OlivYew Farm

Violet's Maternity Ward

2012-02-12T05:14:00.000-05:00

Violet was moved to a cage with a solid floor in anticipation of her litter. She's not ready for her nest box yet, but I wanted to give her a chance to get used to the new cage. I put first timer does and those I don't know/trust into cages like this in case they refuse their nestbox.

I'm fairly certain there is only one kit in there. I wish there were more, but beggars can't be choosers. lol

order placed!

2012-02-11T12:00:00.001-05:00

I placed an order for some chicks today! There was an irresistible deal for a breed I wanted, not my original decision but still a breed I love. I had to order twenty-five chicks in order to get the much reduced price, but at that rate for twenty-five was cheaper than getting fifteen of the three other breeds I wanted. Ideal Poultry has some good sales going on right now - my chicks were $1.68 each including shipping where normally bantam chicks are about $3.15 each.

To view Ideal's sales go to www.ideal-poultry.com then "shop online" at the top of the page. When the new page loads, look to the left for "advertised specials". Then click the "weekly special". As of today they have geese, bantam cochins, a crested special (this includes breeds like the Polish), a rare breed special, an Old English bantam sale, a clean legged bantam sale (could include any non-feather legged breed), a feather legged bantam sale (the opposite of the clean legged sale), an any bantam breed sale, and a sale on ducks. All of the chicken sales have a minimum order of 25 to take advantage of the lowered price, geese have a minimum of 8, and ducks have a 20 duckling minimum. You need some chicks this year. lol

I should have my chicks this coming week. It is definitely sooner than I really wanted, but for the price I couldn't turn them down. I will post pictures soon of what I use as a brooder box and the set up for the chicks, and of course pictures of when I actually receive them. I'm really excited!

the video was a hint

2012-02-09T14:19:00.000-05:00

I made and posted the palpate video because my spirits have been lifted. I have hesitated to post anything, but I do have a doe who is pregnant! I'm very excited but at the same time I am trying really hard not to be in case something happens. Anyway, Violet is due next week. I will be transferring her to a cage with a solid floor in case she doesn't use her nest box.

guide to palpating a rabbit

2012-02-09T13:35:00.000-05:00

I made this video today as a guide to palpate a doe to see if she is pregnant. I hope this is helpful to you.

buying chickens

2012-02-05T04:58:00.005-05:00

In rabbits I always suggest people buy the best they can afford. In chickens it is little more difficult because there is such a wide array of "uses". Chickens are kept for exhibition just like rabbits, they can make great pets, they can provide you with eggs, and of course they taste delicious. There are essentially two "qualities" of chicken: hatchery and breeder. From visiting poultry forums and talking to other chicken people there are big proponents of both. The breeder people are die-hards and *some* look down on those who will purchase hatchery stock. They believe only a small scale breeder can supply good birds. The hatchery people can't see spending a lot of money on birds that will ultimately be "backyard ornaments" that supply their family with eggs. They also enjoy the selection and convenience plus good customer service and low prices available through a hatchery.

In this post I would like to share my experiences with both and give a few pros and cons to each.

Hatchery: I have had chickens from two hatcheries. My first chick-buying experience was through Tractor Supply who ordered their chicks from a hatchery. We went a little crazy with buying chicks and had quite a number. Some of those were sold/given away and several more were lost to a snake and our own dog. Some also died within days of purchase and although they were our first chicks, we did everything "by the book" so I'm not sure what happened. TSC won't refund on chicks that die so soon after purchase. The remainder of those birds was sold last year.

Group of young hatchery birds. Includes bantam Brahma, Cochin, Cornish,
Gold Sebright, Silkies, Standard Barred Rock and Standard Ancona.

My second hatchery experience was ordering directly from a well known hatchery. I ordered 25 chicks to avoid having fillers (usually roosters) added to my order for warmth. Two of the chicks were dead on arrival and I believe it was three more that died the next day. Again I was doing things according to instructions that came with the chicks. So I emailed the hatchery and was refunded for the five deceased chicks. Those chicks grew and did well. Again I sold what I didn't want to keep. But we were having a predator problem. Several chicks disappeared without a trace until I was left with about 5-6 chicks which I placed in a rabbit cage. Turns out it was a snake. The chicken area has been reinforced so I hope we don't experience problems like this again. Chickens are like a predator-magnet, animals that I haven't seen before have been caught snooping around the chicken pen.

Overall I have been happy with ordering directly from a hatchery. Going through a secondary source, like Tractor Supply, is convenient if you want only a small number of chicks (my local TSC has a 6 chick minimum). However unless you get there right as they are unloading the chicks as I was lucky enough one day, people can handle the chicks as much as they want and potentially bring illness from their existing flock. Plus my TSC said they can't give me a refund even if chicks die within 24 hours.

Chicks from a hatchery are shipped out as soon as they hatch (sometimes they are called "day-olds"). Chicks can survive for a couple of days right after hatching without food or water because they are still absorbing the yolk. Due to their age the downside to ordering from a hatchery is that you often have to buy large numbers of chicks to meet their minimum (ranging from 20-30 chicks). The minimum numbers are in place for the safety of the chicks - they will keep each other warm.

A few hatcheries will let you order fewer chicks, sometimes as few as 5-6 chicks. They may charge you extra to use a heat pack but they won't add more chicks. If the hatchery doesn't use a heat pack they will probably add "filler" chicks to your order (for free) to reach the minimum number so the chicks don't chill.

Those fillers may be free but they're often male chicks. If you've never had roosters, take my word for it: they can be difficult to get rid of if you don't want to raise them for the dinner table. All my extra roosters have been given away free so it's best to identify males at the youngest age possible so you aren't stuck feeding them longer than you have to. Of course, if you're willing to raise the extra roosters and then process them it's inexpensive meat.

Depending on breed, you will pay about $3 per chick from a hatcery. Shipping can range from just a few cents per bird up to $35 (usually for small orders). Hatcheries sell beautiful birds but those birds may not conform to the breed standard and therefore may not look like what you expect. Unfortunately many hatcheries will display pictures of show birds on their websites and that can be a little deceiving. However, if you are only looking for pets or birds with a purpose (eggs or meat) then you can't go wrong with a hatchery. Customer service is usually quite good and the birds are in good health or they wouldn't be able to stay in business.

From a Breeder: My very first breeder experience was trading a pet Dutch rabbit for a pair of Cochin bantams. I was told they "could" be shown and were just 1 year old, which isn't old for chickens (unless you want high egg production). I never got a single egg out of the hen who died within a year after aging rapidly. The rooster also began to act older - stiff like he had arthritis. I was told I could approximate his age by looking at his spurs. An older roo will have large and thick spurs while a young roo will have tiny spurs. Percy's were large so I imagine he was older than the year he was supposed to be - especially since a rooster I raised from a chick barely had any spurs at a year old.

My next experience was when I found a gorgeous trio of silver duckwing Old English bantams. It was love at first sight. They were at a poultry show in the sales section so I called the owner's cell phone which was listed on a tag on the cage. He came over, took my money and handed me the birds. He didn't say anything other than the price of the birds and their age. To this day I still don't know his name and I wouldn't recognize him if he came up to me and said "hey I sold you those Old English, remember me?" Those birds were long-lived and actually laid eggs. I believe they were the age he said, but there was no "customer service".

My third experience was buying a pair of Silkie chicks from a breeder at another poultry show. She was very enthusiastic about her birds. She told me all about her Silkies and showed me her entrants for the show. She was proud of them and was excited that someone was interested in not just her Silkies but the breed in general. Later when Chester had head tilt, I was able to email her and get help. I'm sure I could email her today and she would be happy to talk about her birds. Other than head tilt (which Silkies are apparently prone to already), these two have been in great health.

From a breeder you can get some very beautiful birds. Frequently they are breeding according to the Standard and will have chickens that look like the breed is supposed to. From a hatchery you may get something mildly passable for the breed or in a few cases you'll get something that looks like it is supposed to. Depending upon what you want, you can find a breeder who just hands over the birds or you can find someone who is willing to give you advice. You may also find someone who is deceptive.

Birds from a breeder usually cost more, even as chicks. My grown trio of Old English cost $50, the pair of Silkies was $20 at about 3 weeks old. I have seen show chickens sell for much more. Egg laying is occasionally reduced in show line birds as it isn't as great of a focus. Hatcheries breed for egg laying ability because that's what their business relies on. Also please note that not every breeder is going to have "superior" stock. Do your research based on your interests in keeping chickens and then find a breeder who is already working toward what you want.

Ultimately where you buy from is up to you and what you want in a chicken. I am faced with this decision as I am wanting to expand my chicken project again. I have considered showing poultry but I've yet to find a breeder I like with the breeds I'm interested in. It also appears you need to hatch a LOT of chicks in order to find good showable ones - I don't have the time, space, or inclination to work with such large numbers of birds. As I would like a variety of birds I will probably end up buying from another hatchery.

rabbit update

2012-02-04T17:59:00.000-05:00

I am enjoying my bunny break still. I have not had to worry about breeding or being frustrated that I don't have anything of my own breeding to show as the spring season starts up. I also don't feel as guilty for spending money on them. Right now, I have rabbits just as pets and it's nice. I miss having litters and searching out the next show hopeful and talking to bunny people while waiting for our rabbits to be judged.

I did set a date for myself to make that ultimate decision - either the rabbits stay to continue working with what I have or I try out a new breed or I sell all but two rabbits to keep as pets only. That date is set for the end of this month. Until then I'm going to keep enjoying my rabbits and thinking about my options.

If you have thoughts or suggestions, please post it!

Decision Made

2012-01-30T22:32:00.000-05:00

I believe I made a decision about the bantam breeds I would like to have.

drum roll....

For egg production: the bantam Wyandotte.

I really like Cochins and had a pair for a while, but feathered feet are such a pain! 'Dottes have a similar body shape but clean legged (no feathers) and are supposed to be better layers anyway. I like all the colors they come in so I may let the hatchery surprise me.

I am also going to get some other birds - either 1 breed to raise purely for ornamental purposes or an assortment of breeds for eggs and personal enjoyment. The breed I want for ornamental is called the Modern bantam in lemon blue color. Moderns are unusual looking chickens, they are thin with very long legs. If I go for an assortment I may get a true assortment where you don't know what you're getting or I'd specifically like to have Cornish, Sebrights, Easter Eggers, and Buff Orpingtons.

* Look for a slightly revised version of the "Choosing the Right Bantam" post. I have a few more notes I would like to add. Hopefully that will be up tomorrow or later this week for sure.

As for my rabbits, I am really enjoying just having them. I feel no pressure to breed them or get to a show or worry about dumping money into non-productive animals. I like them and as far as one can tell, they like me. That's the way owning rabbits should be -- No stress involved.

I haven't tried breeding them anymore although both does were bred before my hiatus. I'll be able to palpate within the next several days. I'm sure the results of that will weigh heavily upon my decision with rabbits. Even if I part with the rabbits now, I will definitely return to them later in life. Rabbits have played such a huge role in shaping the person I am today and I can honestly say they are my favorite animal. Plus the people I have gotten to know through breeding and showing rabbits are quite amazing and I would not want to lose touch with them.

Choosing the Right Bantam....revised

2012-01-29T12:31:00.001-05:00

For my backyard chicken flock, I am looking at breeds which should be good egg layers. A bonus would be if the bird would be dual purpose, but a bantam for dinner will not provide much. I have been reading and learning the basics about chickens, particularly bantams, for a year now. I hope this post will help you choose the right bantam breed.

Need eggs? If you would like your bantams to lay eggs, first look to the bantam version of breeds which already lay well. These include (but aren't limited to) Wyandottes, Plymouth Rocks, Rhode Island Reds, Orpingtons, and Leghorns. You can also check out this chart with gives a very generalized look at several breeds including their egg laying capability. You are likely to find another breed that would lay just as well. I would also suggest buying your stock from a hatchery, any hatchery, because they select for birds that lay very well. Show line chickens often don't lay as well because the breeders focus on meeting the breed standard than production ability.

Need a setter? A broody hen is one who wants to sit on the nest all day and hatch eggs. You may want a hen who will hatch her own eggs to save having to buy an incubator. Breeds known to be good "broodies" are the Silkie (probably the most well known), the Cochin, d'Uccle, and Brahma. Breeders of non-brooding breeds often keep Silkie hens on hand to hatch eggs under.

Need a meat breed? Bantams are not really bred to be a meat type of chicken. However, there are certain breeds which may make a good choice. First and most obvious is the Cornish bantam. Standard Cornish are already common meat breeds and I had a bantam hen once who had a nice large breast. I imagine a flock of them could feed a couple or small family nicely. Ever heard of the Cornish Rock? That's a cross between the standard sized Cornish and Plymouth Rock which grows at an insanely fast rate and is what most grocery store meat chickens are. You could try crossing the bantams of these breeds to see if similar results arise. Another breed which may make a decent meat bantam is the Old English. They have a large breast and if you continue breeding for it, you could have a productive dual purpose flock (Old English seem to be pretty good layers).

