Henna kindles, May 30, 2012

10 kits born to this lovely tempered doe.

One kit was DOA.

She had them during morning chores so I got to see them immediately!  :)

 henna

aero bar

Warm Weather and the Critters

When the warm weather hits I like getting the bunnies out for exercise and the relaxation of nibbling grass. The guinea pigs make effective lawn mowers. :)

 Polish, loppies and Mini Rex chilling out together.

 Normally a chair is in with them, but today it was a cloudy day and they were under a tree

 Keener and Tanner relaxing

 Fresh airand fun!

 Biscuit is a much happier rabbit being outside.

Young Guinea pig and young bunnies

Biscuit kindles, May 12 2012

13 kits born, one very large one DOA, one teeny tiny one fostered temporarily to Dusty.

 biscuit

German

A rescue

Tonight I went out to care for the bunnies to find miss ChinPinny all in a dither... and I was thinking what's with this she's always calm.

And then I find it... her little foster polish, trying to strangle itself on the wire.

It had gotten out the box and gotten it's head stuck in the cage wire.  It had crawled above the baby saver wire.

So I called my sweet hubby out.

I held the wee one up which he snipped the cage wire for me.

One rescued baby.

One adult bunny no longer in a dither.

Calmness resumed.

Rescue Rabbit - Flemmy cross

Posting this for a customer as this boy may have a home.

this is a very tame, hand raised, so I'm told, 3/4 flemmish giant.  Not sure what the other 1/4 is.

Rescue rabbits

Young rabbit breeder got in over her head.

Gave me a bunch of rabbits to simply have them gone.

Best offers take them home.

May retain the senior buck and one of the magpie does.

Japanese chocolate harlequin Senior buck

Japanese Senior Doe

Two magpie junior does

one japanese junior doe

japanese junior buck

Biscuit outside

Since Biscuit does not tolerate heat well, I have her moved outside.

I'm not crazy about where I have her (in an old guinea pig cage) but she's covered, her nestbox is protected, and she is outside.

I have someone giving me a bunch of rabbits tonight, so I needed to make room for them in the isolation tent.  meant a whole lot of rabbits got moved around.

I am hoping over the summer to make a nice solid cage for Biscuit so she can just stay outside year round.  I think that overall that will serve her well.   She really just likes being cold, and she's a good producer, and she's the last offspring of Old Jack and as such holds a special place in our hearts, therefore I have no issues accommodating her needs.

Dusty kindles May 1, 2012

 Dusty is mom

Spice is dad.

Together they produced four offspring.

one is a peanut

looks like one white, two broken.

Spotty pups April 30, 2012

 Four pups born, one DOA

two are quite large, one is small and weak

 Spotty unfortunately died. 

I'm guessing the size of the two large pups was a factor

as she was a healthy, well experienced sow.

Tanner is dad.

Peek-a-mommy kindles April 28, 2012

seven kits, three DOA.

Born one day late with fur.  big kits.

Found her sitting on them on the 29th feeling a bit coolish so plopped them in with Violet's kits.   They will keep them nicely warmed.

 german

Peek-a-mommy

ChinPin - kindles April 27, 2012

Five kits were born, two DOA (one a peanut)

 Pinny is mom

Aero Bar is dad

Built a good nest.

Did a good job as a young mom.

Peske pupped - April 24, 2012

 Four pups.   

three girls one boy.

plan to retain the funky looking one

 Peske

Tanner

Violet kindles April 23, 2012

 Volet

and Shade

had six kits.

All are nicely sized.

Looks better than her first litter.

Violet will be for sale after she weans this litter.

August pups - April 22, 2012

August pups.

Two lovely pups.

Both females.

One will be kept, the other sold.

plan to keep dark faced one and sell the other.

This is Tanner

This is August

Rabbits in the News

Youth take up challenge to popularise rabbit meat in Kisumu. 

"I  make samples and take them to the hotels and restaurants around the city to convince them that they can add rabbit stew in their menus and we can supply them with the meat,” she says.

Raising rabbits remains popular in Texas.  

Don Mersiovsky, president of the TRBA, began raising rabbits when he was a 9-year-old 4-H student in Belton. Living in the city, rabbits were the easiest animal for him to raise. He's been raising them ever since. Where rabbits rank on the list of most popular animals for 4-H students to raise depends on the part of the state, Mersiovsky said.

"In areas that are more urban, where there are a lot of subdivisions and neighborhoods, you're usually going to see more rabbits," he said. "They're not as big as other livestock, but you can learn the same life skills and the same sense of responsibility that you get with any other animal. You have to take care of it and make sure it's healthy and well-fed. You have to learn the right way to do things.

