North Idaho / Eastern Washington

[CyndiD]

Mine get free feed hay and corn free pellets from TSC. Unfortunately, I don't have the time and energy to make a balanced diet for them from forage and fodder.
We looked down in Benewah (I'm assuming that's where you are), but it was just too far for my husband to drive everyday for work, so this place is actually out by Wolf Lodge.

yes, benewah, tensed. what breed of rabbits do you have? i am a beginner w/rabbits. i am trying to find out what breed i have. can you tell by my pics? i will post some or pm you the pics, since this is a chicken thread?

 

[WPFarmstead]

yes, benewah, tensed. what breed of rabbits do you have? i am a beginner w/rabbits. i am trying to find out what breed i have. can you tell by my pics? i will post some or pm you the pics, since this is a chicken thread?

I currently have a pair of Opal Rex and a Black Otter Netherland cross doe. I've raised quite a few breeds in the past, so I MIGHT be able to tell breed, but rabbits cross very well, so it's a guess at best. But feel free to send them my way and I'll give it a shot.

 

[Ducks4us]

I currently have a pair of Opal Rex and a Black Otter Netherland cross doe. I've raised quite a few breeds in the past, so I MIGHT be able to tell breed, but rabbits cross very well, so it's a guess at best. But feel free to send them my way and I'll give it a shot.

I have an opal rex as well! Just got her about a month ago! She is sooo pretty. I also got a lilac rex buck. Do you raise yours for meat? Or pets?

 

[WPFarmstead]

I have an opal rex as well! Just got her about a month ago! She is sooo pretty. I also got a lilac rex buck. Do you raise yours for meat? Or pets?

We plan to breed for pelts and meat, but pelts first, as we have so many sources of meat, currently. If there is enough of a market, I might separate out a few and tame them down to be pets for people. Right now, I do it on a reservation basis when the litter is born.

 

[CyndiD]

We plan to breed for pelts and meat, but pelts first, as we have so many sources of meat, currently. If there is enough of a market, I might separate out a few and tame them down to be pets for people. Right now, I do it on a reservation basis when the litter is born.

who buys pelts? what do they do w/them? do people still spin/use Angora fur? just curious.

 

[CyndiD]

I put frozen water bottles in the coop, they don't sit on them, but they will sometimes sit close.

i made frozen water gal jugs and gave the chicken coops one ea, they did not sit near them. i made smaller frozen bottles for my rabbits and hung them on the outside of ea cage and they loved them, they laid right next to them. i did this last week when it was in the 90's. thanks for the idea.
ETA: i should do this for the rabbits when it is over 75 or 80 degrees. i read that rabbits do not like temps over 75-80*

 

[CyndiD]

I put this request in the "Emergency...." thread, but i wanted to put it in our thread to get your opinion... can anyone help w/my cockrel's DX???

"Hi, my polish has been acting funny the last 3-4 days and in the past 2 days he has been reduced to sitting and not moving much. it started w/him wobbly on his leggs then the next day he kept falling back on his haunches, and then today he is sitting/laying in the corner and cant move w/out falling over or back on his butt. He is sleeping on the floor of the coop, since he can not climb/hop or fly up on the roosting bars. I think it is a neurological problem of some sort. i am wondering if i should just put him down. I have not seperated him, maybe i should. i just pray it is not contageous? he is only 4-5 months old.
any suggestions as to what to do for him?"

thank you ladies, i really like this polish cockrel... i pray he makes it, but i dont think so.
P.S. i did dust him w/ "pet, poultry mite powder" 2x's in the past month. i am praying this did not cause his illness? any thoughts?

 

[WPFarmstead]

who buys pelts? what do they do w/them? do people still spin/use Angora fur? just curious.

