So close! Walls up inside and out! And rumour has it that construction may be complete by this week! And that mean a that I’ll be able to paint!
I am so, so excited!
The possibility of finally moving everyone in to their permanent quarters… fall breedings can commence now!
Which leads to further plans… what pairings will potentially create the best kits? Especially when it comes to creating pairs and trios for other rabbitries. While, of course, considering this fall’s show schedule.
Ok, I’ll be the first to admit that sometimes I’m the root of my own issues. But holy, this summer is just flying!
Is the bunny barn finished? No. But there is definite progress! The sheathing is up, and it’s being insulated as I type… and I actually bought paint for it today! Which gives me hope, because the rabbitry is currently busting at the seams!
For the exterior, I have chosen a lovely “Wedgewood Blue”. I really think it’s going to look quite sharp. The interior I’ll leave white; just primed and painted as a bit of a barrier against any spills or what have you.
I’m back to work again tomorrow… had to pick up some extra shifts to cover some very expensive car issues that have popped up. This is life, right?
Other than that… Daisy’s litter has mostly been weaned. Sabine’s litter is absolutely thriving! No more breeding at the moment though; there are shows coming up, and until the bunny barn really REALLY is complete, I need to keep numbers down to a somewhat reasonable level.
That being said, I should head outside right now and do some evaluating…
I make them, and the universe carries on despite them.
Generally, I’d like to have two or three rabbits due to kindle at the same time, just on case I need to foster kits from one doe to another.
This time, only Sabine caught, and Violet remained open. Which absolutely does suck on one way, but on the other hand, the bunny barn is still unfinished.
I need it to be finished.
My summer litters will now be delayed to fall, and I’ll try to make up for it by showing the does I would otherwise have had bred. Larry needs one more leg for his grand championship, Bella needs two. Beretta needs to see a registrar, which I’ll find at a show – he has all the legs he needs for his grand championship.
I have a new trio rejoining the rabbitry, and I’d love to show them too. Avon Hills Bam Bam is returning on a breeding lease of sorts, with Ravencroft Poppy (Cedar Hill’s Remington x Cedar Hill’s Violet) and newcomer Mystic Meadows Ginger (Merkels Farm Basil x Cedar Hill’s Rosemary). I’m hoping to show both Poppy and Ginger this year too.
Litter assessments will begin tomorrow with Daisy’s litter just reaching 8 weeks. I’m hoping to have the site updated with photos in just a few days.
This post will contain links and references to other websites, which I feel have more experience than I, on this very important topic.
When raising rabbits for meat, there are several things to take into consideration – and size is not necessarily the most important.
When one things of rabbits – big rabbits, Flemish Giants often come to mind, as the breed is known for it’s size, with mature rabbits often reaching between 15 and 20 pounds. Though this appears impressive at first glance, it should be noted that it can take over a year for the breed to reach full maturity – that takes a lot of feed! Additionally, this rabbit breed is rather stocky in bone… the opposite of what is generally aspired to when breeding.
The ideal meat rabbit, regardless of breed, should have a high growth rate, have good flesh with light bones – aka a good meat-to-bone ratio. For that reason, in addition to Champagne d’Argent, New Zealand, Californian, and Silver Fox are also breeds with good growth rates.
One of my favorite resources for all information meat rabbit is Brick House Acres Rabbitry; their website is a wealth of information. I have found that they cover almost every aspect of breeding rabbits for food.
Keeping the most correct kits with the best growth rates as future breeding stock will benefit your rabbitry, if you’re looking to fill your freezer at as low of cost as possible. When I first decided to breed meat rabbits, I figured I’d only be keeping back kits for replacement breeding stock as needed. Instead, I’ve found additional enjoyment in showing rabbits, as well as helping others gain food security with starting their own rabbitries.
I’d like to be able to process my kits between 9-12 weeks, when they hit a minimum of 5 pounds. However, I’ve since learned that there is an advantage to waiting a bit longer on the rabbits that aren’t definite “culls” – those kits who are too narrow in the shoulder, have pinched hips, or are just too “long and low” in their conformation. Sometimes, that means that I don’t butcher until the rabbit has reached 6 or 7 pounds, at 16 weeks or more.
From the financial point of view, the earlier a rabbit is processed, the lower the cost of feed invested. In addition, less time and energy is also spent on the rabbit.
The drawback of processing earlier is that a kit’s pelt may not be able to be tanned before 16 weeks. As I have a collection of pelts in my freezer that came from kits ranging from 9 to 20 weeks, I’ll have a better idea of the issues once I attempt to tan them.
Today I spent sometime time this morning giving the fluffle a quick once-over, and trimming nails. I attempted to pose several of them and taking photos, but… well, it is an area I’m incredible weak. I possess the ability to make a grand champion look like poo!
Beretta is blowing his coat so hard, that it wasn’t even worth trying to take a picture, just trim his nails and try to remove as much loose fur as possible (this has been going on for over a week).
Violet is in such a strong heat, that all she wanted to do was stretch out… the opposite of what I need to pose her. I hadn’t planned on doing any breedings until the bunny barn was done, but I decided to throw caution into the wind and expose her her Beretta.