Need a pet? Yep, chickens can make really cool pets. No I don't mean as house pets (although people certainly do that). Bantams actually make the best pets because they're smaller and easier to handle, plus they are generally more docile because they are primarily kept as exhibition birds. The way the bird is raised will also have an affect on the personality.
Not sure what you want or like? If you aren't sure of the breed you'd like best, take advantage of hatchery or feed store assortments. This is a random collection of breeds not labeled. Part of the fun is identifying what you might have in your assortment. It will also give you a variety of breeds to see which you like the best. From a hatchery, assortments often cost less than choosing a specific breed.

I have yet to choose the breed(s) I want to work with. I have lists of what I'm considering but the decision hasn't been made. I particularly like Cochins, Wyandottes, Easter Eggers, Sicilian Buttercups, Orpingtons, Cornish, and Old English.

expanding my chicken project

2012-01-26T19:02:00.000-05:00

Now that things are less turbulent here and I am taking a short break from the rabbits, I have been considering expanding my chicken flock. I rehomed all but three birds and ended up giving Fluffy the rooster away because he starting crowing nonstop all day. Hatcheries are a dangerous place for a chicken lover - it's so easy to enter your credit card information and have a box full of chicks you choose shipped directly to you. No, I haven't placed an order but I've been really thinking about it.

I still prefer the bantam breeds. They are smaller, eat less (slightly), have that cute factor, and they are less intimidating - lol.

Rabbit Hiatus

2012-01-22T22:08:00.000-05:00

Today I felt an overwhelming desire to be done with my rabbits. No, I'm not selling out but I need a break. I feel like I take my rabbits too seriously and lets face it. They are just rabbits. My mood should not revolve around whether I can get litters or whatever.

So for now, my rabbitry is on hiatus. I don't know how long it will last, maybe a week maybe a year. I will return to rabbitry mentality when it feels appropriate. I may still blog about them and I will continue participating in forums because I would miss my bunny friends too much.

Boys or Girls

2012-01-21T10:24:00.000-05:00

Silkies are probably the most difficult breed of chicken to determine gender. A show type Silkie or Silkies from those lines will have very small wattles and sometimes a very small comb on the roosters. Combs can and should be hidden by fluffs of feathers. On most breeds, you can somewhat tell by the hackle (neck) and tail feathers whether the chicken is male or female. Males have triangular hackles and long streaming tail feathers while a female will have rounded hackles and a short tail. Silkies don't really show these characteristics.

I've been trying to determine the gender of my two Silkies, it has not been easy. One chick (remember Chester?) has bumps where spurs may come in - a breeder told me all of her Silkies regardless of gender get these. But "Chester" has the most feminine body stance (hens usually stand lower and roosters are more upright and cocky). The Showgirl (who still has no name) is more upright and acts more like a rooster, yet has no wattles, comb, or spur bumps.

The other day I posted pictures of both Silkies on a chicken forum hoping those more experienced could help me. Even experienced Silkie and poultry people could not agree. I got opinions they were both boys, both girls, one of each, and nobody agreed. I guess I'll just have to wait a few months until they crow or lay eggs.

production problems

2012-01-16T23:24:00.000-05:00

As I've ranted about before, I am having a lot of trouble getting rabbits bred. It isn't just certain rabbits, this is between two breeds (when I still had Harlequins). Harlequins are notorious for not breeding easily and for a long time I attributed my litter drought to that. However, my Dutch have not reproduced either. The two does are 7 months old and my buck is 2 years old. They are all within healthy/prime breeding age. So what can be the problem? Because my problems are between two breeds I have to say it's something environmental.

I moved my rabbits into a different shed. This shed is more enclosed and has lights. I've been trying to keep the lights on the rabbits until 8-9 pm every night. That hasn't worked.

I changed my feed maybe 2 or possibly even 3 months ago now. The previous brand worked well in the past - great production and growth rates in Dutch. But I decided to change food after months of no breeding success. I'm now on Manna Pro. I am able to get both brands very fresh - I've not bought a bag that was older than 30 days.

The rabbits are very eager to breed. The does lift and the buck mates them. I allow this to happen 2-3 times and palpate between ten and fourteen days. So it isn't the rabbits.

At this point I don't know what else to try. I am thinking of moving a pair of rabbits into the house for a few weeks to see if that helps.

bunny talk

2012-01-11T21:03:00.001-05:00

I am in a very “dark” place with my rabbits right now. It has been 10 months since my last litter was born, that isn’t for my lack of trying – far from it. This is where my frustration stems from. Without new generations, there is no way to improve my herd. Everything is very static. I love my rabbits but I don’t know what to do at this point. I have made a few changes: leaving a light on in the barn until 8-9 pm each night, I changed to a different food, and purchased a new and willing buck to breed from.

To be honest, I’m toying with the idea of giving up entirely. That’s not in my nature but there has to be a point where one stops putting money, stress, tears, and effort into a project that just isn’t working. I think I’m to that point. This is not a sell-out announcement, yet. Just another rant.

A bunny friend suggested I try a different breed to see if I could have some success that way. I don’t even know that I want to spend more money on more rabbits. I did peruse the ARBA breed page and thought about what I might like: Cinnamon (purely sentimental), New Zealand, Standard Rex, and Thrianta.

And the reason I would have Cinnamons:

The last rabbit I *really* bonded with. His name was Buggs and he was strictly a pet store rabbit but he did resemble a Cinn.

I don’t know what I’ll do at this point, sell out or keep trying with the Dutch or look into trying out a new breed.

No more Harlequins

2012-01-09T13:40:00.000-05:00

As of yesterday afternoon, I don't have Harlequins anymore and probably won't have them again. I really liked my pair, they were sweet natured animals and I had such high hopes for them. Yet they caused me frustration at the same time. I got so close to selling all of my rabbits. I'm hoping that with my Harlequins out of the picture I can refocus on what makes me happy in rabbits.

Tacoma and Bonus went to live with my friend Lauren at Hendricks Hearth. I'm going to miss them, but I know they're in good hands.

It's too cold!

2012-01-03T11:17:00.000-05:00

This was the first morning of winter that the rabbits' water froze. Thankfully I switched from water bottles to plastic bowls earlier this year. Thawing out a small bowl is far easier than thawing a large bottle - plus they don't leak.

I can't wait for the weather to warm back up. I hate winter. Blah! The rabbits on the other hand seem content. They're just relaxing in the barn and can't understand why I have to wear a coat.

silkie art

2012-01-02T04:24:00.000-05:00

what I'm doing today

2012-01-01T13:28:00.000-05:00

This is what I'm doing today....

I think I'm going to order seeds this year rather than buy from WalMart as I have in the past. There are so many gorgeous pictures in the book. It's making me want to buy and plant more than I should. I must resist though! We decided to go with a waist-high homemade garden system. Once we start building them I'll post photos it will really help with maintenance.

We made a list of things everyone wants: tomatoes, strawberries, peppers, green beans, peas, lettuce, cucumbers, carrots, radish, squash, corn, cantaloupe, honeydew melon, and watermelon. I don't know that all of this will be planted but I have requests for it all.

website and photos

2012-01-01T12:44:00.001-05:00

I have updated the website - I was never fond of the wintery lay out I came up with so I've wanted to change it since I put it up. See it here. I like the way it looks now, it's clean and more professional in appearance. I also like the colors. If it's hard for you to read please let me know by leaving a comment here.

I also took new photos of the rabbits and my Showgirl chick.

Violet
Black Senior Doe

Elmer
Black Sr. Buck
(a goober about posing)

The Showgirl
No name yet.

Honey
Tort Sr. Doe

photo shoot

2011-12-26T13:45:00.000-05:00

I have been meaning to get photos of my rabbits to post on the blog and to update my website. Unfortunately I'm not the best bunny photographer. I tried to use a towel to hide the ugly barn wall but then I couldn't get my rabbits to cooperate. I took several pictures of each rabbit until I got one that looked ok on the camera's view screen but when I transferred them to the computer I noticed all kinds of problems. The only rabbit who looked decent in the photos was my NZR.

And remember Chester, the wry neck chick? Look at him now! He made a full recovery!

Merry Christmas

2011-12-23T14:35:00.000-05:00

Container Garden

2011-12-19T17:17:00.000-05:00

I mentioned in my goals post about wanting to utilize containers/planters for my 2012 garden. I feel that would reduce weeds and make things overall much easier for one person to care for. While walking the dogs around the yard, I came across the perfect thing for my garden...

We bought this plastic kiddie pool from WalMart of maybe $15
two years ago. As you can see, it's been hidden away under my bunny
barn.

Wouldn't this be awesome to use? I think so. I decided to prep it today because I just couldn't hold my excitement. Flower pots generally have a drainage hole in the bottom, following that plan I decided to make holes in this. But how?

Pliers of course! Then I just stabbed a bunch of holes all over the bottom and some a few inches up the side.

Stab the pliers in, and this is your result:

I quickly put on work gloves. The impact of the pliers going in hurt my hands. Not a lot of force was needed to break through but I did this several times to have it look like this:

Then I dug up the rabbit manure from the dirt-floor barn. I don't use pans in there so the waste collects on the floor. I remove it about twice a year to my compost pile.

Look at how gorgeous this stuff is...

If I were a plant, I'd want to grow in this.

That's the for-now finished product. I'm going to add more from my compost heap and probably a couple of bags of potting soil later on. I want the container prepped really well before I try to grow anything in it.

I currently use wood shavings in my rabbit pans which don't compost very quickly. I am thinking of switching to something which will break down faster - any suggestions? I was thinking maybe newspaper or peat. I want something in the pans to reduce odor and prevent my pans from rusting as fast. Would newspaper need to be changed more often?

Elmer

2011-12-18T16:12:00.000-05:00

Elmer is my new Dutch buck. I never showed a picture of him so I snapped a quick one while I was cleaning pans this afternoon.

Check out that body! He is so nice. I'm extremely happy with him and I can't wait to get some of his babies.

Chicken Wry Neck

2011-12-17T10:55:00.000-05:00

Having rabbits for several years I've heard of wry neck and finally experienced it for the first time earlier this year. Here is a link to information about it in rabbits. Wry neck can also affect poultry. And here is a discussion on a poultry forum about wry neck.

I checked my Silkie/Showgirl chicks the other morning and one was not in very good shape. His head was on the ground and his body was thrashing about. At first I thought he had somehow broken his neck but upon closer inspection it appears to be wry neck. After doing some reading, I decided to treat him.

My method of treatment: 5mg of prednisone daily over 5 days and duramycin in the water for two weeks (14 days). Plus complete isolation from all other birds.

Day 1: I think it's a good idea for me to share my experiences with others so that hopefully you can benefit as well. I spent some time reading, comparing symptoms, and learning about treatments. Then we headed off to TSC to buy some meds. I had Prednisone (10mg tablets) on hand already so I purchased an antibiotic - Duramycin and some Sav-A-Chick which is powdered vitamins & electrolytes to mix in the water. I cut a 10mg Prednisone tablet in half then crushed one half over some chick grower feed mixed with a bit of water to make a damp mush. I also added a bit of Duramycin power to a shallow dish and helped the chick (Chester) drink. He wasn't very willing so I used a clean/new 3mL syringe to put drops of medicated water in his mouth.

Day 2: Chester's eyes were glued shut and he had "snot" coming out of his nostrils, but he was able to pick his neck up (although his head is still tilted). I used a wet q-tip to clean his eyes and beak. The chicks' breeder suggested feeding boiled egg when I got them so I feed one boiled egg for 2 chicks per day. I made Chester a boiled egg and put his Prednisone on top, which he ate more willingly. Again I mixed some antibiotic in a water dish and helped him drink - today he drank on his own. I do not leave water in the cage with him. Since he has trouble holding his head up, I'm afraid he would drown if I left water for him all the time. Fortunately he got sick at the perfect time, I have a break from college until January so I can water him several times per day. Also mixing the grower crumble with water until it's damp allows him to get a bit of water in him safely.

Day 3: Today Chester's nose was completely blocked with a snot-crust. I had to use a pencil to gently dig the crust out. Treatment was the same. I help him drink at least 3 times a day.

Day 4: Chester seems to be doing a bit better. He was eating when I checked him this morning and is still able to hold his neck up by himself, although he is very wobbly and his head is twisted at an odd angle. His crop (part of the chicken digestive tract) was the fullest it's been since he became sick. I'm hopeful. He guzzled medicated water readily, although still needs my help. The Duramycin package says I can give the antibiotic for 10-14 days in a row so I think that's what I'll do. I am about to boil his egg and coat it in Prednisone. Although his nostrils still had crust on them, they weren't as bad as yesterday. I forgot to mention that I have been medicating Chester's usual cage-mate with antibiotic in her water although she continues to be healthy. I will do this for 5-7 days just to be on the safe side.

In this photo I am helping Chester drink. Please note that I'm NOT forcing his beak into the water. I am guiding him toward it and supporting his head. Don't hold the chicken there, they have to lift their head to swallow. If you use a syringe to get water in, only put a few drops at a time into their mouth. Don't squirt it in or you could get water into the lungs.