I keep the pelts for my own use and plan to make a couple of blankets and at least 2 cat beds, as my cats love them. Pelts are worth basically nothing when "green", fresh off the rabbit. Tanned they are worth a little more, but still not worth much unless in Prime condition (tanned perfect or near perfect, no hair loss, 6+ month old rabbit, generally only Rex, Velveteens, Satin or Silver Foxes). Items made from fur are worth the most, but do require much more work, obviously. People do use Angora fiber, usually those people either have very large groups of rabbits or they also have sheep and/or alpaca. The different angora breeds all have their own unique characteristics, too.

i made frozen water gal jugs and gave the chicken coops one ea, they did not sit near them. i made smaller frozen bottles for my rabbits and hung them on the outside of ea cage and they loved them, they laid right next to them. i did this last week when it was in the 90's. thanks for the idea.
ETA: i should do this for the rabbits when it is over 75 or 80 degrees. i read that rabbits do not like temps over 75-80*

I actually don't use water bottles at all for my rabbits. I had a lot of issues last year because I babied them so much. This year, the temp swings have sucked, but the rabbits haven't done much more than pant heavily. I just spray down the chicken yard and rabbit pen roofs during the heat of the day, along with the trees and various structures out there. The temp drops about 10 degrees every time. And I only do that when it's over 90. Other than that, they're fine. Just make sure they aren't in the sun and you won't have near as many issues. I also have an auto-water system, which keeps them in fresh water all the time and was super simple to set up.

 

[CyndiD]

I keep the pelts for my own use and plan to make a couple of blankets and at least 2 cat beds, as my cats love them. Pelts are worth basically nothing when "green", fresh off the rabbit. Tanned they are worth a little more, but still not worth much unless in Prime condition (tanned perfect or near perfect, no hair loss, 6+ month old rabbit, generally only Rex, Velveteens, Satin or Silver Foxes). Items made from fur are worth the most, but do require much more work, obviously. People do use Angora fiber, usually those people either have very large groups of rabbits or they also have sheep and/or alpaca. The different angora breeds all have their own unique characteristics, too.
I actually don't use water bottles at all for my rabbits. I had a lot of issues last year because I babied them so much. This year, the temp swings have sucked, but the rabbits haven't done much more than pant heavily. I just spray down the chicken yard and rabbit pen roofs during the heat of the day, along with the trees and various structures out there. The temp drops about 10 degrees every time. And I only do that when it's over 90. Other than that, they're fine. Just make sure they aren't in the sun and you won't have near as many issues. I also have an auto-water system, which keeps them in fresh water all the time and was super simple to set up.

i read about someone using a 5gal water bucket system w/tubing to feed their water bottles or a nipple at ea end for ea rabbit cage; i like this idea. i have lots of garden watering tubing, i wonder if i could rig something up with this? but when it gets hot here the water gets hot also; just like in the many water buckets i have out for the ducks, after a few hours the water is warm, so i refill w/cold water for them. and then in the winter the water will freeze??? we got (from the rabbit owners) 2 water bottles w/heated bottoms, i havent pluged them in to see if they work yet, hopefully these will work in the winter?
what do you do?

 

[Saris]

I put this request in the "Emergency...." thread, but i wanted to put it in our thread to get your opinion... can anyone help w/my cockrel's DX???

"Hi, my polish has been acting funny the last 3-4 days and in the past 2 days he has been reduced to sitting and not moving much. it started w/him wobbly on his leggs then the next day he kept falling back on his haunches, and then today he is sitting/laying in the corner and cant move w/out falling over or back on his butt. He is sleeping on the floor of the coop, since he can not climb/hop or fly up on the roosting bars. I think it is a neurological problem of some sort. i am wondering if i should just put him down. I have not seperated him, maybe i should. i just pray it is not contageous? he is only 4-5 months old.
any suggestions as to what to do for him?"

thank you ladies, i really like this polish cockrel... i pray he makes it, but i dont think so.
P.S. i did dust him w/ "pet, poultry mite powder" 2x's in the past month. i am praying this did not cause his illness? any thoughts?

Paralysis could be Meraks. Is he new to your flock, or was he raised on your property? Did he get quarantined? Poultry dust shouldn't cause problems like that. You could try giving him vitamins in case it's a deficiency of some kind.