Monday, March 18, 2024

Bunnies at the Baalands

I raised rabbits as a 4-Her. I had a few rabbits when I lived in Salisbury. Ever since I visited the rabbit research facility in Toulouse, France (in 2012), I have wanted to get rabbits. Finally (in retirement), I took the plunge.

I got my first rabbits in April of last year: two New Zealand White does and a Silver Fox buck. A couple of months later, I drove several hours into Virginia to get a trio of New Zealand Reds. Later in the year, I got two Silver Fox does and a New Zealand White buck. None of the latter three are old enough for breeding yet. All of the rabbits are pedigreed. I currently have trios of New Zealand White, New Zealand Red, and Silver Fox. This is my plan. I figure I'll need 18 cages for the 6 breeding does. I plan to breed the does four times per year.

Bertha and Alice - New Zealand White does

Initially, I bred the New Zealand White does (Alice and Bertha) to the Silver Fox buck (Sylvester). This is proving to be a good cross. Alice has already raised two litters (9, 6). Bertha lost her first litter and has since raised a litter of 9. The New Zealand Red does (Stella and Emma) took a few times before they conceived. Stella's first litter was 11. One died when it was several weeks old. Stella produced her first litter on the third try, and is currently raising a litter of 8 (1 died). Harry is the sire of the New Zealand Red bunnies.

I decided to dig deep into my pockets and buy high quality cages and accessories for my rabbitry. Initially, I bought six cages (24 x 36) from KW Cages in California. The next eight cages I bought came from Bass Equipment in Missouri. While still expensive, they are much more economical than the KW cages, and I like them just as well. Four of these cages are 30 x 30 (a little too deep for reaching rabbits). The other four are 36 x 30 for does to raise their bunnies in. 

The Bass cages have bunny saver wire along the bottoms instead of urine guards. I decided this was a mistake:  too messy. I've ordered urine guards and plan to install them on all the Bass cages. The KW cages came with urine guards, as well as deeper refuse trays. I up charge all my cage purchases to get heavier duty wire, galvanize after welding, and plastic poly trays. I stack the cages two-high and put castors on the stacks. Wheels are good and bad. The cages are easier to move, but the rabbits also cause the cages to move around too much. 

I have two more cages (24 x 36) on order from Bass and two "nurture cages" on order from KW. The latter two are quite pricy, but provide more space and enrichment for does and their bunnies. Besides being 48 x 28 in size, they have a raised platform. They come with nest boxes that attach to the side of the cage, providing a more "natural" burrowing experience for the does.

First New Zealand Red litter (Stella)

My feeders are Pro-B Feed Saver feeders from Bass. They are flush with the cage and are supposed to reduce feed waste. Rabbits are notorious for digging their paws in the feeders and scooping feed out. These feeders seems to be preventing this. I have an assortment of watering receptacles. Originally, I was going to use water bottles, but decided to use water dishes that attach to the side of the cages instead. They say rabbits prefer drinking from bowls.

I bought two creep feeders, but the kits don't seem to eat much out of them. Instead they eat from their mother's feeders or out of my homemade feeders: large bowls with a PVC cap in the middle to prevent them from sitting in the feeders and contaminating them with urine and feces. I also use homemade hay feeders that I attach to the outside of the cages. These are made from plastic containers that I get from Walmart. I got the idea from a YouTube video. I bought wooden nest boxes from a local 4-Her, who makes them with his dad.

Since the rabbits have to spend their entire lives living in wire cages, I am trying to provide them with a more enriched environment. I follow the research on this. Each cage has a resting board. I give each rabbit a wooden dowel to chew on. The hay also satisfies their need to chew, while being a good addition to their diet. I'm experiment with providing the rabbits, especially the young ones, with "toys" to play with (round balls that  make noise: cat toys). 

I've also filled toilet paper rolls with hay to give to the rabbits, especially the bunnies. They seem to like them, without making too much of a mess. My next project is to add a jumping platform to the cages. I have an exercise area (filled with hay) on the garage floor that I can let the rabbits explore individually. Mostly, I put the bucks in the pen. They are more docile and trustworthy than the does. I'm also planning to grow hydroponic fodder to off fresh green forage.

The first cage purchases

I haven't figured out my marketing yet. I sold a few rabbits from the first litter before putting the rest into the freezer. There is a processor in Martinsburg, WV, that will process rabbits for $5 a head. I've sold several of the New Zealand Red bunnies for breeding, but currently have rabbits from several litters that will need to be sold for meat. Facebook helps with live sales of rabbits for breeding. I need to contact some live buyers for the meat bunnies. The ease of marketing will dictate how my rabbit enterprise evolves. I'm hoping to make money with my little enterprise, but I know it may prove to be difficult. In 2023, the rabbit expenditures helped to offset the sheep income (for tax purposes). 

