Dutch-banded rabbit kits

 Last evening as I fed the rabbits, I checked Cassie's nestbox again - she had pulled fur last week but not kindled.  Well, she gave birth to four wriggly, energetic kits ... and THREE have the Dutch banding coat pattern!  Woohooo!  I only had one born last year to Belle and Blue-Boy, who was regular furred and could not take the August heat and died.  My goal since crossing in the Dutch gene has been to get a blue Dutch-banded Rex-furred rabbit with the heat tolerance of the Florida White I crossed in last year.

four newborn rabbit kits

Newborn rabbits have very little fur, so it isn't a certainty, but I think I have one black banded (the runt of the litter) and two blue banded.  Since Cassie is a Rex-furred daughter of Jack, and Blue-Boy (the sire of the litter) is the son of Shalimar who was Rex-furred, there is a decent possibility of getting at least one of them with Rex fur.  Wish me luck!

The three Dutch banded kits

Springtime

latest two hatches of Wyandottes

light-colored chick appears RED,
but still a full Wyandotte

Lacey and kits

Brooke and kits

the broccoli and lettuce bed

Dutch-Boy, at Frank & Caroline's

Hope y'all enjoy these pics and vids, courtesy of hubby's smart-phone.  Commentary later.

New additions

Pics will have to wait until tomorrow, but a lot of new additions here.   My second incubator kicked things off, with the first two chicks hatching Thursday morning.  Friday evening Lacey kindled a six pack - all six live, healthy, and close enough in size there is no actual runt of this litter.  At first, I was worried she wasn't caring for them, or her milk hadn't come in enough for six, so I gave her a small handful of raspberry leaves and this morning those kits had FAT round full bellies.  Saturday ended the hatch, with a total of thirty-four live chicks out of forty-one that showed development at candling.  I guess the record from two weeks ago didn't last long.

Now, for the new addition I know y'all will want pics, pics, pics!  Yup, a new goat kid, but it wasn't Maggie who kidded this evening.  It was Cocoa Puff, who I thought had another week or two.  She sure fooled me.  One very adorable, nicely marked girl.  Meanwhile, Maggie is huge: the proverbial broad side of the barn.  We're hoping she at least has twins, for her sake.

Another addition, but not a baby: I have a new stud bunny.  I'll get pics of him when he settles in, as right now he's hiding in the privacy cubby of the new bunny hutch.  This one is almost exactly like the one last summer, and is situated under the tress.  We had to move the electronet fence after setting it up, but bunnies need shade.

It's been an eventful weekend, even before the weekend officially started.

Random rabbit stuff

So, it's what passes for winter down here.  Yesterday's high was only 50F, up from upper 30s in the morning, while today it's supposed to get up in the mid-70s with an overnight low of mid- to upper 50s.  Tomorrow it's supposed to be a bit warmer, and more humid until it starts raining overnight through Thursday morning, then the temperature will drop again to upper 30s for overnight lows again for a few days.  I had acupuncture last Thursday, but by Sunday night it lost to the cold front that rolled in.  Ah well, we did get some garden stuff accomplished (more on that later).

While my back was just screaming yesterday in protest, I did a bunch of reading about rabbit breeding and general feeding and health, and found a couple nice little nuggets of useful  info.  One I had seen previously, and now saw confirmed is that rabbit pellets may be complete in nutrition at the feed mill, two vitamins are not shelf-stable in the pellets: vitamin A and E.  Since they degrade in storage, supplementing goes a long way toward willingness to breed.  Black oil sunflower seeds (usually abbreviated as BOSS) will provide stable vitamin E, and in general green vegetation has vitamin A, along with of course carrots.

I found another little gem in a forum thread I intend to try, likely starting tomorrow, and that is the mineral supplement that's best for bunnies is sheep mineral.  One sheep-and-goat block, coming home tomorrow.

I've also noticed bunnies are bored.  I have golf balls in there for them to roll around, and the boys in particular do that a lot.  In fact, we figured out that Larry has been rolling his out of the cage, through a bent section of the door frame.  Shalimar has been rolling her food dish around, which is a bit of an effort considering I bought no-tip dishes for the rabbits.  Chew toys are recommended, in addition to cat toys to roll/throw around, so as a chew I plan to get the girls some alfalfa/timothy hay cubes.  Another option will be to put in pieces of cardboard for them to shred.

