be confused with the American Rare Breeds Association) held its 90th annual convention last October at the Pennsylvania Farm Show Complex in Harrisburg, Pa. The expansive facility, a popular site for many local all-breed dog shows, seemed both familiar and novel during my visit. Leporine (Latin for "rabbit”) shows, I can safely say, are at once reminiscent of and vastly different from most contemporary canine exhibitions in the US today. Every rabbit show I've ever been at the youth have been encouraged to come. Some do it better than others. The rabbits I saw filled me with a sense of awe, certainly, but even more amazing was the number of young people in attendance at this show. Teens and tweens were everywhere. At first I thought that the hundreds of kids milling about were school students on a field trip or a Sunday school outing. I quickly realized, however, that most of the youngsters were actually exhibitors with their rabbits entered at the show! In fact, it seemed that every rabbit at the convention had been entered by someone under 18 years of age. Mentoring happens as well. Every kid competing at ARBA events needs a solid foundation in order to succeed, and experienced breed mentors play a critical role in the lives of young rabbit enthusiasts, just as they do in the dog sport. At the convention, a healthy interaction of adults and children was evident throughout the Farm Show Complex. There is much more to the article. I invite you to check it out. :)
LISMORE locals Sean Rich and Max Moras are one of just three bunny breeders in the nation to be working with the newly recognised miniature plush lop rabbit. I thought this video gave some relevant reasons for raising rabbits for meat. Cute baby rabbits to watch while listening to his dialogue.
So Logos is due sometime in the next week or so (if she got bred) during her tenure with Corbin. So tonight I brought her in the house and put her in the old guinea pig cages we still have downstairs. These are roomy 4 x 2 cages so she should be happy in there. She's getting grumpy and very snippy with her next door neighbour so I thought she just might be preggers (I hope so). Lost this little darling this morning. She was fine when I first went out to do chores, went into the house to get water, came out to hear a slight squeal and saw her in the water bowl with a doe on top of her. Seems she did a water bowl jump just as her foster mom did the same thing. End result... kit with a broken back. This was a heart breaking loss. She was such a nice little dollie.... good legs/hips/ear set everything nice about her.... Total bummer.
I have a migraine. Therefore I am not taking pictures of the babies tonight. Hopefully my head will be a better place tomorrow and I can get on that. Also I weaned the oldest kits tonight. They should be ready to move to new homes at the end of the week if all goes well. :) So I'm not sure what was going on with Miss Triscuit that yesterday.
She's normally an inquisitive girlie, quiet but curious about my goings on. She's currently raising a litter of 10 kits. (well, 9 as I fostered the runt out). So I came in to clean the board, and said good morning girlie as she was sitting in the corner of her cage instead of coming to the front that she always does. She's a curious lass this daughter of Biscuit. Very quiet, likes to know what's going on much like her momma that way she is. Doesn't raise a fuss about anything unless she's "DYING" of starvation (aka food bowl empty). Anyways, I said hi and she squeaked at me. I backed away as I was a bit startled by that and then came closer again and she's just squeak/squealing at me. Not acting upset or anything. Just quietly sitting the corner squeak/squealing at me. Every time I turned around to look at her she did the same thing. Lasted an hour. Tonight when I came in to do chores I almost expected it again, but nope. Just a curious gal gazing at me from the corner. Still not coming to the door so not sure what's up with that. By all appearances she doesn't have a thing wrong with her so I'm a bit stumped. Just not a normal thing to have happening is all.... I just thought it was the oddest thing |
AuthorI have been breeding rabbits for a quite a few years. I thoroughly enjoy them as animals and think they make great pets. I also like to take some of them to rabbit shows to see how they measure up to the standards. For the BEST rabbit forum I've ever found. Go to Rabbittalk.com. Good for the pet rabbit owner as well as the breeder for meat or show.
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