decisions, decisions, HELP!... PICS of everythin!!

[ohiogoatgirl]

{bit of rambling but this really is supposed to be about the buns! haha}

there is lots going on here. my family is going out of state to visit friends and family and my papa luke's surprise 90th birthday party. be gone next week thurs-sun night... /: and I don't have anyone to feed the rabbits while i'd be gone. *sigh* while on one hand I haven't been in a long while and it would be nice to see some of the old friends.... on the other hand within ten minutes of being there i'll be climbing the walls. its Detroit MI and nearby areas. people complain about the trees being too tall and unsightly and messy, etc that are like little 5-8yr (MAYBE) old trees that are all lollipop trimmed and in better areas mulched around and kept mowed around. *more sighing*
needless to say I believe i'm thinkin more reasons I have to be here then to go with. I really could use a basically 4 day weekend to myself and the critters.

then second week of November i'm moving! loadin up the hutches on a trailer and stuff in back of the truck and about 6.5 hour drive later there I be. i'm nervous about the rabbits because I've never done a trip with them before. longest is takin/comin home from the one auction about 1.5 hour away. longest trip I've done with livestock at all was 2hr drive home in an astro van with three 1yr old angora goat does. but that's not rabbits and not 6.5 (maybe longer) drive.

ALSO! I got some new buns :roll:
copy-pasting my posts from FB to save my fingers typing haha. but here was the plan me and the person talked through:
"so excited! thursday i'm goin to town and tradin someone a cali doe for a 7month old NZ buck! woot!! they have some NZ and are wantin rid of them and get into calis and i'm not happy with this doe for meat breedin but she is from show lines and nice coloring and all so hopefully this is a win-win!
i'm also bringin her last litter with me and maybe work out a trade with the person for one or more of their NZ does that i think are all breedin age too! "

ya well here is getting home... :roll:
"ok so I got the trade done and got feed in one trip! woot!
now my problem is I left with a cali doe and litter of 7.... they traded me a REW buck for the cali doe... and they wanted a doe out of the litter.... BUT they gave me the two does!! EEEEEK!! I don't have the space for this! D: i'm beyond full capacity right now! poor buns are in cages (meant for transport) stacked up with an old car hood on top and plastic over it to keep the wind and rain out and a bucket to hold the plastic down D: EEEEKKK!
next problem is they are smaller then I was hopin and i'm kinda thinkin they are florida whites?? is there a good way to tell FW from smallish NZW?? but they are proven moms, 2y/o and 4y/o. one has litters of 5-7 other has litters of 7-9. supposedly are good moms."

so if anyone has any pointers of tellin good a good FW from a small-but-nicely-shaped NZW would be great! haha. I have pics of all the current buns but my camera really died for good this time and tryin to get the pics from a friends camera i'm borrowing onto my laptop.

*deep breath* ok so that's all I got for right now :roll: hahaha. sorry so long winded.
pics soon as I can!

 

[Sinnfox]

Well Florida Whites are supposed to be half the size of New Zealands..Florida Whites at about 6lbs and New Zealands at 12lbs...try weighing one and post weights...might help people give you a better guess? I'd say if its around six or seven pounds defiantly Florida's...if its ten or up just smallish New Zealands...other weights I wouldn't be as sure about.

 

[GBov]

Your buns will be fine with that kind of a drive. I (and all the buns and kids and a little bit of house keeping stuff) moved 8 hours from the Florida house but it turned into a 12 hour drive and they all, even the two day old kits, made it just fine. It was also in the high 90s with the buns in an enclosed trailer. I KNEW I would loose some but nope, they were just ifne. It helped that the cages kept the doors from closeing and I just tied them shut. Lots of air flow.

