Pennsylvania!! Unite!!

[emorems0]

Speaking of husbands... mine just surprised me earlier today. I met up with someone on my WAPF group to trade some sourdough starter for unwanted cod liver oil and it turned out she has some American breed rabbits for sale that are just being weaned now. I thought I was just getting that idea out there in the universe to let if fester for a while, but his response was "how much are they?" I emailed her to ask and haven't heard back yet. She's looking to sell them within the next month... are we crazy? We'll need to put a hutch together and figure out how to care for them, etc.

The irony is that *I* am the one who wants all these animals and he shows little interest or knocks the idea down most of the time, but HE is the one who said "yes" when our daughter asked to hatch chickens and I was more of the "let's wait until next year when we don't have a new baby on the way"... now HE is saying yes to rabbits when I was just putting feelers out there, Christmas is coming for goodness sakes!

 

[emorems0]

Oh, and we're totally doing bees and goats too... at some point. The feelers have been out for a while on those, I'm sure hubs will surprise me with a yes on those at some random time too!

 

[emorems0]

And just look what he did... he says yes and I spend all night researching it when I should be sleeping. Quick craigslist search came up with these for rabbit hutches/cages, not sure what type we'd really want. DH said 2 of each gender... do you keep them all together? Boys separate? Breeding pairs separate?

This one is free (yay!) but needs a roof which is no problem (have extra roof panel from the chicken coop build) - divided hutch http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/zip/4723996091.html

These are individual cages, would I need one for each rabbit? How do you handle the baby bunnies with this type of set up? http://pittsburgh.craigslist.org/for/4688623976.html

*both are about an hour away (boo!) and would likely not fit in the back of my van unless I took the kids car seats out which means I'd have to bug DH to get a friend with a truck to help

*actually, the individual cages might fit, but I feel like the hutch might be better... who has rabbits, what kind of set up do you like????

 

[fisherlady]

Speaking of husbands... mine just surprised me earlier today. I met up with someone on my WAPF group to trade some sourdough starter for unwanted cod liver oil and it turned out she has some American breed rabbits for sale that are just being weaned now. I thought I was just getting that idea out there in the universe to let if fester for a while, but his response was "how much are they?" I emailed her to ask and haven't heard back yet. She's looking to sell them within the next month... are we crazy? We'll need to put a hutch together and figure out how to care for them, etc.

The irony is that *I* am the one who wants all these animals and he shows little interest or knocks the idea down most of the time, but HE is the one who said "yes" when our daughter asked to hatch chickens and I was more of the "let's wait until next year when we don't have a new baby on the way"... now HE is saying yes to rabbits when I was just putting feelers out there, Christmas is coming for goodness sakes!

Check this out....http://classifieds.pennswoods.net/classifieds/viewad.cgi?adindex=3145522

lots of ads on www.pennswoods.net.
I like that site for used stuff

 

[dheltzel]

Oh, and we're totally doing bees and goats too... at some point. The feelers have been out for a while on those, I'm sure hubs will surprise me with a yes on those at some random time too!

Proof that the YouTube video was right, chickens really are "gateway livestock" . . .

Most rabbit keepers separate all the adults into individual cages, rabbits aren't nearly as social as birds and do better on their own, That allows you to control breeding and no worry about fighting over "Territory" (they can hurt each other). Of course the mothers stay with the young for a while, then you can finish the young together, as long as you butcher or sell before they reach breeding age, otherwise they start multiplying like, well, rabbits.

So, if you are serious about breeding, you want both some larger hutches (for the females and young) and individual cages (for the bucks and not yet breeding females). So, the answer to which to get is "both".

 

[AnneInTheBurbs]

Almost that time...

They are gorgeous turkeys! Well done!

I have a 7month old partridge cochin that i believe just went broody 2 days ago is it to late to fix this? Can it be fixed? Is it normal? What should i do?