On the breeding front, at least three girls are definitely bred.  Shalimar kicked things off with the eager-breeder routine, which Lacey did a little less than a week later (and remember, this is her first time breeding).  Brooke had been bred by Jack, but when I put her in with Larry the other morning, she willingly lifted for him, whereas she made Jack really, really work at less success.  I'm wondering if it was a timing thing, or if Brooke simply likes Larry better.  Since Shal kindled at 30 days last time, I estimate her to kindle on February 9th.  MaryAnn has not been very enthusiastic about the breeding idea, but Jack acted like he made contact while she was on the run.  Gracie has been in George's cage for over a week.

Finally, I'll be getting a new bunny boy from Frank and Caroline.  Caroline said a friend of hers gave him and a couple girls away for free, because she couldn't keep them anymore.  This fellow is a Dutch (breed) rabbit, may even have a pedigree, and has a lovely, solid, and thick body.  Hubby has a pic of him on his camera, so at some point I'll post up what he looks like.

On the chick hatching idea

I borrowed Frank's spare incubator, and got it almost filled before the rain started the other week.  I had already filled my incubator, which has resulted in only two surviving chicks out of 42 eggs set.  I only had nine eggs develop, so 33 eggs were clear/not fertile.  Three chicks hatched, but one was on its back doing the dying cockroach the next morning.  I had also set eight eggs under the Black Swedish hen and Minty, the Ameracauna hen I got from Luanne.  Of those eight eggs, only one chick hatched, but he (?) is doing quite well under the Black Swedish hen's care.  She was wrapped too tight even before she went broody, and the hormones of broodiness made her absolutely psycho until that chick hatched.  Now she is just an angry dragon-mom.

Refilling the incubator is on hold due to weather.  We had about four days without rain this week, and during that time we went to get the new bunny hutch, I went up to Tractor Supply to refill the feed shed, and yesterday went to the grocery to refill our fridge and pantry.  Hubby had gone into town before the previous week-plus-of-rain started to fill the two five gallon fuel cans for the generator, as it really only takes an average-strength thunderstorm to knock power out.  And now, we have the first named storm of the year out churning in the gulf, but the feed shed has plenty of critter chow, the fridge and pantry have enough food for another two weeks, and we have two full fuel cans for the generator in case a tree comes down on the line somewhere.  We're both low on the money side of things, but we won't need to go anywhere except for one appointment up in Palatka.

Oh, baby bunny update:  Gracie's one little kit didn't make it in with Brooke's two huge hungry hippos - but those two are seriously large!  Shalimar is down to three kits, and I suspect the one that died was the one I couldn't get to eat when I was handfeeding them.  I did do a supplemental feeding on one kit, and will check again this afternoon to see if another is needed.  Charky wasn't pregnant, but ought to be as of last night.  I'll pop Brooke in with Jack this evening (she was bred to Larry for the hippos) and Shalimar in with Larry this time.  This should give me a clue as to where the size of Brooke's and Larry's two kits comes from - or if it's a combination of both parents.  I am wanting large, meaty Rex-furred bunnies like these two babies.  I'll get pictures of the kits after they've opened their eyes and gotten more fur - baby bunnies are born nearly-naked, and with their eyes closed like kittens.

Katrina has a new wabbit hutch

Today we went to collect the new Wabbit hutch from Frank the Wizard. He has been working on his design for quite a while. Katrina commissioned one.

These are the pictures Frank sent us while he was building the one we bought.

It's very heavy and very sturdy and very professional in appearance. Frank takes a lot of pride in his work and it shows!
We had to take it apart to put it in the truck, I drove home carefully as it weighs a LOT!
Unloading the truck took just a few minuets much less time than packing it into the truck.

Assembly was fairly easy to do on my own. The parts have weight to them but everything was marked and predrilled so it was just a matter of situating the parts and putting the deck screws back in place.

                                              This took maybe an hour total to reassemble.

It looks like a lot of space for these rabbits and they look quite happy in their new luxury home.

I think that is about it for now. 

Thanks for reading!

Baby bunny time

Let me get my days straight here .... today is Wednesday, so Shalimar kindled Monday evening.  I went out for a cig before evening critter time, about 1830, took the dog out with me, and as I was sitting there I got the very strong impression I needed to go check the bunnies.  I thought to myself, "But we'll check them in less than half an hour," but the impression got stronger - I needed to go check the bunnies.  I walked over, and there was Shalimar, with five kits on the wire floor.  I had planned to put in the nest box at critter time, as that was day 30 for her.  Oops - apparently rabbits can kindle as earlier as day 27!

