Alaska hatchers..How is everyone doing? Baby pics !!!!!!

[Ban seabhag]

Mrs. AK-Bird-Brain :

I said a great big "Awwwwwww!!" when I saw the photo, Deb, and Colt came over to see what I was drooling over. I just love baby rabbits!! Actually, I just co-habitate with them... the rabbits are hubby's deal.

The rest are mine, though we really all share the duties to some extent. I think we have 2 weeks to go for the next bunny "hatch".

But my incubator/hatchers are going non-stop this week...
Deb's Marans are still working away (#4 is still fighting!), another blue orpington from Christina's eggs (Makes 3 so far, plus 4 more pipped), a silver grey dorking is pipped... I just locked down another 27 eggs of my own in a third hatcher, along with a bunch of quail and a pheasant egg. 4 ducklings hatched this morning, plus I have 4 more sets of eggs (Turkey??) to lock down before the week is over...

I really don't know what I was thinking. Next week I have 110 chukar eggs, some sebright eggs for a customer, plus my normal myriad of eggs going into lockdown. 5 incubators going right now... 2 1502s, 1 Hova, 2 homemade. I think I need to go find the rum...

No... I'm not hatching anything...

That's a tidal wave not a hatching!​

 

[MissDeb]

Hehe.....He's nothing compared to some we have bred.......

A little off topic, but here is Mouse....She was something we had REALLY had high hopes
for. We lost her to natural causes last year. Now both Mamma and Ice have light grey in their background, so
either of them and or their babies can produce light grey when bred to a grey or another white. I'd be flying around
out of this world if some of these current babies are light grey. I won't know for a few weeks though what color grey
they are.

These babies will be ready in about 8 weeks. They are only two days old right now. You'll have to let me know soon if you
want a buck or doe. Our first and second litters depending on the colors we breed are usually
spoken for before they get here.

 

[Ban seabhag]

Oh Rats! I'm a goner! Whichever you recommend is fine with me.

 

[paulandashia]

OMG Deb, they're STUNNING.
How Flippin Adorable! Ooooohhhh!

Do you breed them for Pets? Or for meat?

 

[MissDeb]

We breed them mainly for pets/show now. We used to do crosses but it was hard keeping up with them all. Now
we worry more on a quality pet and if someone wants to raise meat rabbits they have a good foundation.
Flemish Giants by themselves don't make great meat rabbits, it's usually best to cross them with a meat rabbit like the
Californian or NZ rabbit. They are a very heavy breed, they just don't have the meat to
bone ratio some would consider for a meat rabbit.

 

[Alaska animal lover]

Quote:
Next spring, put me on your list. Right now I need to get my new coop taken care of, and I'm still bottle feeding goats, but next spring I want at least one. I'll probably try to get one from Tori and one from you Deb.
If that's okay with you two,lol. It will also give me time to do some learning up!

 

[Alaska animal lover]

I wouldn't want to breed them or eat them, so would two females co-habitate better than two males?

 

[MissDeb]

Hey Aimee, thats fine with me!

I wouldn't keep two together. For obvious reasons with a male and female. But same sex can also cause many problems as well.
They are a large breed and cause major harm to each other if one decides one day that it doesn't like the other. I had someone who
had two boys raised and housed together but they had a HUGE enclosure to run around in and hide. Even then they would go out
and someone would have a chunk missing out of their ear or nose etc....They only lived about a year before a dog got to them.
When they become sexually mature is usually when the problems begin to happen.
If you decide to raise them in a hutch, you have to know that wire is ok with these guys but they HAVE TO HAVE a solid area to relax
on. Like a plywood area. They are so heavy they get sores on their hocks. The other draw back to this breed is they eat a lot more
than most pet rabbits. Mine all live outside and I have never lost one to the weather but they also have shelter with lots of hay and if I know
it'll be extra cold they get extra bedding that day.

 

[paulandashia]

Aimee.
If you have some time tomorrow, would you be able to bring that Bator over here and show me how to use it?
I mean, help me set it up and everything. I put a Make-Shift lock on my Laundry room, so the kids won't go in there. Should be safe down there.

I will be home all day. (Or should be)

Deb KNOWS I am a Bad-Luck Charm, and Disaster follows me around, but I decided that I want to give this Incubating thing a try.
I need a Teacher though! LOL
Since I am a Hatching Virgin, I will need someone to walk me thru everything, step-by-step.

The leftover Eggs shipped this morning, so should be here day after tomorrow. Eek!

 

[Alaska animal lover]

Oh, well, that's a bummer, I'm a Noah's Ark kinda gal, everything has to have a friend, lol. That's why I need to learn, I never would have thought they'd be mean to each other.

We could bring them in right and love on them though? What is their average life expectancy?