Intro and Questions (Long, sorry!)

[Luvmykiddos]

PistolPackinMomma, I'm a pistol packin' Mama, too!

Okay, I officially love rabbit folks!!! :lol: Guns and bunnies must go with the territory, lol. What do you carry?

What do I carry? I'd answer that if you asked what I was wearing today, because I change guns/holsters like I change outfits! :lol: Springfield XDs are my favorite, though.

I think we need a new post to talk about guns on the random ramblings board!

I see you already purchased from Klubertanz (good choice). May I ask what you ended up purchasing? I don't want to give you ideas without knowing what tools you got on hand to work with. Also, are you or your husband handy with tools?

 

[PistolPackingMomma]

I ended up going with 5 30x36's, two with babysaver wire, three without, and the pliers. We're decently handy with tools, but not with super complicated stuff.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

That's great! Congratulations!

Now you just need to fill 'em up!

:bunnyhop: :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop:

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I ended up going with 5 30x36's, two with babysaver wire, three without, and the pliers. We're decently handy with tools, but not with super complicated stuff.

You could split of the 30 x 36 into two 30 x 18's and have two holes for a buck and a "keeper" rabbit.

Klubertanz is definitely better on the cages, that is where we bought the wire and stuff we used for our first cages. Did you order Jclips? Just asking... Bass tends to have better prices on water bottles, feeders, nesting boxes, etc...

 

[PistolPackingMomma]

That's great! Congratulations!

Now you just need to fill 'em up!

:bunnyhop: :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop:

Haha, I confess, I did spend the better part of the morning looking for SF stock near me, even though I promised DH we'd wait. The super cute popples in the other thread someone shared isn't helping...<br /><br />__________ Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:40 pm __________<br /><br />

I ended up going with 5 30x36's, two with babysaver wire, three without, and the pliers. We're decently handy with tools, but not with super complicated stuff.

You could split of the 30 x 36 into two 30 x 18's and have two holes for a buck and a "keeper" rabbit.

Klubertanz is definitely better on the cages, that is where we bought the wire and stuff we used for our first cages. Did you order Jclips? Just asking... Bass tends to have better prices on water bottles, feeders, nesting boxes, etc...

Awesome! What would I use as a divider? Lori, the employee who helped with my order, said the cages come with J clips, and I ordered the pliers, but no extra clips. Is that what you meant?

 

[OneAcreFarm]

That's great! Congratulations!

Now you just need to fill 'em up!

:bunnyhop: :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop:

Haha, I confess, I did spend the better part of the morning looking for SF stock near me, even though I promised DH we'd wait. The super cute popples in the other thread someone shared isn't helping...

__________ Mon Feb 11, 2013 3:40 pm __________

I ended up going with 5 30x36's, two with babysaver wire, three without, and the pliers. We're decently handy with tools, but not with super complicated stuff.

You could split of the 30 x 36 into two 30 x 18's and have two holes for a buck and a "keeper" rabbit.

Klubertanz is definitely better on the cages, that is where we bought the wire and stuff we used for our first cages. Did you order Jclips? Just asking... Bass tends to have better prices on water bottles, feeders, nesting boxes, etc...

Awesome! What would I use as a divider? Lori, the employee who helped with my order, said the cages come with J clips, and I ordered the pliers, but no extra clips. Is that what you meant?

I would order extra Jclips, you may end up with a few messed up ones and we tend to over engineer. I put the clips every two inches for the floor wire, really helps it to be nice and tight....and you can use wire or hardware cloth to make a divider.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

You could also call the company back and ask them to change the order to two 18s since you just placed the order. Trust me- you wont regret having two smaller cages, either for another buck or a replacement doe that you are growing out.

 

[WallTenter]

I LOVE the water bottles from Woody's Wabbits - love love love cannot recommend highly enough! They also have good prices on crocks etc. I really like their crocks I think called ez crocks anyway they attach to the wire instead of being loose in the cage - makes feeding much faster and way less spilled food.