This picture shows off Chester's full crop. The crop is at the top of the chest. You can see the bulge near my middle finger. To a newbie chicken-keeper a full crop can look like a tumor or other growth, but don't panic - it's completely normal. :)

Day 5: Chester did about the same today as yesterday. He willing ate the mash and drank plenty of medicated water. He seems a bit stronger. He does still have snot and caked eyes - I'm really hoping that clears up soon. I decided that today would be the last day to treat the other chick as she has shown no symptoms at all.

Wet mash

Day 6: Chester is doing SO much better today compared to yesterday! He had only a little bit of crust around his nostrils and his eyes were completely clear. I discontinued the prednisone tablets but I'm still giving the antibiotics in his water. I will probably keep that up for the max time (10-14 days). Speaking of water, Chester was able to hold his neck all the way up without my help (head is still tilted) so I decided to leave a very shallow dish of water in the cage with him. I also made warm mash again (regular feed + warm water to make the food damp) to ensure he gets enough water when I'm at the animal hospital I job shadow at. Treatment seems to be effective so far and I am hoping he will make a full recovery. I put Fluffy in with the Showgirl chick (unnamed as of yet) so neither would be lonely. I can't wait until Chester is better so he can have some chicken company. He is making improvements but I just can't risk the other two.

Day 7: Chester is still doing very well. He eats like a little pig and drinks his medicated water like a good boy (maybe he's a girl, with Silkies it can be very hard to tell). He is standing more upright and walking better, although he easily loses his balance due to the still tilted head. I'm so pleased with his progress. On day 1 I thought he would be lucky to make it through the night but now I am expecting him to recover! Check out the pictures from today:

Chester drinking all by himself.

He's able to stand up (day 7 of treatment) pretty well. Sometimes he
does lose his balance and he can't perch very well.

Check out those clear eyes and nose! Day 7

Day 8: Chester is about the same today. A bit less snot on his nose maybe. I haven't published this blog yet because as I said, on day 1 I wasn't sure that Chester would survive. But now I feel we're "out of the woods" and so I'll post my treatment and his progress in hopes of helping someone else. Chester is still being isolated in the house in a plastic tote. The first couple of days I kept him on newspaper so I could observe his poop. Since it was healthy looking I put in wood shavings after about 3 days. I've not decided when he will be allowed back with the other chickens. I am going to be giving him Duramycin for about one more week. Once that's stopped I will keep him in isolation for at least one more week to be sure he's really doing better.
Please note that this is a treatment I chose to use, I did not consult a veterinarian. If you follow this treatment it is at your own risk. I cannot be held responsible.

2012 Goals

2011-12-12T22:40:00.003-05:00

2011 is rapidly coming to an end - and I question where the year went, it seems like not too long ago we were celebrating the new year. Now is the time where I am defining my goals for next year. These are simply guidelines and I'll rewrite them throughout the year. Here's what I have so far:

The Rabbitry

First I want to make a decision about the Harlequins. They aren't doing anything in my barn right now. I've decided to give them until March of 2012 to produce 1 litter, whether it survives or not, just 1 litter and I'll keep them for a bit longer. If they haven't had a litter by March 2012, I will either sell the Harlies or transfer them to a community pet bunny pen. As of December 27th I made the decision to part with my pair of Harlequins and will not be working with them anymore. I'm hoping that once they're gone I will be able to enjoy the hobby more.

In Dutch, I want to work on producing litters which better fit the SOP. In my herd I would like to see better depth on the blacks, a wider/fuller hindquarter and lighter color on the torts.

Poultry

I'll be keeping a few bantam Chickens for pets and eggs. I've become a bit interested in showing so I have secretly thought about buying a nice show/breeding quality pair to play with. I'm not sure right now if I want to invest approximately $100 in a good pair plus the inevitable shipping charge (another $50-$60).

The Garden

The garden is where I really want to succeed in the coming year. This year's garden was a total failure. For next year I plan to research the best methods of gardening (as naturally as possible) and put those ideas into action. I would like to utilize a raised bed and attempt container gardening of things like tomatoes, peppers, etc. My grow list contains (for now): cucumbers, tomatoes, corn (maybe), peppers, lettuce, carrots, radishes, peas, beans, broccoli, onions, strawberries, kale, spinach, and I would love to find a dwarf apple tree.

Chicken Boots

2011-12-12T16:16:00.000-05:00

I've been wanting some rainboots since our last torrential downpour. I went in Tractor Supply for some things and found these. Chicken boots. For once I'm looking forward to some rain to try them out. lol

And we brought Fluffy into the house to meet the chicks. They did well together. Coraline, the cat, got a lesson in not messing with a rooster - even a fluffy one! She isn't hurt, just got her nose pecked when she tried pawing his face.

Breeding Time - Updated

2011-12-07T10:56:00.000-05:00

I need does bred this week in order to have litters that are just old enough to be shown at the NWGCRC show in March. This is a big rabbit show in Dalton, GA - just a 20 minute drive from my place! For me this show is like convention to other rabbit breeders.

I haven't shown anything since 2011's "convention" and coincidentally that was my last successful litter. I think I actually managed to get my tort Dutch, Honey, bred today to my new buck. She seemed receptive and he was a very eager breeder. I'm going to put her back with him this evening to be sure. Violet, the black Dutch, wasn't interested at all. That's ok, I'll try her again today or tomorrow.

I may attempt to breed the Harlies but I'm not expecting anything. As of right now, I am unsure of what to do with them. They aren't productive at all and go through twice as much feed as the Dutch. A friend has been interested in taking the pair if I decide to sell them - I told her I would trade them for a New Zealand red doe. If she gets one she wants to part with I may just do that. I would be sad to see the Harlequins go but I'm obviously not having luck.

Update: On December 7th I got Violet bred to the new buck! I'll know for sure if either doe took within ten days. Neither Harlie buck (I lump the NZR in with that as he was purchased for the Harlequin program) was willing/interested in breeding Tacoma. I may try and breed her with the Dutch buck just so she's bred.

Bunny Day

2011-12-04T16:47:00.001-05:00

I put a pair of Dutch outside in hopes that the warmth, sunlight, and new environment would encourage them to breed.

Excuse the hair, these cages came out of storage.

With the rabbits out, I decided it was the perfect time to dump pans. I empty the pans into the wheelbarrow and use this handy tool to scrape out the bottom:

Then I put in fresh shavings (but ran out halfway through). Looks better doesn't it?

And finally I lugged the waste over to my compost heap which is along the wooded area near my house.

I swept up the barn. As I was doing that, I moved an empty cage that had been sitting on the floor only to find where mice/rats have been nesting. They did this to my floor:

You can see the ground under the raised floor of the barn.

Considering that and the soft spot of the floor from the roof previously leaking for who knows how many years, I decided to put down painter's plastic. It will keep future leaks and rabbit waste off the floor itself (hopefully preserving it for at least a few more years) and will allow me to use my two cages which don't have pans until I have the extra money to buy said pans.

Since it now gets dark by six, I decided to move all of the rabbits into the barn with electricity. That serves two purposes: sometimes I don't get to leave my genetics lab until 6pm and therefore I have to feed/water in the dark and hopefully the extra light will entice some bunnies to breed. And here they are:

RATS!

2011-12-03T11:00:00.003-05:00

Why yes, that IS a rat on my bed! No, he isn’t wild. His name is Socrates and he is my pet.

A lot of people are shocked by that and even more shocked when they discover I have two pet rats. In reality, rats are excellent pets. To me they are a much better choice than a hamster (but don’t tell my hamsters that).

Rats are very gentle creatures – out of maybe ten rats I’ve owned in my life I have only been bitten one time by a rat who was always very anxious, an exception rather than the rule. My other rats have all been very curious and playful, not a mean bone to them. I would say they are similar to a ferret in behavior by which I mean they are funny, spirited, and some will even steal small objects from you. So this blog entry is an introduction to rats and I’ll post links to my favorite ratty resources at the end.

Male or Female?

Most of my rats have been male. In general males are fat and lazy while the females are not quite high strung, but definitely more active. I like the laid back attitude of the male rats although some will have a manly musk to them (which should never be overwhelming if the cage is cleaned frequently). You also have to be careful about buying females from a pet store – if they’ve been housed in a cage with males, it’s very possible she is pregnant already. Usually, females keep their cage looking cleaner than a male. There are pros and cons to each sex and it’s up to you to decide which temperament you like the best.

Please note that the behaviors I listed are only generalizations. The behavior between my two male rats is very different. Soc is a typical male rat, he's ok with anything and even lets me put a ferret harness on him. Geoff is more like a female rat, he won't sit still for petting he would rather be off getting into things.

You need two!

Rats are really social and it’s better to have two or more (plus I bet once you have a rat you’ll be so in love that you have to have more). I bought Geoffrey on a whim because he was the only baby rat in a cage with much bigger males who bullied him. I took him home, babied him, and built him a palace for a cage. But he wasn’t totally happy – safe yes, but not happy. So I visited a different pet store, played with all their male rats and selected a docile one to be Geoffrey’s friend. Enter Socrates. Geoff’s personality is completely different; he is more outgoing and will run up and down the sides of his wire cage playing with Soc.

The Cage

Geoffrey and Socrates live in a cage that I made myself out of material I had at home. The base is a long shallow storage bin (~$6 at Walmart) with walls and top made out of 1/2x1/2” spaced “rabbit wire”. I drilled holes into the plastic base and used zip ties to attach the wire. The cage is quite tall with plans to add some additional levels in the works. At the end of this blog is a link to a cage calculator, which allows you to input dimensions and it will tell you how many rats can comfortably live in that size cage.

If you’re handy, I really recommend you build your own cage. It’s much cheaper and you can make it exactly to your specifications. There are manufacturers of rat cages but beware the size of the cage and the spacing of the wire. 1x1/2” is the largest spacing I would use, you would be amazed at what a grown rat can slither through to escape.

I put down a 2-3 inch layer of pine shavings. Some sources say not to use pine or cedar shavings but I’ve never had an issue using pine. Other things work great too – corn cob litter, aspen shavings, etc. Then I give the rats hiding places, bedding material, and things to chew. I like to use cardboard boxes for hidey holes because they’re going to chew up whatever you give them anyway so why not use something free, right? Plain (unscented) toilet paper or tissues create a pleasant nesting material as well as shredded paper (occasionally I take free scrap paper from my college to bring home and shred for my rodents). I will discuss toys and chew things later on.

Feeding

There is some debate over what to feed to rats. If you have access to it, “lab blocks” come highly recommended. Sadly I can’t find a local source and instead I feed a base of a hamster seed mix along with a small amount of high quality dog food. My rats are doing well on it, they are a good size with healthy shiny coats.

Of course rats love treats too! I bought a bulk bag of basted dog biscuits one day as treats for my dog and so I’ll break off a chunk and give it to the rats. They love it! They also enjoy stale cereal and the occasional cooked (usually boiled) egg.

For water I use a heavy bowl that the boys can’t tip over. I change it daily. A water bottle also works but mine chewed the bottle from inside the cage and ruined it.

Toys & Chewing

The dog biscuits I mentioned before are good for the rats to chew but they have other things as well. Many of the rat toys are the same type of toys I give my rabbits: wire jingle balls (designed for cats) and rope-and-wood bird toys are the most popular.

Igloos are neat toys/sleep spots but I don’t really like the idea of my rats ingesting plastic so I try to only give items made of safe material: cardboard, paper, untreated wood, etc. I’ve never seen a rat use a wheel before so I’m not sure how they’d like it or if it would be a worthwhile accessory.

Extra Reading

Showing off Socrates' belly marking

Cage calculator

Curiosity Rats – I found this website long ago and it is my primary resource for rats. This breeder is very well informed and provides a lot of information on her website.

Rat Cage - I checked PetSmart's website and this is the only cage I would consider using for two rats that doesn't cost an arm & leg. It's still $40 and for that much you could buy the materials and build an amazing cage.

Geoffrey inspecting the camera....
He ran away when it flashed so I barely got a picture.

Friends for Fluffy

2011-11-30T11:43:00.001-05:00

If you recall, I rehomed all of my poultry with the exception of one chicken who didn't find a home with the rest (they didn't want multiple roosters and chose my Cochin instead). The remaining chicken is a Silkie rooster named Fluffy (or Flufferumpicus). He's always been a skittish bird, even as a little chick. But now without the competition of my other birds he has blossomed into a delightful chicken. He will even come up and eat out of my hand. Awwwwww

That made my heart melt and I've kept him free range. Every time I come outside he follows me around like a puppy and if he finds food he calls to me, a sound good roos make to attract their hens to a treat. Then I felt bad that he was all alone and one thing led to another and I bought him two friends at a poultry show.

The Showgirl, the breeder thinks this is a boy
but that's ok because Silkies are docile like that.

PS. Look closely at his neck. Notice anything?

Yup, he has NO feathers. That's what makes him a "Showgirl".
I think it's adorable and the breeder thinks he would make a good show
chicken so I might give it a go next year.

And this one we think is a pullet. She is a true Silkie, although
definitely pet quality. Silkies are supposed to have 5 toes per foot
and she has only 4. But I love her regardless of her showability.