Sunday, March 17, 2024

I made it home.

I shared a post about my loss of Crissy in the "I Love My Orange Tabby" Facebook Group. So many people responded. This is the one that touched me the most. Not just for Crissy, but for the other cats I have loved and lost:  Max, Rex, and Jesse. Cats are so special to me. 

My boys

My boys. Oliver and Cash. More special to me after losing Crissy.

Saturday, March 16, 2024

Backwards

I haven't had to deliver a lamb since 2022. I assisted a couple of ewes last year, but they didn't really need my help. I just wanted to speed things up. This year, lambing started on March 9, with a single ram lamb. Since then, there have been two sets of twins and four sets of triplets. Another ewe had triplets this morning. #1952 was in labor when I got back from taking my mom to breakfast. But she didn't seem to be making much progress. I pulled her first lamb. It was backwards.

Backwards can be a normal birth versus breech which requires assistance. In a backwards presentation, the hind legs are coming first instead of the front legs and the nose. In contrast, in a breech birth, the only thing that's in the birth canal is the bottom (tail). You have to pull the back legs forward into the birth canal in order to deliver the lamb (backwards). Pulling a lamb out by its hind legs is always risky, because it's possible for the umbilical cord to break before the head is out, in which case the lamb may drown.

The second lamb was also backwards. I had no problem getting it out. It was good I helped the ewe. Clearly she was in distress. Upon delivery, the lambs were yellow, indicating they were in stress, too. After delivery of both lambs, the ewe went to work cleaning them and encouraging them to get up to get a sip of colostrum. They are doing fine. The ram lamb is a big one. 

More Crissy

My Zoom companion


Mom and Crissy

Up on the china closet:  safe from Ty

Undercover Crissy


Max and Crissy, at the vet 

With the new kid (Cash)

Christmas 2023 - my three orangies


Friday, March 15, 2024

Crissy in pictures

 Baby Crissy

Crissy and Max

Crissy and Oliver

One of my favorites

Her hideout

Chillin' in the sunroom

Her favorite chair

Is it time for another Zoom meeting?

Good morning

A close-up


Crissy | 2016-2024

Crissy's gone

And just like that, Crissy's gone. She died beside me, while I was petting her. I don't know what happened. I had trimmed her toenails. They had been snagging on everything and cutting me. Crissy and I had better lap time when her nails were trimmed. But nail clipping was always so traumatic for her. This time she had a reaction after I finished. Something happened. I don't know what. I petted her and tried to comfort her. She seemed better. She eventually went away. I checked on her a bit later. She was on the day bed in the sun room. I assumed she was alright. I finally fell asleep. 

I was awoken when she climbed under the covers beside me. I continued to doze. Eventually, I realized something was not right with her. She was in a very bad way. She was "panting," having difficulty breathing. I called the pet ER in Hagerstown. They were not seeing any patients. What good are they?  I called my local vet. The answering service said they'd have the on-call vet call me. I called my sister to ask her if she knew of a pet ER where I could take Crissy. I felt Crissy slipping away from me. Chrissy died while I was talking to Robin. Dr. Oliver called. I explained to him what happened. He said the nail clipping ordeal could have been the stress that triggered whatever was wrong with her, inside her, but it wasn't my fault. It would have happened sooner or later. I still blame myself. If I hadn't trimmed her nails, she'd still be here.

My dear sweet Crissy. She died in my arms. I am going to miss her so much. She was nine years old. I got her on "free cat Fridays" at the local shelter, around Christmas time, which is why I named her Crissy. She was a short-haired orange tabby. Less than twenty-five percent of orange tabbies are female. Oh, Crissy. I'm so sorry. We are all going to miss you so much. I'm going to miss our cuddle time. You were the Queen of the house!  

RIP in kitty heaven. Say hi to Max. I'm sure he's missed you. I miss you both. It hurts so much. You were my girl. At least you died with me holding and caressing you. You had to know how much I loved you. And you loved me, I know. We girls had a special bond. 

Sunday, October 03, 2021

Welcome Ty

Ty joined the pet family on August 16. He was a week shy of 3 months. Now he's over 4 months old. He's a purebred Australian Shepherd. He's black and white with perfect symmetrical markings; 4 white paws and a "tuxedo" in front. He looks like a Border Collie to me. His mother, very protective looks like a Border Collie. 


I picked him out when he was 4 days old. He was from a large litter of 12. His tail is naturally docked (short). It is customary to dock the tails of Australian puppies. Having had several long hair pets reach old age, I like this practice.

Initially, the cats avoided him. They stared down at him from atop the cat tree or china closet. Oliver now likes to engage him. Crissy keeps her distance and will hiss and swing at him if he gets near. I keep him in the crate at night, so the cats can freely roam. Of course, he's already eaten the cat food several times.