Also, rabbits and goats need chickens to clean up after them lol... I throw the cleanings from the trays down for my chickens, they peck through it and dry it out, then I put it in the compost pile. Sometimes I am lazy and just put it right on the compost but I know the chickens make it even better by airating it and they love eating the berries and any dropped bits of feed.

 

[PistolPackingMomma]

You could also call the company back and ask them to change the order to two 18s since you just placed the order. Trust me- you wont regret having two smaller cages, either for another buck or a replacement doe that you are growing out.

Very true!<br /><br />__________ Tue Feb 12, 2013 12:27 pm __________<br /><br />

I LOVE the water bottles from Woody's Wabbits - love love love cannot recommend highly enough! They also have good prices on crocks etc. I really like their crocks I think called ez crocks anyway they attach to the wire instead of being loose in the cage - makes feeding much faster and way less spilled food.

Also, rabbits and goats need chickens to clean up after them lol... I throw the cleanings from the trays down for my chickens, they peck through it and dry it out, then I put it in the compost pile. Sometimes I am lazy and just put it right on the compost but I know the chickens make it even better by airating it and they love eating the berries and any dropped bits of feed.

Thanks for the recommendation; I'll check that out!

I was actually planning to start out with chickens, but I'm not allowed to have them here ( :evil: ) but I could get away with rabbits, if we weren't trying to sell the house. I am dying to have goats, chickens and rabbits, a BIG garden, a shooting berm out in my back yard, big compost pile and rain water catchment system; all the goodies!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I am dying to have goats, chickens and rabbits, a BIG garden, a shooting berm out in my back yard, big compost pile and rain water catchment system; all the goodies!

I'm living your dream- with the exception of the water catchment system. :mrgreen:

We have a 35 meter pistol range and a 200 meter rifle range.

 

[camanojim]

I will have to swap the goats for horses ( my wife doesn't like goats ). 65 chickens and a tall burm full of lead. I stopped shooting now that ammo has disappered. :evil:

 

[GBov]

Now that you have your cages can you go to your HOA and say you want to get "pet" bunnies (dont call them rabbits, be sure to call them bunnies, they sound more pet like that way) for your kids. Really sell the image of little kids cuddling cute, QUIET, cuddly bunnies.

Then put legs on your cages and dress them up all pretty with lattice and a rustic - but still pretty - roof made of roofing metal banded by wood to hide the edges.

Make it as Disney as you can. :twisted:

If the hutches are dressed up as pure pet and you start with small (young) rabb.........sorry, BUNNIES , you can say you were told they wouldn't get very big and how on EARTH did they grow so much??? if anyone says anything about their eventual size.

Be sure to set the cages up, if you can, on a north facing side of your house for extra shade come the hot weather. Rabbits overheat and DIE really easily! Ask me how I know this

Where I live right now we are not allowed any hoof stock, not even pet breeds of goat or pig or any chickens or ducks or or or blasted town, its run by animal hating nasty folks but rabbits are seemingly a "grey" area, they are allowed as pets but not allowed as livestock. So we have lots of "pet" rabbits :lol: well hidden from casual, and not so casual, view and the kids are told and told and TOLD NOT TO TALK ABOUT THEM!!! And especially NOT to talk about the stealth chickens or the piglets I just traded some rabbits for or the quail or the pigeons and not to talk about the bees or the pond I am digging for catfish (small scale aquaponics are great for an urban back yard) or that we once had goats hidden in the back yard. :lol:

Goats are too noisy to hide( Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats are super fun), chickens are mostly ok hidden until they lay an egg, then they are noisy but quail? They ROCK! Very quiet other than the roosters but they just sound like wild birds gargling with marbles so no one notices them. They go from egg to plate in 8 weeks and start laying an egg a day at 6 weeks of age and they will live in just about anything so its easy to find space for them to hide in. And they are sooooo yummy! And are so easy to process that you can easily do one start to finish in less than three min.

Yeh, LOVE quail!