Now Brandon thinks we should move the birds into the house. He says lots of people have house chickens. I'm not sure I want to be one of them.

Thanksgiving on the Farm

2011-11-24T16:31:00.000-05:00

It's Thanksgiving on the farm! Although I've had a rough year farm-wise, there is still so much for me to be thankful for. I'm thankful for the rabbits I have - they are sweet and beautiful, I'm thankful for my single chicken Fluffy - without the competition of the rest of my flock he has become a completely different bird, I'm thankful for the knowledge I've gained and the lessons learned this year, I am thankful for my friends who are understanding of my hobby, give me advice, and listen to my success and failure, and most of all I am thankful for my family and Brandon who are supportive of me, encourage me, help me care for the animals when I need them to, and don't grimmace too much when I bring a new pet home. lol

And now to show off some photos from today.

Sweet potatoes make a great treat and are
also good to help rabbits gain weight/condition.
Beware over feeding, they will make your rabbits
put on weight quickly.

I purchased this package of treats at PetSmart on sale
for $1. It's just dried carrots and peas but the rabbits
liked it pretty well.

Farm Sales

2011-11-23T00:37:00.000-05:00

I've gotten a few emails regarding rabbit sales as Christmas is rapidly approaching. OlivYew Farm very rarely offers rabbits for sale and they will be show or breeding prospects only and will be placed with experienced owners. I no longer sell pet rabbits under any circumstance. Rabbit buyers are required to agree to and sign a copy of my sales policies before the rabbit + any associated paperwork is released.

Syrian Hamsters may occasionally be for sale. Their price is $5 each and I will announce on the blog and my website concerning their availability. In the future I may offer hamster cages for sale, based upon the cost of building my own cages I would estimate the price to be around $10-$15 for a single level cage.

Fruits and vegetables are not sold but may be traded for when an excess is produced. This will also be the procedure for eggs when I'm able to get back into poultry.

knocked back down a peg

2011-11-18T10:58:00.000-05:00

My Harlequin program has suffered another, very serious blow. I found my beloved Candy, a blue Japanese doe deceased this morning. I have no idea what the cause of death was. I checked her for injury but I couldn't find one - I did recently put her in with a buck fulltime but they've always gotten along. She was a healthy young senior doe who had been acting normal.

I am mourning her loss because I felt she would be a good Harlequin to work with that had potential to improve the breed in some small way as well as she was a much loved rabbit who always greeted me at the cage door for affection.

This leaves my herd with one Harlequin doe, a Harlequin buck, and a New Zealand red buck. Unless Tacoma, who is a year and a half now and never given me a viable litter, can pull through with a surprise litter I won't be continuing my Harlequin program.

2011 has been a very hard year for me on the animal front. Predators were picking off my chickens left and right, I haven't gotten any rabbit litters, and now this. I can only hope that 2012 will be kinder to me and my animals.

what a ham

2011-11-16T21:32:00.002-05:00

The baby hamsters are getting so big! They've finally opened their eyes and are extremely active. It seems like they are constantly eating - even to the point of falling asleep in their food dish. At this age, I suspect there are eight males and four females in the litter. There are five "cream" males and 2 "cream" females, two "yellow" males, a black male, and two black females. I decided early on that I would likely keep a pup of each color from my first litter. I will be keeping a yellow male, a black female and a cream female.

For anyone interested, I will have nine of these hamsters available to new homes in about two weeks. Males and females are available. They are $5 each. Out of a tort female and black male.

a change in diet

2011-11-11T22:00:00.000-05:00

Recently my dad went to the emergency room and was subsequently kept for several days with heart problems. He will be fine, just needs to make some changes in his lifestyle. One of the changes is to be on a low-sodium diet. Do you know how much sodium is in processed food? A lot, generally speaking. I was surprised. For example I have a 2 oz snack size package of chocolate chip cookies next to me (I know, terrible) which have 200mg of sodium. In cookies? Seriously?

The whole family has been trying to make the transition a bit easier for my dad by participating in the low sodium diet. Not only does it help him but it's good for us too. I want to move away from eating processed foods and consume a more natural diet. I've wanted to do that for a while - I guess I just need to improve my gardening skills.

I've been reading up on growing vegetables so that next year's garden is more of a success. My goal is to eat something grown in my garden every day during peak season next year. Should there be any excess I will freeze/can/preserve in some way to eat throughout the rest of the year. Hold me to this, guys!

Colony Style

2011-11-08T15:33:00.000-05:00

I decided to house my Harlequins in a semi-colony style setting. I have the rabbits separated into pairs and living in halves of my 8x3' hutch as of now. I'm considering using the 10x20' chicken run for a colony set up for these rabbits so they can forage as well.

Red & Candy in their half

Red and Candy again
:)

more hamster pictures

2011-11-04T20:38:00.000-04:00

I managed to get some better hamster pictures today (only because I held them in one place!), so here they are...

the unnamed cream/white female

the unnamed yellow male

yellow/white female

the above hamster's adorable banded pattern

Millie

Maddox
I love this guy. He's such a sweetheart.

The very fluffy Melinda

did I tell you?

2011-11-03T17:07:00.001-04:00

Did I tell you I have hamsters? A friend of mine has some gorgeous Syrian hamsters and finally talked me into getting some. I've had hammies for about two months now and own two trios plus a litter.

My original male, Maddox.
He's a black "teddy bear" Syrian

My original female, Melinda.
She is a cream longhair.
Unfortunately she's had only 1 litter with
me and didn't care for them.

A very unclear picture of Millie (yep, I was stuck on M's).
Millie is a tort Syrian and currently has a litter of 13 pups.

Yellow male, unnamed

Yellow banded female, presently unnamed.

Cream banded satin female,
unnamed

Millie's litter. She has 4 dark babies and the rest
are pink. The sire is Maddox who carries cream.

If you couldn't tell, Hamsters are very difficult to get a clear picture of.

rabbits don't breed like they're supposed to

2011-10-22T00:48:00.000-04:00

So many times I've heard someone crack a joke that rabbits reproduce at phenomenal rates. I'm finding that to be false. The only animals I know to breed like rabbits are supposed to are cats and mice.

I haven't had a litter since earlier this year and it was a Dutch litter from Dutch I no longer have. My only current Dutch are just about 3 weeks shy of breeding age. My Harlequins have not reproduced. I have had 2 failed litters. The first the doe did not care for her babies and scattered them about her cage. The ones who stayed in their box were never fed. That doe has not gotten pregnant since. The second litter of a single kit was born several days early so the doe had no box. It wandered into another rabbit's cage and did not survive.

Neither doe has been successfully bred since then. Not for a lack of trying on my end. I recently paired off the Harlies for about 5 days to try and get them bred. Today was the final palpate day and both were negative. I immediately tried rebreeding but even the bucks weren't interested!! This time I blame the cooler weather and shortened days. Tomorrow I'll try hooking up a light or bringing a pair of rabbits in the house at a time for a few days to breed.

This litter drought needs to end soon or I have some very expensive pet rabbits in my barn. Until a litter is born I've put a stop to all extra bunny-buys: shows, new rabbit purchases, etc. There is no reason to put more money into animals that won't reproduce. If they have to be pets, they'll be pets I guess.

Dutch Markings w/Photos

2011-10-19T22:34:00.000-04:00

Blogger and I have our issues and I couldn't add in my photos to the previous Dutch Marking blog without screwing up the format.

If you look at pictures of the torts, they have wavy blazes
which is a fault.

This is an ideal saddle. It should be a straight line with no drags
or waves.

An ideal undercut.
Again, straight line with no drag marks.

The black should NOT reach the toes (called a "split stop")
and the white should NOT reach the hock (called a "long stop").
Both are disqualifications.

Notice on right side of image that this doe almost
has a split stop. The marking stops just before
reaching the toes.

two Harlequin body styles

2011-10-18T18:34:00.000-04:00

These are pictures of my own rabbits to show the diversity of "acceptable" body type in the Harlequin breed.

This is Candy, a southern-bred Harlequin.

See how racey her body is? She is similar to a full arch

breed. Everything about her is small and refined.

This is Bonus, a Michigan-bred Harlequin.

He has more of a commercial body type (although he wasn't

eager to pose for the camera). To me, this is more correct and is

what I'm trying to breed for.

According to the ARBA Standard of Perfection, the head/ears/body are to be in proportion and "gracefully" carried. Hindquarters should be slightly wider than the shoulder and the topline beginning immediately behind the head with the highest point over the HQ. On page 37 of the current (2011-2015) SOP the groups are listed. Harlequin is under Commercial body type along with breeds such as the New Zealand, Californian, and others. To me, that says the Harlequin should look more like Bonus...more like a New Zealand than a Belgian Hare.

However, the Harlequin SOP only awards 10 points for body type. In fact, I've never personally witnessed a judge care about the type on a Harlie. Because markings are 60 points, that's what the rabbits are judged on.

Feeding My Rabbits

2011-10-13T15:07:00.000-04:00

I have 7 rabbits in my herd right now: 3 Harlequins, 1 New Zealand, and 3 Dutch. I feed a variety of food: rabbit pellets, timothy hay, greens from the yard, bread, fruit & veggie scraps, and rabbit safe twigs. This is an analysis of what I'm feeding my rabbits currently.

I bought 2 bags of rabbit food today for $27 total, the bags are listed at $12.99 each plus tax. Each bag lasts my rabbits around 5-6 weeks. So I spend approximately $135 in rabbit pellets a year. I feed 6 1/2 cups of feed per day: 1 cup each for my large breed bucks, 1 1/2 cup each for my large breed does, and 1/2 cup each for the Dutch.

After buying 2 bales of hay at different times and getting low quality (one bale even had trash in the center) I decided to buy hay in small bags at PetSmart. I recently purchased a 48 oz package of timothy hay on sale for $6, because of the increased price I no longer feed my rabbits hay every day. Instead I give it in small handfuls 3 days a week. The upside is that I am able to feed fresh, green, and clean hay to my herd. So far a 48oz package of hay has lasted about 3 weeks and I have enough hay for at least 1 more week of feeding. So I will spend (with the regularly listed price for the hay) approximately $96 in hay per year.

Several days per week I collect a large handful of greens for my rabbits. I have used online photos to identify various weeds and plants that are safe for my rabbits. I frequently offer honey suckle, clover, chickweed, and rose leaves. I also trim my aunt's apple tree in exchange for keeping the cuttings for the rabbits. I cut off the "sucker branches" growing at the tree's stump and cut back some of the regular growth, box it all up and bring it home. When available, I feed safe fruit, vegetable, and bread scraps from our kitchen. This fall when we're carving pumpkins the bunnies will get the "meat" of the pumpkin (we roast the seeds for ourselves!). This stuff is free.

For a while I wanted to feed my rabbits a mostly natural diet. It's fine when I have a lot of spare time but I found that when college is in full swing I don't have the free time to collect large amounts of greens. I still think it's a good plan and hopefully one day I can incorporate it into my breeding program.

fall cleaning

2011-10-11T15:46:00.000-04:00

I enjoyed a five day weekend so I spent it giving the rabbitry sheds a deep clean (and lazing about on my last day today). All of the cages were taken out and scrubbed down with a bleach solution, pans were emptied, floors were swept, I found a lot of trash to throw out, and I organized everything. I had ordered some new dishes from KW Cages and they arrived Friday I think, so the bunnies got to enjoy new food/water bowls. I boxed up the old stuff and put it in the loft of the Dutch barn. I probably will never use it again although it is too chewed up/mismatched to try and sell but still too nice and usable to throw out. I cleaned up the chicken coop too. I just need to buy some straw to lay out and they'll be set.

The only chore left to do is clean out from under the Harlequin cages. They are in the same shed as the chickens and I don't use pans in there. I let the waste collect and remove it twice a year for compost. That was supposed to be my job for today but it's raining so I've mostly been indoors on the computer and streaming Netflix. lol

I paired off my Harlequins on Friday and left the pairs together until this morning. I'm fortunate and have very docile rabbits so there were no fights. I'm going to put them back together this evening to hopefully ensure they've been bred. Just another four weeks to go and I can breed the Dutch. I need litters - my baby drought has been too long.

My brother and his fiance have talked about getting some dual purpose chickens. Their landlord approved them to get some so he's been asking me questions about ordering. I think if he does place a chick order I'm going to get in on it and order some additional birds particularly laying hens but probably some more bantams.

Harlequin Rating Notes

2011-10-08T10:23:00.000-04:00

As promised, here is the rating sheet I created for judging my Harlequins. Feel free to save it and use it for your Harlies. I find it very helpful to have notes about your rabbits in front of you. It can help you decide which rabbits should remain in the breeding program or select a keeper from a litter.

I revised the sheet for my Dutch and it can be found here.

*Click the image for the full sized version.

Harlequin Markings

2011-10-06T16:44:00.002-04:00

Keep: I'm continually having issues with leaving comments through Blogger. Your question was good and I should have added more explanation before posting. Her question was why is number 2 less desirable?

