Saving Money, no tricks!

   It's the beginning of a new year and there is so much advice to improve your health, your relationships, your finances. Everything you read end in a sales pitch to buy the next product or to sign up for a membership. I'm sure you have seen the play games for cash pitch...very little cash and probability of winning is not mentioned 🤔 

Well here are some real ways to save money.   With feeding rabbits, I have found the local food banks aways have extra produce going to waste and I get the outdated produce to feed my rabbits.

I also look for the store discounts on broken feed bags. Tractor supply has a section for that, I have got some dog food half off because of a torn bag. 

It is also a good time to see if the stores you shop have an app. There are so many deals on apps that are not available in the store. Most cases you download coupons on your phone and at checkout type in your number, or discounts are put on your store card and applied when you scan it. Dollar General has 5$ off 25$ every Saturday!

I hope this year you are able to save a few more dollars and have that extra boost in your finances.

Have a great year!

saving 

 

Breading season here we come!

 My first litters of the year were born the end of February,  this is a month earlier then last year. The weather here had warmed up for a few days in Jan and I think my rabbits started spring breading early.  So far the babies seem to be doing well. 

I had an first experience with my does using the same nest. I had 2 litters born a week apart and the second litter was put in with the first nest.  The youngest litter seem to be getting fed so I am letting mother nature take it's course this time to see how things go.  I will be putting some fresh hay by the nest during the 3rd week so the babies have access if they are ready to start eating.  I am hoping that the young litter will get nursed enough, there are 2 does taking care of both litters.

I read up on this and other rabbit farmers have said this is normal and call it co-parenting.  So wish me luck! I will post pictures later.

Feeding rabbits in winter

 I have noticed the hay is not lasting as long, as the days get shorter the rabbitts prepare for winter and are eating more for some extra weight. I don't add extra pellets but I do try to fill hayfeeder as much as I can.  As the foraging has gotton slim I do give my rabbits some types of lettuce (no head lettuce) and a few vegtable scraps.  When the teps drop I will add a few black oil sunflower seeds to the pellets.  But most of my feeding is generally the same.  I do throw in a few pine branches for variety. 

I hope you have a good winter and your rabbits stay safe and warm!

Raising rabbits in a colony

The babies have decided to join the adult rabbits. They are making their way up and down the ramp pretty quickly. I have only seen them for a few minutes at a time, they still prefer staying in by the nest. They are nibbling on the hay and pellets and seem very active and healthy. Looking forward to watching how they do in the next few days.

Babies are doing well

There are 4 bunnies, they are all very active and healthy. They have stayed in the top of the hutch, but they do go to the opening at ramp and sit. I am expecting them to wander down in the next few days.  With this being the first litter I reached out to some facebook  raising rabbit pages to get advice about them being born in the top of hutch. 

I got some great advice. I suggest the Facebook page Raising Rabbits ..Naturally homestead.  I am still waiting conformation on 2 other pages that require confirmation for request to join.

So the advice I was given is to give feed and water where they are for now, until they integrate into the rest of the colony. I was told that they have babies go up and down ramp at a few weeks old. They are pretty tricky to get pictures of now our weather has been cold and rainy so I don't want to expose them with the hutch open too long.

But when I can I will post a few pictures.

We have Kits

It finally happened I had noticed one of my rabbits had gathered some straw in the corner of the hutch, mind you this has happened before but nothing ever came of it.

So I was cautiously optimistic that she was pregnant.

A few days passed and I opened the hutch door to find a pile of fur......I closed the door and thought I should not disturb the nest.   My curiosity got the best of me and the next day I had to peek under the hair....and there they were!  I did not count them or mess with them, took a quick picture and covered them back up

I will follow up with thier progress, saying a prayer they all survive. 

At 10 days old!

Brr is it too cold for my Rabbits?

  Winter time and outside rabbits can be less challenging than you might think.  Rabbits live out in the wild in all kinds of weather.  If you provide a dry shelter out of the wind they won't need too much to keep them warm.   They will huddle naturally.  I like to put a few cotton blankets in my hutch for extra warmth. You may prefer to add straw. My reason against straw is they tend to potty in the hutch more and it needs cleaned out more often and replaced with dry.  

  I also feed extra hay in the winter and when temps are expected to be very low(below 15°) I will add a few black oil sunflower seeds, shells and all, to their pellets on average 3 or 4 per rabbit this will help to raise the Rabbits body temperature. Do not give this all the time because it can cause them to molt and loose their coat.

  The hardest is keeping water from freezing,  I have no good answers for that so I put fresh water out twice a day, more if I am home.  I hope this information helps you to keep your rabbits healthy and happy in the colder weather.