I don't know if it was lack of the nest box, or the armadillo crashing around (it sounds ten feet tall and bulletproof when it moves around) but Shalimar was stressed or freaked out and started attacking her kits.  I "EEEK!ed" and grabbed them up, then took them inside and pulled a small jar of goat colostrum out of the freezer.  This right here is why I save some in small jars.  I ended up staying up to almost 0200 trying to get warmed goat colostrum in those kits with an eyedropper, because the small kitten nipples I have are just a little too big for them.  I lost the runt that evening, but it had born the brunt of Shalimar's attack.  One kit has only one ear, but is otherwise fine and wriggly and hungry.

Yesterday when we got back from picking up the new rabbit hutch (hubby will post on that) I checked on Shalimar and discovered not only did she look down, but she had pulled a bunch more fur, and bundled it up into the size and shape of a kit ... basically, she made herself a baby doll.  I mentioned this to Frank when he called to ask how the reassembly of the hutch went, and he said he'd never heard of that before, either.  First, I put back the kit who was refusing both eyedropper and nipple, and Shalimar set out to gussy up her nestbox.  I put the other three in shortly after, and I have a happier bunny doe.

After setting up the hutch, I moved Charky, Gracie, and Brooke over, wanting to give Shalimar a day or two before moving her and her kits.  This morning there was a BUNCH of light colored fur under Brooke's section, and she had two big and fat kits.  One has Larry's markings.  Gracie had been pulling fur since yesterday, and finally kindled just an hour ago - just two, one already dead (a BIG blue that may have gotten stuck too long in the birth canal) and one little wriggly black one.  I'll move the survivor over with Shalimar's crew to replace her runt, and also because single kits don't usually make it due to lack of littermates to keep warm with in the nest.  Well, there's also the bit about Gracie's history of killing her kits.

Now, I am just waiting for Charky to kindle.  It's her first time, so she'll likely be late.  Oh, reading Monday night while the milk warmed, I saw rabbits usually have kindled by day 35 .... but the person who wrote the book I need to buy says she's had a doe go 40 days.

Big honkin' update

OK, so the honking is courtesy of the neighbor's ill-humored goose ... actually, is there any other kind?  Big update - pretty much a month's worth because I've either been busy, or been sulking because I'd rather be busy instead of my back hurting.

Chocolate is getting fat.  She is starting to look like she swallowed a whole watermelon and it got stuck sideways in her midsection.  She's the first I expect to kid, around Valentine's Day.  Prim is about two weeks' (at most?) behind her there, with Tangie supposed to be after that, then Molly.  Flora is still not pregnant, but then again she still looks to be growing.  She's now almost as tall as her mother, Molly.

Pigs are still doing fine.  It looks like they may be done growing up for the most part, so that means Boston Butt's days are numbered for sure.  He's still the smallest in the pen, and Cerridwen is still the biggest.

Still no baby bunnies yet ... I have not figured out where I am going wrong on this project.  At least they all let me pet them at feeding time now.

The two hatches of Wyandotte chicks are growing, growing, and growing!  I'm planning for a third hatch soon.  Checking the calendar, it says February 5th & 6th are good days to set eggs.  I've decided not to replace any of the Silkies from here out.  They just don't seem hardy enough to thrive here with my management style.  Either that, or I got very high-maintenance Silkies.  That ought to give me more room to grow out more Wyandottes.

Now, for the planting idea.  When I talked to Sis for my birthday, she said an indoor herb garden is her big 2017 project.  I mentioned that I've been researching to grow a big ol' mess of herbs here as well, and she says I need to post up everything I find out.  Those will be separate posts, but to start with: put ALL seeds in the refrigerator.  Store them there, until you are ready to plant them.  Off the top of my head, parsley and sage both need one and two weeks fridge time, respectively.  I don't recall what others you mentioned having, so either comment here or send an email to give me the list to look up.

I think I can now say I have graduated from a black thumb to a brown thumb.  No, I am not suddenly overrun with mint (though I would welcome that) but I am having a lot better success with starting seeds.  In the case of the Roma (VF) tomato seeds, a little too much success for me to handle on my own.  So, here's the story:  I ordered seeds directly from Burpee, including a true-breeding strain of Roma (VF) tomatoes.  They mailed it out on December 5th, and tracking had no other updates so I emailed their customer service on the 15th.  They canceled that order, made a new one, and mailed that out on the 18th.  That package arrived between Christmas and New Year's, so I was happy and forgot about it.  A little before my birthday, I open up what i thought was a scrip refill from VA, but it was seeds from Burpee ... the lost shipment.  I plant those seeds first, because I figure at best I'll get half to sprout.  Oh yeah, and I planted the entire package - which said 250 seeds, but there was more like 270.

