5hrs and 30min drive, what did I get?

[Secuono]

Beside the obvious, sleepy butt and hunger. I got my blue Silver Fox doe and a black Silver Fox buck, papered, unrelated and yay! Buck is 5 weeks, will be 6 in a day or two, named him Ciemny, which means Dark in Polish. The doe is 10 weeks, again, will be 11 in a day or two, named her Niebieska, which means Blue in Polish.
I managed to choose the two largest w/o even weighting them or even lifting them. =D
Two girls to pick from, chose the nicest. Four bucks to pick from, 2nd or 3rd he took out I was keeping an eye on. He was also the calmest, he turned out to be heaviest. =D

 

[skysthelimit]

And they are a good looking, bright eyed pair.

 

[curlysue]

Very pretty rabbits!

 

[ladysown]

very nice, hopefully the stress of travel won't hit them.

 

[JessicaR]

they are nice looking!!

 

[siddsaysgimmie]

Gorgeous buns!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

How exciting! Congrats on the new bunnies- I hope they are settling in well.

 

[Secuono]

I don't have J-feeders for them yet, the girl is doing an ok job not pooping/peeing in the pail. But the boy is a pig, ain't they all? Haha.
Gathered up the herd's nightly greens. My SF doe was giving birth and decided that grass was a little more important. :/ But it looks like there's a boat load of kits int there, so maybe she finished just in time.
Mt Calli mom and her 7 kits are especially fond of dinner time. They come over just waiting by the door for yum yums. =D

__________ Tue Apr 03, 2012 6:07 pm __________

Moved them out into outdoor cages.<br /><br />__________ Wed Apr 04, 2012 6:31 am __________<br /><br />Boy looked like an angry horse on the breeder's table, ears pinned back. Last night I found out why, he's a nutcase! He starts screaming, howling, kicking like a mad thing, biting, jumping to bite and w/e else you can think of! Breeders NEED to gentle all their kits! It really doesn't take that long at all, cmon now!

 

[AnnClaire]

CnB - OMG ... please excuse me laughing, but ROFLOL ... I agree that it doesn't take all that much to gentle the babies, but it does take dedication and daily handling and some breeders simply don't have time. I think that is a shame because there isn't anything better than snuggles from a baby

So far <knock on wood> I don't have any screamers ... just a snarky, grunty doe that will charge me and she will bite, but it is when the babies are new in the nest box, so I can see it from her point of view. She just wasn't handled enough as a kit.

irate: I couldn't find the "green with envy" smiley, so here's the pirate I feel like about your BEAUTIFUL, AWESOME, GORGEOUS, HANDSOME bunnies!

 

[fuzzy9]

Congrats on the awesome looking buns!! :lol: How many are you up to now? Seems to me you've really grown your rabbit herd in the last few months.

 

[ladysown]

She just wasn't handled enough as a kit.

not necessarily true.

My biscuit. Aka Watchbunny. Was handled daily from the time her eyes were open by a family of eight children. TONS of handling. Very nice bunny, super tame as a youngster. once her hormones hit she's miss attitudinal with everyone except those she knows and trusts...and when she first has a litter? well...better be on your quickest behaviours or you'll never see those kits for a good three weeks and then she grumps at the kids and ignores me.

Her boys always take after their dad. The girls always take after their mom so they either go as breeders or to the critter pot. The boys I'm totally willing to pet out. This regardless of the amount of handling they get.

 

[akane]

You don't even need daily. Just picking up each kit once with eyes closed, once with eyes open, and weekly after that is more than enough to keep them from acting insane. Even once a month with the colony rabbits keeps them from tearing me up like crazy rabbits.

I have had well handled rabbits though go nuts in a new place. My chocolate mini rex doe who was a complete sweet heart and hauled around by the previous breeders kids was climbing the walls of her cage when she first got here because of the strange dogs and people. She was fine in a week. I had a very well handled (daily) black mini rex who actually run under feeder screaming when moved from the house to the horse stable. Again she was over it in a week. It's just every now and then you come across a rabbit who can't handle a move even if it's well handled.

