surprise sale

Our goat kids are a month old and about a week ago we realized they were taking milk not just from their mother, but from our other doe as well. So we had to keep the does pastured separately, a nuisance. Finally saw them chewing cuds this week and put them on CL. Lots of responses right away. This afternoon a family came to buy them and the 9 yr old boy wanted to see everything. So I took him to see our rabbits. The mother came along and it turns out that they have small breed rabbits (not sure what--the boy was a non-stop talker) and were wanting to get into meat and the father wanted SF for the pelts. He has a buck. We had listed our 3/4 SF 1/4 NZW who is a year old and had one litter for us this spring on CL but gotten no interest. So we almost sent her to freezer camp with our first litter on Thursday but the 8 filled our big pot so we left her for later.
So this family really liked her--liked her blue color and her fur and the heft of her. The woman was clearly used to rabbits and checked her all over. So I checked my calendar and this doe's sister was still with her litter but they'll be 5 weeks in just a couple days so we were going to take her out then. They ended up taking both the rabbit does as well as the 2 goat kids. And they are in the process of transitioning their rabbits off pellets so we talked feed and they were so pleased to get rabbits that had been raised the way they're heading.
So unexpected and satisfying. We have all the rabbit coming along we could want and had been disappointed not to find anyone interested in raising their meat this way. Now Zach doesn't have these 2 extra to butcher and we have freed up 2 cages. And we don't have to keep the goats separated. More milk for us and for cheese and for Placid the piglet who is always checking to see if we're bringing milk or whey when we go near her pen.

Surprise sales are always so nice, especially when they simplify your operation. :goodjob:

I don't want to rain on your parade, but just one caution . . . These people have rabbits of their own and are therefore potential carriers of rabbit diseases on their hands, clothes and shoes. Chances are it is fine this time -- if the woman seemed knowledgeable then her rabbits are likely healthy or she'd have said something -- but it would be a good time to consider biosecurity protocols for the future.

I'm not sure what measures you're suggesting. The buyer only handled the 2 rabbits they bought. Zach took them out of the cages and set them on a table we use for weighing etc. The boy asked to hold a kit and I told him no and explained the reason and his mother said "he knows that--he knows better than to ask that". But what else should I know or do? Still have so much to learn.

Biosecurity really needs a thread of its own. I first encountered the concept when I bought my first day-old chicks from a local specialty breeder in 2003. He did not allow anyone into the areas where he housed his adult birds, but he did allow us into the brooder room while he selected the chicks of our choice. (Speckled Sussex -- super birds!) Once I understood the concept, I agreed with him; he had a huge investment in his birds and one mistake could have wiped him out. Even on the occasions when he dropped in here, he wore clothes and shoes that would never be used in his own poultry houses.

Since I was raising meat mutts that we bought for $5 apiece, I was not so strict about letting people into my rabbitry at first. But I did ask if they had rabbits and if so, I brought the rabbits for sale up to the house. People who are going to handle your rabbits should be prepared to wash or sanitize their hands . . . otherwise if they do not buy the rabbit, you are faced with 30 days of quarantine before you can put it back with the others.

I think everyone needs to decide for himself or herself the degree of biosecurity that is needed to ensure that nothing sinister is inadvertently brought into the rabbitry. I just thought it important to give you a heads up. If I overstepped, please put it down to friendly concern, not criticism.

I appreciate your raising the issue--just hadn't thought about it beyond some basic common sense things (like not having the child handle the kits)
I do think it would be good to have a thread but not sure which section it should be in--I've done a fair bit of reading here on RT and don't remember seeing much about this topic.