Violet refusing to pose… because she’s in heat.
Sabine was a slight bit better, but still not overly enthused about having her nails trimmed. A couple more weeks until her litter can be weaned, I may breed her to try to time a litter with Violet. I was going to include a picture, but well, I’d be embarrassing her breeder because the picture was not flattering in the least (remember, Sabine is a Grand Champion, and is gorgeous). It doesn’t help that she massacred her coat when she built her nest.
Of the lot of them, I think Larry cooperated the best. Did I do him justice? Not even a little. Practice makes perfect, and clearly I need a lot. When the Bunny Barn is complete, I’ll have the work space to do better posing and photographing.
Larry isn’t overly enthused, but he was happy with his reward of greenery after his photo session.
On to the Bunny Barn… we are currently still stuck on the “platform” stage, but I’m hopeful that there will be progress later this week. The sooner it is complete, the better I’ll feel – the summer heat can be very unkind, and though I currently have most of the fluffle in a very cool shop, I’d also like to be able to use that workspace as well for other projects. Can’t win them all, I guess.
And happy news, RC02C will be joining her new fluffle soon! She’ll be headed an hour or so North to a mixed breed rabbitry. Will she be the rabbit to convert her new owner to breeding pedigreed Champagne d’Argent? Hard to say, but you never know!
Well, I feel like I got a fair number of things accomplished this week, despite working a good portion of it. On the homestead, I was able to do a good amount of weeding, cut the lawn (I hate having a lawn), and overseeded the carrots, which didn’t seem to germinate as well as I would have liked. The potatoes, onions are garlic are all doing well, and I’m sure it won’t be long until the tomatoes and peppers catch up.
The rabbits are all doing well; I took the opportunity to sex the two older litters (Violet has 3 boys, 1 girl, while Sabine has 2 of each). Violet’s babies in particular are growing very well, every one was at least 2 lbs, 6 oz. They will be turning 6 weeks old in four days, which brings them closer to weaning time.
With the threat of 30C+ weather coming up in the next few days, I’m fully preparing to move rabbits into the shop, which stays very cool in the heat. Granted, I am still waiting on new stacking cages (they were supposed to arrive today), and I will be ever so thankful when the bunny barn is build (which will have air conditioning). I can only do the best I can, though.
Wow, blink once and spring has practically turned to summer. The garden is starting to sprout, through the weeds are definitely taking advantage of the warm and wet.
And bunnies! Daisy blessed us with a litter of 5 kits on June 1st. Everyone is growing well, and squeaking up a storm.
For Violet and Sabine, their kits are also doing fantastic. I’m super excited to watch them grow, there are several stunners amongst them.
In other news… I’ll be delaying any future breedings until the completion of the “Bunny Barn”, due to the upcoming summer heat. Rabbits, especially young ones, don’t tolerate heat overly well. The last thing I want to do, it to lose any of my kits to a heat wave (happened in 2023, and it truly broke my heart).
If all goes to plan, I’m hoping to have an update on the status of the barn within a few weeks!
On February 17th, at the tail end of a cold snap, Daisy delivered a litter of 7 healthy kits. Quite frankly, I was surprised – not by the litter – but that there were only 7… she tipped the scales at 13 lbs a few days ago (she normally only weighs 10 lbs, 4 oz).
I was worried the first night, temperatures dropped to -17°C during the night, so I brought the nest box inside. After putting then back out with Daisy in the morning, I was sitting on pins and needles until my cameras showed thar she checked then over and fed them (normally only once or twice a day). With that part done, I feel like I can relax and let Daisy do her thing.
I spent the better part of a year researching before I decided on the rabbit breed I wanted to bring home. As someone who aspires to have an urban homestead, I knew I wanted a breed that was hardy, had an exceptional temperament, and grew quickly with good feed to meat conversion.
Granted, I think I had only eaten rabbit once of twice prior to this adventure, but that did little to slow me down.
In addition to the points above, I also wanted something that wasn’t too common, and was a heritage/heirloom breed. Oh yeah, and multi-purpose was another advantage.
The American Rabbit Breeders Association recognizes 52 breeds of rabbits, in a variety of shapes, sizes and colors. I narrowed my choice down to American Chinchilla, Silver Fox, and Champagne d’Argent. Ultimately, I went with the Champagne, after being able to locate an excellent breeder within my province.
Armed with my research, I soon found myself with a pedigreed trio (two does and a buck, each with a 3 generation family tree). That was spring of 2023; and that year we had 12 kits. In 2024, we produced 26.
As part of my goal, a good portion ended up in the freezer, and were later used in soup, stew, stir-fry and more. Some hopped on to new homes, joining new rabbitry breeding programs. The one thing I had not expected to happen, was to show my stock… but I did, and I did well! Further to that, I expanded my rabbitry genetics, and imported fresh stock from the eastern United States.
Of course, it wasn’t without occasional struggles. Sometimes does fail to become pregnant, and extreme weather poses additional challenges along the way. I always strive to do the best that I can in any situation.
I’m very much looking forward to what 2025 will bring with the Ravencroft rabbits. Follow along for updates!
