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Hello everyone! I am researching fodder for my rabbitry and have a few questions. 1. What is the best fodder for a meat/show herd? 2. What are your sources for the grain? 3. Is this the main food source for your rabbits or just a part of their overall diet? 4. Where do you set up your fodder...

Hello everyone! I was wondering, where do you who make your own cages find 1"x1/2" wire with a good gauge? I have not been able to find any in middle of nowhere Iowa :x . Also, I would love anyone's favorite cage design. Translate: I am trying to come up with better and bigger cages for my...

Okay this is a very random post. However, how many people have awoken to the meowing sounds of a cat in their basement? Or, when descending to check it out have discovered a tabby cat that they have never seen before mewing to beat the band? Needless to say, old houses with crawl spaces are...

Hi! I have a doe the had a nice litter of well fed babies yesterday. Unfortunately, today I found them all dead. Well fed, cuddled but not to close, and dead. The mother doesn't appear to have mastitis, and I want to rebreed her, but I also really want to know what I or she did wrong. :cry:

Hello Everyone! I had just gotten my alum method down to a science when I ran out of alum :x . The alum that we got was from a store 100+ miles away that we go to in the spring and fall. I realized that after I had put several hides in to solution, so in desperation I went to a garden supply...

Hi! I own and raise solely silver fox rabbits. When I began raising them, I thought that it would be really easy to sell all showable rabbits and butcher the rest, but it seems as if rather few people in Iowa want silver fox. I have a website, go to several shows per year, and am fairly nice (...

Oy vey! if it is not one thing, it is five others with these rabbits! Now I think a momma and one of her seven babies has ring worm fungus and I am not sure how to contain it, or much else about how to deal with it. I bought some antifungal spray for dogs and cats, but I am not sure what else to...

Well, I sold a 4-H girl a pair of silver fox about a month ago and hadn't heard anything back until now. The buck, Ralph the Rabbit, seems to not be eating (for enough time to have lost muscle mass) and has a red-ish tint to his coat. Does this sound like a digestive issue that can be taken care...

Hi! Wow, I should probably post more, instead of just when I have a problem ;) . Anyway, ahem, I have a problem. I think that my rabbits have fur mites and I am not sure what to do. I've done some research and the symptoms match (two bunnies have bald spots and several have dandruff with slight...

I have a young doe who has been acting funny on me. First she was a little bit sniffley after I moved her into the rabbit barn from outside, so, afraid of snuffles I moved her back outside and gave her tons of green grass, a little yogurt, and some vinegar water to help boost her immune system...

Okay, I put my pelts in a solution of salt and alum two or three months ago. I did everything that I was supposed to, adding salt and alum at the right times, but every time that I have done the boil test, the test piece of pelt curls up and hardens. How long am I supposed to wait? My...

Has anyone ever had this before? I did the salt/alum method like last time and have messed with them about as often, but this time gunky stuff is growing on the fur, which is about as submerged as I can get it. Also, has anyone ever had, when fleshing, a kind of shaft of skin of the part you...

I have a doe that had a litter a little less than a week ago. Two kits have died and I don't want to lose another...... but I just found one outside the nest box with a leg turned in and immobile. It looks underfed, but that could just be because it missed feeding time. Would it be cruel to try...

Okay, my sister has a doe that is 10 months old. We bred her a month ago and it didn't take (along with another doe bred to the same buck who didn't take). After reading here that the doe's vent needs to be a certain color, we watched and rebred her when we thought she was ready. But, my sister...

Does the strength of a solution affect how quickly pelts tan? How about how soft? I want softer leather for gloves, as the last time I tanned pelts with an alum/salt the leather was rather stiff, but I am not sure if I need to use something other than an alum/salt solution to make the pelts...

Last year I tanned a rabbit skin hat for 4-H using the alum/salt solution. It took two months of sitting in the solution for the hides to cure (hold up to boiling). The hair didn't slip and the hides were beautiful, except for being rather stiff. This was fine for a hat, but now I want to make...

I just got this girl 2-3 months ago and bred her immediately. She has 4 kits on her at 5 weeks old. The abcess is golf ball sized and a little red in the center, though it doesn't seem to be hurting her. I have never had any problems like this before. What should I do? I have heard about lancing...

Question for 4-H: How much, on average, does one rabbit already butchered cost?

I raise Silver Fox rabbits which are a multi purpose meat/fur breed. I would prefer to sell them, but every once in a while I get a cull. I thought that since I was going to butcher the rabbits anyway that I might as well also tan the hides (they are so pretty). I got my recipe from Mother Earth...