"We have a lot of physically-disadvantaged kids who show rabbits. You don't have to be physically fit. Some of the special needs kids find rabbits a lot easier to handle, and they're not as scared. We've had kids with cerebral palsy and one with muscular dystrophy. It's a good way for them to learn the same life skills as anybody else."

 Rearing rabbits changed his life.

 A youth who had taken up rabbit rearing as an excellent means of self-employment, is leading a content life now.

Rabbits Are Not Overpopulated: The Ethics of Rabbit Breeding.  

The answer is, perhaps surprisingly, that rabbits do not actually contribute to pet overpopulation. Despite being very prolific breeders, pet rabbits are not overpopulated in the United States, so breeding them does not present the same moral concerns associated with the breeding of cats and dogs.

 The Rabbit Overpopulation Myth.  

The only reliable figure for rabbit abandonment comes from a 1997 shelter survey that estimated 43,519 rabbits abandoned in US shelters in 1996. This estimate does not come from any rescue group or animal rights group, as they all claim they have no information about shelter numbers, but rather from an individual who did it himself. And from Rabbits Annual 1998-99 "Fewer rabbits are being dumped because people know how to care for them." Paige Parsons HRS educator.

Useful Blog on Rabbits.     Lists a variety of topics.  Seems fairly knowledgeable.

 

 

 

Vent Disease or Rabbit Syphilis

I had this crop up in my herd once from a rabbit that was given to me.   Since she was in isolation it was simply a matter of treating her.

Vent disease is not a particularly good disease to have in your rabbitry and often requires all rabbits to be treated for it.

some resources to pursue in one's search for more knowledge on this disease

Three little ladies.

Vent disease is highly contagious and can be spread either by direct contact, during breeding, and passed to offsprings to kindling. Any rabbit showing signs of vent disease should be removed from your breeding program until they have been properly medicated. Quarantining the rabbit from the herd for a short time should also be practiced.

Topical application of ointments may relieve the area of its soreness but will not rid the rabbit of this disease. Vent disease can be effectively treated using Pen BP-48 which is a combination of Procaine Penicillin G and Penicillin G Benzathine. We successfully treated by giving a dosage of 20,000 IU per pound of body weight. As with any medication, care should be taken to read the label so you understand how much medication you are administering to the rabbit. The bottle of Pen BP-48 that we purchase contains 300,000 IU per mL. So a 4 pound rabbit would receive 2.5/10 of a mL. This should be administered once a week for three straight weeks. The medication is to be given subcutaneously (SQ). A 25 gauge needle should be small enough for the rabbit, yet large enough for this somewhat thicker medication.

As with any antibiotic care should be taken to watch your rabbit for any signs of diarrhea. Hay should be free fed during the treatment to aid the rabbits digestive system and prevent diarrhea. You may also consider removing pellets from the diet for the first couple of days after treatment.

Rabbits Online (note this is a rescue forum)

 This link has pictures and a variety of links to look through.

The Nature Trail.

According to Ferrets, Rabbits, and Rodents: Clinical Medicine and Surgery by Katherine E Quesenberry and James W. Carpenter, my source for this article, penicillin G benzathine-penicillin G procaine (sold as Combi-Pen and commonly referred to as pen B) administered at 7-day intervals for 3 injections (42,000 to 84,0000 IU per kilogram of rabbit weight given subcutaneously) is an appropriate treatment.

My Combi-Pen has 300,000 IU per milliliter. A 4-lb. rabbit weighs 1.8 kg. The range for a 4 lb. rabbit is therefore 75,600 to 151,200 IU or 1/4 to 1/2 mililitters or cc’s. The convention many breeders use is 1/10 cc per pound. Please make your own calculations and consult your vet before administering medications.

If you use Pen G, then you must give it for 5 to 7 days straight intramuscular. I find this treatment harder on the rabbit’s GI tract, though, and harder to administer. Other breeders have found that vent disease is more likely to reoccur with the Pen G treatment.

Merck Veterinarian Manual.

Treponematosis, a specific venereal disease of domestic rabbits, is caused by the spirochete Treponema paraluis cuniculi . It occurs in both sexes and is transmitted by coitus and from the doe to offspring. Although closely related to the organism ( T pallidum ) that causes human syphilis, T cuniculi is not transmissible to other domestic animals or humans.

Guinea pigs

So last night I went to a book sale in London.  Sold one piggie, and then picked up two .. one a return from sale, and one a rescue pig.

 the one I sold

 The one returned, best offer takes him home

The rescue pig.  Talker, nicely behaved pig.

has dark eyes, not red.

Best offer takes him home.

