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My other American line (the ones that are all blue, all the time) don't grow quite so quickly, sadly. They are all still around 4.5 lbs. at 9 weeks. However, there's lots more of them - that doe had 9 for her first litter, and now 12 for the second. I think this next time I might try breeding...

You're also in the Reno area, right? Which feed store does their own alfalfa? I think I want to stick with loose hay rather than the cubes, but I always like to know about the local options. And do share if you hear about any organic alfalfa around. Someone put up Craigslist ads last year for...

Sounds like lots of us are doing our first butchering sessions this weekend - I guess it's what all of the cool kids are doing! So, I had helped butchered a few rabbits when in 4-H years ago, but this was the first time in a long time, and my husband had never done it. We followed Bowbuild's...

Also be ready for some steels (Es_) to pop up. Apparently lots of Americans have those genes lurking, and they will only show themselves when paired with agouti genes. That's what I am seeing in my herd; my American Blue herd sire has at least one steel gene, and when crossed with my chestnut...

Everything would have been fine if she had only built a nest before having the first kit, but no, absolutely nothing. It's like she sneezed and he popped out! If there had been a nest made, I would have been a lot less surprised. But this way, it doesn't seem like it was interrupted labor when...

This post is more venting/sharing than anything, I thought it might be useful for others to hear about this sort of behavior. So, yesterday morning when I went to do the morning chores, my expecting Champagne d'Argent doe had one kit waiting for me... on the wire. She had not tried to build a...

So far we have had one litter on pasture from birth to near-slaughter weight (they are only 5 weeks now). No losses at any point. Our various tractors all have floors with 2 inch by something (varies from 4 to more inches depending on tractor) spacing with no escapes. But we have flat level...

We have our first litters weaned and ready to go as meat rabbit breeding stock or possibly show. Some are on pasture; some of these were born out there and have been there their entire lives. For the Champagnes, does’ line is from NV (good performance in NV Junior Livestock Sale meat pen)...

I found this rebreeding schedule on someone's blog somewhere... unfortunately I did not keep track of where so I can't properly give credit where credit is due. Anyway, here's what I copied to a word file: LITTERS A YEAR- 4 Kindle litter- Rebreed 60 days after kindling- Wean kits at 60 days-...

I am hoping to transition the rabbits over to the oat-based mixed grain and alfalfa formula, since I can get even organic whole grains at a better price than pellets. But I have yet to mix it all up... hopefully today. In the meantime, I gave all of the litters some whole oats when they started...

Thanks for the toothpick idea, OtterSatin. I think that will help. Many of the buns will check it out while it's dripping while I hold it open, but somehow don't make the giant mental leap to activating the valves themselves. In retrospect, I should have worked harder to have had the auto system...

Hmm, I can definitely try strawberry jam and moving the current water vessels. And yes, I know I should be hard-core and "force" them to drink from the valves, but I'm nervous given the warm temperatures (which will only get warmer in a few days - we're supposed to see 100 in a day or two). One...

Don't most of the big farms also have livestock guardian dogs, or at least a really good quality perimeter fence? Given that situation, I would think chicken wire would be more useful. We had an incident here where our own dog broke through chicken wire to eat broilers out of a tractor. And...

I am curious to hear about this too, as we will hopefully have our first harvest in only a few short weeks. We used vacuum-sealed Food Saver bags when we processed our own broiler chickens last year, and those worked well for that application. But they seemed expensive and some of the bags did...

Would those folks who either have fed field bindweed successfully, or have a respectable citation for feeding it, share the scientific name of what exactly they are talking about, as well as any handy links? I was under the impression that pretty much all bindweeds are toxic, and have been...

Great idea with the baiting method! That's a lot less harrowing than the first few nights of rabbit occupancy... Definitely swap out the chicken wire - unless the only predators you expect are wild chickens. We have two tractors out on trial right now, one with ducklings and the other with...

Hello, everyone. I asked this question embedded in another post, so bear with me as I give it its own post so that hopefully I get some suggestions! So, I assembled a nice automatic watering system for my rabbitry that is gravity fed and uses Bass's dewdrop-style water valves (model DD on this...

Try giving your "seed store" a call and see what they have. In my experience, many of the smaller local stores have horrible websites, not useful at all. Often feed-type stores are happy to do special orders for you at no additional cost if they don't regularly stock what you want.

I have seen advice that 1/2" is the maximum dimension you can use and still expect to block most raccoons. So we've been using 1/2" by 1/2" hardware cloth rather than the 1/2" by 1" welded wire mesh that is typical for indoor rabbit cage bottoms. I have no idea if raccoons or anything have been...

I am still quite new to this breed, but my two does, one buck, and their combined 13 3 week-old offspring just weathered our 4 days of near- to over-100 degree heat just fine. My Champagne d'Argents also did ok, but possibly seemed a bit more stressed? Personalities are all unique with both...