Arizona Chickens

[kacklinkelly]

A bit of a sad day around here. .

I'm sorry you had to get rid of such a fun chicken. I had a similar experience with our hatchery RIR. She was the smallest of our hens, had the best personality, was nosey, was the loudest and most vocal. She was our best layer and laid the largest eggs. One day, she just faded and fast. We were all sad and dh definitely had a tear in his eye. (he didn't even want me to get chickens in the beginning) It's amazing how these little velociraptors wiggle their way into our hearts at times.

 

[K9Dave]

Hey guys - it's not chicken related but… I just attempted my first mating of meat rabbits tonight.  Yes I"m sure I have a buck and a doe 
The doe was definitely interested.  The buck seemed very unsure.  He would do the deed on the wrong end.  When he got to the proper end, he would just stop and sniff around.  This is the first mating for both.  He's smaller and younger than she is. I kept them together for about 10 or 15 minutes.  There was chasing each other then a break, then sniffing then it would all start over.  I was surprised at how well they got along and disappointed that there wasn't a love connection.  Any feedback is appreciated. 

We had them on the farm growing up but they were seperated in hutches. We would bring the buck to the doe and leave him there for a day or three. We kept only good social bucks who did their business and nothing more.

Now we have 5 rabbits that are fairly young and we're setting up the chicken coop and run so that they can cohabitate in there. We'll have tunnels and stumps and such for entertainment but I'm wondering how I'll deal with their breeding? I'm not against it because we have the room and the demand (dog food). Also they're extremely cool to watch hop around and be friends with the chickens. I put some mesquite stumps in their area earlier and they love chewing on them. That's another thing, I've noticed a couple of their teeth are longer then should be. Is this because they haven't had anything to chew on or?? Asking here is better than looking it up.

Id love some ideas for rabbit and chicken toys for the enclosure. My wife doesn't want her cat outside but I feel bad so I'm throwing around the idea of making some cat walks in there too for him to hang out at night. He wouldn't hurt the rabbits, just not that kind of cat. Any other Ideas? The entire 20x30 area will be lined underneath with livestock panels and they will come up the sides of the chain link fence side and be tied in to prevent digging out. The chickens free range during the day so I will make a ramp that only chickens will be capable of climbing. That way they can climb out whenever they want to but I will of course have an access door I can close at night and such.

TIA

 

[houdiniduck]

We had them on the farm growing up but they were seperated in hutches. We would bring the buck to the doe and leave him there for a day or three. We kept only good social bucks who did their business and nothing more.

Now we have 5 rabbits that are fairly young and we're setting up the chicken coop and run so that they can cohabitate in there. We'll have tunnels and stumps and such for entertainment but I'm wondering how I'll deal with their breeding? I'm not against it because we have the room and the demand (dog food). Also they're extremely cool to watch hop around and be friends with the chickens. I put some mesquite stumps in their area earlier and they love chewing on them. That's another thing, I've noticed a couple of their teeth are longer then should be. Is this because they haven't had anything to chew on or?? Asking here is better than looking it up.

Id love some ideas for rabbit and chicken toys for the enclosure. My wife doesn't want her cat outside but I feel bad so I'm throwing around the idea of making some cat walks in there too for him to hang out at night. He wouldn't hurt the rabbits, just not that kind of cat. Any other Ideas? The entire 20x30 area will be lined underneath with livestock panels and they will come up the sides of the chain link fence side and be tied in to prevent digging out. The chickens free range during the day so I will make a ramp that only chickens will be capable of climbing. That way they can climb out whenever they want to but I will of course have an access door I can close at night and such.

TIA

Rabbits need stuff to chew on, their teeth continually grow and they file them down with chewing. Your enclosure sounds ridiculously AWESOME!

 

[K9Dave]

Rabbits need stuff to chew on, their teeth continually grow and they file them down with chewing. Your enclosure sounds ridiculously AWESOME!

Thank you. I'll try to get some pics but I've tried before and it's hard because of the shadows thrown by the mesquite tree this is under. Bad photos. Any other suggestions on things I can find to let them chew on?

