2017 Goals: what are yours?

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I want at least five gold star registered rabbits, three hall of fame Himalayans, an ARBA BOV or BOB (with my rabbit or one from my lines), a BIS with a homebred doe, and to get my judge's license, or at least pass the test. And BOB at west coast classic. I'm not going to be focusing on sweepstakes this year at all though, since I only planning on showing those in top condition. XD
I have all my equipment set up already, and I won't be able to change much for a while... so theres not much for me to do but show.

Oh, and I want to fix up the floor in my barn a bit
 
When I saw this post I had to think about fer a while. I think I going to finish cleaning out the garage and make it my breeding building. I also want to start setting up the yard for some grow out cages. I need to finish the 18 cages, still got 12 to go. Besides putting in a garden if I get this done it will be a full summer. :)
 
Our goal is to finally get some bunnies in 2017! :p

Really, though, the goal is to build a nice open barn/shed with about 12 cages to start, and then buy a trio of rex in castor or opal or a combination of those. DH and I have been discussing it a lot recently, and his estimate is that we can start by May at the earliest, probably. So still a ways out, but hey, I'll just keep visiting the local rabbit shows in the meantime. :oops:
 
My goal is to get more subscribers in 2017, and grow my rabbit toy business ( Little Nibbles)!
Also to have a pet that will live longer than 1 year. Let's see if Olaf does. I'm sure he will but I always freak out that they are gonna die because my past guinea pig ( Ginger aka Big Friendly Guinea or Big Fat Mama :lol: ) died and my hamster ( Stormie! The cutest little hammy!) before that died as well. All before I even had them for 2 years. So yeah, I hope Olaf does!

Another goal is two have finished my fiction rabbit book.
 
Well the primary goals are:
- Get both does producing litters on a hopefully 2.5-3 month schedule.
- Tease out the color genetics puzzle that is my animals.
- Try to get my 2017 harvest to value at at least 80% of what I spent setting up for my animals.

I ran some math and the 80% mark means each of my two does successfully raises either 20 or 21 kits this year. Seems do-able, assuming good management and a little luck. I'm not selling anything, but I feel like I have to justify a "break even" on this to my spouse, especially if I want to expand the uh, operation, in say 2018.

The "nice to accomplish" goals:
- Get out to a show, and figure out who my local breeders are and what breeds are in the area. (Still not holding my breath for local French or Satin angora... but who knows?)
- Re-build my caging rack, and possibly rearrange the shed.
- Find a deal on new cages, or invest the full day of hard labor into building another batch.
 
2017 Goals:

Establish my Magpie Harlequin breeding group.
(I need to find a good herd buck and pick my does to breed with, then start line breeding)
Install 9 more single bunny grow-out holes. (maybe 18... but I don't want to loose my table... which I would have to do to install another 9 holes.)

Work on my Tri meat rabbit breeding group. (I have a great tri buck... I need to breed a couple of good tri does with my existing/remaining meat does- then replace him. :D )

Become proficient in curing pelts.

Attend at least 1 show a month March to November, but not more than one a month.

Pay out a loan.
Invest in another freezer.
Learn how to "can" meat using a pressure cooker.
Renovate flooring in the basement and install a kitchenette.
Purge the 'junk' in the garage. (aka... sell the treasures)
Clean-up and plant a garden in the back. (planting lots of Bunny food)
Build another chicken tractor for laying hens.
Continue to build clients at the "Farmers Market" .. expanding sales for pasture raised chicken meat, rabbit meat and pastured chicken eggs.

And now that this is in print... I MUST make it happen!!
 
- have litters. sounds easy, but so far it hasn't been...

- maybe get my ~ideal bunny - harlequin velveteen lop :3 i have all the rabbits to produce it, but again, breeding luck has been abysmal

- rebuild the rabbitry with better cages that are easier to clean and move

- move! we are looking to buy a house with some land this summer and i cannot WAIT. moving will lead to:

- having more bunnies! i only have space for maybe 10 holes right now + a growout pen. more space also means i could pick up a new breed :mrgreen:

- finally attending some shows. unfortunately there are NO shows in houston, so it'll be difficult...but there's a possibility we could move to austin, and there's at least a few more shows per year in that area.

- non rabbit related, but being able to get chickens and goats and therefore produce a greater amount of food for the family and cut down the amount of meat we buy from the grocery store.
 
SarniaTricia":n0656mhx said:
Learn how to "can" meat using a pressure cooker.
Click to expand...

We can chicken! It. Is. The. Best. Ever. The prep is simply: stick the meat & meat on the bone in a clean jar. Add a 1 tsp for a 1L jar. Put a lid on. Pressure can.

Bone-in meat is important, you get more flavour :)
 
Cedar Point Rabbitry":1oy8p0zx said:
SarniaTricia":1oy8p0zx said:
Learn how to "can" meat using a pressure cooker.
Click to expand...

We can chicken! It. Is. The. Best. Ever. The prep is simply: stick the meat & meat on the bone in a clean jar. Add a 1 tsp for a 1L jar. Put a lid on. Pressure can.

Bone-in meat is important, you get more flavour :)
Click to expand...

ADD 1tsp? of what for every 1L
I want to know this!
 
Cedar Point Rabbitry":2g7dorkg said:
What are your 2017 goals for your rabbits/rabbit business?


I love reading other peoples goals :) So inspiring and give me good ideas!
Click to expand...

