Dinner rabbits, Journal

[Mini Horses]

When you have these young kits die, do you feed to dogs? I'm thinking that a snake person might BUY them. They buy frozen "pinkies" mice, so it's a thing to consider. A pet shop may have such customers.

 

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8 culls, why are they so cute, but no one wants them.

 

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When you have these young kits die, do you feed to dogs? I'm thinking that a snake person might BUY them. They buy frozen "pinkies" mice, so it's a thing to consider. A pet shop may have such customers.

Yep.
The pup is the one that told me her kits were dying. I opened the gate to feed in the AM and he followed his nose right up to the nest and stood up on his hinds, wagging his tail. I was like, oh no...And he was right, 2 passed overnight. That's when I reheated and moved the rest in hopes they'd make it, but no luck.

He loves rabbit and is always waiting for scraps. Usually directly under where I butcher, he refuses to wait one foot out of the splash zone. He also loves lamb. He actually looks at me funny when I give him store dog treats, lol. So the old dog gets those, the baby is a raw lover, not an icky processed "food product" eater. Lol

I've tossed them in the freezer and tried to sell them before, but no luck. Seems to be more hassle than it's worth.

 

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Storms won't stop his rabbit dinner on his wool stuffed pillowtop mattress. Lol

 

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Blanket kits, removed nest and showed them water.

 

[Mini Horses]

They're thinking...mom never looked like this, now what?

 

[farmerjan]

Love the one with his little pink tongue sticking out trying the water...

 

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Monday-

White ears is actually a steel!
Got a bunch of steels and black otters this go around!



Rewrote the birth announcements & then got weights for all out of nests, except for Blanket's kits. It was a hot mess before, no space to add anything, couldn't read anything, ugh. Lol


Tuesday-
Hardly 2 pounds at nearly 6wks...Three of the smallest of these moved to the cull cage.


Moved 7 to next cull cage.

 

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Put 4 nipples on some more stackers.



Then swapped cages with Kitty & her daughter and the lilac sf/rex buck. He was bothering the doe with him, so I moved her over with the other does. He didn't need all of that space at that point, when the pair needed it more.




Got the weekend culls fed out.

Remembered the frozen ones...oops. So, thawing those out to feed. I think there's 3 bags of two to get through.

Then I'll get through the little ones I just moved to cull cage, as multiples will go to each dog vs just one or half of one.

Lastly, go back to the 8 in the big cage outside.

 

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Wednesday-

Added nipples to 3 more cages. Leaves just 2 with bottles.


Yesterday-

Found the rest of the dead kits.

Removed most of the hay/fur from all nests, too hot for it.
One litter was funny about it. Saw them trying to climb out to cool down. So I put them on the cage while removing nesting material and they all instantly relaxed and went back to sleep. So cute. Didn't have my phone with me.

Moved the broken tort buck into a cage in the barn. Culled 2 buns, moved choc sf buck into barn to watch him molting out. Outside crate the two were in was a pain to get into to feed.

Added nipples to that cage I put in 5 keepers into. They hate bottles, refused to use them. But nipples leak so bad when they press it. Gotta be a better nip out there.

Didn't want to cull over the weekend, so I culled 4 biggest ones this morning and put them in the freezer.

Noticed that some, or maybe a lot of them, pelletize their feed in the stomach and not in the intestines!
I've always read that the colon is where things get their shape, but that doesn't seem to be completely true. None had obstructions, all normal all the way through. So, not backed up poop into the stomach.
I haven't been fasting them recently, since I'm not planning the culls out. 2 were normal, but the rest all had soft balls! Tried to get it on video, but the last 2 had loose feed in the stomach, like usual, instead.
Has anyone else noticed this??

Black otter, not marten.

Decided to weigh out feed. Gotta start seriously limiting the bucks and dry does. No more full scoop.
It'll be easier to remember with it marked out.
Seems like the bucks change often. Recently, they're only getting 6oz, but food left behind. I'll drop it to 4oz and see how it goes. Same with adjusting what does get and hopefully end up saving a few pennies in the end.

8 culls, why are they so cute, but no one wants them.

White ears is actually a steel!
Got a bunch of steels and black otters this go around.

Rewrote the birth announcements & then got weights for all out of nests, except for Blanket's kits. It was a hot mess before, no space to add anything, couldn't read anything, ugh.
Moved 7 to next cull cage.
Hardly 2 pounds at nearly 6wks...Three of the smallest of these moved to the cull cage.
Put 4 nipples on some more stackers.

Then swapped cages with Kitty & her daughter and the lilac sf/rex buck. He was bothering the doe with him, so I moved her over with the other does. He didn't need all of that space at that point, when the pair needed it more.
Added nipples to 3 more cages.
Well, didn't want to feed them, so spent an hour culling 10 of them. No more outside buns. 5 in the barn cull cage left to freeze another day.

Very cute helper, but he ends up looking like an murderer by the end. Loves being right under...
I toss guts over to his pen, but as soon as he's done, he's back under, waiting intently. He doesn't try to steal, so I let him be in the way.

And the poo balls in the stomach. Most of these had them.