The answer is: in Harlequins you want as many marking alterations as possible. I like to start with the rabbit's face and move from there. The face should be as evenly divided in half as possible (lack of facial division is a DQ). You will have a colored half of the face and a base colored face (Harlequins have two "base" colors: orange and white). On the colored half of the face, it is preferable for the corresponding ear to be the base color and on the base colored half of the face that ear should be the marking color.

The chest should also alternate with the face and then the front legs should alternate with the chest. The rear feet should alternate with the front. So if the left front foot is orange then the left rear foot needs to be black. Those are the major markings, then you need at least 2 bars of color on the rabbit's body.

These are some marking faults: brindled markings (lack of clean dividing lines between markings), both ears the same color or not alternating with the face, and the face showing lack of 50/50 alteration.

There is not a lot that will Disqualify a Harlequin from competition (which leaves many rabbit enthusiasts believing that "Harlequin" is just a marking on any rabbit and shouldn't be considered a real breed but that goes more with the lack of continuity of body type than with markings). Some specific marking DQs include being Dutch-marked, lack of clearly alternating face, and white toenails or white spots in the Japanese variety.

Note that in Japanese the eye circles, underside of tail, and the tummy can be white. This is something many breeders are trying to select away from but it is not a DQ or even specifically written as a fault.

dutch markings

2011-09-30T13:20:00.001-04:00

Those lovely diagrams were drawn to depict the markings of a Dutch.

We will start with the blaze which is the white wedge on the head. It includes the whisker beds and jawline then create a wedge moving up the rabbit's face. A preferable marking, although one with no points allotted is the hairline (see below), which is a line of white fur separating the ears. In some cases the hairline can decide a winner between two identical rabbits.

The cheeks are the colored part of the face. They are to be well-rounded and stop just before they reach the whisker beds. Behind the ears is to be another wedge of white fur separating the colored portion of the head, just like on the face.

The saddle is the beginning of color on the Dutch's back. It is supposed to be a straight line encircling the rabbit and meeting the Undercut, or start of color on the Dutch's belly. Check that the undercut does not reach the elbow on either front leg (this is a disqualification). The saddle extends down the Dutch's leg until it meets the Stops, or where the color *stops* on the rabbit's foot. The lower 1/3 of the foot is to be white, with NO color extending down to the toes, called a Split Stop (another DQ).

All marking lines should be smooth with no "drags" of color - either white going into a colored region or color moving into a white region. A disqualification I was previously unaware of is be sure your Dutch has no freckles on the nose or lips. They are supposed to be "clearly visible" while checking the nose/teeth in order to be considered a DQ, although some judges specifically look for them.

Check for the freckles (sometimes called "flesh spots") under the nose and pull the lips apart as if checking the teeth and examine the flesh above the teeth. Some people say that flesh spots are hereditary or they are like a bruise such as if your rabbit is injured.

Coming Soon: Marking Tutorials

2011-09-27T17:25:00.000-04:00

I am working on graphics to illustrate the proper markings for both of my breeds. I will describe each marking along with what is ideal and acceptable for show as well as common disqualifications. Once I have a camera I will add in some real examples to go along with the drawings.

Also, in the past I posted my Dutch rating sheet, which is a printable card to identify the strengths and weaknesses of individual rabbits in my herd. I find it helpful to have a written copy of my thoughts about each rabbit. I need to create cards for my current Dutch and at the same time I'm going to make a rating card for Harlequins which I will post once it is complete. Feel free to print and use or adapt my cards for your own use.

In the future I want to write the SOPs for Harlequins and Dutch in my own words to hopefully help others understand what to look for.

NZ x Harlequin

2011-09-24T11:58:00.000-04:00

Red, the NZ buck, has been in quarantine for two weeks now. I started trying to breed him to either Harlequin doe on Thursday with no luck. He is ready and willing, but the girls are not. So I've been switching the girls between the bucks and leaving the girls in the boys' cages and vice versa but so far no luck. My breeding attempts are going something like this...

I think I'm going to try adding a little bit of apple cider vinegar to my does' water.

Web Updates

2011-09-16T10:01:00.000-04:00

Hi Everyone. If you happen to follow my blog or visit my website, I apologize for the lack of updates. I normally update the website weekly and the blog sometimes a few times a week. However, college is taking up a big chunk of my time right now and when I'm not studying or in class, I'm out enjoying the rabbits and life in general.

There's not much going on here. I have had my New Zealand buck for a week now and he is doing well. I want to keep him separate for one more week and then I will try breeding him to one of my Harlequin does. I also want to work with him on not being so fearful, he huddles up in a corner of his cage and stamps his feet any time he hears just about anything. I don't want him to freak out and hurt himself should we have a thunderstorm or someone is mowing the lawn.

My website is only partially complete. I still have not taken new photos of my Harlequins and I want to write a quick paragraph about each breed and my goals. It won't happen this weekend but possibly after Monday. On Monday I have my very first Invertebrate Zoology exam which I'm very anxious about. I have only heard that the tests are difficult and I don't really like the professor's teaching. Once that is out of the way I can (hopefully) resume a semi-normal college lifestyle and have some time to update my very lacking website.

Harlequins

2011-09-10T16:40:00.001-04:00

I'm down to just a trio of Harlequins. One of my younger does developed a snotty nose and sneezing. I'm not one to take chances with my rabbits so I immediately separated her to see if it could be dust or something in her nasal passages. After a few days, she did not recover so I made the choice to cull her.

I have noticed that Harlequins seem to have weaker immune systems than other breeds I have experience with. I have purchased six Harlequins this year and culled half due health. In the first two I culled, they developed symptoms within 3-5 days of bringing them home. The final doe was a surprise because I've had her since April, she had not left my rabbitry since then, she was too young to breed and so had not been in direct contact with a buck, and I have not made any changes in care or schedule. The trigger for her illness is unknown. The previous two rabbits came from breeders who, I found out later, were having health problems of their own.

I have been talking about these issues with a fellow Harlequin newbie as well as breeders who know more about genetics. We've both decided to incorporate New Zealand Red rabbits into our breeding programs. There are several reasons for this. 1) Harlequins in the south are on the small side. There is a HUGE difference between my one Tennessee-Harlequin and my two from Michigan. A New Zealand should be able to help improve the size of my Harlies. 2) Harlequins have type all over the place. Some are shaped on the commercial side while others are more like a Belgian Hare. 3) Most importantly, we are hoping that by introducing a hardier breed into the Harlequins, that the health and the immunity are going to improve. Breeders in the past have attempted this using white New Zealands. However, thanks to genetics people, we've decided that red NZ will be a better choice because the color genes are more closely related. Apparently, we can expect marked offspring in the first generation. It was also suggested we could cross in a sport (mismarked) Rhinelander for health purposes then cross with Harlequins and New Zealands for the type.

I'm excited to announce that I collected a NZR buck this morning. After his quarantine period I will be exposing him to my girls. Because showing is not important to me and because my breeding program doesn't rely on rabbit sales to be able to continue, I have no worries about this project. I am hoping that these experimental breedings will yield more hardy offspring with improved conformation. It has been decided that the weanlings will be intentionally stressed by car rides and visiting other places as stress is a common trigger for the snot noses several Harlequin breeders have reported. This will help to determine if the outcrossing is beneficial.

I plan to post regular updates for my experimentation in improving my herd of Harlequins. In a perfect world, I will have made significant improvements in a year's time. I'm not expecting such quick results, although I do expect that there will be slight improvements with each generation.

YAY!!

2011-09-02T12:42:00.000-04:00

I am very excited to announce the confirmed pregnancies of Hoppe's Tacoma and McCasland's Candy Cane Snake!!

They're both due in ten and twelve days, respectively. With Taco's last litter she gave birth ahead of schedule and on the wire of her cage so for this round I am moving both does to solid floor cages in hopes of preventing any losses. Candy feels very pregnant so I expect a large litter from her while Tacoma, the larger of the two, does not feel as big. She is either big enough to "hide" the babies or, what I'm expecting, is a smaller litter. Her first litter was only four babies.

Cross your fingers that we get some successful litters (preferably with marked babies!!). By the way, Candy is a blue japanese Harlequin and Tacoma is a chocolate japanese. They were both bred to Bonus, a lilac japanese so I am expected a range of colors.

OlivYew Rabbitry: Goals

2011-08-19T16:57:00.003-04:00

I have several goals which I hope to meet with my Harlequins.

The first and most important is to select only healthy rabbits to breed from. Health seems to be a big issue in Harlequins, with rabbits being more susceptible to stress and illness than other breeds. Any Harlequin that shows signs of a communicable health problem is not bred from or sold.

Secondly I work with my Harlequins so that they are accustomed to people. I handle my rabbits frequently so that they are comfortable being picked up (properly) and examined.

Next, I want to breed for Harlequins that have a more commercial body shape. This includes selecting for wider, deeper bodies as well as keeping rabbits with quicker early growth and larger (~ 8lb range) mature size.

Lastly I will be selecting for appropriate markings. A popular saying is that you must build your house before you paint it. Meaning that body type, health, and personality have to come first. Those things are the hardest to achieve but once you have them, then it will be easier to put the right color and markings on the rabbits.

With my remaining trio of Harlies, I feel like I have a good foundation from which to breed. I am happy with the body size and shape. One doe in particular needs more handling so she is more easily managed, but the other two are good. Finally I feel like these three rabbits have pretty good health and immunity. None of the 3 have shown any symptoms that would lead me to believe they had an illness.

My short term breeding goal is to cross my buck to both does (both have been exposed to him, just waiting on litters). Provided I get litters, I will keep the best buck overall and the two or three best does from each litter. I will work on building up my numbers and next year I will introduce new bloodlines. If I have not gotten a single litter by fall I will not continue working with Harlequins. As a hobby farmer, I need rabbits that can pull their weight. Whether I acquire more rabbits of a different breed or give up on rabbits completely except a few for personal interest is undecided and hopefully I won’t have to make such a decision.

Finally!

2011-08-14T11:14:00.000-04:00

Finally, around 10:00 last night I got a pair of Harlequins bred! I am really hoping for a litter this time, I've had too many failures. The sire is Bonus, a lilac japanese, and he was bred to Tacoma a chocolate japanese. Although I will be happy to just get a litter, I would be super excited to get more lilacs from this cross. I want to try tonight to get Bonus bred to Candy, a blue japanese.

*crossing my fingers for baby Harlies*

choosing chicks

2011-08-11T17:33:00.000-04:00

I sorted through all of the d’Uccle chicks to see how many of each gender and color I ended up with then made my final cut on who to keep. We had 17 chicks survive, out of those 10 are pullets and 7 are cockerels. There are 3 whites, 2 porcelains, 7 mille fleurs, and 5 buff Columbians.

I sold 1 pullet to a friend and have marked 4 cockerels to sell ($4 each if you’re interested). The remaining chicks are what I’m keeping to breed from. I am keeping a pair each of the whites and porcelains plus 1 mille fleur rooster and all the buff and mille fleur girls. 3 roosters is probably too many so I’ve been playing with a genetics calculator to see which roo would give me the most variety of color from what I’ve got. The porcelain looks like the winner which will produce all the colors I have currently with the exception white.

For now I’ll keep them all and as they get older try to cull a roo or I’ve considered keeping all 3 in separate breeding groups rather than my main pen. It’s unfortunate that I like so many colors, it makes raising on a small scale that much harder. In truth if I were breeding for show stock I believe most flock owners prefer to keep their colors pure. It doesn’t matter as much for my own personal flock, but it may when it comes to selling my extras so I’m not sure what to do.

corn - good for you, good for the animals

2011-08-01T06:05:00.000-04:00

We bought a BUNCH of corn at a farmer's market. Some of it we ate fresh but most was frozen to eat later on. That left three trash bags full of cobs and husks that would otherwise go into the trash. Instead, it is being rationed out among the chickens and rabbits.

Candy and Pumpkin enjoying some fresh husks

Scrow, a young Dutch rooster, has managed to get a
fresh cob all to himself.

I was going to turn these shelves into cages, but they work really
well for drying greens for the rabbits. Here is all the corn-stuffs
I'm going to dry.

(ignore the dropped husks)
Shuck was so curious about the corn husks that when I let him
sniff a piece he had to taste it too.

in defense of wire cages

2011-07-31T11:57:00.000-04:00

I have been following a topic on a forum. A rabbit exhibitor proudly posted pictures from their fair show. Everyone was happy for the person and then one person (politely) said they don't like wire cages, that the rabbits don't look comfortable.

I have experience with solid and wire floors in cages - wire is definitely my preference. In a solid cage, the rabbit has to sit in its own waste until you clean the cage. If the cage isn't cleaned every day then that makes the bunny prone to urine burn and even respiratory disease because they are inches away from the ammonia in the urine (ew). Personally, I don't want to step in my waste why should my rabbits??

Wire cages aren't uncomfortable. Look at a rabbit's feet. They have thick fur covering those paws. I've never known a rabbit to act differently if placed on a solid floor (except they can't get traction and end up sliding around - which can lead to joint problems) versus a wire floor.

Wire floors let their waste fall straight through. The rabbit never has contact with it. Wire all around also allows for the maximum ventilation. This is important because air flow will help keep your rabbits cooler in the summer and it is the first step to having a healthy rabbit.

the farm website

2011-07-28T14:17:00.000-04:00

I'm unhappy with my website so I am interested in outside opinions on how to improve it. You can view my website here. Then please leave a comment below with your thoughts.