I've actually got some really big plans, I want to...
~Build a tiny house +Move into it
~Start Aquaponics
~Grow Fodder for my rabbits and transition them onto a mostly Fodder based diet
~Get a better set-up for processing rabbits (I think I might actually get the hopper popper or something similar)
~I want to start sewing and selling cloth pads because I realized they are a lot of fun
~I am looking into getting a spinning wheel
~Looking into getting an Angora breeding trio for show and fiber but will probably only use them for fiber
~I want to get my car fixed and insured again so I can drive.
~I'd like to make enough money to buy or rent the land beside our house, If I do this I'll be looking to build a barn for my bunnies, a few horses, and a Llama possibly.
I'm not to concerned about how much of the list gets done, but it'd be pretty awesome if I could. I've got a lot of meat does for breeding in the new year so I'm hoping that it pays off for me.
 
SarniaTricia":1w0cqvjy said:
Cedar Point Rabbitry":1w0cqvjy said:
SarniaTricia":1w0cqvjy said:
Learn how to "can" meat using a pressure cooker.
Click to expand...

We can chicken! It. Is. The. Best. Ever. The prep is simply: stick the meat & meat on the bone in a clean jar. Add a 1 tsp for a 1L jar. Put a lid on. Pressure can.

Bone-in meat is important, you get more flavour :)
Click to expand...

ADD 1tsp? of what for every 1L
I want to know this!
Click to expand...


Oops! 1 tsp salt for every 1L jar of meat :)
 
I'd really like to regain strength and get back to "normal" things completely. In April I had multiple PEs and DVT that almost killed me.

Other things I'd love to be able to do but hesitant about planning:

Move
Litters every month from each breed to replace 90% of current herd by August
New cages/nestboxes/etc for entire herd
 
Everyone's got such great goals... I hope they all come true!

I'd also like to thank folks for all the great ideas for my 2018 goals :mrgreen:

Ferra":3bfk8r76 said:
- Tease out the color genetics puzzle that is my animals.
- Try to get my 2017 harvest to value at at least 80% of what I spent setting up for my animals.
Click to expand...
I like these especially! I love the genetics component in breeding rabbits, and I plan to try and "map" all of my future rabbits' genetics as far as color goes. And of course, DH wouldn't let me get rabbits if they were going to be a giant, unsustainable money pit. :roll: So the 80% goal is a good idea, too!

SarniaTricia":3bfk8r76 said:
Become proficient in curing pelts.
...
Attend at least 1 show a month March to November, but not more than one a month.
...
Invest in another freezer.
Learn how to "can" meat using a pressure cooker.
Click to expand...
Yes. All the yes. :D

shazza":3bfk8r76 said:
non rabbit related, but being able to get chickens and goats and therefore produce a greater amount of food for the family and cut down the amount of meat we buy from the grocery store.
Click to expand...
This would be the dream... highly unlikely where we're located, but still the dream. :oops:

Cedar Point Rabbitry":3bfk8r76 said:
1 tsp salt for every 1L jar of meat :)
Click to expand...
Thank you for this, Cedar Point Rabbitry!
 
Oh, so many things!!!

Firstly switch the herd back to all French Angoras except for one meat buck, so I can breed out short haired meat kits when I don't want to deal with a wool litter. Possibly bring in a Satin Angora pair if I can find any from a breeder I like. MAYBE start showing again...

Get my Etsy store up and going again so I can sell yarn and fiber goodies and hopefully save enough to buy a better wheel and expand on this project. (Which also means an excuse to have more angoras on hand...more cages might be a very real possibility even though I just brought in two more))

Get the roof done and the back fence in wood instead of chain link so the bunnies can come home from the barn.

There are plenty more but it's mostly paying off loans/bills and remodeling the house and renovating the yard so the house will be ready to sell when said things are paid off in a year or two. We don't care about the size of the house, but hubby needs a shop and I need a barn!
 
Hm. 2017 goals.

I plan to cut back on rabbits, I've overdone it this year.

Besides work and chores there wasn't much time nor energy left for much of a life, although that is one purpose of my rabbitry, to fill the void that would otherwise be there (and fill itself with bigger problems), but it was too much, too many does to breed, and some accidential litters, had to pluck the whole region to feed the lot and using a sickle my knees didn't take that up too well.

If I hadn't sold much more than expected I would have run out of freezer space months ago.

So, I'm down to 6 does (3 pairs), and my buck. I guess I'll try to sell my younger duo of gray-white does, and keep my two older (5yrs) does with one of their daughters each. Stupid thing to do from the breeder point of view since those grey-whites are the better does I have, but the older ones have pet status...
Well, I'll see.

*Sigh*, so one goal is to keep my rabbitosis in check :?
 
I do plan on bringing in a new magpie buck. Maybe attending a show or two.
Who knows, maybe I'll even register my rabbitry this year?
I also plan on having a few mag litters.
Oh, yeah, and spoiling Mucky some too. That's always on the to-do list. ;)
 
:lol: I am hoping that by this time in 2017 I will:

~ Have things figured out with the colony routine and culled down to the best of my rabbits to continue this line.
~ Have a lot of fence up and fixed (sheep related)
~ Have a lot more sheep bought from a few local-ish breeders that I am very interested in
~ Have learned a lot of shearing (sheep) and be ready to continue shearing my own and possibly do a few peoples locally as side job
~ Have several pieces of fiber equipment purchased and in use to really kick me off as a small business!

Who needs little things like eat more salad? :shock:
*whispers* and why would I want to do that when I can feed that stuff to the rabbits and get yummy meat from them! :lol: :mrgreen:
 
PSFAngoras":1q7dncng said:
There are plenty more but it's mostly paying off loans/bills and remodeling the house and renovating the yard so the house will be ready to sell when said things are paid off in a year or two. We don't care about the size of the house, but hubby needs a shop and I need a barn!
Click to expand...

LOL.... this is exactly were we are at!
I am estimating house hunting in 2020 for exactly this reason (hubby needs a shop and I need a barn)...... and the next 3 years we will be making the existing property more buyer friendly (aka ... renovations)
 

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