What's a nestbox full of youngsters called in the winter??

Hot-Pocket!

Gotta get back to work. I'm building a feed carrier
on wheels that holds 60-75 pounds of feed.

I'm gettin' plum tarred of totin' buckets back and forth
from one end of the rabbitry to the other.

I'm feeding over 50 but under 100 pounds of feed a day.
This little gadget should ease my load immensely.
Everything's out of "re-purposed" materials. I really like that word!!
My cost: Just glue, screws, and nails.

I'll try and get some pics....
Of course, it's half built already....DUH..

grump.

grumpy":1b91tf58 said:

Hot-Pocket!

grump.

Click to expand...

:lol: :lol: :lol:

:lol: :lol:
Can't wait to see it!

If you had my momma does they would be called Popsicles!

Here's a "throw-away" football field paint striper. I dug this out
of the trash. I wanted the wheels for a project. "Repurposed"!!


I drilled some 3/8" holes in a piece of stock, then split
them down the middle with my table saw. Made some nifty
axle clamps when I drilled some screw holes on either side.


I've got the axles clamped and in place.


Getting the handles ready to install the round handle-bar. 45degree angle


Handle bar is installed w/a peg on the back bottom to keep the height correct.


Loaded with about 60 pounds of feed. Ready for a trial run.
The red tub is a mineral tub for cattle. My neighbor gave me a couple.
They're handy items to have around the farm. I use them for all sorts of stuff.
I'm gonna add a tray between the handle bars to hold various items.
This little gadget saved me well over half the time in my evening feeding.


Gotta find another place to hang this unit once I'm done for the day.
It's okay for the time being, but I don't like it blocking my doorway.


Here's a little sweetie, RK-020. She's had 8 litters for me.
Giving birth to 63 youngsters and raising 61 to market weight.
She's always been an early nester. LOL. If I don't give her a
box 5 days early, she'll pick herself nearly bald. Once she has
her nest box, she'll putter for days changing and re-arranging all
of the straw and fur. She's a good mama with no temper problems.
The four does right beside are her daughters. They're good does as well.
Tonight was the first night I just sat and watched her putter around.
She sure was curious about my leaving her cage door open.
Didn't quite know how to act. I bought this cage...no baby-saver wire.


Thanks for looking, Hope this helped a little.
Grumpy.

If you've ever met my does.. Nonexistent :?

RK-020 is a cuty pie! She needs a name... As of Dec. 10, her name is Gala.
Because when you search RK-020 the first word I saw was repair
And when you search repair, you get iPad (repair)
And when you search iPad, you get apple
And the first photo of apple is a red apple
And if you search red apple, you find that Gala's are red apples.
And galas are sweet

So she's Gala now. Gala is adorable. And I'm naming her gala, period. You have no say in this, Grump! :lol:
Wish you many more litters! She seems to have an Average of 8, right? Oh I love That photo of Gala, she's just so cute with a little haystache, all curious n' stuff ;.;

CochinBrahmaLover":10pstbty said:

If you've ever met my does.. Nonexistent :?

RK-020 is a cuty pie! She needs a name... As of Dec. 10, her name is Gala.
Because when you search RK-020 the first word I saw was repair
And when you search repair, you get iPad (repair)
And when you search iPad, you get apple
And the first photo of apple is a red apple
And if you search red apple, you find that Gala's are red apples.
And galas are sweet

So she's Gala now. Gala is adorable. And I'm naming her gala, period. You have no say in this, Grump! :lol:
Wish you many more litters! She seems to have an Average of 8, right? Oh I love That photo of Gala, she's just so cute with a little haystache, all curious n' stuff ;.;

Click to expand...

Well Cochin,
That's a fine name for her. I'll write it on her hutch card today!
All we gotta do now is figure out a name for the rest of them.
There's 34 more does in this room. I've got 7 bucks in here as well.
But, I do give each of the bucks a name. All of my boys are very friendly.
Some of these guys have been with me for five years. LOL.


And...we can't forget these. There's seven more mama's in this room as well.
At one time, I tried to give all of my does names.
But it was a nightmare re-doing the tattooer each time.
I've got one left. Her name is Rose.



Thanks for you interest and comment.
I'm sure Gala will enjoy her new name.
(I like it!)

Grumpy.

very nice grumpy ... I notice that you have a small can in your feeding bucket.. Is that a tuna can that you measure there food in?.. or is it just your scoop?

Mary Ann's Rabbitry":3ei2s3wl said:

very nice grumpy ... I notice that you have a small can in your feeding bucket.. Is that a tuna can that you measure there food in?.. or is it just your scoop?

Click to expand...

That's my tuna can. When level with feed it weighs right at 4 ounces.
During this colder weather, I'll 'heap-it' just a tad for my does.
The bucks get the same, except when they've been used for breeding.
I'll give them a "Heaping" can for one or two days after that.

It's basically a gauge to get me close to a normal ration.
However, some of my larger does need more, strictly because of their size.
I keep a close eye on my herd whenever I feed, making a mental note
if one looks to be getting a little heavy, or possibly too thin.

I hesitate to say, "this much, and no more!" It doesn't work that way
for me. I'm constantly monitoring overall expression and attitude with
each individual animal. Feed intake is the quickest way to let me know
if something's wrong.....somewhere. My first reaction is to check the
water valve and make sure it's operable.

