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Bunnies

9/29/2016

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A few days ago, one of my first bunnies on the farm, an imported from Holland Flemish Giant buck, passed away. I knew he was going. First it was ear mites, then an eye infection, then loss of fur and no matter what I was doing for him, he would recover and get sick again. I knew it was his time. But he did give me many bunnies and had a long and good life. He was a gently buck and preferred to be in the company of another rabbit, rather than alone. Despite what people said, and that he was a male, he still did better with another male and did not scrap and beat him up. 

I also have a pair of Satin Angoras and a pair of Giant/ French Angora crosses. The Satins are a smaller rabbit and as anything small, I find they are never as pleasant as the big ones of their kind. There is a white red eyed male Satin and a red Satin female. Of their mating there is a white and an unusual chocolate tone kit. Well, they are bunnies now, not babies. 

I knew the French/Giant cross female was bred. She dug a burrow in the side of their pen and carried hay down it. She was building a nest. That was 4 weeks ago. Yesterday I saw the first kit, a dark chocolate. Oh, it is so delightful! Then I dug open the burrow to put him back in, but it was just enough for a little bunny, not open wide. The mother did not cover it back up as I thought she would, so obviously she instinctively knew it was time to allow the babies out into the world. First a little grey popped his nose out and later a solid black. They are so beautiful! 

These are not the most common Angora rabbits and with their pretty colours, they should sell well.They are easy to keep and very sweet natured. In the house they can be trained to use a litter box and be a house pet, but most people prefer to cage them. I have had bunnies in the house in a cage and unless their cage is cleaned almost daily, they stink! Yuk! If the cage was large enough to allow a litter box, I think they would use it and then be litter trained. In the far future I may try it, but Robbie, the border collie most likely would not allow a bunny in his domain. 

The idea with the Angora rabbits is to sell the fibre. I would need a lot of bunnies the same colour to sell enough fibre to make money at it. Being part of my little farm, I only want to keep 6-10 bunnies in total. So, I will try to sell them as babies, but if they do not find new homes, then I will harvest their fibre  twice and then send them off to the butcher shop. The Giant/French are large enough to make a good sized rabbit that will dress out at 5-6 pounds, but the little Satins are small under that wool. Eventually, I do not wish to keep any more of the Flemish Giants. There are 4 escapees left out roaming around and they really do destroy the plants and flowers, just the four of them. They are well large enough to be harvested, so their fate is meat and hopefully, no more escapees will be around to munch down the garden. 

​I am not sure how many babies there are in that burrow, but are you ready for a new pet? A cute, cuddly fluffy baby bunny? 
Picture
The white and the Brown bunny are Satin Angoras. I think they are girls. Their dad is on the far left and their mom is beside them on the right. Petey, the Flemish buck who passed away, lived with the buck on the far right. These are actually fox cages, but they are nice and big. I had to put a solid flat surface inside them because the bottoms are all wire and they had no relief from it.
Picture
A little Giant/French Angora bunny. Awe....
Picture
This is the fawn grey little French /Angora and the other one that poked his nose out is solid black.
Picture
Only two rabbits on this side, both Flemish Giant does. The sandy coloured one was bred to Petey a month ago and she should kindle in a few days. She already prepared her nest in the tote. The middle one was Petey's cage and the one on the right is a light grey Flemish doe. I exposed her to the Satin buck, but it appears he was not successful. It is now too late to breed this year due to the cold.
Picture
Dad is very fluffy and white, but not red eyed and mom is a beautiful charcoal. I think the solid black will be just like her.
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    Fluffy writes daily about the experiences on the farm and with the bed and breakfast patrons. 

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