Yep, totally normal. I fixed my by the common "broody breaker". You need a wire cage with a wire bottom, no liner. You need to put the chicken in the cage with no bedding, just food and water for 2-3 days. This cools down her body temperature and resets her system. Look it up under the forums here, there is plenty of advice. If you need any help, just PM me. Good luck!

Remember bantams are small so 3=1

Haha, thanks for that. I wasn't aware silkies were considered a bantam, I thought they were their own special category. Are silkies pretty winter hardy?

Speaking of husbands... mine just surprised me earlier today. I met up with someone on my WAPF group to trade some sourdough starter for unwanted cod liver oil and it turned out she has some American breed rabbits for sale that are just being weaned now. I thought I was just getting that idea out there in the universe to let if fester for a while, but his response was "how much are they?" I emailed her to ask and haven't heard back yet. She's looking to sell them within the next month... are we crazy? We'll need to put a hutch together and figure out how to care for them, etc.

The irony is that *I* am the one who wants all these animals and he shows little interest or knocks the idea down most of the time, but HE is the one who said "yes" when our daughter asked to hatch chickens and I was more of the "let's wait until next year when we don't have a new baby on the way"... now HE is saying yes to rabbits when I was just putting feelers out there, Christmas is coming for goodness sakes!

Woo Hoo! It must be catching, tolerant if not enabling husbands. In my house, the rule pretty much is we can have the pet if I take care of it. He wants a chinchilla, but I have a feeling there is a lot more involved with them. And we only have a 1008 square foot house.

 

[joyfulshepherde]

On feather sexing...

Hi Y'all, I'm the one who tried to feather sex my chicks as soon as they hatched last June. No success! It totally did not work with my Swedish Flower Hens or Americaunas (I can never spell that right). I guess they have to be bred for it after all! Well, at least I got half and half roos and hens out of my 12 chicks. How's that for probability?!

I'll try to take & post pics soon of the SFH - they are SOOOOO gorgeous!

 

[SilkieSensation]

 
gh..geesh...he doesn't want to do things when when I bring it up ..then all of the sudden he says..."hey- It would be great to do this..or that"!  ...sometimes...

This is how I get my way. I say what I want and then wait about 2 years for him to "think of it". Mean time, I come up with some other ideas. And wait until he "thinks of it" again. Lather, rinse, repeat.

Precisely why I have no husband. That means, as long as I have the money & can find it, I can have what I want, when I want. No need to ask anyone's permission or opinion of anything. I spent way too many years being told I wasn't "allowed" to do pretty much anything except go to work & take care of kids & house while my lazy ex sat on his butt playing video games & getting fat off of pizza & Mt. Dew. Yeah...we shall not go there again!

 

[chiques chicks]

Proof that the YouTube video was right, chickens really are "gateway livestock" . . .

Most rabbit keepers separate all the adults into individual cages, rabbits aren't nearly as social as birds and do better on their own, That allows you to control breeding and no worry about fighting over "Territory" (they can hurt each other). Of course the mothers stay with the young for a while, then you can finish the young together, as long as you butcher or sell before they reach breeding age, otherwise they start multiplying like, well, rabbits.

So, if you are serious about breeding, you want both some larger hutches (for the females and young) and individual cages (for the bucks and not yet breeding females). So, the answer to which to get is "both".

Correct answers. Then triple the amount of cages over time.

General rule : 30x36 cages for does and 30 x30 for bucks.

And ALWAYS put the female in the male cage for breeding. Do not put the male in with the female. The females are the most territorial and will hurt the male! ( and since i am outnumbered on here I will not editorialize)

Azrabbits.com has info and nest box plans.

 

[chiques chicks]

On feather sexing...

Hi Y'all,  I'm the one who tried to feather sex my chicks as soon as they hatched last June.  No success!  It totally did not work with my Swedish Flower Hens or Americaunas (I can never spell that right).  I guess they have to be bred for it after all!  Well, at least I got half and half roos and hens out of my 12 chicks.  How's that for probability?! 

I'll try to take & post pics soon of the SFH - they are SOOOOO gorgeous! 

 

SFH are a breed that they say can be feather sexed, but I've never been successful.