Rabbit Fever

. . . a disease, not in this case, just the joy of raising little bundles of smiles! 

The dad of the bunch, Jedi,  is a brown American. One mother, Star, has white fur tipped in light gray and is a young rabbit.  Cleo is the other mother and is solid black with a long muscular body and longer ears.  I am guessing on some of this information as these rabbits were purchased at a local auction house and no information provided other than the sex of the rabbit.

Star had her first litter (4 kits) with me a few weeks ago and has been resting after weaning for about 3 weeks.  Cleo now has 5 kits that are about 2 weeks old and have just been moved to a growing pen. 

I have a birthing pen with a deep bottom and little moving room that becomes home for about three weeks.  Moms get moved to the birthing pen about a week before they are due to kindle and remain there until the kits eyes are open and they become active about 2 - 2-1/2 weeks.  Then they are moved to the growing pen which is a larger and allows Mom more freedom of movement.  They remain with Mom in the growing pen for two weeks before going to the "teen age" pen.  The "teen age" pen is a large pen with lots of toys and gives plenty of play room.  Mom then goes back into the base pen with the other adults. 

These little beauties will fill your day with their antics.  Yesterday was spent finding Tiki after he climbed the pen side and found an escape route.  He always came back to the pen, but would scamper away to prevent capture.  Hubby finally caught up with the little renegade and back in the now reinforced pen he went.  He is going to make a little girl very happy this weekend for her birthday!

Smokey is everyone's favorite.  She loves to be held and will climb out of the pen when the door is opened for feeding and climbs right into your hand.  She has some lionhead in her and her beautiful deep gray tipped fur is gorgeous.  She is a keeper!  The grandchildren have banned her from being sold!

Tiki and Tavi are twins with Tiki being the daredevil and Tavi being the little shy one.  Thumper just ambles along without a care in the world.  Thumper does not have the sense of adventure of Tiki or Smokey.

 These little angels get fresh fruit and veggies this time of day so I will close for now and tend the rabbits.  Until next time  . . .

Happy reading!
Belle

I Miss My Granddaddy!

A couple of months ago Hubby and I were at the Buggytown Auction when several cages of rabbits came up for bid.  I made the statement that I would like to have some rabbits and I got "The Look" - you know the one that says "have you lost your mind?"  Well, I let it drop and we came home with a couple of chickens instead.  I haven't mentioned those cute little balls of fur that can be cuddled like no chicken ever could and I went on about my business.

On Friday afternoon I was talking to my granddaughter in Dahlonega about her upcoming visit and things we would like to do. Hubby comes in and the little one asked to speak to him.  She wanted a rabbit - a brown rabbit!  I thought to myself as I listened to them talk that she was wishing in the wind.  After about thirty minutes of haggling back and forth over money and upkeep, hubby handed me the phone after which we said our goodbyes.  Hubby advised me we were going to the sale barn to get some rabbits.  My three granddaughters have far surpassed me in manipulating their PawPaw - even from 150 miles away they have more influence!

Off to Buggytown Auction we went and home we came 4 hours later with 5 chickens and 3 rabbits.  They all spent the night in the "keeper" pen, but I knew that was not to be their new home.  Off to Tractor supply we went for wire, feed and a bottle waterer.  By Saturday afternoon those little bunnies had a wonderful home and plenty of feed and water and have really settled in nicely.  The youngest two granddaughters had to come see the new "pets" and make sure they were settled in okay.  After two days of multiple visits and all the moving, they have had a quiet day to adjust and rest just in time for the older two grandchildren to arrive mid week. 

Rabbits do make good pets, but when I said we were finally going to have some good rabbit stew, my daughter in law looked at me like I was delirious.  She vowed never to eat any rabbit and neither would the girls.  She'll never know the difference as I will fry those offspring in a heartbeat and tell them it is chicken.  Nothing is better on cold wet winter nights than a pot of rabbit stew!

Next I would like to add a couple of Pygmy goats to my menagerie, but the middle granddaughter is begging for a horse.  That I do believe will be Pawpaw's waterloo and he has said he will never have another horse.  We will see!

Until next time. . .