I have 264 Roma tomato starts!  And this is after my neighbor Marty bought a couple last night.  I've also put 50 Little Gem lettuce starts in a bed, and probably the same amount of "Toy Choi" pak choi in another bed, with some of both left over for Marty again.  (She also got the Old German sucker that I knocked off the parent plant while transplanting.)  Pretty much all those seeds from the lost package are sprouting quick, fast, and in large numbers.  Now add to that a second flat of seeds, with 51 Boxcar Willie tomatoes, and 81 Pruden's Purple (actually a dark pink) tomato starts.  It's probably a good thing the Black Krim, Aunt Ruby's German Green, and Big Rainbow seeds were all too old to sprout.

I also have Red Russian kale, three varieties of broccoli, a colorful mix of cauliflower, Bloomsdale spinach, four kinds of sweet pepper, and six kinds of greens sprouted.  No joke.  Lynn (my friend who owns/runs a plant nursery) says it's because I am using better quality seed, actual seed starting mix, and am doing things at the right time.  Along with all that, I've also been reading and learning how to plant, along with when to plant for Zone 9b and by the astrological calendar.  Laugh if y'all want, but it is all coming together a lot better this year than the past five years.

This should give y'all an idea of what I've got going.  Meanwhile, I'd like to get another bed planted before it rains this afternoon.

Mystery kit and Daylight Stupid Time

First, before I do my semiannual rant about the clock stupidity, a bit of a mystery yesterday afternoon.  Hubby found a newborn kit (baby rabbit) on the ground by the right side of the cages.  Given this position, that ruled out Brooke, who is in the far left cage.  Shalimar was just bred October 23rd, so it was not hers.  Gracie had been in with George the week prior, but that would be early ... and when I pulled her out to inspect her, her nipples are tiny and hard.  So, I pulled out the new girl, Ginger, who I was assured was "definitely not pregnant."  Ginger was born in January, and not bred before I got her.  Her nipples were large and soft and a lot easier to find than Gracie's, who has had two litters prior to this breeding.  So much for "definitely not pregnant," as she must have gotten bred during the transit.  I called Lynn up, who says rabbits "usually" have more than one kit, but it isn't impossible.  Another possibility is that Cutie Pie, the outdoor cat, got any other kit(s).  So, Ginger is back by herself for a couple days for recovery before I toss her in with Jack again.  At least I now know why she was refusing to let Jack breed her.

Now ... about this idiocy with changing the clocks.  Where in the (*bleep*) did this crazy idea that somehow this is for "the farmers' benefit" come from recently?  There is not a single critter here that gives a flying leap what our clocks say, because animals are on sun time and not clock time, despite my best efforts to keep the goats on a 12 hour milking schedule.  The goats keep insisting I am early for morning milking and late for evening milking these past six weeks in particular.

Folks, for the record, Daylight "Savings" Time was started during World War Two as a way to conserve energy back home so more fuel could be used to power the war machine in both the European and Pacific theatres of combat.  Period.  It does not really affect a farming schedule, except for when us rural folk have appointments in town or need to be aware of business hours.  The energy conservation is much higher in the cities.  Basically, this is just a big annoyance, 71 years after the end of WW2.  The dog came in to wake me up the exact same time as he did yesterday.  Of course, I haven't yet changed my bedside clock so when I opened my eyes I just thought the dog was on time.  Anyway, y'all have now been informed so you know not to repeat the absolute ignorance of DST being "for the farmers' benefit," because the livestock does not care.

Bunnies

Is it really November already?  Wow, time flies.  That means my "baby" will turn 23 later this month.

It's time for a rabbit update!  I even have pictures.  Dad informs me his wife LOVES my critter updates, so I should do them a little more often.  First up, I finally got a good picture of Shalimar, the solid blue Rex-furred doe I finally got from Wayne and Lisa.  They bought her at the auction the same night I bought Brooke and Gracie, and she's had a good litter for them so has a track record of breeding and rearing.  She ought to be pregnant by Jack, as I put her in on the 23rd of October and he bred her three times.

Shalimar, my solid blue Rex-furred girl

You can see why it's been more of a challenge to get a decent pic of her, with that color and trying to keep the bunnies in the shade during the heat of summer.  It is FINALLY cooling off at night - we've even had a couple nights below 60F!

I have a new addition to the bunny banks: meet Ginger.  She's Rex-furred, but is a cross between New Zealand (a large meat breed) and Florida White (a medium, compact meat breed).  I asked where the Rex fur gene came from, and was told it lurks in some Florida White lines, as there was a standard Rex or two in the foundation stock.  Here she is, in with Jack the Gigolo Rabbit:

Handsome Jack and Ginger

Ginger and Jack

Jack is becoming quite the gigolo, as he's been out to Flagler Estates to breed the mother of the young bunnies I got late spring, and in addition to Brooke, Shalimar, and now Ginger, my friend Lynn says she wants to bring her three meat cross girls to him.  She traded the lady I got Ginger from three guineas for three rabbits - and that was somehow MY fault for referring the lady to Lynn when she mentioned she wanted guineas.  Uh huh ... whatever.

