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Post by Deleted on Feb 23, 2021 10:58:34 GMT -6
Got the hutch kinda cleaned up after that polar vortex freeze. I have a buncha rabbit poo to move around. Whew. It really set me back not being able to empty those trays for the duration. Next time, we'll just dump them even when they are frozen.
My 2nd doe had a litter of nine. Boy, she's a mean momma but a good one. So I have two does that spit out litters of nine. The 1st doe is due again in a couple weeks.
I'm going to be covered up in rabbit this spring.
The current littler of ten are sufficiently developed for me to tell what they are and I'm happy to be putting meat in the freezer. Selected two more does and another buck.
I finally got blackeye into the shed. He is still happy, clean and healthy and everyone's buddy. He truly is exceptional.
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Post by macmex on Mar 9, 2021 18:50:11 GMT -6
I suspect he'll be alright, Bon.
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Post by theozarkan on Mar 10, 2021 19:11:48 GMT -6
I've got five mini rex babbies. They are a few days old and she hasn't lost any so far. First time mother so I'm pleased.
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Post by macmex on Mar 11, 2021 6:56:18 GMT -6
Of course, a mini isn't ideal for meat, but I have heard that Rex enthusiasts have selected the full size Rex for meat production too. That wasn't the case when I first started with meat rabbits, in Mexico.
If a person wants to make money on rabbits and lives near a metropolitan area, these small, beautiful breeds can be the ticket. The pet industry pays more, as a rule.
I'm happy right now. The oldest doe in my rabbitry, Blackeye's momma, stopped conceiving for new litters, back around Thanksgiving. I have rebred her a number of times, hoping for one last litter, from which to select a successor. Yesterday she kindled. I don't know how many are in the litter, but I'm very happy about this. Over the years I can't remember how many times I've missed out on a successor for a good doe because I was counting on "one more litter."
This Giant Checkered/New Zealand mix is really nice. I love the large litters, fast and large growth. The only real fault I have observed is that some of them drop dead suddenly, and that, at a fairly young age. I attribute this to them having a tendency to heart attacks.
It's not bad enough to make me move away from this strain, especially since I try to keep 3 production does when I only really need two. I rotate them, keeping them all in breeding condition. Seems easier on them and helps me tremendously when I have an unexpected loss. It also means, in a pinch, I can supply a friend in need with an adult doe.
By the end of April or first week of May I should have three production does, all under 8 months of age. Should be set for a good while.
By the way, my January 17 litter, from a solid black doe, numbers 8. I'm selling the whole shooting match this weekend. The profit from that one litter will more than pay for all feed since last fall. Of course, that's because we get hay for really really cheap, through friends and feed about a gallon or less of all stock feed per day.
It's probably just me, but caring for my rabbits is something I actually look forward to. So meat rabbits is a really good deal for our family.
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Post by macmex on Mar 20, 2021 22:30:14 GMT -6
This photo was taken at an international type grocery store in Anchorage, Alaska (3/20/2021). It's a frozen rabbit, ready for cooking. I can't read the exact weight, but I would estimate it at about 3 lb. Look at the price! Also, notice it's a product of China! Someone should be able to produce rabbit meat more cheaply and closer to the consumer.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2021 3:03:54 GMT -6
Update
Blackeye is doing very well. He's missing me. I stuffed him into the 9ft sq cage outside the hutch because he was so unattentive to me as a pet while around the ladies. Yet, I haven't sat and visited with him in a while.
I have 3 proven does and a 4th unproven waiting in the wings for next fall. Blackeye and one young unproven buck.Z
I noticed I never bred three at once, only two and that's about all I can handle in time, space and feed. I'm thinking critically about a reduction to 3, but something tells me to continue to forge for 4 does even if two are not active. We do not yet have another alternative meat source for the 4 of us.
I'm gearing up to butcher a few and I'll get to see how the partial paralysis in my left hand handles it. I've lost fine motor skills in the left. I find it particularly curious how exhausting it is to attempt to use it. I keep at it. Fortunately, I'm right handed.
I never did set up extra cages for the kits. I found it easier to cull them when they are smaller about 7 or 8 weeks. Hides are tough to pull at older ages . I haven't been keeping record, so I'm not sure what age I mean by older.
I'm letting the back section of my yard grow in for hay but we must dig out the Johnson grass in tedious fashion.
Well, anyway it's a hopeful thing.
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Post by macmex on Jun 2, 2021 6:09:39 GMT -6
I try to maintain 3 does and breed as if I only had 2. Any more and we can't keep up with the production. Right now I have a new, young doe, coming on. She should be ready to breed in late August. The other two are both 2020 born. Since we've been covered up in rabbit meat I've taken to selling some on Craigslist. This has worked out pretty well as a supplemental income.
I didn't know about your hand. Is this something new?
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Post by Deleted on Jun 2, 2021 7:08:13 GMT -6
I had been thinking to sell proven does. Might fetch a hefty price?
Yeah. I giggle because it sounds gosh-awful when reading. I didn't think about this, but yeah my back isn't doing well at the moment. Nothing new! That medicaid extension that Oklahoma passed last year went into effect yesterday. Should see a doc soon.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 15, 2021 19:05:39 GMT -6
Calcium tablets help with back pain more than you might think. I know because I suffer quite a bit of back pain myself. I got thrown off a horse when I was about 18-years-old, and landed headfirst in a hay rake on my neck and shoulder. That got my back and neck starting to hurt pretty good. Then, in 1999, while wiring security systems for the new Tulsa County Jail, I fell backward from just below the 2nd story soffit, while standing at the top of a 20 foot extension ladder. I caught a 12" inch pipe stanchion in the back on the way down.