Have you thought of starting with rabbit mutts? The learning curve is steep with rabbits so starting with even a pair of proven mutts, just a buck and doe, will let you get a bit of experience under your belt before starting with high priced worrisome stock. And with a proven doe you dont have the first time mother syndrome, will she, wont she, can she care for her kits? UGH! Hate teh first time mum thing!

And I dont have a pistol but I do have a riffle.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

:goodpost:

Make it as Disney as you can. :twisted:

Very quiet other than the roosters but they just sound like wild birds gargling with marbles so no one notices them.

:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:

:ninjajig: :sneaky2: GBov... Stealth Farmer Extraordinaire!!! :sneaky2: :ninjajig:

Take that, you animal hating nasty folks! okeeye:

And THAT! :tease:

AND THAT! :crazyfrog:

You are truly an inspiration to the stifled suburban homesteader, GBov! My hero! :bow:

 

[PistolPackingMomma]

I will have to swap the goats for horses ( my wife doesn't like goats ). 65 chickens and a tall burm full of lead. I stopped shooting now that ammo has disappered. :evil:

Aww, has she spent any time with goats? I was "meh" on them for the longest time, then I spent some time with them, and now I'm totally in love!

I hear you on the ammo; it's ridiculous! Gotta get some reloading components before those disappear too!

 

[GBov]

Aw MSD, you made me blush! :lol:

Stealth farming is all about finding QUIET livestock and privacy fencing and nice tall hedges. :twisted:

Of course, playing really dim is also good. "But sir! I didn't KNOW that X, Y or Z wasn't allowed in my back yard, goodness me, I will get rid of it/them RIGHT AWAY! Thank you so much for telling me, I wouldnt want to do ANYTHING that isnt allowed!"

Then you eat it!

If you wait until all you duck line up in a row to get ANYTHING, you will get precisely NOTHING! It is NEVER the perfect time for anything so just do it, do it now!

 

[PistolPackingMomma]

Now that you have your cages can you go to your HOA and say you want to get "pet" bunnies (dont call them rabbits, be sure to call them bunnies, they sound more pet like that way) for your kids. Really sell the image of little kids cuddling cute, QUIET, cuddly bunnies.

Then put legs on your cages and dress them up all pretty with lattice and a rustic - but still pretty - roof made of roofing metal banded by wood to hide the edges.

Make it as Disney as you can. :twisted:

If the hutches are dressed up as pure pet and you start with small (young) rabb.........sorry, BUNNIES , you can say you were told they wouldn't get very big and how on EARTH did they grow so much??? if anyone says anything about their eventual size.

Be sure to set the cages up, if you can, on a north facing side of your house for extra shade come the hot weather. Rabbits overheat and DIE really easily! Ask me how I know this

Where I live right now we are not allowed any hoof stock, not even pet breeds of goat or pig or any chickens or ducks or or or blasted town, its run by animal hating nasty folks but rabbits are seemingly a "grey" area, they are allowed as pets but not allowed as livestock. So we have lots of "pet" rabbits :lol: well hidden from casual, and not so casual, view and the kids are told and told and TOLD NOT TO TALK ABOUT THEM!!! And especially NOT to talk about the stealth chickens or the piglets I just traded some rabbits for or the quail or the pigeons and not to talk about the bees or the pond I am digging for catfish (small scale aquaponics are great for an urban back yard) or that we once had goats hidden in the back yard. :lol:

Goats are too noisy to hide( Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats are super fun), chickens are mostly ok hidden until they lay an egg, then they are noisy but quail? They ROCK! Very quiet other than the roosters but they just sound like wild birds gargling with marbles so no one notices them. They go from egg to plate in 8 weeks and start laying an egg a day at 6 weeks of age and they will live in just about anything so its easy to find space for them to hide in. And they are sooooo yummy! And are so easy to process that you can easily do one start to finish in less than three min.

Yeh, LOVE quail!

Have you thought of starting with rabbit mutts? The learning curve is steep with rabbits so starting with even a pair of proven mutts, just a buck and doe, will let you get a bit of experience under your belt before starting with high priced worrisome stock. And with a proven doe you dont have the first time mother syndrome, will she, wont she, can she care for her kits? UGH! Hate teh first time mum thing!

