Recent content by hismatthew

I think the rabbit/chicken combo is absolutely awesome is done correctly. They are a good match. I kept cages up and the layers were underneath on a dirt floor. We had a 12x16' area with 12 hens. If you keep fresh straw down and turn it up every so often, the chickens turn in all the waste...

One thing to mention, make sure you get a pan to go underneath a mama's pen before she kindles! The blood from the birth will attract the chickens. They pecked through our cage when a mother gave birth on the wire. It was a horrible experience. After the babies are cleaned up and naturally...

Thanks everyone. We are trying to get them to use a makeshift litter box. We are using corn cob bits that seem to absorb really well. They still poop out side but I think they are peeing in it more. If that doesn't end up solving the problem in the long run, we might just try the deep litter...

We were using straw but it just trapped the poop and then the flies followed. So we discontinued that idea and were just trying to keep things scraped up. I was thinking about some wood shavings or something that we could deep litter. Thoughts...

Ok, so here's the scenerio: we have 4 does with litters on a concrete pad with nest box tunnels for the kits. The poop is scooped out daily. The problem: we had one doe with bare spots on her hind legs and redness. She was looking pretty rough. We removed her from the colony to put her in a...

Well several are not very round. Mothers are hopping into everyone else's nests. We held all four does down to let some of the really thin ones nurse. Their pretty bad at it. No wonder they're so small. There is only one new mother amongst the four. And thy have had successful litters so...

So, here's the update. One doe who kindled alone is taking great care of her litter. The does who are sharing the nest box are neglecting them so much that they've climbed out of the boxes and onto the concrete. Any ideas as to how to get the mamas to tend to their babies?

Thanks everyone. We found out there were only two kits! The other one kindled in another box. She was the one who originally built the nest in that box. The does are going in various boxes to nurse the kits. We're keeping a close eye. Should be interesting. Thanks for the quick replies!

Hi everyone, My wife and I just set up a new colony situation. We have a concrete pad with 4 little houses in them. They are long narrow boxes with lids to simulate tunnels, only accessible. Well, there are 4 does that were all due together with 4 places to nest. Well the bundles of joy...