Great TED talk about gardening!

About our Rabbits

       The Rabbits we breed are Himalayan mini-rex. Mostly they are raised for pets, shows and for kids to keep in 4H. We chose this breed because frankly, it was what we were able to find close by. It might seem like a strange choice for a meat rabbit, but we see quite a few positives to this arrangement.

     For one thing, we want to make sure that the animals we raise are as happy and healthy as they can be while they are living. It's easy enough to make sure they eat right, and that we get them an occasional fresh snack (fresh grass and burr clover seems to be their favorites), but giving them a little extra space than usual was important to me as well. We had already purchased the largest cages we could afford, but going with a smaller breed meant they would have even more space to move around in. Smaller rabbits make for a smaller carcass, but on the other hand, they eat less too- so that's about even. From further reading I discovered that they actually dress out with a really good meat to bone ratio as well, since meat rabbits were used to develop the breed.

      The downside however, was that they are "mini"'s because they carry a dominant lethal "mini" gene. Here's how it works. If a rabbit is heterozygous for mini (meaning they have been given a "normal sized" gene from one parent and a "mini gene" from the other) they will be a mini-sized rabbit. However if they are homozygous for "mini" (they got a mini gene from both parents- no normal sized gene present) they will be tiny and stillborn. These unfortunate rabbits are referred to as "peanuts". So what good is this mini gene? For my purposes, no good. Smaller litters of smaller rabbits is not a good thing for what I'm after. Mini-Rex fanciers keep the gene around, because they like these smaller rabbits, but there is a side product which is produced and that is the BUB or BUD ("big ugly buck" and "big ugly doe"). BUBs and BUDs can't be shown, but they will always be produced by mini-rex rabbits, because occasionally a baby will be homozygous for "normal-sized" gene. These are still small rabbits for meat however, so the benefits still apply to some extant.

       So essentially, we are breeding FOR these rabbits. This makes our offspring (should we become 100% successful at erasing the mini gene from our lines) ineligible for show, but I'm OK with that. I don't sell them for any purpose at all, so they are just what we need!

Just went out to feed them and caught some new baby pictures. I'm really watching that one with the really dark nose- I think that's a keeper for sure.

Dark nose here on the left side

 And here's the mama..

Cool Video

Found this just now on Youtube. A great example of how these runner ducks can be herded. Enjoy!

DUCKS!- and other news

Saw some ducks pop up on Craigslist for free, so I decided to snatch a few up. They are Runner Ducks, so they stand up really straight and tall and march along together (turning in unison) like little soldiers. They were bred in India as a herding breed of duck, and I can concur they are pretty easy to herd wherever you need them to go. Unfortunately they seem to have wobbly legs, which I've read has something to do with a niacin deficit. Most feeds don't seem to be properly formulated for waterfowl. We'll be feeding flockraiser (or gamebird?) feed dusted with brewers' yeast, and hopefully that will get them in shape. I was planning on keeping them for eggs and meat (meat from those that we hatch) but I don't really have any desire to breed these if we can't get their legs strong. Maybe with proper nutrition and some daily 'herding' to get them exercise, they will recover. Pictured here is the 'duck house' we put together for them, they already go right into it at night, so it looks like a success. I have them ranging in the garden since we had nothing much grow for winter but the weeds. In their condition, the chickens really don't let them get any food, so we have decided to separate them in this way.

Also, we just got a new egg today. The first black/copper marans hen has FINALLY started laying. These are the two girls that caused us to stew up our old rooster Tango (if you recall he was beating them up pretty badly when I tried to integrate them into the flock). They were six weeks old when our little rumpless pullets (and "Django son of Tango") hatched. And yet our little ones have been laying now for several months! So yeah, these dark marans eggs have been a long time coming for sure. But check out this picture! Definitely worth the wait. Also pictured is the Black/Copper hen who layed it- She's up front there, with the feathered feet. Also check out our young rooster replacement! Isn't he just like his father? Just a bit more yellow feathering on him, but otherwise the spitting image.

Also we have new baby rabbits here as well. Seven this time, from the same doe as before. I don't like to disturb them too much when they are this little, so this is the only picture for now. 

See you next time!