Ty is a pretty good puppy, though his chewing has been problematic. He bit threw the cord of one of my mom's electric lift chairs. Too expensive to fix. He bit the iPhone cord. He shredded his brand new bed. He peed on my mom's rug several times, so I'm going to need to replace it.  $$$

He's a happy puppy.

I have a little fenced-in area in the backyard where I keep him when I'm not home. Eventually, I'll leave him in the whole back yard, as it is fenced with chain link. I take him with me whenever I can. He comes with me to Mom's house in the evenings. He's been to the office a few times. He accompanied Mom and I on a trip to Virginia to get some Katahdin ewes.

Ty is energetic like most stock dog pups. He's athletic. I'm hoping to get him into agility training.

My little pet family is now complete. My last pets (Rex, Max, and Zak) lived good long lives. I hope these do, too.

Wednesday, June 30, 2021

Twelve Months of Oliver

Oliver joined my household a little over a year ago. Here's his first year captured in pictures. 

June 2020 - six weeks old

July 2020

August 2020

September 2020

October 2020


















November 2020























December 2020


























January 2021

February 2021




















March 2021




















April 2021

May 2021 - 1 year old

My Sweet Maggie

I found Maggie dead on June 19. Under a tree. Cause of death unknown. She was only eight and a half years old. I only had her for fifteen months. I got her shortly after Boone died unexpectedly in March 2020. A friend gave her to me. She was an extra on their farm.  

Maggie was a sweet girl. I will miss her. Her box of ashes joins the boxes containing ashes of Boone and McComb before her. She may have been a livestock guardian dog, but I still loved her like a pet. 

Recently, I had been treating one of her toe pads. It had a hole in it. I found maggots. After treating it, I would wrap her paw in vet wrap. I kept her in the garage and fenced backyard for about 10 days to try to keep her paw clean. She liked to burrow. I had only recently put her back in with the sheep when she died. A few days before she died, I tried to give her her first bath. She would have not part of it. I gave up.

She was the only dog I ever had that wouldn't regularly eat her dog food. I had to add something to it. Most of the time, I added some soft (can) food to her food. Sometimes, I added cheese, milk, or eggs, but she didn't seem to like that too much. Other times, I saved meat or other table scraps. This is what she preferred. I had to be careful not to feed her where there was shavings or sawdust. She would turn her nose into a shovel and scoop the shavings into her food dish. I bought her an elevated dish, but she'd still manage to get sawdust into her food. I needed to feed her outside where there was nothing to scoop.

This is the last picture I took of Maggie, about a week before she died.

This is my favorite picture of her with sheep. I might enter it in a contest.

This is another favorite. She's keeping a watchful eye on the farm.

She was a beauty. A purebred Great Pyrenees.
RIP my dear sweet Maggie.

Monday, April 12, 2021

The Monster

She was a 2 year old ewe. Mostly Katahdin. Part Lacaune. Her second lambing.  She wasn't making any progress, so I checked her. Initially, I thought there was more than one lamb coming at the same time. Fortunately, I was able to sort out one of the lambs and deliver it. A big ewe lamb. Healthy.

The second lamb proved trickier. It was breech. I had a hard time extending its hind legs, but was eventually able to. I feared I  may have broken the legs in the process. I started to pull the lamb out backwards. This has to be done quickly to ensure survival of the lamb. There is some risk of suffocation if the umbilical cord breaks before the head is out. 

I could not deliver the lamb. It was stuck. The two widest parts of the lamb are the shoulders and hips. I had the lamb out past the hips. Something was holding it back. But what? I felt along the back. I didn't know what I was feeling. It felt like bone. I was no longer concerned about saving the lamb. I had to get this "thing" out of the ewe.

The ewe didn't seem fazed by having half a lamb stuck inside her, but I wasn't making any progress. I needed help. I called a fellow shepherd. He got there a half hour later. When Hans examined her, he wasn't sure what he was feeling either. We put the ewe on a bale of straw to change the angle of delivery. I pulled and was finally able to get the lamb out.

It was a monster. It had two heads. There was bone protruding out of the back. It was big, too. I didn't weigh it, but its twin was over 11 lbs. I don't know how we would have gotten it out if it hadn't been breech (or backwards).

Believe it or not, the ewe seemed fine after her traumatic delivery. She continued to mother her other lamb. I gave her a big dose of antibiotics and continued antibiotic therapy for five days. I kept her separate for a week or two before merging her with the rest of the flock. It is now weeks later, and the ewe and her lamb are doing fine. 

I always tell people that if you have animals for long enough and have enough of them, you will see things. Birth defects are usually random. This was surely the most unusual one I've ever had. Hope it never happens again.

I gave the carcass of the two headed lamb to the granddaughter of a family friend. She does taxidermy of sorts. She assembles the bones of dead animals, mostly roadkill. The two headed specimen will be most interesting for her. I am anxious to see it when she's done.