Final big update: Lacey is now renamed Larry.  He was the only little bunny Lynn was not certain on gender ... I really hoped he'd be a she but there is no doubt anymore.  I kind of wish I had discovered it before I put Shalimar in with Jack, because she'd be a good cross for Larry.  Lynn is thinking she might breed one of her girls to Larry to see what she gets, considering he's an F2 Rex/New Zealand cross.

So there are my new(ish) rabbits.  Now it's time to check the girls to see if they have any buns in the oven (haha) while pestering Caroline's husband Frank for technical drawings of his rabbit hutch design.  I'd love to move the bunnies out from under the carport to inside the chicken's electric perimeter, especially since Brooke and George have now finally decided to let me pet them without shying away, cringing, or shaking themselves off ... it's been along time coming, but persistence pays off with even the more stubborn critters.

Now Feyd is gone

I had intended to resume blogging with a much more cheerful topic, really I did.  Feyd - my beautiful, big original Gold-Laced Wyandotte rooster - is gone.  A medium-sized predator got into the electric perimeter last night, dug under the back board of the tractor, and managed to get Feyd and drag him off.  Knowing Feyd, he probably bit the predator's nose bloody, and is giving it indigestion to boot.  All five pullets that were in with Feyd are still here - Bigfoot's four sisters plus Azar's one daughter.  I plan to gather up every egg they lay in the next ten days to hatch, before I put another rooster in with them.

Where the predator dug under, and some feathers from Feyd

This wasn't how I planned for Feyd to make his final exit ... after Feyd taking a chunk of skin off hubby's palm last week, I had decided Feyd deserved a proper death, as the centerpiece of Thanksgiving dinner on the blue and white china platter.  So much for plans.

another view of where the predator dug under

This is our fault.  We had become complacent; we had become lax.  We both had seen the broken eggshells , but thought the hens were kicking them out of the tractors.  We have been lazy on keeping the grass down around the electronetting, so it could have been grounding out.  Hubby immediately spotted where the fence was sown this morning.

We're not sure what we're dealing with - smaller than a bear (the bear would have caused much more damage) but larger than your average opossum or coon.  Possibly a bobcat, or coyote, or loose dog, or maybe even a fox.  Hubby says he will probably sit up tonight, hoping to shoot it.

This is on top of another rabbit loss Saturday.  Out of the four young rabbits I bought, I sold one _ Runt - lost Hogger to a freak accident where he got both hocks jammed into the wire and tore skin and meat off trying to get loose, and now Roberta, the big girl, who like Hammy looked like she simply went to sleep and didn't wake up.  That leaves me with Lacey from that group, plus Shalimar who is doing just peachy.

Lacey, remaining bunny from the NZ/Rex mix group I bought earlier this summer

Y a know, I forgot to snap a pic of Shalimar.  She's in the shade now, and that will make it difficult to get a good pic because she is a solid dark blue (grey).

As for the long silence ... well, it seems this year that the more I am doing around here, the less I feel like blogging.  I guess you could say I've been spending my energy doing, instead of just "talking" about it.  By the time I'm done with evening milking, I usually just want to stop sweating, maybe take a shower, and lay down and either read, or just page through a knitting or crochet magazine, or cookbook, or through one of my herb books with lots of pictures.

Bunny update

No pics, as it is a grey and blah day here.  It's just not as wet as was forecast so far - we'd actually like a little more rain for the new fruit trees.  Along with putting up a post to let family and friends know we are still very much above water, there have been some significant bunny changes here.

The first is in the addition column of "rabbit math."  Five new rabbits - yes, five - have been added: four just weaned and about six weeks old (born April 27th) and cute as baby bunnies can be, and one adult that I have been hoping to buy for months.  I bought all four baby bunnies because the lady said she isn't good at sexing them at such a young age, and neither am I.  I stopped by Lynn's on the way home with them to have her look, since she used to raise rabbits by the hundreds (literally).  She looked, and said I have two and two, so Saturday I took the runt male up to the farm swap to try and sell him as a pet, since not only is he flashily marked, but has the perfect balanced temperament for a pet - not too adventurous but not too timid.  Animals just weren't selling this month, and I was not inclined to hang around at the auction to sell him there.  So, I'll feed him for a month and try again next time.

