Hobby Farms Forums / Livestock / HobbyFarms.com Forum Topics / General Livestock Care

Anyone have experience with rabbits?

ValerieJean — Mon, 14 Mar 2011 18:25:13 GMT

I recently, for the first time, at rabbit and really enjoyed it.
Thus, we are thinking of getting rabbits. Does anyone have any experience with rabbits, other than the wild kind? What breeds are best? etc

They would mainly be for meat although I was just wondering about ones for spinning.

Horse trailer or stock trailer?

countrycowgirl — Sun, 13 Nov 2011 19:50:47 GMT

I have gotten several different opinions on this matter, and wanted to see what ya'll had to say. Do I have to have a stock trailer for goats and sheep (possibly a cow), or can I use a horse trailer? Stock trailers are harder to find and more expensive. My aunt uses a horse trailer for her sheep, but some people have said something about the air flow in a horse trailer isn't good for livestock. Please help!

~Mary

www.countryskyfarm.webs.com

Fodder in a Jar

MrsKK — Sat, 28 Jan 2012 06:00:34 GMT

So there have been some discussions of raising fodder for livestock on a couple of other forums I'm on. Fodder is just taking whole seed grain - wheat, oats, buckwheat, etc. - and sprouting it for animal feed. You grow it until the tops are 2-3 inches tall and feed it roots and all. It's a type of hydroponic growing, as you don't use soil, just soak the seeds and rinse off the sprouts a couple of times a day. There are fodder growing units for sale out there - one goes for about $8000 for a unit to feed four horses. Too rich for my blood!

Anyway, on these other forums, people are using shelving units and plastic trays with holes drilled in them for growing their fodder. I don't like to spend money, especially when I'm not sure something is going to work for me. So I came up with an easy, no-cost method to try it out. It also fit within the space that I have available right now.

This was a good way for me to get started with fodder feeding with no investment on my part. The corn was gleaned from the neighbor's field after they harvested and the gallon glass jars are ones that I use for storing milk. I would not have been able to do this if my cow were in milk this winter.

I will be replacing this with a shelving system within a month or six weeks, so well in advance of my cow freshening. I'll design my shelf unit based on what others are doing. The photos follow my explanations.

The red container is what is going to Buttercup for this feeding, the gallon glass jar is the next feeding's sprouts waiting to be rinsed, and the tan container is corn I've just shelled waiting to be soaked:

This is Days 1-3 of growing. This is next to my wood furnace so that it is warmer for the beginning of sprouting. Starting at the back, the tan container is Day 1 of soaking. The middle container is Day 2, the water has been drained, the corn rinsed and an ice cream lid on top of the container so that it doesn't dry out. The jar at the front is Day 3 and has plyban rubber banded over the mouth of the jar so that the sprouts stay nice and moist. At the back of the photo on the right is a half gallon jar with a sprouter lid (plastic mesh) - I'm also sprouting lentils for us to eat and to share with the chickens.

On Days 4-8, the jars are on their sides in a big roaster pan. I still leave plyban on the jars to help keep them moist:

On Day 9, the sprouts get separated for more growth, with half of them going into a small plastic container. They get fed to the cow on Day 10.

This picture just shows how 2 cups of corn can nearly fill a gallon jar in ten days:

Round 1

cweick — Sat, 23 Apr 2011 12:25:18 GMT

Ruby2 145#'s

Sean 222#'s

Undertake 185#'s

Crimson 195 #'s

Day 1 of halter breaking.

Do you want a turn?

Meat Rabbits

collyottfarms — Sat, 07 Jan 2012 16:37:04 GMT

We are now the proud owners of Meat Rabbits - we got our Doe and Buck last weekend - this is a new venture for us and I would love to hear everyones opinion, advise, to do - not to do!!!

Thanks Everyone

Dawn Collyott

www.collyottfarms.com

Do or Have you raised Meat Rabbits

collyottfarms — Fri, 29 Apr 2011 11:31:21 GMT

A couple of magazines have devoted articles to meat rabbits lately and I've been intriqued by the amount of weight translating to meat you would get from a meat rabbit and am wondering if anyone has raised them=- is there a market for rabbit meat? Found a place online that sells rabbit and thought it was very expensive. Work involved - disease etc. any experience or thoughts would be appreciated.

Opinion on treated wood

CoxFamily farm — Wed, 07 Dec 2011 06:10:31 GMT

Hello I hope everybody is having good holidays.

