Recent content by JoannaCW

Hmm. Peter Bane's Permaculture Handbook states that burdock and comfrey leaves have a higher protein content than alfalfa. Our goats love burdock though they're less keen on comfrey; the rabbits ate burdock eagerly for a while and now are showing less enthusiasm. Maybe when we have new leaves...

Thank you both! I'm in upstate NY, zone 4/5. I hear you about alfalfa hay and we'll see about starting a patch for next year, but for now we don't have much alfalfa growing and it's not a good area for buying quality hay of any type. I'll work on higher protein, though... we do have assorted...

We’re trying to figure out feeding our rabbits as much as possible with what grows on our farm and since we just bought the buck and 2 does in April and had the first kits born (7 in one litter, 8 in the other) May 21 and 22 we are very much in the learning process. Spring was slow this year so...

Our two NZ does had NZ/Silver Fox cross kits one day apart almost 4 weeks ago. The kits are growing well and eating plants enthusiastically and we figure we'll be moving them into grow-out cages soon. I realize we should separate male and female kits. Do we also need to keep kits from the two...

I'm expecting my first 2 litters of kits next week (if the does are really pregnant...we'll see.) I have read in some places that it's important to check on very young kits in the nest box and remove sick or dead kits, in others that it's important not to disturb the doe too soon after kindling...

As my rabbits switch from pellets to natural feeds, and as the weather gets warmer, I figure they should have access to salt. I have a cattle/swine/horse mineralized salt block from which I could cut small chunks, but I'm not sure what sort of holder the salt block requires. Do you give...

As my rabbits switch from pellets to natural feeds, and as the weather gets warmer, I figure they should have access to salt. I have a cattle/swine/horse mineralized salt block from which I could cut small chunks, but I'm not sure what sort of holder the salt block requires. How do you offer...

We're transitioning our recently bought rabbits (2 NZ does, pregnant as we hope, and one Silver Fox buck) onto natural food; they're eating a variety of greens and twigs eagerly, and we're using the advice from these forums about which plants are safe to give in quantity. But... We have a...

Thank you! <<True, they also require a salt and mineral block.>> Does that need to be specially formulated for rabbits, or could I cut small pieces off my Cargill mineralized salt block that's labeled for cattle, swine and horses and that currently serves my goats?

I just got my first breeders for the meat rabbitry I hope to start--one Silver Fox buck, two New Zealand does--a week ago. They were pellet-raised but I am switching them to natural food--right now they get some pellets, some oats, all the hay (mostly grass) that they'll eat and plenty of apple...

I've read repeatedly that it is important to keep rabbit dishes and wire cages clean and to disinfect them 'regularly", but I am not sure what 'regularly" means. Obviously when there's been disease a thorough clenaing is called for. If the rabbits are healthy--do you just knock any stuck...

Thanks again! I wasn't clear about type of wood because I wasn't sure what was best--we have a large and well stocked woodlot, a lot of round branch material and also a sawmill so we could go either way. I had thought that bark might offer an easier to clean surface than milled wood but that...

Another cage design question. It would seem to save wall and feeder material if we make a continuous row of attached cages rather than totally separate cages, and I've seen continuous-row cage designs. (I know we'd need one separate cage for isolating sick rabbits.) But how does one clean out...

Thank you, everyone! I'm convinced--we're going with wire floors, 14gauge 1x1/2", with hop-in buckets. One further question: If the floor is wire, and we have 4" of flashing around the bottoms of the walls as a urine guard/kit retainer, could we do wooden sides and tops without high risk of...

Thanks! Can you say more about the hanging buckets they can climb into? I haven't heard about that before.