The adult addition to the rabbit row is a beautiful dark blue Rex furred female.  I had thought she was larger, but that was probably because when I first saw her at the auction she was in a very small cage.  Lisa had named her Shalimar, and I'll likely keep that name.  Lisa told me Shalimar is shy and submissive, and needs a week or three of sniffing noses through the wire before I try to put her in with Jack the gigolo bunny.  Oh yeah, part of the payment for the baby bunnies was bringing Jack out to spend some time with the babies' mother.  Tabitha is really hoping this results in a litter, and I of course am curious to see how Jack's first kits turn out.

Now, for the subtraction column of the rabbit ledger - Beau is fulfilling his destiny, and weighs in at 3 pounds, 2 ounces of meat and bone.  I salted his skin with canning & pickling salt, then left it out for a few hours to somewhat dry (as best as can be expected in our humidity) then folded it salt-side-in and put it into a freezer bag in the freezer to wait until I have a couple more.  We're looking at various rabbit recipes.  Lynn came down yesterday morning to demonstrate proper slaughter and dressing-out of a rabbit, so now I know how to snap a rabbit's neck quickly and with as little stress as possible.

So, to summarize: still alive, still above water, and still weird.

Crazy critter week

Very, very busy week with the critters here, starting on Monday with first baby Silkie chicks that had to come out into the brooder tub because the two black dragons were so deep into nest setting mode they pecked at anything moving too close to their nest ... including the newly hatched chicks.  Then Monday afternoon, hubby called to me to come outside and identify something ... "Baby bunnies!"  Except only one of the three was still alive.  I hadn't put the nest box in because Brooke gave no hint of impending labor or delivery.

We've had some heavy downpours this week (though no flooding, thankfully) and the first really heavy wall-of-water rain flooded the brooder tub.  Hubby just happened to hear baby chicks cheeping, and went out and saved three of the four in the tub, which he moved into his workshop until last night.

The squirmy little bunny kit started off a bit chilled, then I held Brooke on her back, cradled in my arm like a babe, so the kit could nurse.  The kit kept going from teat to teat, and I could hear it sucking vigorously, but it would take 20-30 minutes before I could see the milk belly.  Brooke wasn't making much milk.  We also caught her using the nest box as a litterbox, so I pulled the nest box out and set it in the brooder tub so baby bunny would stay warm and dry.  When I got home Thursday afternoon from Tractor Supply to pick up some feed and kitten bottles, the kit was lethargic, barely responsive, and looked emaciated ... so I called up Lynn, who used to breed and raise a LOT of meat rabbits.  She told me Brooke sounded like the textbook problem "newbie" mother, and that she usually figured her first timers would have small litters and then lose them all through clumsiness or benign neglect.  I found the kit cold, stiff, and dead the next morning.  Lynn says I can breed Brooke back two weeks after the kits were born, and she ought to do better with the next litter.  If she doesn't, Lynn recommends "into the frying pan with her!"

I sold Harry Houdini and Cocoa to my friends Caroline and Frank yesterday, then today I drove to the other side of Gainesville (good grief, there are a lot of goat people on that side of Gainesville!) to pick a new Nigerian Dwarf doe/nanny, who is registered and looks to be a great compliment to Brownie if I feel inclined to sell registered kids.  The option is there.  Here she is, Honey Road FRP Tangie, or just Tangie for short.

Honey Road FRP Tangie, Nigerian Dwarf doe

Ain't she purty?  She's technically oversized, as in too tall and would be disqualified from the show ring, but I didn't buy her to show.  While she hasn't been milked this year, the lady said she did milk her last year and Tangie produced quite decently with tolerably good milk stand manners (especially when grain is involved).  She's two years old, a couple months younger than Chocolate, and kidded twice now - single birth both times - with this year's kid born four weeks ago.  The lady said she wanted to finish this year's kids on the bottle, as that makes them a lot more people-friendly.

So, two kids leave here, and one nanny sans kid arrives ... and all that milk will be MINE!  Mine to make all sorts of cheese with, and still have plenty to keep us in caramel coffee creamer and me in yogurt.  Now all I need is a decent cheese press, so I can make colby, cheddar, brick, swiss, and whatnot.

Oh, almost forgot to mention sending out guinea eggs - 45 to Lynn (who also has my incubator to hatch them with, along with her whites) and then 15 went home with Frank and the kids, but he probably won't let the kids have anything to do with them.  LOL

Just think - this is the short version, and doesn't cover planting.  It's been quite the busy week.