Do you find the layout easy to navigate?

Is the color scheme attractive or hard on the eyes? What colors would you suggest?

Is there enough useful information? Is there too much impertinent information - if so, what would you remove? What would you add?

weeding the garden

2011-07-27T13:54:00.000-04:00

I've written my garden off as a failure this year. We got very little from it, everything else either never grew or died due to lack of watering. It's depressing because I was so proud of it to begin with. Then I became super busy and didn't have time to dedicate to it. One of my biggest focuses was weeding my garden. That took up a lot of time and was just plain boring.

I was at Brandon's grandparents' house the other day. They planted a small garden and guess what, they don't weed it. Their garden is pumping out veggies like crazy, I can't tell you how many cucumbers and tomatoes they've given me. They planted their corn around the same time I planted mine, mine reached knee high then died. Their corn is well over BRANDON'S head and he's 6'3".

I guess next year I'll leave my garden alone more and just let it do its thing. They do water theirs twice a week though, which I was bad about this year. I'm definitely going to talk to Brandon's grandfather and get some of his tips. I'll trade him a couple of chickens for them. ;)

"accidental litters"

2011-07-27T12:02:00.000-04:00

I was contacted by someone with a female pet rabbit. She says she left the rabbit with her roommate who has a male rabbit while going out of town. The roommate has told her repeatedly how awesome it would be if the two rabbits had a litter together. Apparently the roommate put the two rabbits together and now the doe's owner is freaking out. She needed advice on what to do.

The female is a four month old large breed, so not mature enough for breeding yet. Her owner is afraid the bunny will die giving birth. The male is a different breed. Whether the roommate actually exists or not is a mystery.

As a breeder, I am appalled that this happened. Sadly these "accidental litters" occur frequently in pet rabbits (as well as other species). I told the owner that I really hoped she took full responsibility for any resulting offspring (I truly hope that her rabbit does NOT have a litter) because it is producers of accidental litters and bunny mills that give responsible breeders a bad name.

If you have a pet rabbit, please think twice before breeding it! Rabbits are not a get rich quick scheme, in fact it can be very difficult to sell pet quality rabbits. There is a lot more to raising a litter than just sticking a male and female together. There are already a lot of pet rabbits out there, why add to that population? A responsible rabbit breeder has a purpose for breeding whether that goal is to produce healthful meat for their family or working toward improving an existing breed by working toward the Standard of Perfection.

updated pictures

2011-07-26T12:15:00.000-04:00

I've posted updated pictures of all the rabbits on my website. You can view everyone by clicking here.

rabbitry work

2011-07-22T10:51:00.000-04:00

After Tacoma's cage was damaged by one of the brackets supporting it, I became frustrated with the wooden stacker. Taco and the rabbits in the cages below her could have been hurt. So I removed the stacker and for now the cages will go back to sitting in their pans. Its a huge pain to clean the cages like that, but for now its what I've got to work with. I found plans a while back for stackers made from pvc which I might look into. Right now I've got a tight budget so that will be a future plan. Like when I get a litter.

I bought an oscilating fan from the dollar store yesterday. It has made a huge improvement in the barn. All the rabbits like to sit in front of it. For $20 it was a great investment and I think I want to buy another next week. Two fans going in my small barn should make a big difference.

My friend's Holland Lops are in the other building, it has more ventilation but not close enough to the house to use fans. I'm having to take ice to them at least once a day. Once they are able to go back to my friend, that building probably won't be used for bunnies except during quarantine.

I am blaming the heat for my inability to get litters. I'm thinking of bringing a pair of bunnies in the house for a few days to breed. I don't know that I want to do that for sure because I don't want the rabbits to suffer more when they return to the outdoors.

Happy 4th!

2011-07-04T11:47:00.000-04:00

Happy Independence Day!

My family will be spending the day cooking out, swimming, and seeing fireworks tonight.

To fellow bunny breeders, if you or your neighbors will be shooting off fireworks tonight, please think of your bunnies. Loud noises can scare them so consider closing up your rabbitry doors for the night.

Penny

2011-06-26T11:45:00.000-04:00

I occasionally allow my chickens out to free range. On Friday I had them out all day. In the afternoon it started to cloud up like we'd get rain so I went to gather all the chickens and return them to the coop. They all ran to me as soon as I called except Penny, a bantam Cochin and one of my first chickens. I didn't find her before it started to pour.

As soon as the rain let up I went to look again. This time I found her, completely drenched along the edge of the woods. I thought she was dead but as I picked her up she moved a bit. I rushed her into the house to dry her. I noticed she was covered in diarrhea so I cleaned her up, dried her (which she thoroughly enjoyed), and put her in my bedroom. I worried constantly over her and frantically researched what could have happened.

Yesterday Penny seemed to be making a recovery. She was eating and drinking but not moving a lot. I got my hopes up that she would be fine. This morning I found that she had passed in the night. I'm very sad, although she never laid an egg for me she was still a fascinating little chicken. Penny had so much personality - not very bright but very lovable.

farming

2011-06-24T12:20:00.000-04:00

Reading this article spurred my thoughts, I hope that you will read through and consider them carefully. “Farming” is restricted in many areas, I’ve heard of neighborhoods preventing residents from growing even a small vegetable garden. My family lives on a 3/4 acre property in a small, rural subdivision. We grow a vegetable garden, have rabbits for show and meat, and recently acquired chickens for eggs. My neighbors only know we have a garden unless they sneak over and peak inside two “sheds”. I’m doing nothing illegal, but I don’t want to deal with complaints from nosy-neighbors so the animals are kept a secret.

I grow and raise food for my family. It has become risky to try to grow things and sell them to others. For most places, this requires licensing and possibly even inspections. Heck, for some it is risky to raise food just for themselves! Why is this so? Why are we practically forced to buy grocery store food? What if I want to know where my food comes from, how it was grown or raised?

Personally, I find some comfort in knowing that should my family lose its income, we will still have food to put on our table. Someday, once I’ve finished college and have a (hopefully) good career, I want to buy a larger property and not really NEED to rely on a grocery store.

I believe that if a person maintains their own property – keeping it clean, in shape, no odors – then no one should be able to tell them they can’t grow a garden or keep a few chickens in the backyard. I don’t want someone telling me that I can’t grow food for myself! Do I not get the freedom to choose where my food comes from? Will you tell me I can’t pour my own sweat, hours, money into producing quality food that my family will eat?

Perhaps these are the thoughts of a “radical” college-student mind. I doubt it though. Many people across the country are making a move toward sustainability. These people want a more natural way of life, without having to depend on commercial farms to get their food. They should be allowed!

chicks on order

2011-06-22T23:49:00.000-04:00

I have been eyeing hatchery websites like a vulture. Brandon's dog killed a couple of our chickens and we believe a snake made off with several others because they disappeared without a trace. We have three of our original bantams: 2 cochins and an OEGB plus 3 chicks: a cornish, another OEGB, and a very ugly silkie. Of the originals, neither hen is laying. The Old English used to lay, but after a very close run-in with said snake while she was setting eggs, she has refused to lay another egg. The Cochin has never laid a single egg since I acquired her in February - she is supposedly a year and a half old and therefore should be laying. Out of the chicklets, only one, ONE is a pullet. Actually, it could be two, but the fugly Silkie is most likely a male.

Ideal Poultry had a sale going on where they were selling assorted bantams at $1 each if you ordered a minimum of twenty-five, or if you order twenty-five or more you can select a specific breed for $1.50 per chick. The deal was too much for me to pass up. All week I have been making lists and researching bantam breeds to pick one that will lay well for us. I finally narrowed my options to three: Ameraucanas (easter eggers), d'Uccles, and Old English. I decided I would probably have the best luck for layers out of the EE and chose those for my breed with d'Uccles as my back-up choice.

Brandon also talked me into ordering a pair of goslings. "They will lay huge eggs and they can protect the chickens!" he promised, plus they are pretty darn cute even as adults. How could I possibly resist?

This is my first time ordering chicks, I will let you know how it goes. I'm a little nervous about the shipping process.

Another round of storms

2011-06-19T18:19:00.001-04:00

Yesterday we hosted my niece's 6th birthday party - a luau. Unfortunately before everyone could jump in the pool, dark purple clouds began moving in. Winds began picking up and trees were swaying. Many of our guests left early to avoid having to drive in the "severe thunderstorm". Others had to wait until the storm passed. Here we had a lot of strong winds, heavy rain, and a few small branches fell off nearby trees, my aunt and uncle have probably forty trees down, and another relative has trees down all over her yard and one hit her car. We were lucky...

I signed on to Facebook this morning to see that a bunny-friend posted about a tornado wiping out her barn. Thankfully her house is still standing, but the barn (filled with a variety of animals she raises) was destroyed. Many animals escaped or were killed, cages were damaged, and food lost. She has recovered several of her animals but with the cages broken, she has no place to keep them.

I'll be meeting her tomorrow evening to collect a few of her rabbits. I'm keeping them until she can repair her cages or replace them. If anyone would like to donate cages (for rabbits, mice, or rats), feed (for a variety of animals), or money, please leave a comment with your email address and I can put you in touch with Lana.

blackberries

2011-06-17T18:39:00.000-04:00

Wild blackberries are plentiful in the woods that grow along my property and they seem to have multiplied this year. There are so many red berries on the bushes just waiting to ripen. I'm waiting for them to ripen too. My family enjoys fresh blackberries. I am wanting to try my hand at a cobbler and possibly some jam once I'm able to get a significant harvest. I collected maybe twenty ripe berries today to give the chickens a treat. They weren't too sure what to think at first, but once the rooster tried one, it turned to a frenzy!

sunflowers

2011-06-16T18:34:00.000-04:00

I love sunflowers, they are my favorite type of flower. I normally grow some, especially near the rabbit barn for shade. Last year I didn't for some reason. Yet a lone sunflower showed up in the very back of my yard. I have no idea how it got there. The only practical explanation is that a bird dropped a sunflower seed back there. I admired the sunflower and when it started going to seed, I saved those to plant this year. These are the offspring of the mystery sunflower....

updated photos

2011-06-15T18:33:00.000-04:00

I posted some updated photos of my two junior Harlequin does. You can see their complete photo shoot on my website here.

McCasland's Candy Cane Snake
She's almost ready to breed!

Hoppe's H11AD5 or "Pumpkin" in my barn
She will be breedable in August. I can't wait!

These gals have grown a lot. Their last pictures were gangly and almost ugly. I was very surprised when I took them out tonight and they looked so lovely. Of course, they didn't want to pose for the camera, but they are very nice Harlequins - aside from markings of course. Neither is showable, but they should make excellent brood does. I look forward to their first litters.

garden musings

2011-06-13T12:22:00.000-04:00

The 2011 vegetable garden wasn't as glorious as I pictured in my head or even the smaller version as I planned on paper. My very first thought about gardening: its difficult to juggle summer classes (which require more time per day), a personal life, animals, and a garden by yourself. My garden could be more successful if I had someone to help.

Frequent watering is necessary. Rain is scarce in Georgia and heat kills plants fast. It is discouraging to come home from an entire day (about 6-7 hours) on campus and have to drag our water hoses all the way to the very end of our property to water my garden in 95 + degrees. Some days, like right before a test or when I'd rather do other things, I skip watering. I'm paying for that because a few things in the garden are really droopy now. Next time I want my garden close to the house. It will make watering much more convenient.

Planning where my rows will go isn't enough. This year I felt like I had a pretty good idea of where everything in the garden would go. That is, until I pulled the tiller out to try and go between rows. Mine weren't wide enough. That means I get to use my hands and a hoe to clean up the weeds. Next time I will carefully measure and rope off where things are going to go.

I saw the neatest garden yesterday. It was in town so the owner's yard was small but they had a plentiful garden. It was contained within, oh I forgot what you'd call it, long pieces of wood like they surround playgrounds with at parks. It was slightly raised, everthing had its own little spot and was simple to maintain. I'd love something like that, only larger.

Bugs suck. I was looking at my little knee-high corn today and insects have infested it. The plants looked like they were trying to grow corn now but ants and these little black beatle things were devouring it. Next time I will find (ahead of time) natural and safe insecticides.

Also next time for some things I want to use started plants. Like strawberries. We planted strawberry "bulbs" (little wads of roots). Nothing grew from any of the three separate plantings.

In summary: I would like someone to help me with the garden, I'd like to plant closer to the house to make everything easier (which may mean I don't need an assistant), water often, measure and mark off rows carefully, repel bugs, use started plants where appropriate, and grow more!!

pricing animals

2011-05-16T19:15:00.002-04:00

I saw an ad recently that prompted me to write this. The person stated that they had "literally thousands" in their facilities and so if you wanted "something for nothing" you shouldn't even contact. They then listed a very outrageous price for their animals.

