Not new, but returning!

[Secuono]

Revamped my website, since the sheep world is nutters, and now it includes the cattle and rabbits.
Thus all of the bun pics, adding them to the site.
Next weekend 4 kits are being sold, so, going to figure out which are the biggest and cull out everyone else. There are a few in individual cages bc of aggression. Ugh. Some still grouped together, rest still with mom, since space is taken up by the mean kits.
Looks like 2 of the for sale does are due soon, so they'll stay until kits are 5wks or so, then culled out. 3rd doe can be culled out now.
Bred Swirl to a couple of does, will see if there's any other does I can breed him to, then list/cull him out. Have a few buck kits held back, so I need to make room for them. Same with doe kits kept back, they need their own cages real soon.
Once I have the new Rex does, I'll probably cull out all except the best mix doe & buck. Breed them to the new ones and then cull them out. Should eventually make some space.
Need to add onto my little paper family tree of buns and see how that's looking.

 

[dlynn]

$657 in the red.
Plus 545 in feed.

Currently $1202 in the red. Ugh.

Interesting to watch your reporting. I find for myself so much of the value of rabbits doesn't fit on a spread sheet. the bags of questionable composted "manure" (many of which have shown contaminated) I no longér buy pays for feed instead. The vegetables that grew better than ever with rabbit poo, even in a drought year. The weeds and garden trimmings, even corn stalks they turn into perfect useable fertilizer in one day instead of me spending a year turning compost piles (saved hard labor) health benefits of high protein, low cholesterol meat. ( Counting $2 a # not nearly enough). The value of exercise, entertainment, education , and genuine joy of interacting with my colonies, priceless....

 

[Secuono]

Interesting to watch your reporting. I find for myself so much of the value of rabbits doesn't fit on a spread sheet. the bags of questionable composted "manure" (many of which have shown contaminated) I no longér buy pays for feed instead. The vegetables that grew better than ever with rabbit poo, even in a drought year. The weeds and garden trimmings, even corn stalks they turn into perfect useable fertilizer in one day instead of me spending a year turning compost piles (saved hard labor) health benefits of high protein, low cholesterol meat. ( Counting $2 a # not nearly enough). The value of exercise, entertainment, education , and genuine joy of interacting with my colonies, priceless....

Unfortunately, the world runs on money, not experiences. =(
But when I fail at something, I do try to get over it by seeing the silver lining and such.

 

[Secuono]

So, the friendly blue sf buck will be kept. Gotta print out his pedigree. He's 2oz lighter than hos twin brother, but better shoulders and temperament on him.

Separated the 4 buns for sale last night, biggest ones, into individual cages. Rest in the same cage for butcher this morning. Waiting on a delivery, then I'll start that process.

Got Obscure's & Speedy's nests fixed and ready to hang. Saturday & Sunday are their nest days. Then none are due for nests until the 23rd, 24th, & 25th.


7 in the cull cage. Thawing all old rabbit meat for the dogs and turning these 7 into fresh people food. Gotta decide if to keep the buck or the doe from Obscure. Kept the 14 blue doe kit and the otter buck kit, black kit culled. Kept 1 from Rusty and culled the other kit.
So, just the baby kits left to watch.

 

[Secuono]

Got 3 done, 4 tomorrow, since I have to debone these and the dogs are getting the old meat.

 

[eco2pia]

Did the math a while ago of actual cost saved in kibble value. Hardly put a dent in it.

45# bag of kibble at $55 per bag.

"45# ÷ 1.6.3# = 27.60 meals per bag.
$55 ÷ 27.60 = $1.99 cost per meal. Not including tax.
How many have I fed to the dogs? Way too hard to figure out. Maybe 60 in all, mix of whole, scrap & lost kits. Only $90 or so saved in kibble."

Yeah I saw that, but people food is more expensive...I guess I assumed you were also eating some for yourself. At $20-$30 per whole rabbit at the supermarket, that would change your accounting. But if you are more like me and likely to buy "whatever is cheap" in the meat department that is more like $2-3/lb. I usually think in those terms.

Currently, per rabbit processed I am getting about 1.5lb boneless people food. Boneless chicken is ~$3/lb in my area, so that gives me $4.50/rabbit.
Plus each rabbit gives me ~3+ dog meals (two meals/day), so using your numbers that would be $10.50/rabbit.
Additionally I make dog chews out of the raw hides (because puppy--also, tanning fryers is too much work). Each hide gives about 6 chews. I normally would buy chews for around $1 each, but the rabbit hide chews go faster than the bought ones, so say $0.50 each, bringing the total to $13.50/rabbit.

$13.50/rabbit x 60 = $810.

Arguably, my local prices may be higher than yours, and my feed prices probably are too, AND I don't breed nearly as much, so I am probably just as far in the hole!

My own reasons for raising rabbits have to do with world's most terrible garden soil, and my moral disgust with lawns or leaving land idle but not wild. I could buy fertilizer and mulch and high end soil amendments, OR feed. This is more fun.

 

[Secuono]

Got the 3 deboned, besides the arms. Will do those tomorrow. Soaking until Wednesday morning.
I think I'll wait to cull the rest until then, too. Don't have more bowls to soak them in.

 

[Secuono]

Yeah I saw that, but people food is more expensive...I guess I assumed you were also eating some for yourself. At $20-$30 per whole rabbit at the supermarket, that would change your accounting. But if you are more like me and likely to buy "whatever is cheap" in the meat department that is more like $2-3/lb. I usually think in those terms.