 

[AnnClaire]

Oh, Lord, are you saying I might have sent off 2 pet rabbits that might turn out to be neurotic? Actually, they made the trip just fine and settled in to their new digs and are happy giving their little girls bunny snuggles. I think I almost have the mom talked into neutering the buck ... otherwise, I predict they will have baby bunnies within 60 days :lol:

 

[Secuono]

I handle mine 2x a week for 3wks, then stop bothering them. It's always a different kit, rarely do I handle all of them. At 3wks I sex them all, again at 5wks, 8wks I sex the last time.
I'm not saying the stress of the move made him freak out. He did freak out when I put him into the indoor cage Sunday. Again when I went to take pictures. But when I was moving them to give them more space and to be outside, that was his biggest and longest lasting freak out. The horse ears told me he was going to be a little brat. I'm not bashing the breeder, just saying that it doesn't take much to gentle a rabbit and I didn't see so many rabbits that it would be impossible for him to do it, he also has workers and interns. Bunnies are cute, I would think any intern would go gaga for the little things.

 

[akane]

What I'm saying is how do you know he didn't gentle the rabbit and it's just genetically that way or acting up from all the new stuff? I've had it happen plenty of times with rabbits handled frequently from birth. Sometimes it's just in their personality. I have a blue netherland doe who was their favorite pet and fed treats and such all the time. She's highly reactive and will do the bunny blender at anything new. She flipped herself out of her cage several times because since mine are indoors I didn't have them fully secure. I had to change that because of her. Most of her kits have been tempered by the sire's laid back personality but I sent one off that I know will be reactive and warned the owners that he's nice a rabbit but he may fly off the handle occasionally. I turned down several people to get him because they wanted loose house rabbits. We handled him as much as the others but it's just genetic personality.

 

[Secuono]

He told me he does not handle them because he has no time.

The buck totally lost his mind again, it's getting worse. I guess I will get him a cage with feeding/watering access from the outside and leave him in there until I need him for breeding. I'm completely bloody from this danged rabbit. He'll be sold or dinner as soon as I have replacements.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Why don't you give him some "lap time" while you watch TV or something? Or just take him out of his cage and sit quietly with him for a bit every day? He should tame up fairly quickly since he is so young... after driving such a distance I would think the extra effort would be worth it.

Has anyone tried feeding rabbits St. John's Wort or Valerian Root? It might help to feed herbs that enhance mood or have a calming effect...

 

[avdpas77]

Rabbits can be strange creatures. My most laid-back doe has the flightiest kits... no matter which buck I breed her to. I raise mostly for meat, so it is not always an advantage to form close ties. I have had a cage full of kits that I have handled daily, because I intended to keep one or more of them for breeders when they get old enough to evaluate. For the most part, they are not any easier to tame than the kits I do not handle any more than necessary. What I have found, is that those curious kits that come up and sniff at your hand when you are working in the cage will tame very easily, and the ones that go berserk and hide at the least movement are harder to tame.

I have does that were very standoffish until they had their first kits, and then were as friendly as could be. I have one doe that is great normally, but when the kits start coming out of the nestbox, she will jump at any hand going inside of the cage door (which actually I consider a good trait) I just hope she never learns she can bite

In cases of really unfriendly rabbits, I have found it is usually better to ignore them than to try and handle them. They usually come around after a while on their own.
My daughter did have a Netherland Dwarf years ago, that was totally deranged. After putting up with it snapping and biting for 6 months, it was processed when it bit into the heel of my hand and wouldn't let go. (my wife had to grab its jaws and pull them apart) The only reason I didn't dispatch the thing while it was still attached was my daughter. When I explained later to her that we needed to put it down, she said she would have suggested it weeks before, but she knew we paid a lot for it. Of course, it wasn't really a rabbit, but some kind of demon monster dressed like a rabbit. :angry:

 

[AnnClaire]

she will jump at any hand going inside of the cage door (which actually I consider a good trait)

There is definitely an up side to this behavior ... any predator is going to have a hard time getting past such an aggressive doe to get the kits!

Of course, it wasn't really a rabbit, but some kind of demon monster dressed like a rabbit.

:lol:

Yep, when you feel the teeth grinding in your flesh, you can bet that is just plain mean, whereas a quick bite and withdraw can be attributed to defensive behavior.

 

[digitaloutlaw]

Rabbits are weird critters I have one buck that will come to me and try to snuggle. He is like the sweetest rabbit ever then when your not expecting #!@#!@$! CRUNCH he will bite the crap out of ya