BeccaOH: Update of just STUFF

[Dace]

Hopefully they will all sell through a local feed store.

Hmmm, how much do baby buns fetch? Wondering if that would be a worthwhile little side biz ...... My kids would
love baby buns to cuddle! Can you actually turn a profit or does it just cover care & keeping?

 

[BeccaOH]

Oh wow! Baby bunnies are HUGE! I've never had a rabbit litter before (well, they were all free-range), and I'm used to baby mice, rats, fish and quail. They're all tiny, especially compared to monster sized rabbit babies, lol.

I didn't touch them for a week. At first they appeared only as big as my thumb. This handful size is at 8 days! Eyes are still closed. Mothers are eating like hogs.

 

[BeccaOH]

Hopefully they will all sell through a local feed store.

Hmmm, how much do baby buns fetch? Wondering if that would be a worthwhile little side biz ...... My kids would
love baby buns to cuddle! Can you actually turn a profit or does it just cover care & keeping?

I'm just learning the ropes of rabbitkeeping. I expect to get no less than $5 each at 6-8 weeks old. If I sell them outright, I can probably get at least $10 around Easter. They are not pedigreed. Those are going for $20 or more on Craigslist.

Figuring the keeping of does and bucks year round with only 2 litters from each doe that can bring in much money (bunnies don't sell well in fall), then it probably isn't that profitable. But I'm still learning and enjoying.

 

[Dace]

$5?

Dang that is cheap! I would
have expected more like
$25!

 

[BeccaOH]

$5?

Dang that is cheap! I would
have expected more like
$25!

That's what I expect at auction or wholesale. I hope to get more in direct sales. The feed store owner thought our price for chicks direct to customers was too low, so I guess we'll be forced to raise them. LOL

All depend on season around here.

 

[Bettacreek]

Oh wow! Baby bunnies are HUGE! I've never had a rabbit litter before (well, they were all free-range), and I'm used to baby mice, rats, fish and quail. They're all tiny, especially compared to monster sized rabbit babies, lol.

I didn't touch them for a week. At first they appeared only as big as my thumb. This handful size is at 8 days! Eyes are still closed. Mothers are eating like hogs.

I actually went back to see how old they were before posting that. I just knew that they had to be under 2 weeks or so with the eyes closed.

 

[BeccaOH]

Well the bunnies are starting to open their eyes just a bit. I caught 2 already exploring out of the nest box and put them back. The next day (Sunday) I found one behind the nest box in a small area that the mother couldn't get into. The baby was dead. It probably was too cold there, though the garage has been staying above freezing. So, I'm down to 6 in the litter of 7.

We got walloped with around a foot of snow, but I really enjoyed being stuck at home for 2 days. I finally did some shoveling yesterday while the sun was out nice. My kind neighbor came down with tractor and plow and did a decent job opening up my drive. The snow tore down netting over one of my runs. On another run I have a wooden frame with chicken wire. That one was loaded, creating a solid roof, and creaking. I got most of the load off yesterday.

We never lost power, but just up the road about half a mile, my neighbors are still without power. We had many trees and branches down in the area from the weight of this heavy snow.

More snow is forecasted, but I really don't expect more than 4-6 inches from it.

I'm ready for spring, and so are my birds. The hens are giving me a dozen eggs a day without light supplementation--and the roosters are fighting. Found two of my young boys going at it yesterday in the snow. I really think the EE would have killed the PR roo. There was lots of blood on his comb. Now the little PR roo is living in a rabbit hutch until he heals. I've got to separate out my breeders and sell my extra roos ASAP. Some girls are even showing too much wear already.

Hey, Keljonma, Hannah laid an egg yesterday. I caught her on the nest.

Anyone know how to house train a 9 month old female pup? I'm tired of cleaning up messes every day. Even though I have two boy dogs that are housebroke, she just seems to think outside time is play time that ends with a treat when they come back in. Glad my carpet is old and stained anyway. :/

 

[hwillm1977]

Anyone know how to house train a 9 month old female pup? I'm tired of cleaning up messes every day. Even though I have two boy dogs that are housebroke, she just seems to think outside time is play time that ends with a treat when they come back in. Glad my carpet is old and stained anyway. :/

When we took un-housebroken dogs outside for pee or poop time we always do it on leash and there's absolutely no play time until they've done their business. After, we reward them like they just pooped a golden egg and have a play time... they get so they bolt out the door, pee, poop, then turn and wait for playtime... but for me it means I don't have to stand around for 10 minutes waiting for them to go if I'm in a hurry... they are conditioned to do it within 30 seconds

We also keep them either leashed to us in the house so you can watch for signs of having to go out, or in a crate if we aren't home.

After they are house broken, both those rules go out the window... but that's basically all we do, with consistency.

We've done it with rescues anywhere from 5 months to 13 years old.

 

[BeccaOH]

Anyone know how to house train a 9 month old female pup? I'm tired of cleaning up messes every day. Even though I have two boy dogs that are housebroke, she just seems to think outside time is play time that ends with a treat when they come back in. Glad my carpet is old and stained anyway. :/

When we took un-housebroken dogs outside for pee or poop time we always do it on leash and there's absolutely no play time until they've done their business. After, we reward them like they just pooped a golden egg and have a play time... they get so they bolt out the door, pee, poop, then turn and wait for playtime... but for me it means I don't have to stand around for 10 minutes waiting for them to go if I'm in a hurry... they are conditioned to do it within 30 seconds

We also keep them either leashed to us in the house so you can watch for signs of having to go out, or in a crate if we aren't home.

After they are house broken, both those rules go out the window... but that's basically all we do, with consistency.

We've done it with rescues anywhere from 5 months to 13 years old.

Thanks, hwillm1977. It has been hard to be disciplined with this one. I trained my boy pup just like you described when I got him at 8 weeks, but at the time he was the only house dog. The next boy came trained. But this girl came at around 6 months and has sort of been able to get by because I don't have the time. I know I should take her outside by herself and try to focus her training.

 

[BeccaOH]

Snowing again!