New critter pics, part one

Before I hit the highway to get my goats, I felt inspired to snap some pictures of the new critters.

new castor (black agouti color) buck

Pork Chop and Hammy, my four dollar lesson in pigs

nine Meaties chicks and two Wyandotte chicks, hatched Feb 18th

setting eggs for March hatch,
from Feyd's, Silkie Dude's, and Spikey's groups

OK, now to finish coffee, have some breakfast, then hit the road.

New critters

Just got in from the livestock auction, with three new critters.  One rabbit, some kind of meat line buck, and ... two pigs.  I got them both for $4.  No, not a typo - I paid four dollars for two male potbelly pigs.  These were the largest of the potbellies, and people tend to want the itty-bitty ones that are fed only so much a day to stunt their growth, so I got these two for only two dollars each.  Try buying more than 12 ounces of bacon for that at the grocery.  I told hubby, "Meet Pork Chop and Hammy."

The rabbit will also end up on the dinner table, but I want to fatten him up a bit first, and also give him a chance to breed Brooke.  George has tried, but the first time she refused to lift her rump and the second time he was more lovey-dovey, grooming her face and ears while making little snuffle noises.  I threatened to play Aerosmith for him to get him in the mood.  I even put Brooke in with Jack to see if he was ready, but still nothing.  I need to get my rabbits to breed like chickens - the roosters waste no time.

Pork Chop and Hammy have a day or two before they meet their destiny, as tomorrow I will finally get my dairy goats!  WooHOO!  I was going to drive out today to get them, but I called before leaving Palatka, and she said they needed to run out for the afternoon, but tomorrow around lunch time/after church was good for her.  I will be coming home will no less than two goats, and no more than four.

It's dark outside, so no pics unless hubby snaps some tomorrow while I drive to the other side of Gainesville to get my goat.

Update for past week

OK, no good excuse for the radio silence this past week, other than I've felt more like doing things than blogging about them.  I intended to catch up yesterday, but got hit like a ton of bricks with a lower digestive tract bug of some sort.  It knocks me flat around lunch time - hit fast and hard, so I was not inclined to go too far from the bathroom.  Funny thing was, yesterday I woke up feeling normal, with a bit of energy and planting plans ... go figure.

Today I am still staying close to the house, but so far so good.  I moved the newly hatched chicks out to the brooder tub, as right now we have no broody hens and Pollux has his wings full with last month's horde of Wyandotte chicks.  This month, Azar's group had a horribly low fertility rate, and then only two of the four who developed made it out of the shell.  Spikey's group fared much better, with nine of the no-so-little cheepers out and popping around.  Only one didn't hatch.

Spikey's chicks definitely have his wide and flat back ... a couple I observed ended up on their backs when they flopped out of the shell for the first time.  It took them a bit of effort to flip over on their feet.

On the plant side of things, I did manage to get the cheater-starts of Swiss chard in the ground, and have plenty more that I started from seed ready to move.  I also have a few spinach starts, some broccoli starts, and of course peppers and tomatoes to transplant into larger pots.

The one really impressive volunteer mustard green continues to impress - I am going to do my best to get every seed from it once it bolts.  The original parent plant was a Florida broadleaf variety, if memory serves, but I will be calling this strain Putnam broadleaf if I can keep it going.  It is strong and healthy, and keeps putting up new leaves (to the bunnies' great delight).  While we have no idea how it tastes, the rabbits certainly approve of it.

Oh, of the old seeds from 2013 that I planted a couple weeks ago, I have some white radishes sprouting.  I was a bit surprised to see that the other morning.

Pics later - I am still trying to get caught up after yesterday's gastric fireworks.

Getting a new bunny

Friday, after my appointment in Palatka, I'll be driving west of Gainesville to pick up a new bunny!  He's twelve weeks old, an unpedigreed standard size Rex, and he is the same opal color Brooke is, which means when he gets old enough to breed with her, all the offspring will be some variation of blue.  Opal is technically blue agouti, and the agouti pattern gene is dominant over both otter and solid, so I could get any or all of the three.  No surprise, I have been geeking out on coat color genetics.  Finding some good geeky fur quality genetics articles seems a bit more challenging, but I am now posting a bit at a forum called RabbitTalk.com and can always ask there.  Here are a couple pics of the cute little fellow, provided by the seller (and used with her permission):

12 week old opal Rex buck

12 week old opal buck

I've been working with George, Gracie, and Brooke on getting them accustomed to being petted, and now held.  Gracie takes it the best, especially when I have a cabbage leaf for her.  Brooke is still the most skittish, but I managed to trim all their nails the other day without bloodshed (mine or theirs!) and today after she wandered under the truck and around the carport, Brooke did not struggle when I caught up with her and calmly picked her up while calling her a "silly wabbit."  I did have a cabbage leaf in hand as a treat-reward.