I just last week saw NZ and FW side by side. My impression is the FW fit better in their skin. It seems a funny way to say it now I see it in print but my NZs are soft and saggy like big squashy pillows and the FWs look like firmly stuffed fancy pillows meant to look at but not sit on. :lol:

And yes, about a third smaller. Their fur is sleeker too, not fluffy like my NZs.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

thanks.

now before I post the weights, mind you i'm using an OLD SCALE! so these may be off a bit! but I played around with weighing can food, etc to test it and it seems really close so its something.
(( link I found that is exactly the scale i'm using! its the only one I have right now haha. my moms. just like this identical but mom painted hers up off white but you can still toggle it and all:
http://www.theurbanfarmhouseshoppe.com/ ... -Scale.htm ))

moon, 2y/o proven doe, 7lb 4oz
snow, 4y/o proven doe, 6lb 8oz
studly, 7m/o buck, 5lb 12oz

oh well. I practically got the does for free. and these guys are nice meaty build. they will probably give me better then all the other rabbits I've been through in these almost two years now! :roll:
and on the bright side my fiancé's grandfather will be happy to see them. he used to raise rabbits and he was into FWs but he had to drive like 4hrs each way to pick up any. so hopefully they do good for me and i'll have something else to chat with him about

__________ Fri Oct 18, 2013 9:49 pm __________

well i'm kinda doin pics of everything :roll: but I title! haha.

studly- buck (7m/o):


snow(4y/o) and moon(2y/o)- does:


my 3/4 NZ, 1/4FG doe (gold tp'd steel, goin on 6m/o)


the cali litter. 5wks and last time I weighed them they were 1lb-1.5lb :angry: their mom is the one I traded.


new guinea pig digs 1boar and 9 sows. hopin to sell off most of the sows and get an older boar cause I don't think this one is matured yet :angry: hoping they are all bred but its not lookin like it right now. two were due this week if they had been bred last go...






__________ Sun Oct 20, 2013 2:16 pm __________

whoa! :shock:

weights on the 18th:
moon, 2y/o proven doe, 7lb 4oz
snow, 4y/o proven doe, 6lb 8oz
studly, 7m/o buck, 5lb 12oz

weights today:
moon 7lb 12oz
snow 6lb 12oz
studly 6lb<br /><br />__________ Sun Oct 20, 2013 2:19 pm __________<br /><br />decisions decisions decisions.... ):

I have more rabbits then space and i'm about to be moving! anyone help me out on what to keep and what to sell?

Studly, 7m/o buck (FW)
weight- 6lbs

moon, 2y/o doe (FW)
weight- 7lb 12oz

snow, 4y/o doe (FW)
weight- 6lb 12oz

cali2, about 10month old, californian doe. had been accidently bred to a MR buck and kindled first litter soon after I got her, kits weighed 2lb at 7wks. only 3 lived to then, birthed 9 with 1 fat DOA, 2 tiny runts, the rest normal size kits. (litter weaned about 6wks ago)
weight- 7lb 4oz

red- 10/30 she will be 7months, NZR doe. really love her color. probably staying.
weight- 7lb 6oz

GTS- 10/30 she will be 7months, 3/4NZ 1/4FG doe. should carry solid and broken several colors. definitely the best meaty rabbit I've ever had yet, definitely staying.
weight- 9lb 4oz

so right now i'm thinkin sell off everyone other then GTS and red... maybe keep studly around to breed them to? at least those would be decent meat litters. biggest thing about that is i'm moving nov 8 so i'd be keepin him until I settled in to breed them to and search out a good new buck.
then again I could probably sell studly and moon and snow pretty quick for good price as breeding trio.

help anyone?? i'm sick of feedin rabbits that I don't need and don't do good for meat!

 

[mountainrabbits]

The Florida Whites are supposed to be really excellent for meat, great feed to weight conversion (you feed less for every pound) and good meat to bone ratio. I have a pair myself for meat but I have yet to get kits from them. I was wondering about your Californian doe-that weight seems pretty small, what does her fur look/feel like? Could she be a Himi MiniRex? If you have time and space I would breed all your does to your buck and track the resulting kits weights and how fast they grow. That way you can see how well each doe does with her litter side by side. And that gives you possible fosters if a doe bombs-as well as buns for freezer camp

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

no she is definitely not rex fur. I used to have minirex. and her body was longer then a MR too.

I was kinda thinkin about test breedin them all to studly but with moving and all I really gotta decide who to take.

I've decided i'm definitely takin GTS and red (both does). and am still back and forth with myself on keepin studly or not until I can get a nice big buck. at the moment i'm leanin towards keepin him though :hmm: