Real life is catching up with me this week. Not much has been done besides feeding the rabbits each day, brushing them twice a week, and cleaning their cages twice a week, so this entry will be a bit short. Perhaps when my life calms down a bit next week I will have more to tell.
Things to do this week: Go to local farm and home store and pick up more rabbit food and some barn lime. The lime is to sprinkle in the bottom of the litter pans to help dry up the spots the rabbits like the most. As for the rabbit food, we're down to a quarter of a bag, which is pretty impressive since I haven't purchased feed since we got them! They sure do not eat much.
A minor problem: I've run out of newspapers and junk mail to shred. I've been trying to stretch what I have out as long as possible, but I finally broke down last weekend and purchased a block of wood shavings. Hopefully this is a temporary situation and I will be acquiring more paper from family and friends soon.
Don't forget we have fiber for sale!! Now accepting orders, see previous posts for contact information and details.
Tip of the week: In a pinch, I've been stretching my bedding further by saving the mostly unsoiled bedding in the pan and refluffing it over the areas that get the heaviest use, so I'm only changing the bedding in about half a pan at a time. It's not ideal for the long run, but until I get more paper it will work.
Monday, January 31, 2011
Monday, January 24, 2011
"No!" she says.
Our broken tort does NOT like to be brushed, but the good news is that we have about a half an ounce of her fleece, so we're building up our inventory.
This week the broken tort decided she didn't want to be taken out of her cage to be brushed, and the way she told me this was by lunging at my hand when I tried to touch her. I'm not positive she was trying to bite me, but she sprang at my hand and swiped at me with her paws. I've taken to feeding her right before I take her out to brush her so she's distracted when I go to grab her. I've also started wearing a glove when I pull her out, just in case. Despite this difficulty, yesterday she laid quietly when I flipped her on to her back to brush her belly and didn't put up a fight at all. So, success in the face of failure!!
I am pleased to announce that we have waiting lists for the following fibers:
Hand-plucked premium fiber (from the back of the rabbit)
Hand-plucked felting fleece (from the face and belly of the rabbit)
This week the broken tort decided she didn't want to be taken out of her cage to be brushed, and the way she told me this was by lunging at my hand when I tried to touch her. I'm not positive she was trying to bite me, but she sprang at my hand and swiped at me with her paws. I've taken to feeding her right before I take her out to brush her so she's distracted when I go to grab her. I've also started wearing a glove when I pull her out, just in case. Despite this difficulty, yesterday she laid quietly when I flipped her on to her back to brush her belly and didn't put up a fight at all. So, success in the face of failure!!
I am pleased to announce that we have waiting lists for the following fibers:
Hand-plucked premium fiber (from the back of the rabbit)
- Tort, $6/oz. (first oz. spoken for already, but more coming soon!)
- Broken tort, $6/oz. (have about half an ounce currently)
- Black, $6/oz. (probably won't be ready for another month or two)
Hand-plucked felting fleece (from the face and belly of the rabbit)
- Mixed colors, $4/oz. (have about half an ounce currently)
If you are interested in any fiber, please contact us at seedorff.family.farms@gmail.com
For those who need a color guide, please see the pictures of our rabbits and read the descriptions below:
- Tort- light peach color
- Broken tort- mostly white with a little light peach
- Black- dark grey color
Tip of the Week: Talk to your rabbits while you brush them. I find that it calms them a little, and I hope that it gets them used to my presence faster.
Sunday, January 16, 2011
The Waiting List
The waiting list has been started!! Let the excitement ensue.
After emailing a contact late last week about our fleece I heard back that she is definitely interested! I've put her name on the list, and we officially have our first customer! Remember, we are taking orders NOW!!
Besides getting our first contact we had a pretty slow week. However, today while I was cleaning the cages we had something a little funny happen. Just before I was ready to put the buck's litter pan back under his cage he suddenly turned tail to the corner and SPRAYED. As in, even if the litter pan had been there it wouldn't have done us much good. We've never had a problem with this before, and the urine guards helped, but not enough. I have no idea what caused him to do it. It was pretty funny at the time, but it won't be if he continues. Thankfully I have the cages on a plastic tablecloth so messes will be easy to clean, so it wasn't a big deal.
Also, if your rabbit's water bottle is leaking, fix it!! After our broken tort's water bottle leaked its full contents into her litter pan three times in three days, I had quite a nasty mess to clean. The problem has been resolved, but it was like scooping out a swamp.
So, those were pretty gross, but hopefully funny for you, stories. I'm still loving raising angora rabbits! Especially now that I see some money being made in the future!