The bunnies

The picture issue is resolved!  Now, for the anxiously-awaited bunny pics:

all 3 rabbits, in the cage

Brooke, somewhat Rex-furred part-Lop?
Her right ear always sticks out to the side

Gracie, all black probably Mini Rex

Brooke is the chow-hound extraordinaire ... if it's rabbit food, she's all about it.  She's now tolerating me petting her ... a little.  She certainly was not raised up as a pet bunny.

Gracie so far seems to be the most accustomed to being handled, and is beginning to act like she enjoys when I rub her head in between her ears.  She's pretty food-motivated as well.

George tolerates being petted, but he is much more about the food than the attention.  He also looks a LOT happier with companions.  He had been flipped his food dish and even using it as a litter box before I brought the two girls home.

Now my sister and Tammy can see the bun-buns.

Sold some birds

Saturday morning was the farm swap in the Tractor Supply parking lot.  While I didn't get the Wyandotte pullets weighed and sorted for it, I did grab up two red broiler hens and three guineas: the white one and both pieds.  These three were having trouble fitting into the flock with the majority being either pearl or lavender, and I also knew the white and one of the pieds for certain were female.  The couple who bought them had two guineas of three at home, and when I explained how to tell the cocks from the hens, the wife said she is now pretty sure both those guineas are male, so they certainly needed a couple hens.  They made no attempt to haggle on the price of $15 per fancy guinea, unlike another fellow who came up after they went inside to get cash back and purchase some bolts.

Lynn came up with me, and that ended up being a very good thing as she watched the tailgate while I ran in to the bathroom a couple times.  Coffee works, ya know.

I sold the two broiler hens to a family that has a young blonde-haired girl, about 4 or 5 years old, who I could instantly tell loves animals as much as I do.  I had no real quibble when the father asked about a "two-for" price on them, and let them go for $20 for the pair.  I also remarked to the parents that girl will grow up to be just like me, and should always be somewhere where she can have her own little zoo.  They simply chuckled and agreed with my assessment.

I took up six dozen eggs, and sold three of them.  Overall, it was not a bad sale, although there were quite a few temptations on the rabbit front.  I did buy another set of cages: a quad, two over two, and the perfect size for the mini-Rexes.  The lady selling the cage said that is exactly what she had in it when she was using it.  Another lady had lovely pedigreed American Blue rabbits, a doe and her eleven kits.  All the Blues were hand-raised and thought nothing of being petted or picked up, and while they were indeed a lovely shade of blue-grey, they had normal fur and my heart is set on Rex fur.  Lynn asked me, "What's wrong with their fur?  They are nice and soft!"  I had to explain, "These fingers have touched Rex fur, and there is just no going back."  That got me an eye roll from Lynn, while the lady selling them nodded and smiled as if she understood.  Lynn had to really work hard to resist buying some of those rabbits, and claimed I "almost" got her in trouble, even though I told her I was about to go rescue her until I saw her walk away empty-armed.

Lisa (the lady who will sell me the dairy goat in the spring) was all excited to come over to my truck to look into the carriers, as she remembered I mentioned I intended to bring the cull Wyandotte pullets.  I think she was rather disappointed, but Friday we went up to Jacksonville and spent a few hours with hubby's nephew who is almost four years old, and was so bouncing off the walls with excitement because hubby is his favorite uncle.  We were just too worn out to weigh and sort the pullets, and I do need to weigh and sort them before hauling any to be sold, as I suspect there are three cockerels hiding out in that bunch along with my suspicion there are two pullets in with the cockerels.  If I don't have them sorted by the third Saturday for the livestock auction, then I will certainly have them ready for next month's farm swap.

Pictures from 2015

the "Star Trek" killer aloe in bloom

Tiny, from early spring

another pic of Tiny, from spring

smoked salmon and a sweet potato on the grill

Feyd and the Big Butt Girls

coop repair, all hardware cloth

coop repair, from the side

roof replacement on the banty house

detail of the nest box roof replacement

a smoked cull cockerel

young smoked cull cockerel in the big crock pot

hubby's pink nosed monster, Little Bit

cat on the windowsill

George the bunny

Brother, Feyd's crossbreed son

Brother's nice broad breasts (5 months at slaughter)

George on the grass

George the black otter colored looks-like a Mini Rex

stuffed slip at ten months

Bigfott, the one grow out cockerel from October hatch

Pollux the nanny capon

closeup of Bigfoot

Pollux's shiny tail feathers

Pollux the chick nanny