I was wanting opinion on putting treated wood as a floor in a portable building that I have been using. Wanted to make it so the animials are not on the we ground fro this winter, looking on the net you get a lot of conflicting info. It will be just a floor but they will be getting spilled feed and hay that has spilled on it so was wondering if it would be ok. I do not know much about the new treated lumber it is supposed to be safer. Thanks jason .

To have or not to have Dwarf Animals

Mello1ForU — Fri, 17 Jun 2011 05:18:30 GMT

I am in SC. My 5-yr-old daughter has a thing for animals . . . "little ones", as she calls them, with her tiny hands placed in front of her face spread about 9 inches wide. My dad, next door, has bunnies that my children hold and pet from time to time, but I grew up on a full fledged WORKING farm that my parents supplied our family and community with great food and a feeling of accomplishment. I want to bring that back to my kids, nephew, and little cousins.

I want to start with dwarf animals. There is tons and tons and tons of stuff on the internet about dwarf animals. This site seems to be a pretty reputable one. Someone please give me some advice. I would like to strat with goats.

Worm Farming

BarberFarms — Thu, 24 Mar 2011 14:02:33 GMT

Does anyone else grow worms for fishing or for composting? If not it is a great obby to begin and takes very little work but alot of table scraps....

Raising Crickets? Anyone ?

MsFarmr — Mon, 23 May 2011 04:06:45 GMT

Does anyone raise crickets? I have done a little research, and ordered 250 1/2" breeders to start off the project.

Anyone want to give any helpful hints?

Note....my fail safe is......i have 25 young chickens that have a great appetite.... Grin

Milk Replacer

cweick — Tue, 10 May 2011 13:54:13 GMT

Well my mom asked me the other day if I was going to add some milk replacer or powder milk to Ruby's diet? I told her I was thinking about adding powder milk a week before her due date and she said that if it was up to her she would add it after the piglets come. So still on the fence with this and it got me thinking at what other time did I ever use milk powder or replacer and on which animal.

Like we use milk replacer on the calves that are not strong enough to get milk themselves and sometimes we have to milk their mother down so they can take a hold.

When we changed P2's barrow set over from bread alone to hog pellets we used powder milk.

So which animal have you used powder milk or replacement milk on and what made you change them to something else?

Our Free Brahma Bantams

cweick — Mon, 09 May 2011 09:15:56 GMT

Well back on March 11th I received 6 "free" assorted brahma bantams. So far I've only heard one out of the 5 crow. Because I swear that Orange is a production red chick instead of a brahma bantam and besides Orange did not have any feathers on the feet like the other 5. But that's neither here no there because, Orange was eaten at night a few weeks back.

Does anyone run their bantams with larger chickens? How is it working for ya?

So far in the brooder pens

Farmermom — Sat, 07 May 2011 03:26:54 GMT

I have the 3 turkeys, 2 chicks, and now a duckling. I've still got 5 duck eggs in the incubator wiating to see if any more hatch. And outside in the big brooder pen I have 12 - 8 to 10 week old chicks.

With or Without Lemon?

cweick — Sun, 24 Apr 2011 13:21:12 GMT

GOT TO HAVE LEMON!!!!

Have you EVER had ONE OF THOSE DAYS????

cweick — Sun, 17 Apr 2011 07:43:01 GMT

This morning started off BAD. Lost three chicks due to the T-storm and another animal. Then had a camp fire going and heard something by the chicken coop. Found 1 Buff Org with neck broken and then this. RAN to the camp fire got the camera and the "boys". It took all three of us to get him out. He's back in the dog run as of this morning. Hopeing he wanted be freed again until it's time for him to leave this earth.

When a Roo comes for a visit.

cweick — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 06:11:23 GMT

Well just got the last grown roo out of the flock. Sold the oldest two hens and P2 flock only has two laying hens and the rest (5) have a baby each. 38 babies in the brooder. Things WERE going oh so fine. Then someone HAD to through a pair of roosters infront of our house. Well one was so dizzy that netting him wasn't a problem and into the broiler pen (that's empty) he went. The other one was so CRAZY that the only way I'm thinking we can catch him is with a .22. So hubby comes home and I told him before he start his lecture about how I'm letting the hens out in the woods with the babies, I told him to look at the chicken once again and HE isn't P2 or mine. So since Friday, this roo has had free range of the place and little scares when P2 comes at him with the chicken net. All the mean time thinking to myself "Should I invest in one of those chicken sticks that you can "easiley" catch the leg of the chicken?" Well the roo has been lucky so far. He's found his way to the red barn where the cattle feed is stored and he's been sleeping up on the lumber rack. P2 and Hubby has a beat going how long it will take one of the foxes or the coyetoes to find him at night. So stay tune and see when he leaves this property.