Tip of the Week: I've started swapping out the litter pans when I'm cleaning, and it's been much more effective. After our tort doe "soiled" the floor under her cage three times while I was cleaning her litter pan last Sunday I decided things had to change. I cleaned the top cage litter pan first, put it back under the bottom cage, and then cleaned the bottom litter pan and put it under the top cage. That way none of the cages have a direct line to the floor for more than a few seconds, and it has kept me from cleaning up more messes.
After emailing a contact late last week about our fleece I heard back that she is definitely interested! I've put her name on the list, and we officially have our first customer! Remember, we are taking orders NOW!!
Besides getting our first contact we had a pretty slow week. However, today while I was cleaning the cages we had something a little funny happen. Just before I was ready to put the buck's litter pan back under his cage he suddenly turned tail to the corner and SPRAYED. As in, even if the litter pan had been there it wouldn't have done us much good. We've never had a problem with this before, and the urine guards helped, but not enough. I have no idea what caused him to do it. It was pretty funny at the time, but it won't be if he continues. Thankfully I have the cages on a plastic tablecloth so messes will be easy to clean, so it wasn't a big deal.
Also, if your rabbit's water bottle is leaking, fix it!! After our broken tort's water bottle leaked its full contents into her litter pan three times in three days, I had quite a nasty mess to clean. The problem has been resolved, but it was like scooping out a swamp.
So, those were pretty gross, but hopefully funny for you, stories. I'm still loving raising angora rabbits! Especially now that I see some money being made in the future!
Tip of the Week: I've started swapping out the litter pans when I'm cleaning, and it's been much more effective. After our tort doe "soiled" the floor under her cage three times while I was cleaning her litter pan last Sunday I decided things had to change. I cleaned the top cage litter pan first, put it back under the bottom cage, and then cleaned the bottom litter pan and put it under the top cage. That way none of the cages have a direct line to the floor for more than a few seconds, and it has kept me from cleaning up more messes.
Sunday, January 9, 2011
Harvesting and Chores
This week was all about setting up a routine and continuing on the same path as before. I also have heard of a couple people who are interested in our first fleece!!
I have set up a schedule for the angora farm that I am trying to adhere to, although some daily changes have already been made. The theoretical schedule keeps me from having to do more than one "major" bunny chore in one day.
Sunday: Clean cages
Monday: Brush/harvest fleece
Tuesday: Shred newspapers for bedding
Wednesday: Clean cages
Thursday: Brush/harvest fleece
Friday: Shred newspapers for bedding
Saturday: Day off!
However, I already know that I will be busy tomorrow, so I took the time to clean the cages and brush the bunnies today. I'm also busy on Tuesday, but I'm hoping that if I do a little shredding tomorrow night and a little more Tuesday that I'll have enough to be ready to clean the cages when I get home from work on Wednesday. I have to admit, the rabbits are a lot of work, but I'm finding a way to make it work into my schedule without having to spend an exorbitant amount of time on anything in one day.
Speaking of chores, I trimmed the rabbits' nails last Thursday. Wow, that is a job to be taken on with help, if you ever try to do it yourself. I trimmed them all by myself, and it was NOT fun. However, the nails are trimmed, I'm getting less scratches, and it's one more chore done. I did get a good tip from an online friend about trimming nails (after I had already done it, of course) that you should check out down in the "Tip of the Week" section.
This week I also heard from one person who would be interested in buying yarn once we get spinning. While I'm super-excited about that, I'm even more excited about the fact that while I was at work one day a girl told me that her mom was a spinner, and asked if I sold my rabbits' fleece to spinners. After a few conversations, I have a phone number and email address and a name officially on the waiting list!!
I have now harvested .6 oz from our tort doe and about half that from our broken tort. Remember, we are accepting orders!! All names will be put on a waiting list in a first come, first served order.
I leave you today with a few more pictures of the rabbits and fleeces:
This is the black buck getting ready to be groomed.
Now he's showing off his nicely trimmed nails.
The buns do NOT like to lay on their backs to have their feet and bellies brushed, but alas, it must be done.
Looky! Three labeled bins for fleece, some already getting very full!
This is what .6 oz of angora looks like. It's a large handful.
Tip of the Week: According to my friend, when trimming their nails you should wrap them in a stretchy blanket, like a fleece blanket, and wrap them up into a "bunny burrito". Then you can get to their claws and they can't throw too much of a fit. I will have to try it next time!
I have set up a schedule for the angora farm that I am trying to adhere to, although some daily changes have already been made. The theoretical schedule keeps me from having to do more than one "major" bunny chore in one day.
Sunday: Clean cages
Monday: Brush/harvest fleece
Tuesday: Shred newspapers for bedding
Wednesday: Clean cages
Thursday: Brush/harvest fleece
Friday: Shred newspapers for bedding
Saturday: Day off!
