i'm gettin rabbits! ~got em! and a question...

[ohiogoatgirl]

i am getting a chocolate dutch buck, steel dutch doe, and her 4 kits that are about 2 wks old, and two cages. as well as a harlequin lionhead buck, two broken black lionhead does, and a hutch for them. AND ALL THAT FOR $150!!! the dutchs come from the sweetpea lines. not sure what that means... anyone have any help for me on that?
going to pick them all up on sunday. SOOOO EXCITED!!!

 

[Greenthumb18]

Sounds goods ohiogirl! At least you'll have lots of rabbit manure for the garden :bun
Post some pictures of the bunnies when you get them!!

 

[hoodat]

Keeping rabbits is great. I wouldn't be without them. For help with the lines your rabbits came from I'd go to Rabbit Talk. There are a lot of people on that board that show rabbits and are probably familiar with that line. It's a nice friendly board with the same helpful tone as this site.
http://rabbittalk.com/

 

[1iora]

I love rabbits, but as house pets (with litter boxes! they're really smart, like somewhere between cats and dogs in intelligence). But I got this article that suggests you put up gates to let your chickens in to peck at your garden, and maybe that's something you can do for the rabbits - but you'd want to cover the top of the area they're grazing in with chicken wire (be careful with hawks), so it might just be better to use one of those movable bottomless cages. Also if their cages have wire bottoms be sure to put a board down over enough of the area for each of them to lay on it, because standing on the metal can injure their feet and give you vet bills. And be sure to feet them lots of greens and hay! Instead of composting it, feed it to the bunnies.

binkybunny.com is a good reference site.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

oh i willpost plenty of pics when i get them! haha.

thanks hoodat. i am on rabbittalk as well. and about 13 other forums of various topic.

 

[vfem]

I'm so very happy for you! We broke and got a rabbit this year, I'm still shocked with myself actually... but definitely so happy to have him.

Did you plan on breeding these to sell or to eat, or just to show as a hobby?

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

i now have feeders, waterers, feed, clean barn (well at least where they are going. lol), hay bales ready, calender up in the barn,....
bought four small dog carriers at walmart. and have a slightly larger one already. the larger one will be for the momma and kits.
picking them up tomorrow!
SO EXCITED! SO EXCITED! SOOOOOOO EXCITED!!!!!!!!

@vfem
to breed them. sell as pets, for meat, 4H, etc. and as a hobby of course.
i dont do shows and things like that. never been my forte.
i hope to get a couple meat breed does to breed to the dutch for bigger meat kits. but i'm starting with what i can get now.

 

[hoodat]

I just raise meat mutts but a few litters ago I got a fantastic pair of twin bucks out of my best doe. I never saw such fast growing rabbits, I'm hoping to develop my own breed with them as the base.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

@ hoodat
oh thats neat! i was thinking that with the lionheads since they arent ARBA recognized there really isnt any standards for them. i could breed em to larger meat rabbits and have a large, poofy, colorful breed. good for meat and pretty hides to tan.

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

went to get the rabbits finally. well the hutch with the lionheads was bigger than the lady

told me over the phone. course she just guessed it because she couldnt find her tapemeasure. so

we only took one seat out of the van not two. so the hutch would not fit. so i will be going

back on tuesday to get them.

but i did bring the dutchs home! i was so stoked! once there the lady told me that the doe

can get cranky when she has babies. but she isnt cranky when she doesnt have them. the doe

seemed fairly calm to me and didnt seem that cranky but then again i did not just stick my hand

in there either. she told me the buck is always a sweetheart and knows what he's doing when it

comes to breeding. i'm pretty confident in dealing with the grumpy doe though.

the kits are 2 wks old. there are 5. now here is where my question is... one of the kits is

about half the size of the other 4. is there a "peanut" in dutch rabbits as in dwarf breeds? i

have read about it and am looking through info on the net again but i thought only the dwarf

breeds had the genes for peanuts.

only took the two pics because it was dark and i didnt want to be flashing a bunch in their

eyes. didnt want to stress them with the flashing after the van ride. they seemed calm though.

http://rabbittalk.com/gallery/image.php?album_id=84&image_id=617

http://rabbittalk.com/gallery/image.php?album_id=84&image_id=618