Currently, per rabbit processed I am getting about 1.5lb boneless people food. Boneless chicken is ~$3/lb in my area, so that gives me $4.50/rabbit.
Plus each rabbit gives me ~3+ dog meals (two meals/day), so using your numbers that would be $10.50/rabbit.
Additionally I make dog chews out of the raw hides (because puppy--also, tanning fryers is too much work). Each hide gives about 6 chews. I normally would buy chews for around $1 each, but the rabbit hide chews go faster than the bought ones, so say $0.50 each, bringing the total to $13.50/rabbit.

$13.50/rabbit x 60 = $810.

Arguably, my local prices may be higher than yours, and my feed prices probably are too, AND I don't breed nearly as much, so I am probably just as far in the hole!

My own reasons for raising rabbits have to do with world's most terrible garden soil, and my moral disgust with lawns or leaving land idle but not wild. I could buy fertilizer and mulch and high end soil amendments, OR feed. This is more fun.

I am, but what fancy stores can sell it for is irrelevant to me. I'd never buy it. And live ones hardly sell at all. 10 a pop is hard to move, 25 for adults proven and/or bred. Even the stores, there's just one who carries rabbit. One. They have one in stock at any given time.

It's 18 for 40$ now for rabbit feed.
Considering switching to 16% and save a little.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Sure isn't!
And even if you have the land, gifted to you, there's taxes, upkeep costs, fencing and such. Farming is a total crapshoot money wise. You're always in debt in some fashion.

I have not found that to be the case. I keep pretty detailed records, and over the years my rabbits have always more than paid for all rabbit-related expenses (and most years, paid for the chickens' upkeep, too). In fact, if I factor in the rabbit we eat, which I don't usually include since I would not normally buy rabbit meat, they've even paid for the new 20' x 26 barn, too, which is a multi-purpose building so not entirely a rabbit expense.

But I'm part Scot - we'll call it "thrifty" - so I just plain don't spend it if I don't have it. We've eaten rabbits I'd rather have kept because of that. We've raised six kids on a single income, so I always figured that my rabbit habit needed to pay for itself or it had to go. I'm also patient enough (read: cheap enough) that I have also dealt with very inconvenient situations until I could improve them without going into debt. It's taken more than 20 years to achieve my "dream barn."

Two other major helps have been my local rabbit community and my husband. My husband, in particular, is a phenomenal handyman and inventor, a blessing which unfortunately most people don't have.

 

[Scooter1A]

I personally think it is a good lesson for would be breeders... because there is absolutely no money in breeding any kind of critter from horses,to dogs to rabbits! Growing organic garlic however.. there is the easy button to good cash with little input!

Jani that's funny because it's true. I saw a guy selling garlic for I think $5 a bulb. Me and my neighbor got a good laugh about that. I should mention I tried to grow garlic, got nothing. I keep trying.

 

[eco2pia]

Jani that's funny because it's true. I saw a guy selling garlic for I think $5 a bulb. Me and my neighbor got a good laugh about that. I should mention I tried to grow garlic, got nothing. I keep trying.

I have to plant it in the late fall, and it grows for about a year--so planting about now actually, last thing to go in before winter. The first time I tried to grow it I planted in may and expected to harvest in august and it did nothing.

 

[Secuono]

Have 1 possible doe sale.


Played musical cages. Does with growing litters moved in, others moved out.


Doing well w/o nests.


Nest removed today for Zero kits.

Blue rex kits. Obsessed with sitting in food.

Hmm, not good enough to keep, right? But wow, her fur is soooo nice!

 

[Secuono]

Did a little more musical cages to put mom does on the 16% feed & remove their keeper kits.
Then got 2 does bred.

 

[Secuono]

Had a slight meltdown earlier. Realized that the buck I put in the cull cage was the nice one, but I couldn't really tell them apart and got super confused, lol.
Got video of them, posing and poking and thinking out loud about them.
The mean one seemed like the better this time.
But once I put pictures together like this, I saw what I missed.
Mean one looks to have a bit of V legs & butt! I don't want to add a new problem none of my keepers have, so mean one will be the cull!

Crisis averted. I'm under too much stress. Lol.

 

[Secuono]

$844 in the red.
25 in bun sale makes it-

Currently $819 in the red.


Speedy off to be tubby elsewhere.
I really need to make a single hole carrier.


Next is 4 growouts!

 

[Secuono]

Three buns, left the front leg bones in, rest deboned. 6.482 pounds of meat fresh in the freezer. Used smaller baggies this time, since I'm usually the only one eating it. 4.5 to biggest at 8oz, most at or slightly above the 4.5 range.
Busy day, so haven't gotten to the others yet.

 

[Secuono]

Baymax out for his third romp around during morning feeding n watering.

 

[Secuono]

First pose, great. 2nd, acceptable.
Put the blue brother into cull cage, kept choc doe.


Redid Ivory, looks much better.


And culled Unity's replacement for attacking me. Then thought to sell Unity, but posted her. A pretty good shape all around. Kept.


Lazy Meanie. No longer mean, seems young kits make her nuts.


And a kit being weird about resting near the water. Lol

 

[jani]

Jani that's funny because it's true. I saw a guy selling garlic for I think $5 a bulb. Me and my neighbor got a good laugh about that. I should mention I tried to grow garlic, got nothing. I keep trying.

Here is the secret to growing garlic! it likes loose very rich soil! Voila mix in a whackload of rabbit poop... ya should have loads of that! Get busy mixing and fluff it all up. Plant your bulbs, water regular until you see them coming up then walk away until harvest time. VOILA

 

[Secuono]

$819 in the red. 40 in bun sales & 182 in DH donation.

Currently $597 in the red.


Added a hay rack to the back of the 4hole carrier.

Goodbye, nasty pig buns!