The pipe stanchion hitting me in the back was all that kept me from landing on the concrete floor headfirst, as the weight of the hammer drill was causing me to gain backward momentum and the stanchion turned me upright in mid-air, causing me to land on my feet, sort of like a cat. I was alright for the most part, but the hammer drill was toast after that.
I got off pretty lucky. I think God had a big hand in that. I had just gone through major brain surgery and had suffered a stroke 9 months previous to that incident. I was still very gimped up on my left side, but continued working construction despite all that. I had a 19 pound hammer drill over my right shoulder, being how my left side had been paralyzed only a few months earlier, so that my left shoulder was still too weak to hold that much weight, and my left leg was still very trembly for ladder work.
Being how I had been up there drilling 2" inch holes through 8" inches of concrete, I had stirred up copious amounts of concrete dust below me, and the laborers were all busy hosing the place down with water to abate the dust I had created in their work environment. In doing so, they had inadvertently hosed the rungs of the ladder that I was standing on and when I took that first step backward, my foot slipped and my gimpy left hand was not strong enough to hang on, so I did a half gainer from midway up the second floor. That impact with the pipe stanchion really got my back messed up good.
Because of that, and a few other things (like skydiving and playing sports), I take pain killers every 6 hours, around the clock now.
My doctor took a blood test a few years back and told me that I was also very low on calcium. I'm told that a calcium deficiency can be a major contributor to joint pain. Since then, I take calcium every day too. It really seems to help tone down the joint pain a bit. (Anything that helps). Hopefully, this information might help someone else.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 15, 2021 23:51:56 GMT -6
That hurt just thinking about it, Ron! The hardest thing for me to do with the rabbits is use the broomstick method. I haven't figured out how to do it any other way, but I absolutely hate doing this because I have a plate in my neck.
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Post by macmex on Jun 16, 2021 6:02:15 GMT -6
A lot of times selling proven breeders does get you some decent money, but I would never set out to make money that way. That's just what happens when I take stock of the needs of my household and the condition of my rabbitry and decide it's best to cut back a bit. I do find some comfort, knowing that there is a market for these extras and that many times, I get to make a new "rabbit friend" when I do sell.
My rabbitry is busting out at the seams right now. I have an extra doe, coming down the pike and 15 kits, all approaching butchering size.
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Post by Deleted on Jun 16, 2021 11:23:56 GMT -6
Yeah, I'm thinking just sell whatever is on hand at the time. I get such a relief when the rabbitry is suddenly smaller. I've 8 remaining kits and then it's just about surviving the weather and sterilizing cages. I really don't have enough space and should always begin culling at tender ages to reduce capacity as soon as possible. The cages get really dirty. At this point, a rabbit starts sneezing and revealing a weakness.
The foreman at Bill's job loves rabbit. When my freezer is full, he gets a bunch. Word is getting out. I recently had an unsolicited order for five meaties. The bosses wife wants to try some, too. That'll be six.
Because I debone the sirloin and rib meat for freezer space, I nagged Bill for whetstones. He ordered me a kit with a jig while he looked around for the old ones he has. I now have 12 - 13 if I count the scythe kit. I'm guessing it would be best to dedicate one knife to stoopid sharp. Honing is time consuming. Plus, I'm not certain it would be wise to contantly handle stoopid sharp with lameness in my leftie now. It's not stopping me, but slowd me down. I picked a pair of clean needle nose pliers to help.
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Post by heavyhitterokra on Jun 18, 2021 20:19:13 GMT -6
Bon,
I think I'd dedicate one knife to stoopid sharp. I have a little 4" inch fillet knife like that. Is sure is handy. I don't like the 6" inch knives, they're too awkward to work on things as small as the fish I catch.
Also, just wanted to say, there is a lady in Tahlequah who brings baby rabbits to Atwoods for them to sell at their store. She said she brought 9 there last week and they are all gone. Se brought 12 more today. There were people in the parking lot wanting to buy them before they made it inside the store. I don't know what she gets paid to do that? I'm guessing about half of what Atwoods charges?
When I lived in Seattle, we had rabbits lay a nest between the duals of our travel trailer. I had to move them to get our trailer out. I don't remember how many there were, but they filled the bottom of two 5-gallon buckets. They have a store similar to Walmart there, so I took them to the parking lot to set up a tailgate booth and sold all of them in one Saturday morning. When people would request a certain sex, I'd just pick up two or three of them, look under their tails, and say, "There you go."
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Post by Deleted on Jul 7, 2021 3:20:51 GMT -6
1 doe and eight kits. All the kits were pre order. I sharpened my knife on Monday. Tuesday at about 2am a couple stray dogs ripped apart 16 gauge 1/2" x 1" galvanized steel held together by j clips. Killed half of that family including the doe. We found 2 kits, both injured. They mangled the floor of the cage, but my forethought paid off. I straightened and sealed and flipped the cage upside down. Good to go.
Meanwhile, Bill comes home with another order. That pre order was willing to take as many as I have. I'm in a tough spot, because I'm turning kosher. They gotta stay outside. I had been dressing them in the house. The crucial part is setting them in salty icewater brine for up to 48 hrs. Maybe I can pick up a dorm frig for the hutch.
My reaction to the empty cage was notable. A part of me was relieved.
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Post by Deleted on Jul 10, 2021 16:23:39 GMT -6
I killed what I thought were boxelder bugs today, but they bled. They're kissing bugs located right beneath my young buck's cage. Should I jump the assumption and cull him, sterilizing everything?
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