It would be nice for him to stay, if he wasn't either part or full game chicken.

Halter ?

cweick — Wed, 13 Apr 2011 13:29:48 GMT

Ruby2 is smaller then when we got Summer up. So Summer's old calf turn out halter is too big for Ruby2's head.

What is the difference between a calf turn-out-halter and a colt halter?

I really don't want to buy and return back to co-op time and time again. I did find a calf rope halter, but since Ruby2's head is so small I would have to cut the excess rope off so make if safe for her to wear out in the field. Don't need her to learn at an early age how to pop a halter...LOL

Choosing an expiration date?

JohnnyAd — Tue, 12 Apr 2011 19:28:18 GMT

Here in CT they have finally rolled back some poultry regulations to bring them in line with federal laws. It is now legal in CT for farmers to process their own poultry and sell it to consumers, resturants, hotels, etc within the state of CT. Up to 20000 birds a year.

I have done my own birds for a year or so now and want to expand my offerings to include dressed birds. So I am doing my research to make sure if/when we do this all our ducks are in a row. A big stumbling block I am having right now is trying to figure out an expiration date.

By law I am only required to put on a slaughter date or a pack date, it doesnt even have to be in human readable format I can use a code as long as I know what the code means.

However I legality aside I want my packaging consumer friendly so I want to put on a nice easy to read expiration date like most places. The problem is the only information I can find from the USDA and other regulatory agencies is that I sell it while it is wholesome and unadulterated. Brilliant, any one know how long that is from slaughter if done under sanitary conditions and properly refrigerated at 30 degree`s?

Final 4

cweick — Sun, 10 Apr 2011 16:40:45 GMT

Well YOY 1103 (heifer) is a given for P2 to grow and show. However, we spent ALL DAY in the sun getting the list of 30 bulls down to 3. Mom and calves were transported to our side of the road, for P2 to feed and decided by the end of May, which bull calf he wants to show. Showing Summer this year is on the fence.

Sharing Duties

cweick — Fri, 08 Apr 2011 04:51:49 GMT

Brown Sugar on the left and Buttercup on the right. Black chick belongs to Buttercup and the brown chick to Brown Sugar. 12 eggs left to go and maybe once these two leave the nest box, we can clean up the inside.

Poor hubby, he's getting over run with eggs

Farmermom — Wed, 06 Apr 2011 19:29:46 GMT

When he left this morning there was 1 incubator set up with goose & turkey eggs in it when he came home they both were set up and the spare had 14 duck & chicken eggs in it.

One of our ducks had vanished and when we found her she was hiding on a nest full of assorted eggs and so we could get under the coop closed in better to keep the hens from laying under there where we couldn't find the eggs we took the eggs put them in the incubator got her & the one hen out and closed in. Hopefully now our egg count will go back up again.

Fact or Fiction

cweick — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 06:12:44 GMT

I was told that this breed of chickens is the closet to the dinosaur. Does anyone know where we can go and check this info out?

Due to them being a 5 toed chicken breed.

"The Cow Jumped over the...."

cweick — Tue, 05 Apr 2011 07:57:21 GMT

http://photoblog.msnbc.msn.com/_news/2011/04/05/6410491-the-cow-jumped-over-the?GT1=43001

Got to read!

Biosecurity plan????

JohnnyAd — Fri, 04 Mar 2011 06:51:28 GMT

Has anyone done a Biosecurity plan? I need to make one for my CT poultry dealer license. I am doing the googles but if anyone has some insight it would be much much much appreciated.

Grass boxes?

Jasper08 — Mon, 07 Mar 2011 15:16:48 GMT

Does anyone grow grass in boxes with wire over them for their chicken yards? I read somewhere, to grow grass in boxes and cover with mesh wire to put in the chickens yards so they have some grass without killing the grass by "overgrazing" it. I know that last year they killed all the grass in their yard and went nuts when I put in grass clippings from the "yard" was trying to figure out a way to get them some greens this year. I can't allow them to free range due to the dogs, but would like to give them some fresh greens...