Livestock update
We have twelve fuzzy, happy, bouncy, baby rabbits, and a couple of slightly-stressed moms. We gave the moms a day off on Saturday, as Darla was growling when the kits tried to feed, and by Sunday night I watched her carefully smell each of her four babies for identification and eventually let them all nurse. They seemed relaxed this morning, so we will continue to leave them together for now (kits can stay with their moms for up to three months, at which point they may start to hit sexual maturity and bucks need to be separated out). The babies also seemed fine - alert and hungry when we had them in a cage by themselves, without momma, over the day on Saturday. Everyone's weight is good, and only one little had to come inside for a dirty bum bath on Saturday.
Sweetie had the day off as well, and we are now rotating four babies at a time into the cage with her, switched out this morning. I distracted her with a fresh apple core while I re-arranged the kits, and she seemed unconcerned. I did not observe her letting anyone nurse, but that may have been because I was there.
Peter is still Mr. Grumpypants. He bit me last Friday as I scratched his head after bringing him treats - and only failed to take a chunk out of my hand because he got too much of my palm between his teeth. He's very unpredictable, so he is unfortunately not getting as much attention as the less aggressive/growly/bitey rabbits which likely only makes him more unfriendly. He got his outside time on the weekend though, and didn't slash me with his claws as I carried, held and petted him - all the while worrying that he might bite or gouge me but being unwilling to deny him attention and a chance to enjoy the outdoors. I may have to think about replacing him - possibly with a local New Zealand buck.
We just cracked the second bag of feed since our September 25th purchase. With the frost and snow coming, there will be less forage from the yard as a supplement to their pellets, so I will note how the change of weather affects the amount of pellets eaten. As the babies continue to grow, they will no doubt increase their pellet intake. They will still be getting occasional dried whole-grain toast (we don't eat the ends, and the rabbits love them - they turn their nose up at white bread :), dehydrated apple and carrot peels from the kitchen, and greens from the yard and neighbourhood as the weather allows. What kitchen scraps don't go to the rabbits go to the chickens. I'll up the offering of branches from the apple tree, and include more fresh grasses and pile in the Timothy hay. That means that we fed three adults for eight weeks, and twelve babies for roughly two weeks (nibbling on pellets as they wean themselves - now diving into the feeder full bore) so far on a bag of feed ($14), perhaps a quarter bag of calf manna ($5), some scratch ($5), less than a bale of Orchard grass ($10) supplemented by food I gathered outside and some extra expenditure on carrots and apples which were bought in bulk and dehydrated for longer storage and use through the winter. That's $35 so far, for potentially more than $300 retail in meat - but we have a ways to go yet with the babies all just over one pound each, needing to reach five pounds ideally.
As for the chickens - they are snug and predator-free in the hoophouse, and really aren't fond of the idea of wandering around in the snow despite encouragement both days this weekend. Still no eggs, but there is evidence of maturation in the fact that two of the girls wanted me to mate with them this weekend :)
Sweetie had the day off as well, and we are now rotating four babies at a time into the cage with her, switched out this morning. I distracted her with a fresh apple core while I re-arranged the kits, and she seemed unconcerned. I did not observe her letting anyone nurse, but that may have been because I was there.
Peter is still Mr. Grumpypants. He bit me last Friday as I scratched his head after bringing him treats - and only failed to take a chunk out of my hand because he got too much of my palm between his teeth. He's very unpredictable, so he is unfortunately not getting as much attention as the less aggressive/growly/bitey rabbits which likely only makes him more unfriendly. He got his outside time on the weekend though, and didn't slash me with his claws as I carried, held and petted him - all the while worrying that he might bite or gouge me but being unwilling to deny him attention and a chance to enjoy the outdoors. I may have to think about replacing him - possibly with a local New Zealand buck.
We just cracked the second bag of feed since our September 25th purchase. With the frost and snow coming, there will be less forage from the yard as a supplement to their pellets, so I will note how the change of weather affects the amount of pellets eaten. As the babies continue to grow, they will no doubt increase their pellet intake. They will still be getting occasional dried whole-grain toast (we don't eat the ends, and the rabbits love them - they turn their nose up at white bread :), dehydrated apple and carrot peels from the kitchen, and greens from the yard and neighbourhood as the weather allows. What kitchen scraps don't go to the rabbits go to the chickens. I'll up the offering of branches from the apple tree, and include more fresh grasses and pile in the Timothy hay. That means that we fed three adults for eight weeks, and twelve babies for roughly two weeks (nibbling on pellets as they wean themselves - now diving into the feeder full bore) so far on a bag of feed ($14), perhaps a quarter bag of calf manna ($5), some scratch ($5), less than a bale of Orchard grass ($10) supplemented by food I gathered outside and some extra expenditure on carrots and apples which were bought in bulk and dehydrated for longer storage and use through the winter. That's $35 so far, for potentially more than $300 retail in meat - but we have a ways to go yet with the babies all just over one pound each, needing to reach five pounds ideally.
As for the chickens - they are snug and predator-free in the hoophouse, and really aren't fond of the idea of wandering around in the snow despite encouragement both days this weekend. Still no eggs, but there is evidence of maturation in the fact that two of the girls wanted me to mate with them this weekend :)