Blossom Kindles - April 14, 2012

Well did Blossom ever give me a shocker this morning.

I knew she was expecting, I expected her normal six kits.

She gave me 11 kits!  ELEVEN!!   one was DOA, but she has ten BIG kits in the nestbox.

Very well done girlie!   She got a nice lettuce leaf this morning to and was totally ravenous. :)

 Blossom

Shade

Blue Lagoon - kindles April 13, 2012

 blue lagoon

Shade

Seven kits.

Good nest.

Good momma thus far.

Vivian Kindles - April 12, 2012

Vivian kindled today.  Seven kits.  A real mixed litter.  Her last litter she gave me black, chestnut, smoke pearl, and japanese.
She's always such a goofy momma rabbit.  I really like this young does' attitude and just wish her ears were better.  She's just a gem personality wise.

 Aero Bar

Vivian

Jade kindles - April 11, 2012

one day early.

seven kits - in a mixture of broken and solid, in black and chocolate.

 Spice is Dad

Jade is mom.

First time for this

I was checking Meggie's kits this morning and as I was counting to make sure all eight were still there and that they were well fed, I noticed that two kits were joined together and I said HEY.. something is not right here.

I found a placenta and umbilical cord joining two kits together.

So I cut off the placenta and cord so that both kits would move freely.

Hopefully there will be no adverse affects to this.

Best Practices - Training kits

About 90% of my young stock ends up going to pet homes.   The remainder tends to go to breeder homes.

One of my pet peeves is getting rabbits from breeders that are a pain in the butt to handle.  They kick and fight when you want to pose them, or clip their nails, or give them a brush out when they moult.   ACK!  Drives me nuts.  No need for bunnies to be brain-dead when it comes to being handled for these necessary things.

To that end, I want to raise rock solid youngsters.  Kits that can handle about anything that is thrown at them without freaking out.

1. dealing with people other than me

About the only thing I can't do reliably is introduce them to strangers a whole lot.   But I can get them used to children (my son and his friends).   I can do some introduction to strangers via children who aren't allowed to have one, they will often come over in the nice weather and play with bunnies on the grass.  I get my hubby to come out to the rabbitry and just say hi to the babies and occasionally I'll bring some sensitive types into the house and plunk one down in his lap.  :) 

2. having nails trimmed.  

I play with bunny feet.  I turn them on their backs.  I fiddle with their feet.  I reward good behaviour.  I do it at least once a day with the little ones until they are five weeks old, and then once a week until they are about 3 months old.  That seems to do the trick with them.  I used to do it a longer but have learned once they get the early training in, they are good to go.

3. being handled every which way.

Do you know what three year olds do with bunnies?   They pick them up by their butts.  They grab the fur and lift.  Six year olds will make them dance.  :)  NOT always the best way to handle a rabbit, but KNOWING THIS, I get my bunnies used to the fact that sometimes their butt hair might get pulled, they might be held upside down, they might end up snuggled upside down in an arm, and such like.  I try to handle them every which way I can.  Gently, slightly roughly, tossed into a cage (MIND.. I do this in such a way that they are not harmed or scared).   I want them used to a sensation, but in a safe, non-scary manner.

4. introduction to foods other than pellets

Do you know how very difficult it is to get a bunny that is stressed from a move to eat when it doesn't like the pellets you are offering it?  and it's never had oatmeal or hay in its' life?   Wow... MEGA difficult.  ERGO.. I make sure that every rabbit I own is used to foods like greens (parsley, carrot greens, lettuce, etc), oatmeal (rolled kitchen oats, or horse oats), hay (either regular horse hay or hay cubes), and the occasional snack of fruit (generally apples).  They also get bread crusts, leftover carrots or peppers or whatever I happen to find in the house.    

5. Movement from one cage to another

In the spring I put bunnies out on grass, in the winter I bring some into the house for a day or two, I'll move rabbits willy-nilly from one cage to another, from one tent to another.  I want them to be used to the fact that life changes and they don't need to stress over it.  Rabbits that stress are rabbits that don't stay in my rabbitry.

I want bomb proof easy to work with rabbits.  

 NOTE: I cannot guarantee what any rabbit will do in your rabbitry, or in your pet home, but I will certainly do my best to give you a level headed rabbit that is a pleasure to handle and work with.   How you handle your rabbit (s) and the environment you raise them in will also have an effect on them.  But at least I want to do my best to give you a good start.

What do you do to get your rabbits used to life outside YOUR rabbitry?

Meggie - kindles April 10, 2012

two days early.
A litter of nine.
One was DOA.
All look to be healthy and will probably be magpie, but time will tell for sure. 

 Aero Bar

Meggie