After that, it's a matter of keeping a close eye on the rabbit. Maybe
offering a little extra hay to stimulate their appetite. I've got a young
buck down there right now that looks to be having some form of hip-problem.
If he's no better by this evening, I'm going to put him down.
He's obviously got a fault that I don't want to have in my herd.
Or...anyone else's for that matter. I held him back for sale. Not now though.

Grumpy.

thanks for explanation .<br /><br />__________ Wed Dec 11, 2013 4:06 pm __________<br /><br />because I have angora rabbits .. I am trying to get my rabbits to eat more hay... so I started to cut back on the pellets .. this is the first week.. I will watch to see how it goes.. some was leaving some pellets in there dish in the morning.. so I knew they had to much. I give hay and treats in the morning and oats and pellets at night.. they were jumping at the door tonight for there bowl of pellets and started to dig right in.. being cold here I have to watch they don't lose weight.

I was going to ask how each person gets food to there animals. I have a two gallon horse bucket I fill up, now twice, and a cart to push the five gallon jug on, with a watering can. I'm thinking of getting a bigger bucket so I only need one trip.

I have to watch body condition, continually. With the cold weather and
the does raising youngsters, they can go to the thin side pretty quick.

Added a couple more whistles and bells to my feed cart.

The first pic shows where the tray slides into place.
It's a snug-fit and I have to 'tap' it in with the heel of my hand.


The second one shows the tray in place. If it gets a little loose,
I can run a small screw into the side to stabilize it.


Here's the rig from a distance.


I'm gonna put a removable lid on it. So I can leave feed in it.
Also, it'll be great for moving youngsters into the grow-out room.


I've still got to put some spacers and brackets on the top.
But, here's about what it will look like with the lid open.


Thanks for lookin'

Grumpy

:judges: Grumpy you are a genius!! Just in case no one has ever told you that. I wish I was half as handy, but I'm guessing you have more practice at it.

Thank you, LilacGal.

I oftentimes equate 'genius' with being 'poor', or tight. LOL.
I saw a cheaply built facsimile in the feed store a few weeks ago.

It was light-weight, built out of tubular steel, and "Made in China"
It did have pneumatic tires, but without the feed tub, for fifty-bucks!!
"Nope...I ain't payin' that much for that piece of...."

I bided my time, getting other small jobs out of the way,
before I started on the rig that I built. I used it again
last night and I cannot believe the amount of time and effort
it saved me. That's not counting the unlimited steps I had to
make, refilling my feed bucket. My lungs aren't the best and
all that walking taxes them pretty good.

I believe, that tub will hold 100 pounds of feed. I'm pretty sure
the axles will stand up under that much weight. They're 3/8"
cold-rolled steel. With the creation of this little gadget,
another thought/possible project, has entered my mind.

In lieu of buying feed, coming home, dumping said feed into
6 plastic barrels, then removing feed, dumping feed into the
portable feed tub.....

Why not...eliminate all of the above??
Every time one handles rabbit pellets, a minute portion of
"fines" is created.

Why not...do away with the 6 barrels??
And build a vermin-proof cabinet, or 'bin' if you will,
to hold a dozen or so full sacks of pellets??
Only dumping them one at a time when they're needed.

With a lid over the unused feed, it will remain fresh
inside the tub. I've got an extra tub that I can switch out
when I'm wanting to transport youngsters into the grow out room.
Looks like I've got another "project" on the boards now.
I think it will work while saving time, labor, and money.

Grumpy.

That would definitely save you some lost feed. I grew up watching my Dad build things and lending a hand whenever possible. He had every tool imaginable around the house and garage. I miss it. But we also live in either condos or rented homes because we move a lot. I keep telling my husband that when he retires we're buying some acreage and I'm farming!

You are not tight you are thrifty and smart at that. Something that is lost among much of my generation to say the least.

That is a beautiful cart Grumpy! You are amazing! :goodjob:

What are the wooden boxes on some of your cages Grumpy? Home made J feeders?

LOVE your cart!

My kids and I use all sorts of things to carry feed in but am loving the purpose built cart. LOTS of time saved.

GBov":3d2vjfyv said:

What are the wooden boxes on some of your cages Grumpy? Home made J feeders?

LOVE your cart!

My kids and I use all sorts of things to carry feed in but am loving the purpose built cart. LOTS of time saved.

Click to expand...

GBov:
Those are feeder extenders. I built them to slip-fit into the
tops of my J-feeders when there's a litter in that pen. Over
a 24-hour period a healthy litter will empty it completely
out before the next scheduled feeding. That made extra trips
to the rabbitry a necessity. Sometimes, I didn't have the time
to refill the feeders in the morning. I came up with that idea.

I don't like any feeder wider than 7.5". They take up too
much space on the cage front. I've got 20 grow-out pens 24" wide. 30" deep.
They have feeders 5.5" wide, clearly not enough to hold 24 plus
hours worth of feed. I came up with these extenders and solved the problem.


The other 'home-made' container on the front is a hayrack.
I had to make around 70 of those. They're cheap, easy to build
and the rabbits waste very little hay. Here's the thread I started
explaining their construction and use. Hope these help you.
hayrack-feeder-t17591.html

Thanks for your interest.
grumpy.

Super duper Grumpy! I remember reading about the feed extenders - am about to (try to) make some for my growers - but the hay feeders look the bomb. I have wire racks inside the cages made out of two by four welded wire fencing that works well but its slow to fill them, there is quite a bit of waste and does will jam their heads under them if they don't like the bucks.

Wonder if my skills extend to woodworking? :lol: