Monday, January 24, 2011

Improvements; and the Fun part of raising Rabbits

The cupboard is all painted and finished (Great job, Hubby!!) Pallets underneath hold the sprayer and buckets we need for weighing and keeping big wash brushes handy. Cleaned nest boxes ready for another litter on a pallet stacked beside the cupboard.

Coffee cans and large yogurt contaiers hold extra hair that does have pulled, in case a mother doesn't pull enough to keep her babies warm. Also spray for ear mites, blood-stop powder, eye wash, wheat germ oil dispenser, record cards and pens, snack baggies to put record cards in, scissors, calf manna pellets for new mamas, and germ-x hand cleaner.


Underneath, nails hold the most used tools, nail clippers, wide putty blade for scraping nest boxes, and barbeque wire brushes; the best for cleaning cages.
Across the isle, my used-to-be dairy weigh scale, with bucket; for weighing fryers at harvest time.

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Now for the fun part......
Brand new newborns... she had a good litter of 9
... and here is a 2 wk old, just waking up to the world!


Content for now, but not for long.....

These are about 3 wks and getting ready to leave the nest



At naptime they are so cute, some all lined up in a row






These no longer need a nest box, but still grab a snack from Mama



Sometimes a song comes to mind as I watch these little fur-babies!
"Listen.......
Do you want to know a secret?
Do you promise not to tell?
Closer......
Let me whisper in your ear..
Things I know you want to hear..
I'm in love with you!"





"Takin a Dive"
I am glad to be able to have fun with my work :) Is your work this much fun?
It takes a special personality to be able to raise meat animals and then be able to part with them when the time comes.
Speaking of which, the rabbit truck runs this afternoon and I will be parting with about 50 of them. Two weeks from now it will be up to about 80. Meanwhile I have bunnies to wean from their mamas, who will be giving birth again in about another week.
Have fun with your rabbits!

13 comments:

Heidi said...

I'm so glad you're posting on this blog again. I really enjoy seeing your set up and pictures of your rabbits.

Tina. said...

Everything looks great! And as I said before, how handy for those that even occasionally work there ;-)P.s. the babies are so cute!

Rose said...

They are soooooo cute! And nice job on the cabinet Phil.

Michele Bilyeu said...

I don't come over this way often enough! This is the first time I have seen a photo of little 'naked' furless furbabies! Oh my goodness..that is surely something! But by the time they are all furry they are just darling. Can't imagine your country life. You must be such a hard worker..good for you!

Michele Bilyeu said...

Dang...I forgot to add...Phil, too. Great job on the cabinets and everything else, Phil!

Clear Creek Rabbit Barn said...

I'm very excited I have found your blog. We have been raising rabbits commercially for 10 years, but this is our first attempt to go BIG in into the commercial part of it. My wife and I live in Illinois and are trying this together. Hope to keep in touch with you! I'm sure we will have some questions along the way!

Country Jane said...

This will probably be our next project...hubby said he's willing to butcher so I think I'm willing to try. Wish me luck!

Clear Creek Rabbit Barn said...

Could you please tell me how you bent the front of your cages and what type or degree of a bend is it? We love this design and are wanting to build some our self. Thanks

Scott

Anonymous said...

I am wanting to start a commercial rabbitry. I have really enjoyed reading your blog! I have learned so much already!

I really like your cage set up. The cages I was getting were really expensive, then I read how you make yours. Now I have ordered the catalog and expect to receive it soon.

I am wondering how you set up your automatic waterers.

Phil and your children are so very supportive - they deserve commendation, too!

Awesome pics, too!

- Deborah

Lilac Haven said...

Looking forward to reading your blog.

Jane said...

Your rabbits are so cute,it would be hard to part with them. I am following your blog, you are welcome to follow mine as well.Blessings jane

NewlyAwakened said...

Glad to have found your blog. Wonderful :) I have a small "hobby" barn as you mentioned in one of your posts. We have 9 holes and raise for pets/meat our American Chinchillas. I am in love with my rabbits and so love them!!! Curious, how long does it take you to feed everyone? I read all your archived posts and saw the silo and wheelbarrow. I have a site too and you can see videos of my rabbit barn and our foundation breeders. We have a much smaller scale set-up than your's and went with 30in x 30in cages and 30in x 36in cages for the breeders/ litters. Also would love to see your feed:meat ratios if you've figured those out. The last batch we did I got $5.46ish per rabbit (live weight) at 9 weeks :) www.thetreehousehomestead.com

NewlyAwakened said...

Just checking back. I also (finally) got my rabbit blog up and running. It is mainly articles for anyone wanting more info on rabbits... www.exclusivelyrabbits.blogspot.com I know I can never have too many rabbit related websites to check out! LOL :)