However, I already know that I will be busy tomorrow, so I took the time to clean the cages and brush the bunnies today. I'm also busy on Tuesday, but I'm hoping that if I do a little shredding tomorrow night and a little more Tuesday that I'll have enough to be ready to clean the cages when I get home from work on Wednesday. I have to admit, the rabbits are a lot of work, but I'm finding a way to make it work into my schedule without having to spend an exorbitant amount of time on anything in one day.
Speaking of chores, I trimmed the rabbits' nails last Thursday. Wow, that is a job to be taken on with help, if you ever try to do it yourself. I trimmed them all by myself, and it was NOT fun. However, the nails are trimmed, I'm getting less scratches, and it's one more chore done. I did get a good tip from an online friend about trimming nails (after I had already done it, of course) that you should check out down in the "Tip of the Week" section.
This week I also heard from one person who would be interested in buying yarn once we get spinning. While I'm super-excited about that, I'm even more excited about the fact that while I was at work one day a girl told me that her mom was a spinner, and asked if I sold my rabbits' fleece to spinners. After a few conversations, I have a phone number and email address and a name officially on the waiting list!!
I have now harvested .6 oz from our tort doe and about half that from our broken tort. Remember, we are accepting orders!! All names will be put on a waiting list in a first come, first served order.
I leave you today with a few more pictures of the rabbits and fleeces:
Tip of the Week: According to my friend, when trimming their nails you should wrap them in a stretchy blanket, like a fleece blanket, and wrap them up into a "bunny burrito". Then you can get to their claws and they can't throw too much of a fit. I will have to try it next time!
Monday, January 3, 2011
Coming Soon: Fiber for Sale!
This week was spent getting to know the rabbits, making a few purchases, doing some chores, and harvesting!
This week we settled in with our rabbit habbits. (Hmm, I'm a poet!) The buns get 1/3 cup of food twice a day, plus free choice hay and water. I'm also cleaning the cages twice a week for now, although I may amend that to three times a week after the mess I had to deal with yesterday. Yikes. Besides that, they are working out fantastically. I'm still getting some battle wounds when I brush them, as they REALLY need their nails trimmed, but we're all getting used to the process of brushing.
Last week we purchased a paper shredder to make our own bedding. Any newspaper and junk mail that we get is going straight into the shredder for cheap bedding, which is a bit more of a chore, but worth it.
On to harvesting:
Above are a couple pictures of me harvesting our tort. Any time now she'll start shedding her coat for real, but she's started letting some of her fleece go when I comb her. I've been starting off by hand-plucking her before brushing. Here's what I got in one good pluck yesterday:
We already have .3 ounces (I've plucked her twice). Once she lets go of her whole coat I should have a couple ounces to sell, plus a little left for me to spin. So...
Now taking orders!!! If you're interested in some fleece, please email us at seedorff.family.farms@gmail.com and we'll get you on the list! First come, first served.
Tip of the Week: Watch where your rabbits tend to make the biggest messes in their litter pans and put the bedding a bit thicker there and a little thinner elsewhere. You can hopefully make your bedding stretch a little further! Also, when cleaning cages, invest in some good plastic gloves. It's much quicker to empty the large trays (too large to just dump into a garbage can) with your hands.
This week we settled in with our rabbit habbits. (Hmm, I'm a poet!) The buns get 1/3 cup of food twice a day, plus free choice hay and water. I'm also cleaning the cages twice a week for now, although I may amend that to three times a week after the mess I had to deal with yesterday. Yikes. Besides that, they are working out fantastically. I'm still getting some battle wounds when I brush them, as they REALLY need their nails trimmed, but we're all getting used to the process of brushing.
Last week we purchased a paper shredder to make our own bedding. Any newspaper and junk mail that we get is going straight into the shredder for cheap bedding, which is a bit more of a chore, but worth it.
On to harvesting:
Above are a couple pictures of me harvesting our tort. Any time now she'll start shedding her coat for real, but she's started letting some of her fleece go when I comb her. I've been starting off by hand-plucking her before brushing. Here's what I got in one good pluck yesterday:
We already have .3 ounces (I've plucked her twice). Once she lets go of her whole coat I should have a couple ounces to sell, plus a little left for me to spin. So...
Now taking orders!!! If you're interested in some fleece, please email us at seedorff.family.farms@gmail.com and we'll get you on the list! First come, first served.
Tip of the Week: Watch where your rabbits tend to make the biggest messes in their litter pans and put the bedding a bit thicker there and a little thinner elsewhere. You can hopefully make your bedding stretch a little further! Also, when cleaning cages, invest in some good plastic gloves. It's much quicker to empty the large trays (too large to just dump into a garbage can) with your hands.
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