As a buyer, I really don't care how much your housing or feed cost. If you are selling a subpar animal, expect subpar prices. Just because you spent thousands on housing your animals, doesn't mean they're worth such inflated prices. As a breeder, it would be nice to recoup some of my expenses, but I know that it isn't realistic. I price my rabbits on how I value them: would they be a good addition to a breeding program or would they be better off as a pet? I do not price rabbits on how much my cages, feed, and shows cost.

If you're going to be selling an animal, regardless of what kind it is, your pricing should reflect the animal's quality. I raise and show rabbits. I don't have a standard price for every rabbit. Conformationally correct rabbits are priced higher than those I don't think should be bred. When you price your animals, you may also consider what your local market will handle. Very expensive show animals don't sell well around here. I could have a multi-Best in Show winner and it probably wouldn't sell very easily here.

my garden

2011-05-15T06:58:00.000-04:00

The garden is coming along well. I'd like to share some pictures of it. Growing a garden is definitely something to be proud of.

Romaine lettuce

Another type of leaf lettuce, "Black Seeded Simpson"

Bush beans

Peas

And an enormous fire ant hill growing where I planted onions.
Trying to decide how best to get rid of them.
I don't think I really want to put poison on a hill that's in the middle of my garden.

radishes and rabbits

2011-05-14T18:57:00.000-04:00

I harvested most of my first radishes today. They're the only thing ready to eat right now, although some lettuce is nearly big enough to harvest.

Radishes are so easy to grow. If you love their spicey tast, you should definitely consider growing them. I like them in a lettuce salad, they add vibrant color and an interesting flavor. These are traditional red ones, I honestly don't remember the specific variety. Oops lol Last year we plants these and icicle radishes, which are long and white. I grow my radishes from seeds, I'm not sure if you can grow them any other way.

If you've got rabbits, don't trash your radish tops either! These are safe for bunnies to eat so no parts of the plant go to waste. I give one top per rabbit and dry any excess.

Pet Rabbits - New Sales Policies

2011-05-10T00:24:00.001-04:00

A few new sales policies will be going into effect immediately. This is just to explain what those are and our reasoning behind it. These changes will be added to the "sales policies" page of our website.

OlivYew Farm will no longer be selling pet rabbits under any circumstances. We are happy to recommend another breeder or suggest a rescue to adopt a pet rabbit from as well as answer your questions about care. This is a decision that we feel is best for our herd.

In addition, we do not feel it is fair to label our rabbits as "show quality". With Harlequins especially, there are too many variables that can make a rabbit perform well in one show and potentially be disqualified in the next. Our Harlequins will be sold to fellow breeders and exhibitors with full understanding that we don't make any guarantees on show or breeding success.

If you are interested in acquiring young stock from OlivYew, please let us know of your interest early on. From now on, all young rabbits that we do not wish to keep in our herd and are not sold by sixteen weeks of age, will be prepared for home use. This choice will allow us to continue breeding Harlequins and benefit our family at the same time.

a bit of a shock

2011-05-09T11:54:00.000-04:00

I went out to check on the animals this morning and found this curled up next to a rabbit cage and the cage where my hen is sitting on eggs...

I ran back inside to get Brandon. We didn't want to kill it, as we're both animal lovers, but it also cannot stay in our sheds. Its a black Rat snake and at least five feet long, if not six. By the time we came back out, the snake was about to go into the broody chicken cage.

We tried luring/knocking it into a large bucket to relocate it. But...that unfortunately didn't work.

So now there's a 5-6' snake roaming around our animals. After reading online, they can eats rats, birds, other snakes, and rabbits. Pretty much everything we own, it can eat. I think we're ready to kill it next time we see it. :(

why am I a rabbit breeder?

2011-05-07T12:50:00.000-04:00

I feel that, as an animal breeder, it is my duty to regularly evaluate my reasons for raising my rabbits. This is my investigation into why I breed rabbits. Hopefully it will spur you to consider the same things, feel free to respond with comments.

My first goal for my Harlequin breeding program is to improve the breed according to the Standard of Perfection as well as my own personal standards. I am selecting for rabbits that are of good size, appropriate body type, and correct markings. In addition, my rabbits are rather spoiled. They have huge cages, lots of toys, they receive a lot of affection from me, and opportunities to safely graze on my lawn. I strive to have Harlequins with even temperaments and never keep an aggressive animal around. I also want to address what I perceive to be a problem in Harlequins: their health. Harlequins seem not to be able to handle stress very well. It is my mission to cull sick or unthrifty rabbits from my breeding program and only breed from rabbits that are healthy.

Secondly, I keep my rabbits because I enjoy them. I feel it is important for a breeder to really be passionate about the animals they keep otherwise, what is the point in having them? I have had rabbits for over fifteen years of my life; I cannot imagine not having at least a few rabbits (because they are so fun, it is impossible to have only one).

Another reason I keep rabbits is one that some people do not agree with: food. I love all of my rabbits and treat them equally, however I cannot keep every single rabbit. Rabbits are very nutritious and can provide a meal for my family cheaper than the grocery store. This is also good because I’m not putting rabbits into homes where they may not be cared for properly. In that way I am not contributing to overpopulation issues.

chicken terms

2011-04-30T15:23:00.000-04:00

Some chicken terms you may come across:

Rooster: male chicken
Hen: female chicken
Cockerel: young male chicken
Pullet: young female chicken
Broody: a hen that sits on eggs, waiting to hatch them
Chick: baby chicken
Sex Linked: characteristics in some chickens (usually mix breeds) that apply to one gender or the other, makes sexing an option at hatching.
Comb: fleshy part on top of the head, comes in different shapes depending on breed, larger on roosters
Wattles: fleshy part under the chicken's chicken, again more obvious on roosters
Straight Run: chicks are unsexed, may be males and/or females, often half and half
Assorted: chicks are selected at random, may include several breeds and both sexes.

second planting

2011-04-29T14:14:00.000-04:00

The second round of planting has been done in the garden. My first round was planted too early (a couple of weeks with temps in the high 70's fooled me) and many things didn't grow. We did get a few corn plants, lots of radishes, some lettuce, 6 peas, and sunflowers sprouted and now thriving. I replenished everything that did grow along with cantaloupe, strawberries, bush beans, spinach, and onions. We still need tomatoes and peppers hopefully I can get those no later than next weekend (after final exams!).

I also learned how to use our tiller. In the past I've had to rely on someone else to do the tilling, but now I can do it all by myself. Go me!

emergency preparation

2011-04-28T10:18:00.000-04:00

Yesterday we had severe weather alerts. One of my college classes was even interrupted for nearly forty-five minutes due to tornado warning. We were all told to go to the first level of the building and stay in the hall. Thankfully nothing happened and it cleared up for a while. Then last night we had warnings again through most of the night. It looked like midnight at 5pm. It did get pretty bad and a tornado was spotted just 20 minutes from my house. Brandon helped me haul in the rabbits. We decided to leave the chickens, although we love them we agreed that if it came down to it, we could always get more chickens later. The rabbits however, are my passion. I have a lot of emotion, time, and money into them.

I'm very grateful that we got nothing more than some strong winds and thunderstorms. I did not like having to choose which animals would come inside though. It wasn't a good feeling for me. So now I am thinking of disaster plans. What will happen to the animals if there is an emergency?

Some basic things to stock up on are carriers for each rabbit in the barn (or being ok with leaving some rabbits in favor of my best or favorites) already stocked with food/water cups, at least enough water in convenient jugs to last two days, and a small bag of feed or hay for two days.

I do have a pet store rabbit cage that could house a few of our favorite chickens. That will mean extra water and another package of feed. Of course in a pressing emergency, it wouldn't be wise to run around the yard chasing chickens. Rabbits are easy, they are in hutches in my barn.
Do you have an emergency plan? Does it include your animals? Please feel free to comment and share your thoughts.

identifying bantam chicks

2011-04-25T12:45:00.000-04:00

It is chick season, many feed stores are carrying chicks and hatcheries are at their peak sales time. Brandon and I are very new to owning chickens, but after bringing home a number of assorted bantam chicks, we’ve had to quickly learn to identify breeds. It is fun to have a mystery, but we also have our favorite breeds so it is important to be able to select which ones those are.

The first step to identifying your bantam chicks is to ask which hatchery they came from. Some hatcheries have a limited selection of bantams so that may help narrow the choices for breed or color. My local Tractor Supply gets their bantams from Privett Hatchery, I believe many in the southeast do too – others in the southeastern US may get theirs from Ideal Poultry. You can compare your chicks with pictures of chicks on the hatchery website.

Next, look the chicks over for distinguishing characteristics. For example, do the chicks have four or five toes? Feathered legs? Comb type? Cochins and Brahmas are two very similar breeds and may look identical as chicks. The best way to identify Cochins from Brahmas is by looking at the comb shape. Even day old chicks will have a little comb present. Cochins have what is called a “single” comb, which looks like a serrated blade. Brahmas will have a flat comb. Feathered leg bantams really narrows the choices to breeds such as Cochin, d’Uccle, Silkie, Brahma, and a few others. Chicks with an extra toe (most chickens have only 4 toes per foot) also narrows the breed options, most notably to Silkies and Sultans.

I’ve noticed that around here, most of the bantams that are shipped are Old English Games. OEGs are very common, so the excess that aren’t placed in specific orders are sent to the feed stores. I have yet to see one d’Uccle in a Tractor Supply. Silkies are another breed I have seen a lot of. Dutch, Japanese, and Old English can look similar as chicks. All have single combs and are clean legged. Japanese have very short legs. Silkies can be identified by a few traits: black skin – they are the only chicken breed with black skin, just blow into the feathers and see, five toes, and they will have a little “top hat” of fluff on their heads.

Identifying the sex of your chicks is an entirely different matter. Some tips are that, early on, pullets usually develop their feathers sooner. In a few weeks, cockerels will have more noticeable combs that turn pink or red sooner – pullets will have smaller combs that are flesh colored, usually. Silkie chicks are nearly impossible to sex. Both genders look very similar, I’ve been told you can’t tell until they either crow or lay an egg.

These chicks are the same breed, color, and age.
Notice how the chick on the right has completely feathered wings,
while the chick on the left does not. We are assuming for now that the left-hand chick
is male. That's usually a pretty good indication.

Picking color on very young chicks is something I have not learned very well. I have to hold a chick and compare it to pictures of various colors. Even then I’m not sure until it starts to feather out more. For example, Brandon and I bought four Cochin chicks that were gray-ish yellow. I thought they might be blues but apparently white Cochins are a dirty-yellow color before they feather out.

If you aren’t sure what you have, I recommend posting on the BackYard Chickens forum. They have a specific section where you can post (good!) pictures of your birds and other chicken keepers can help you identify what you might have.

If there is a certain breed of chick you’d like to purchase, print a clear picture of one and take it with you. This way you have a better chance at getting what you really want.

contacting OlivYew

2011-04-20T03:43:00.000-04:00

The best way to contact OlivYew is by sending me an email. I check my email at least once a day and will reply promptly. However, I do ask that some guidelines be followed when inquiring about rabbits. I’m sure other breeders would appreciate you using the same when emailing them.

• Make your subject line something about rabbits. If I see a blank subject, I’m more likely to assume the message is spam.

• Write more than a word or two. If I get an email with just a sentence, I delete it. Why shouldn’t I? If the writer cannot take time to write more than a few words, why should I take time to write a response?

• DO tell me which rabbit you are interested in AND what you are looking for. A picture can only show you so much. If you tell me what you are looking for, I can give you some more insight into a specific rabbit or recommend rabbits that fit what you need better.

• Tell me a little about yourself. If you are a breeder, tell me about your rabbitry/goals. I actually like hearing about other rabbitries. If you are looking for a pet or you’re new to rabbits, tell me what attracted you to them and what research you’ve done. I care about where my rabbits end up and I want to supplement your research if necessary.

I’m not trying to sound uptight, but this will help us both get the most out of each email. The less you say in an initial email, the longer it takes for you to get your rabbits.

harlequins for sale

2011-04-18T18:23:00.000-04:00

I have two junior Harlequin bucks for sale. One blue japanese and one black magpie. Breeding or pet quality. Pedigrees available for breeders. Born Feb 20, 2011.

bunny run

2011-04-10T12:01:00.000-04:00

Brandon and I made a bunny-run to North Carolina on Friday. We left much later than expected on Friday. I had wanted to leave around 8am, after some minor complications we hit the road at 1pm. Oh man, it was such a long drive - 6 hours without stopping. My truck needed gas once on the way up plus we made a stop for food so that delayed us a bit.

Our hotel room was nice and quiet. It afforded us a few hours of sleep before heading to the Harlequin Nationals show. I stupidly left my camera in the truck when we entered the showroom and didn't think to go back for it. We watched Harlie judging for a bit and then picked up my three new additions and headed back out.

The drive home seemed to take even longer than the drive to NC. Storms caught up with us and most of the drive was in the rain. At one point going over the mountains we hit the thickest fog I've ever seen. It was so bad that we couldn't see the road at all.

We made it back home safely around 1 this morning. I got the rabbits into their new cages with pre-filled waterbottles thanks to my mom and bowls of food then we went to bed. Brandon is still sleeping.

Junior doe
She's cute, this picture was taken in the truck so she's not posed.

