Daily Archives: November 7, 2015

Chickens in the Rain

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DSC_0006While I was examining the latest rabbit litter, I decided to allow the chickens out for a brief adventure in the drizzling rain. They made quick work of grass snipping and worm removal from my now nearly-naked tomato bed.

Since these big girls can do a lot of damage in a short time, they aren’t often allowed to free range in the yard and instead I bring garden treats to them. This time they were only out for about an hour and managed to till the entire exposed bed and hopefully disturb any weed seeds that were getting too comfortable.

I’m planning to put a cover crop in this bed for the winter to keep the weeds down, but I haven’t decided on what yet. Since this bed is composed almost entirely of rabbit manure and coffee grounds from Starbucks, it doesn’t need a lot more nitrogen, but a big empty fertile bed like that is asking for trouble if left bare.

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First Broken Hybrid Litter

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DSC_0010Esther, my lovely Creme d’Argent doe kindled nine lovely bunnies this morning, on day 32 of her gestation. That’s right on time for her. She’s my best mom and nicest doe and my customers love the big, sweet and calm kits she throws.

DSC_0026This time, she was bred to my new broken castor Rex buck, Pine Tar. And so we have our first broken cross litter. Four of her kits came out with agouti coloration, which is expected because she often throws agouti and castor is just another name for agouti in the Rex breed.

DSC_0012She also threw five broken kits. These little guys have come out with a lot more white and a lot less color than the purebred broken Rexes that were born a couple of weeks ago. Most have very well-defined stripes down their back and a lot less markings on their faces. I’m interested to see how their fur texture turns out.

DSC_0020DSC_0021DSC_0025I’m really tempted to breed Samphire, my Californian doe to Pine Tar, so I can see what results. However, it seems like I have a lot of buyers for purebred Californian rabbits right now and her current litter only had two does in it along with six bucks. Not ideal odds when most people want a trio for breeding purposes.