And I dont have a pistol but I do have a riffle.

Bwahaha, you are fiendishly clever! I love it! :lol:

I didn't know that about quail; dang! They sound awesome! How is the meat taste/dress out ratio compared to a medium sized chicken? (We are soooo tired of eating chicken; it's about the only meat we can afford with any sort of regularity, and store bought chicken is soo tasteless...)

I have been debating about meat mutts or not, and I'm about 60/40 on it. Here are my thoughts; please everyone expound upon them and point out the pros and cons I might be missing.

Meat Mutts:
Less expensive to start out with and learn on, especially if they don't make it
I don't have to worry about investing in great stock and then completely starting over after moving (SC to AZ)

SilverFoxes:
They are reputed to be teddy bears, which is important, since every rabbit I've ever met (a variety of breeds and circumstances) were all either biters or just hostile. I'm reading the Language of Lagomorphs, so that might make a difference, but I've got two very young kids, and I don't have time for habitually temperamental animals.

It will be my first time raising livestock of any sort, and though I'm determined to follow through, and conscious that one animal doesn't represent the entire spectrum of the species, I don't want to be put off with a negative experience, know what I mean?<br /><br />__________ Wed Feb 13, 2013 10:31 am __________<br /><br />

Aw MSD, you made me blush! :lol:

Stealth farming is all about finding QUIET livestock and privacy fencing and nice tall hedges. :twisted:

Of course, playing really dim is also good. "But sir! I didn't KNOW that X, Y or Z wasn't allowed in my back yard, goodness me, I will get rid of it/them RIGHT AWAY! Thank you so much for telling me, I wouldnt want to do ANYTHING that isnt allowed!"

Then you eat it!

:lol: The "dim" routine is tremendously effective, especially when dealing with ego-tarians.

If you wait until all you duck line up in a row to get ANYTHING, you will get precisely NOTHING! It is NEVER the perfect time for anything so just do it, do it now!

This is EXACTLY how I'm feeling!!!

 

[camanojim]

I will have to swap the goats for horses ( my wife doesn't like goats ). 65 chickens and a tall burm full of lead. I stopped shooting now that ammo has disappered. :evil:

Aww, has she spent any time with goats? I was "meh" on them for the longest time, then I spent some time with them, and now I'm totally in love!

I hear you on the ammo; it's ridiculous! Gotta get some reloading components before those disappear too!

Oh yeah she is the life long country girl who has had a horses all her life and worked for a old school large animal vet for 17 years. She has seen it all. She might let me get a couple pigs however.

 

[WallTenter]

Goats are too noisy to hide( Nigerian Dwarf Dairy Goats are super fun), chickens are mostly ok hidden until they lay an egg, then they are noisy but quail? They ROCK! Very quiet other than the roosters but they just sound like wild birds gargling with marbles so no one notices them. They go from egg to plate in 8 weeks and start laying an egg a day at 6 weeks of age and they will live in just about anything so its easy to find space for them to hide in. And they are sooooo yummy! And are so easy to process that you can easily do one start to finish in less than three min.

Yeh, LOVE quail!

Yes I love my quail too - and they are much much much quieter lol... The males do sound like she described lol of course we always think they sound like little martian alien guns lol

 

[PistolPackingMomma]

How does quail taste compared to chicken? Do you have to feed them special pellets, or will they do fine on natural forage?

 

[GBov]

How does quail taste compared to chicken? Do you have to feed them special pellets, or will they do fine on natural forage?

Quail taste REALLY GOOD! Not like chicken at all lol. I cut out the breasts and take the legs off at the hips, roll the pieces in seasoned flour and fry till crisp. Then pour the fat off and make pan gravy with the drippins.

The ribs and suchlike go into a pot for stock and bone sucking.

Mmmmmmmm yummy!

A quail takes about 3 min to process. Add two more to bone it out for frying.<br /><br />__________ Wed Feb 27, 2013 8:23 am __________<br /><br />Having PROMISED to replace them, our six old quail are for the pot this week.

YAY!