Posed pictures will come.

sprouts!

2011-04-08T09:36:00.001-04:00

There are actually sprouts in my garden! I planted my garden weeks ago and nothing ever came up. I thought surely the large buckets of rain we received had drowned or washed away all of my seeds. Even the started watermelon had died away. I was feeling like a huge gardening failure. But I did one last hopeful check of the garden yesterday and found several sprouts: head lettuce, onion, green peas, corn and sunflowers. That’s less than half of what I planted, but at least something grew so I don’t feel so incompetent.

There are nowhere near enough surviving plants to constitute a good garden. Fortunately I had planned on several harvests of everything and still have plenty of seeds left. The garden will have to wait though, I am taking a bunny-filled weekend and after that I have two exams I have to cram for.

making paper dolls

2011-04-07T16:16:00.000-04:00

My niece is on spring break this week so while her mom is busy I've had to entertain her. Yesterday we made paper dolls. This is a fun project for kids, but an adult needs to supervise.

Draw the doll out on cardstock paper.
My niece wanted her's to have a "model" pose.

Cut out the doll leaving a strip of paper on the bottom.
This part you will bend behind the doll to allow it to stand.

My doll

Lay your doll down on paper to draw clothes. Dresses are easiest.
Leave long should straps.

Bend the long should straps behind your doll to hold the dress on.

Draw on facial features. I don't have pictures,
but we also glued paper hair onto the dolls.

free ranging

2011-03-29T20:27:00.000-04:00

I let the three grown chickens out to free range today. I have never allowed them to do so before because we have neighbors. Their free range time was unintentional, but I left the barn door open. When Percy saw me, he started walking toward me. After that, they all started following me around the yard picking at grass along the way.

Wait for me!

And the chicks. We have had some cooler weather lately so the older chicks are still staying in the house.

All the chicks huddled together.
"Run away from the scary camera"

My 3 Silkies

My one and only Sultan.
I want more of these if I can find them.

We have:
3 Silkies: 1 blue, 2 white
1 Sultan
1 Delaware
1 Gold Sebright
1 tiny mystery (possibly an Easter Egger bantam?)
3 Old English
1 complete mystery - the buff chick has Silkie feathers and extra toe but light skin and the wrong comb

rabbit transportation

2011-03-28T09:57:00.000-04:00

Although things could change, Brandon and I will be making a bunny run to Taylorsville, NC on April 9th and will be coming back April 10th. We would be happy to provide rabbit transportation up there or back or meet along the way. We have 3 open carriers for small/medium breeds or you can supply your own. Transport fee is $15 and is just to help cover gas cost.

planted

2011-03-20T10:00:00.000-04:00

Yesterday a guy came out and turned our garden. I spent the afternoon planting all our seeds. I have currently: cantaloupe, watermelon, sweet corn, peas, green beans, banana peppers, bell peppers, radishes, onions, spinach, and leaf lettuce.

grapes

2011-03-19T10:20:00.000-04:00

We bought some grapes from the grocery store. I ate one and it tasted awful. I washed a few and they still tasted of chemicals. I can't wait to grow my own grapes...

REW Harlequins

2011-03-15T20:11:00.000-04:00

No, that’s not a New Zealand!

Kylie, my new senior Harlequin doe, came with her litter. In the litter are three ruby-eyed white babies. According to Kylie’s breeder, REW is a rare –and unrecognized- variety that was caused by some breeders outcrossing to New Zealand Whites in an attempt to improve Harlequin body type. Apparently today it is very uncommon to have a REW carrier and it is only seen when you line breed. Kylie was bred back to her sire which made the trait show up.

It would be very unlikely for more REWs to show up in my Harlequins unless I line breed with Kylie or her offspring. The trait is marked on all the pedigrees. As for the REWs, I will probably cull those for meat or use them for breeding meat only rabbits.

the rabbit show

2011-03-05T14:26:00.000-05:00

Brandon and I arrived at the show a little later than I wanted, but we were on time. We set up in a corner where it was impossible to hear. I went and socialized with various breeders, I hoped last year that Brandon would enjoy rabbit shows but he doesn't. He also didn't this year. I even offered him cage space to have his own breed so maybe shows would be more exciting. Today's show was less fun for him due to his early-onset arthritis bothering his back.

I took my Dutch herd buck as my only show rabbit and I only entered him in Show 1. He was disqualified. Apparently Dutch can get freckles in their noses, which apparently my buck has (I couldn't find it, not really sure where to look). It is a disqualification. After that, the judge went ahead and described him. She had a long list of marking faults (which I knew about) and said his overall type is okay. Well, that ended our show day in about five minutes. I'm more than a tiny bit disappointed. I'm not sure where I want my Dutch project to go from here. Lyric is my herd buck and currently my only buck. My does have stopped having babies and what I suspect was feed killed 2 litters so I have four Dutch taking up space.

Some friends who raise Harlequins "twisted my arm" into getting back into the breed. I sold my trio last year in order to downsize my herd, I regretted that decision later on. Harlie people in this area are some of the nicest people I know so I picked out a trio to pick up at the show. Well Jessica, the breeder of the senior doe I got decided she didn't want to keep the doe's litter and foster it as was planned so she brought the litter with the doe and gave them to me for the same price I was going to buy the doe for. I also got a junior buck and doe.

Oh yes, I also brought home 4 new fancy rats for my breeding program. Photos of those will come in another post, probably another day.

Blue Japanese
Junior Doe
Unnamed unless Jessica gave her one.

Kylie
Blue Japanese
Senioir Doe

Chocolate Magpie
Junior Buck
Unnamed

hawks

2011-03-01T21:47:00.000-05:00

Brandon and I were talking today about putting poultry netting up. We are going tomorrow to get some. Unfortunately we are too late. I was putting out feed for the chickens and they came running into the barn. An extra chicken came in which Percy, the rooster, immediately launched an attack on. The extra chicken, to my extreme shock, was a hawk. Just two feet from me. Percy was holding his own while I grabbed a rake.

I managed to hit the hawk once and it let go of Perc. Before I could hit it again, the hawk attacked one of my Old English hens. I beat the hawk off and it flew out of the barn. My hen was bad off so I had to euthanize her. Percy and the other two hens escaped without any injury. Percy still had hawk feathers in his beak for a prize.

I'm angry with the hawk but glad I was out there when the attack happened. If I hadn't been, I probably would have lost all four chickens rather than just one (which is still sad, don't get me wrong).

raised garden

2011-02-25T12:51:00.000-05:00

Today my dad and I talked about this year's garden. [ I am getting ready to start some seeds! ] He had an idea to do a completely raised garden, with the exception of things like corn, watermelon, and pumpkin.

This is his idea. We would build several 3x16' raised beds that are waist high. That way no one has to bend down, you just reach across and pick what you need. The grow bed would be about a foot deep. Although it's a costly alternative to a traditional garden, I think the family would be more motivated to care for a vegetable garden if it was set up like this. For this year we want to build two raised garden units and add 2 more each year. Whatever does not fit in those two will go in the ground as always.

farm kids

2011-02-19T17:30:00.000-05:00

My niece was outside with me today while I cared for the animals. She helped me pick grass for the rabbits and petted them. She carried feed out to the coop for the chickens and threw little handfuls out for them. She held her first chicken today. When she saw her mom she excitedly said "Mom, I just held one of April's chickens! It was so cool!"

I don't picture myself wanting kids of my own, at least not now. For now I would like to help teach my niece that farming, even on the tiny scale that we do, is good. Sometimes she is afraid to get dirty, but today she came right into the chicken coop and the rabbit barn and helped with the little tasks. One day I want her to help me collect eggs and maybe try rabbit meat.

pasture animals

2011-02-12T15:49:00.000-05:00

On a regular basis, I put my rabbits and now the chickens out to "pasture". This gives the animals a large, safe enclosure to graze on fresh grass. The rabbits get to dig and the chickens can scratch. Once my garden is planted for the year I will move the tractors through the rows so the animals can eat the weeds.

The rabbit tractor is a large wire dog crate. It has a wire floor
that is spaced enough for the rabbits to dig but not wide enough
for rabbits to dig out.

Another shot
These bunnies are out together because I'm trying
to get the doe bred while we have some warm weather.

My Cochin pair in the chicken tractor.
The chicken pen is a long rabbit cage (30x60") with the floor cut out.

Scratching around, nibbling on what little green grass we still have.

a photo post

2011-02-09T13:05:00.000-05:00

I've taken a bunch of cute pictures of the animals the past few days so I figured I would make an entire post for it.

Checking out the camera

My dog Shuck playing with my parents' Toy Poodle, Sammie.

Shuck wanting me to throw his ball

Cochin rooster, Percy, eating out of Brandon's hand.

Bailey meeting a chicken for the first time.
She didn't know what to think.

Percy checking out the dining room.

Oliver perching on my hand. He looks ready for take off.

my surprise

2011-02-05T11:20:00.000-05:00

I emailed a lady from Craigslist two weeks ago about chickens. She saw my website and really wanted a Dutch rabbit so we worked out a trade. I didn't want to mention anything in case it fell through, but we met today and this is what I brought home...

They are a breeding pair of mottled Cochin bantams. They're so little and sweet. I'm excited to have my very own chickens. Yay!! This pair is about a year and a half old. I want to let the hen hatch out a few chicks, Cochins are known for being good mothers, and save some pullets from her hatch.

names, revisited

2011-01-27T20:19:00.000-05:00

In my last blog I talked about changing the farm's name to something with meaning. It has taken me days and several lists to pick a name that would suit the farm and be special to me. Finally I have selected a name that I believe is unique and will continue to fit no matter what is on the farm or if I move and the "farm" goes with me. So, without further ado, DenJak Farm will from now and forever on be called............

OlivYew Farm

OlivYew is a play on "I love you". It is to symbolize my love for gardening, my animals, and most importantly my family. The name of my blog and website will change as well in a few days to give everyone a change to adjust. lol I really like the sound of this name. I Googled it several times and nothing with that name showed up. Mostly olive groves were my results.

names

2011-01-22T12:57:00.000-05:00

When I first started raising rabbits my rabbitry was named Silver Maple. The name meant a lot because I like gardening and a silver maple tree was the first thing we planted when my family moved. I changed the name to DenJak later on for various reasons but the name doesn't really mean anything. For some reason I never changed it, but I'm trying to come up with a new and meaningful name now.

If you haven't named your rabbitry or farm, take the time to choose something that means a lot to you. I have a short list of names I like, some are more meaningful than others. I have one that I really like if Brandon will agree to it. If you choose something personal, it isn't likely that someone else will have that name already. I'll let you know how it goes.

meat rabbits

2011-01-12T10:46:00.000-05:00

With my Dutch, I generally only keep the best marked and best typed (conformation to the standard). I intend to sell only show or potentially brood quality rabbits to fellow breeders. My culls are put into the freezer. That's not a lot of meat considering only a few rabbits from each litter are "meat quality". My family consists of three people who will willingly eat rabbit meat plus two dogs.

I have decided to acquire some additional rabbits, of any breed, to raise strictly for meat. This idea stemmed from my secret desire to raise "pretty" rabbits, choosing breeding stock based on how cute they are (lol). A friend said she raises mutt rabbits in addition to show rabbits because the mutts have no market except to go in her freezer. I like that idea. I can pick rabbits for two qualities only: cute and meat. I don't have to focus on breeding to a standard or worrying about which colors are and aren't compatible.

I'm thinking that I will keep all the does in a colony set up, bucks and litters will be in cages. I am debating on whether or not to separate does for raising their litters. My thinking is that if the doe and her litter are in a separate cage I can more easily track the growth and select for bigger/meatier animals. In that case I may need only four or five cages dedicated to a meat project plus a large pen for does. If I keep the a doe in the colony post-breeding then I would need only one or two cages, depending on how many herd bucks I choose to keep - personally I like to keep two bucks on hand.

new rabbitry

2011-01-08T05:11:00.000-05:00

My dad has pretty much "moved out" of the shed he built years ago. The lawn mower and tools have been put into the garage. Over the past two years the shed has been a collection dump where things my parents don't want to keep but don't really want to throw away go. I was in there the other day and realized it would be a really nice rabbitry if I cleaned it up.

My parents pretty much encouraged me to move the rabbits in there...because I have to clean it out. That little shed is a WRECK. So much crap has collected in there and rats have really taken over. It smells like urine in there and rat feces is everywhere, literally. It will take me forever to get that place cleaned up.

Here are some pictures of my progress.

Day 1
The shed is 12x12' and completely packed with junk.
The garbage can is full after only 1 hour.

Day 2
This is the rabbitry side of the shed. The rest of the shed will
continue storing stuff.
A fun fact: I found my original j-clips pliers. They're about
8 years old now.

Day 3
Rabbitry side.
You can actually see the floor!

Day 3
Non-rabbitry side.
Still a long way to go.

Day 4
I really worked hard to clean it up.
It's ready to be moved into.

Day 5
I started moving cages and pans inside.
Unfortunately it started raining before I finished.

Day 6
We had a pleasant day, weather-wise so
I've started moving rabbits in.