I'm a rancher!

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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby pa_friendly_guy » Tue Jul 02, 2013 9:22 pm

Work Smarter, not harder or Longer, lol, the soaker hose sounds like a great idea. Do you have a portable tank of any kind to use? For your purpose I suppose a 55 gal drum would hold enough water. The mix and match patch makes it slightly harder to pick but other wise works. Remember the Price was right. You can consolidate the colors as the berry mature as you thin them. Small price to pay for free Berries. :D
Never doubt that a small group of dedicated people can change the world, indeed it is the only thing that ever has.
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby mannytheseacow » Tue Aug 13, 2013 3:44 am

How's the ranching coming along, Graham? I just bred two does tonight so it won't be long (I hope) and I'll have a couple litters running around me yard too! I'm curious to hear how it's going for you.
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby GrahamB » Wed Aug 14, 2013 2:20 am

I'm still waiting but the temperature has been up over 90 for a while so the buck has probably gone sterile for a while. I did put them together and they are due in the next few days, so the nest boxes have gone back in. I have been asking other people aroumd here that have rabbits and they all seem to be having the same luck as me.
We have had a lot of rain this last week or so we have been busy picking blackberries inbetween the storms. I was picking some the other day on the bush we have always called the snakey bush. I happened to look down and the biggest copperhead I have ever seen was crawling past, about three inches from my boot. It made me forget about blackberries for a few minutes.
The persimmons have started to drop so we will be collecting those for making cider, but I think I may carry the gun with me when I do.
The next job is to fit a gutter on the back of the barn to hook up the two IBCs I have acquired for rainwater catchment. The barn is up above the vegetable garden so the water tanks will supply the drip irrigation for the garden.
No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby mannytheseacow » Sat Aug 17, 2013 3:40 pm

Ouch! Here I figured you had rabbits coming out of every nook and cranny by now! Sorry to hear that they haven't been producing for you. You being in the south are kind of opposite of me being in the north. The weather is fine for making babies all summer (and luckily no poisonous snakes!) but I can probably only squeeze out 1 or 2 litters before winter when it gets too cold. I've read about making insulated hutches and being able to keep the does producing all winter, but I'd rather not be storing food for too many critters over the winter anyway. I'll start fresh in the spring when the clover starts growing again!
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby GrahamB » Sun Aug 18, 2013 12:40 am

Yeah Manny, I plan to get them started at least before we have our little bit of winter. That way when spring comes around they will know what to do and be eager to start again. The cages are in the barn so they are fairly insulated from the weather, but the young ones will be put out into the tractor for growing out and I need grass for that.
I keep looking at the grass and thinking I could have easily made a second cut this year, thanks to all the rain we have had. But now I am back at school, time isn't on my side. Also I think I might have a mutiny on my hands if I mentioned making hay again.
Snakes, spiders and grasshoppers are something we live with here this time of year. We recently had a mouse running around the house so we put down traps for it. The darn thing would run right around them. I then tried some of those glue traps and I checked on one a week or so ago and there were three brown recluse on it. You never see them but they are there. The snakes are gorging at the moment in readiness for going underground, so the last thing we want in the house is a mouse. We got the mouse in the end.
No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby Lollykoko » Sun Aug 18, 2013 8:06 pm

If any of you rabbit ranchers are interested in getting some pesticide free nettle seed to plant a crop for the next year ... just drop me a line with a mailing address.

A friend of a friend raises rabbits and was talking about harvesting nettles for winter feed. She says it's very high in calcium and a wonderful food for does during baby season. I've passed the word to some young cousins and nephews who are raising rabbits for 4H projects who may wind up coming to Lollyland to harvest free winter feed.
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby mannytheseacow » Mon Aug 19, 2013 3:14 am

That's great information, Lolly, I didn't know they liked nettles. I'd gladly take you up on your seed offer but we have nettles all over by me. We eat them ourselves sometimes but I've never thought of cutting them for the rabbits. I'll be cutting some hay this week and I'll have to cut some nettle too while I'm at it and put some away for the bunnies. :)
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby Lollykoko » Mon Aug 19, 2013 10:38 pm

If you already have some nearby it is a wonderful thing, Manny. And if you are familiar with the benefits, that's even better!
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby mannytheseacow » Sun Sep 01, 2013 3:18 pm

I tried my hand at palpating my mother rabbits today for the first time. The breeding seems to be a success! I could feel the "marbles" as many rabbit breeders allude to. At first I couldn't and I was worried, then I realized I was feeling much too high on the torso. When I went lower towards the hips I could easily feel little rabbit fetuses without hardly pressing at all.

I'm pretty excited about this! Not quite as much as George and his baby piggies; in fact I think I'M more excited about Georges piggies than I am my own bunnies...

But I'm excited to see how the does perform as mothers and my buck is still rather young (just now approaching 6 months) but apparently they're both fertile.

I built some nest boxes for the does last week so I'm just contently approaching birthing day.
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Re: I'm a rancher!

Postby GrahamB » Sun Sep 01, 2013 8:49 pm

That's great news Manny! Keep us posted and pictures please!
I've decided to wait a little longer before putting mine back together. We've been under another heatwave here recently. Yesterday it was up to 97F.
I'ved been doing a little modification to the rabbbitry instead. I had the cages suspended from the rafters of the barn on wires. One of the does learnt that if she danced around her cage it would swing and make her suspension wires push the wires on the buck's cage. He won't drink out of a bottle so he has a bowl of water. She found if she rocked his cage it would empty his bowl.
I thought at first it was just coincidence, but I actually saw her waiting for me to fill his bowl and then she would start jumping around her cage. I fixed her fun by fixing large hooks on the barn wall and hanging the cages off them. She now has to move the barn to have any effect on his drinking habits.
No matter how many mistakes you make or how slow you progress, you are still way ahead of everyone who isn’t trying.
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