Happy reading!
Belle

Dangerous Plants

My little chihuahuas are very important to me even if they do get on my guest's nerves with their barking.  They are with me day in and day out and when they came to live with me, they became part of my family.  They live here - my guests don't. 

Last week I was researching sago palms.  Mine are dried and brown after a very harsh winter and I needed to determine if I should give them some time or dig them up and replace them with something more hardy.  In the process I found that Sagos are poison to animals, especially the seeds.  Thankfully my little ones don't eat plants, but I was glad to find this information so I could be more vigilant. 

After finding this tidbit of information, I proceeded for research other poisonous plants and foods and found an interesting site from Squido with much information on poisons, symptoms and treatment.  The Humane Society also has a good site for dangerous plants and foods as does The Earth Clinic.  My chihuahuas will eat most any food dropped on the floor, so now I have to be more careful of the tidbits they consume.  I once had a horse, Smokey, that love to share a cup of coffe with me every weekend morning.  I didn't realize that coffee could be detrimental to his health, but that danged old horse is still alive and kicking (just not so high).  The best we can figure, Smokey is close to 25 years old. 
 What animals like to eat, is not always what they need to eat.  I know a few humans with the same problems.  For those of you who treasure your animal friends, please check out these sites.

Happy reading!
Belle

Diary of Hatching an Egg

As I related before my ever inspiring and adventurous husband purchased 10 dozen eggs at our local livestock auction.  After much research he gathered the parts for an incubator (thermometer, thermostat, water container, egg racks - we had all these items on hand) and proceded to put one together.  The trickiest part was keeping the temperature between 99 and 100 degrees.  The incubation process will not start until the 99 degree temp is achieved and held for several hours.  However, much over 100 degrees will fry the eggs and burn the embryo neither of which was our desire.  We want baby chicks!

After monitoring the temperature in our incubator for 24 hours, we felt we were safe in adding the eggs.  During the loading process, a egg carton tumbled to the floor and we lost 5 eggs, oops!, but that is just the first accident in this process.  We were able to load 7 dozen eggs in our incubator and felt we were on our way.  At 50 cent a dozen, hubby and I feel this is an inexpensive trial run and if we get baby chicks, so much the better.  On Monday, one egg crack during the turning process.  Tuesday produced the same problem.  If it continues, we will have to investigate further, but soft shell eggs are more difficult to hatch.  Soft shells is the result of the lack of nutrients in the laying hen.  Now in Day 4, we are anxious to see if we have learned anything in this process and if successful to celebrate the little hatchlings.

When a setting hen sits on her eggs, she turns them with her feet several times each day.  If the eggs are not turned, the clear fluid (known as the egg white) will adher to the inside of the shell and the embryo will not develop properly resulting in physical deformity.  Nutrients are contained in the egg white to nourish the little chicken embryo until it is developed and ready to hatch.   So, we started the process and turn the eggs at least 3 times a day.  It takes only 15 to 20 minutes.  The hatching process will take about 20 days depending on  - well a lot of things!  I think I am getting into this process of egg hatching. 

None of our hens will sit on the eggs we put in the nest.  I know there could be several reasons, but maybe I just don't have a brooder.  I wish for a broody hen right now. 

Meanwhile, the new baby chicks are hungry little buggers and are taking in three bowls of food per day.  I guess they are making up for the time lost living on egg whites.  They are all over my hands as I fill their bowl and devour the food like they are being starved!  Black with some light feathering of down on the throat to their front legs, they are beautiful.  They are growing rapidly and in a few weeks we will get them ready to go in with the other hens.  They are confined for now in a nice roomy pen safe and sound, except when the grandchildren come for a look.  At this stage they are not allowed to handle them, both are too young to understand the need for restraint or the power of their little hands.

I was sad to see that one of the Metro Atlanta cities banned pet chickens from their city limits.  Chickens are not noisy, make great pets, and teach children responsibility among other things.  There was much discussion on the fecal matter causing an unpleasant odor, but unless you have a lot of chickens, there is no odor.  I am afraid for those who perfer the smell of vehicle exhaust and smog over the natural odor of people and animals. 

The baby chicks are waiting on me and I have chores to tend to.  Sound like a farmer again, don't I?  Thanks for dropping in and come back soon as the Diary of Hatching an Egg continues.

Happy reading!
Belle