Around the Microfarm

In December, Koenigland is also home to four new and strange creatures, a fall/winter garden, and an activie forager who is trying to find things for themselves and rabbits despite the muggy yet chilly Alabama weather (me).

The four new creatures? Dinosaurs, clearly. That is, creatures directly descended from dinosaurs and, thus, still dinosaurs. Their common name? Chicken. We have three hens and a rooster, a mere month and a half old. The hens are a tiny yet plucky Black Maran (McNugget), a cuddly Lavender Orpington (Peep), and an aloof Rhode Island Red (Chiclet). Formerly thought of as a hen and thus named Henrietta, Henry started crowing a couple of weeks ago. The sound is adorable and I do wish we can keep him, despite our current location in a suburban area; however, we do intend on moving and, with luck, we'll find a locale with enough green space that nobody will be bothered by the delightful calls of a rooster. Of course, my mother worries that Henry will become an attack bird and we will likely trade him for another Orpington. Drat? (I always wanted an attack dinosaur.)

The fall/winter garden has taken root (puns!) quite nicely. We have flourishing wheat, kale, and Austrian winter peas. The Dixon Red beets haven't had the best of luck, but all I can see are the tiny pair of leaves and bright red stems. For all I know, we have a mess of beets under the brown dirt and rabbit manure. I probably should look into that. From all I've seen, the leaves and stems never get too large, so with luck, we may in fact have beets to pickle for Christmas gifts. The singular cabbage plant stands proud beside two rain barrels and the young raspberry plants has stuck out the unusually quickly cold fall. We've only used the cabbage insofar and you can't tell me it isn't the best tasting cabbage ever.

 While it's been too cold with fibromyalgia for me to forage much, I still have a mess of at least three different types of acorns I intend to make into flour and candies and, to my utter surprise, dandelions, purple dead-nettle, wood sorrel, and clover are still growing well despite the cold. There's even an unknown plant with triangular leaves that has sprouted up all around my home. Luckily for me and my rabbits, I never use anything I cannot identify (and thus no Darwin Awards); however, they are loving the occasional bite of greenery.

I have recently heard arguments over what is the proper feeding of a rabbit. I, personally, think a good grass hay like timothy or bermuda is all important. You should always give your rabbits a supply. Treat it as much like fresh water as you can. I also think a good protein source, like alfalfa or clover hay and/or beet pulp, are very important. Beyond that, a good quality pellet, preferably with no corn or soybeans and NO animal-based products, or natural diet dry food (such as whole grains) should be a staple. Some people are against the feeding of forage or vegetables, but they can act as good gut lubrication. Just make sure you feed rabbit safe greenery and take note of rules (example: mint is good, but not to nursing does because it dries up milk) and don't overfeed (can cause diarrhea).

You can find great information at natural feeding over at the Rabbit Talk forum, seen here: http://rabbittalk.com/natural-feeding-for-rabbits-f11.html

December Updates

One thing I'd love anyone should know before starting a rabbitry? It's hard. That might be obvious from the get-go, but you will constantly be surprised. The difficulty is also balanced by a sweet junior (over three months, under six months) rabbit in your lap, a warm spot who just cuddles close and occasionally nuzzles your wrist, different from a finicky cat or slobber-prone dog. It's balanced by watching a rabbit binky (hop excitedly), clamor to get your attention in the barn, or be ecstatic when you offer them some fresh dandelion leaves. Owning a rabbit or rabbits is just as hard as owning a dog but just as rewarding, I've found.

Why do I bring this up today? Nearly a month ago, on November 7th, I lost my herd sire, the velvet-furred, booted black Mini Rex, Basil. It appears he caught Pasteurella from wild rabbits when he escaped from his hanging cage and was gone for several hours. He only sneezed twice, which meant quarantine, but after no further symptoms and the assumption a nearby fire was the cause, I bred him to two does before his untimely death the next day. He was a mere eight months old. None of my other rabbits showed any symptoms, which is fantastic. I miss him dearly, but the pain is eased by knowing he was bred to those two does, Lori Farms Primrose and Meg's Jasmine (formerly known as Jade). Prim appears pregnant and the Jasmine may well be, but isn't showing the change in behavior or large dewlap. I'm hoping for a few Prim-shaped, Basil-coated wonder kits, perhaps in castor, opal, black/orange, or blue/fawn tricolor, with or without broken and/or Vienna.

Luckily for me, I had Jasmine's litter, a trio of kits: a false charlie castor doe that is amazingly friendly, but with poorer fur and body than her sister; said sister, a show quality castor doe who could only use a bit more height, I intend to keep; and a brood quality castor buck. In order, their names are Cloud, Chipmunk, and Chester. Both the charlie doe and buck are going to Lori Farms in trade for a new herd buck who will be unrelated to at least two of my does, Jasmine and Chipmunk, if not Primrose. I may even pick up a second Mini Rex, a doe, or an angora (for wool spinning) from Lori. I plan to continue my BEW and castor projects and hopefully gain otters and tricolors by next summer.

In other news, my family has become more accepting of the idea of a microfarm. My father has allowed me to bring back my American Sable doe, Anwen, after a successful litter with a show-stopper with better hips from Ken Turner. We visited a rabbit show in Conyers, GA. I was obviously in heaven, but my sister met a big American Sable (AS) buck named Texas and was enamored. Because of this, I intend to keep Anwen and, hopefully, a pointed white daughter, and bring in a seal AS buck to breed to both. If you breed a seal (cchlcchl) to a pointed white (chch), you will always get showable sables (cchlch). This will allow my sister to have plenty of this lovely breed to take to upcoming shows. Of course, I might keep a sable, at least temporarily, from Anwen's latest litter so my sister can have a junior sooner rather than later.

Hopefully by the time March rolls around, we will at least have a trio of rabbits to take to the Muscle Shoals and Birmingham shows. I plan on taking Chipmunk (a then senior) for sure, Anwen if her toenails match (have to double check), perhaps a sable out of Anwen, and hopefully one or two of the hopefully show quality Lori Farms rabbits and Lori Farms Primrose x C & T Farms Basil juniors. Can't wait to see how everyone does on the table, including the other lovely rabbits from the great breeders I've come to know. It should be great fun, win or lose.

Lastly, I'm so glad my sister has become more interested in rabbits. Who wouldn't? I'm glad to share the love of lapins. My mother even wants Netherland Dwarfs much more after the Conyers, GA show, so we'll have to see if we can't find her a perfect little show quality individual to show with as well!