BuniPaint
New member
Folks - my intro is LONG - JAVA time. I have a tendency to "write books" when I time...
Found this site a couple of weeks ago and have been doing as much reading as time permits between dealing w/ the deep freeze/ice and snow where we don't normally get any.
I was told that I should get rabbits years ago. Our family breeds American Shetland ponies - started on 4 acres leased land 8 miles from our home, then leased an 9 acre farmette for 10 years and now just moved to our own 21 acres. Still getting it set up for the ponies and chickens and I've started looking around to figure where the rabbits will go. Our youngest daughter has moved back in with us, our middle daughter is about 45 miles away - working and attending college and our oldest w/ a family of her own(hubby & 2 GD) is about 4 miles away off of the same main rd.
Ever so slowly, we are becoming sustainable (woof it's a HUGE learning curve). Now looking to start w/ meat rabbits - for starters pedigrees aren't necessary (though I do want from reputable breeders) and we'll see if we end up doing more than meat for just family (MIGHT become a "true" commercial rabbitry).
A chicken acquaintance who is in the area we were in 11 yrs ago, has a x-bred litter - Sire is NZW, but mom is a steel cross between a Flemish Giant and a Californian. I may be purchasing the whole litter - to raise some for meat by May/June and retain two does (looking at the steel and the blue for that) for breeding for more if we decide we like it (I've had rabbit - family has not yet).
After that - looking at a getting both standard Rex and maybe mini Rex - I LOVE BROKEN COATS... and I want a "mixed" coat blanket for our bed. IT"S been COLD here (for our state - not compared to Northern States). We moved down here from MT and hubby especially would prefer for the "deep freeze" to stay there!
What do I personally want rabbits for? Meat, garden pellets and fur. My family - not so much at this time. We've owned a pet rabbit for several years now - he has toys, treats, several different hays to choose from (!), pellets, gets heated water several times daily and comes into LR to watch tv w/ us. He does live outside - he has two barn cats that curl up with him in his "coop". Supposed to be a mini breed x - think the cross was a giant rabbit because he's pretty darn close to 8 lbs... He's not neutered at this time.
Currently get large brown/blue/green & olive green eggs from our larger chickens, cream/tinted eggs from a couple of banty hens. And have 4 roos way past time to butcher but got "off" due to packing/moving/closing on house and then moving in - still living out of boxes though. Once we have everything re-sorted and moved into the pasture/barn area for the ponies - they will start "working" again, too. Getting into shape for wagon/cart pulling, training, pulling trees out of the way and helping to set up the "Pony Playground" (will be sized for large horses, too - and will have invites out to folks to come play). Still have fencing to put up, the "barn" to clean and set up for proper feeding (its a two stall "shed row" that was split into 3 areas).
Think I covered everything...
Found this site a couple of weeks ago and have been doing as much reading as time permits between dealing w/ the deep freeze/ice and snow where we don't normally get any.
I was told that I should get rabbits years ago. Our family breeds American Shetland ponies - started on 4 acres leased land 8 miles from our home, then leased an 9 acre farmette for 10 years and now just moved to our own 21 acres. Still getting it set up for the ponies and chickens and I've started looking around to figure where the rabbits will go. Our youngest daughter has moved back in with us, our middle daughter is about 45 miles away - working and attending college and our oldest w/ a family of her own(hubby & 2 GD) is about 4 miles away off of the same main rd.
Ever so slowly, we are becoming sustainable (woof it's a HUGE learning curve). Now looking to start w/ meat rabbits - for starters pedigrees aren't necessary (though I do want from reputable breeders) and we'll see if we end up doing more than meat for just family (MIGHT become a "true" commercial rabbitry).
A chicken acquaintance who is in the area we were in 11 yrs ago, has a x-bred litter - Sire is NZW, but mom is a steel cross between a Flemish Giant and a Californian. I may be purchasing the whole litter - to raise some for meat by May/June and retain two does (looking at the steel and the blue for that) for breeding for more if we decide we like it (I've had rabbit - family has not yet).
After that - looking at a getting both standard Rex and maybe mini Rex - I LOVE BROKEN COATS... and I want a "mixed" coat blanket for our bed. IT"S been COLD here (for our state - not compared to Northern States). We moved down here from MT and hubby especially would prefer for the "deep freeze" to stay there!
What do I personally want rabbits for? Meat, garden pellets and fur. My family - not so much at this time. We've owned a pet rabbit for several years now - he has toys, treats, several different hays to choose from (!), pellets, gets heated water several times daily and comes into LR to watch tv w/ us. He does live outside - he has two barn cats that curl up with him in his "coop". Supposed to be a mini breed x - think the cross was a giant rabbit because he's pretty darn close to 8 lbs... He's not neutered at this time.
Currently get large brown/blue/green & olive green eggs from our larger chickens, cream/tinted eggs from a couple of banty hens. And have 4 roos way past time to butcher but got "off" due to packing/moving/closing on house and then moving in - still living out of boxes though. Once we have everything re-sorted and moved into the pasture/barn area for the ponies - they will start "working" again, too. Getting into shape for wagon/cart pulling, training, pulling trees out of the way and helping to set up the "Pony Playground" (will be sized for large horses, too - and will have invites out to folks to come play). Still have fencing to put up, the "barn" to clean and set up for proper feeding (its a two stall "shed row" that was split into 3 areas).
Think I covered everything...