I have some 5 gal buckets that I'm gonna cut various wholes in and partially bury for them to have fun with running in and out of. I want to get some height in there because I know they like to be able to have a lookout. The key is making all this with no large obstacles for easy maintenance.

 

[kacklinkelly]

Yeah, I thought my rabbits were spoiled but I don't want them meeting Dave's.

The does I got from a lady who kept them in an air conditioned garage that was totally clean and had so many cages and rabbits I can't remember how many. I got them for size.

The buck I recently got from a guy who raised his outside and in a colony during the summer months so they could dig down to cool off. He also provided other means to keep them cool if they needed. He said he did the colony thing in the summer because the bucks are typically sterile out here. Well, not his. He had a few surprise litters and the babies all survived the summer heat. He was doing something right. I got the buck for his heat tolerance. My two big does have been inside the house since May due to their panting and being lethargic when it got into the mid 80's.

I've read that the teeth can be trimmed if way too long. (like nails) but typically they will shorten given proper chew options. Mine have wood and they also get lots of cardboard boxes, sometimes untreated wicker baskets or anything else untreated or unpainted wicker. They LOVE to tear up news paper, paperback books and phone books. They also have other toys that they like to toss around. Pretty soon they will be going outside again and I'm curious to see if they stay as friendly as they have become.

 

[K9Dave]

Yeah, I thought my rabbits were spoiled but I don't want them meeting Dave's.  

The does I got from a lady who kept them in an air conditioned garage that was totally clean and had so many cages and rabbits I can't remember how many.  I got them for size.  

The buck I recently got from a guy who raised his outside and in a colony during the summer months so they could dig down to cool off.  He also provided other means to keep them cool if they needed.  He said he did the colony thing in the summer because the bucks are typically sterile out here.  Well, not his.  He had a few surprise litters and the babies all survived the summer heat.  He was doing something right.  I got the buck for his heat tolerance. My two big does have been inside the house since May due to their panting and being lethargic when it got into the mid 80's. 

I've read that the teeth can be trimmed if way too long. (like nails) but typically they will shorten given proper chew options.  Mine have wood and they also get lots of cardboard boxes, sometimes untreated wicker baskets or anything else untreated or unpainted wicker. They LOVE to tear up news paper, paperback books and phone books. They also have other toys that they like to toss around.  Pretty soon they will be going outside again and I'm curious to see if they stay as friendly as they have become.  

Will the mother rabbit protect the babies from the others and the chickens? It's been 25 years or so since I've messed with them. Can you tell when a doe is prego by looking?

Thanks for the advice. My wife's books haven't been off the shelf in a bit. Lol.

 

[City farm]

Thanks everyone for the feedback on my recent chicken deaths. I have since sealed up the treadle feeder and finished my closed auto water system. This was to remove the risk of moldy food and dirty water. We had a bit of rain last night so I went and checked the feeder this morning and everything is bone dry! Everyone looks healthy and I'm getting four eggs per day out of six hens so I think everyone is laying right now.

Does anyone know of any feed stores that have chicks right now?

Mesa feed store usually has them

 

[AZChiknGoddess]

Will the mother rabbit protect the babies from the others and the chickens? It's been 25 years or so since I've messed with them. Can you tell when a doe is prego by looking?

Thanks for the advice. My wife's books haven't been off the shelf in a bit. Lol.

You can palpate a doe and feel for pregnancy. If you get good at it you can even tell how many kits are in there. I raised loose rabbits and guinea pigs once. They dug dens and had their babies in them. The guinea pigs were fun too. They ran around in a little herd and camped out in a pallet as a den.

 

[City farm]

I went out to enjoy the moon and our duck's love having us out with them.. They saw me pushing the dirty water from the street gutters.. So I called them to the sidewalk, they came over to check it out.. They did want to taste the water.. I ran to get another area full of clean water for them.. They are so fun...

 

[MrsFitzDarcy]

Yes, a Boeing 747. Dry weight (no fuel) is about 45 tons. It's not the weight, though, it's the lack of traction. Think about trying to walk in about a foot of snot.

Why is there a 747 in the mud?