successes and failures part 4

successes and failures part 4 - the rabbits

Raising the rabbits has been pretty fun. I love the babies, they are just so cute. I love watching them grow bigger each day. I love dragging myself out of bed in the morning, and as soon as I get down there they are all hopping towards me, waiting for food and fresh water. I can't go long without smiling. While processing day is always hard, I know that they lived good lives.

Failure - Late start breeding. We didn't have a litter to sell until July. Next year we will start breeding in January with a heat lamp in the big hutch, giving us late May to early June rabbits for sale.

Success - Demand. We sold all the rabbits we had to offer within two weeks of having them available. Next year we will up the price from $7 a pound to $8 a pound.

Both - The rabbit tractors we used in the front yard worked pretty well, except for several escapes. Next year we need to make bigger tractors to allow for a 6 inch run of fencing along the edges to prevent digging out.

Failure - How much is it worth? I'm not sure yet, but I don't think we made enough money to justify the amount we spent in feed. We need to work on a fodder system to grow our own grasses to feed, and we are discussing the idea of focusing on mushroom logs more and not selling the rabbits at all, although I don't think we are going to eliminate them completely.

I think we would enjoy the entire process more if we we were eating more rabbit is all.

Live simply,

Angela and Jonathan

Comments

a tribute to Zaphod

It has been nearly a month since the untimely death of our dearest kitty. It is late tonight, I cannot sleep and my mind is filled with grief and sorrow still. I have heard it said that loving animals is only setting oneself up for pain in the end. I may have believed it, but until now I have never felt it. Not to say that I have not lost a pet in the past, in fact several, but fortunately they had all lived long and happy lives before old age and illness took them away. This cannot be said for Zaphod. His life only lasted two short years, and it is the knowing he was meant to spend another decade with us that pains me the most. We adopted Zaphod when he was only five weeks old, a tiny grey fuzz ball too small to eat. He refused a bottle or wet food, and we honestly worried he was not going to survive those first few days. After several trips to the vet for IV fluids and two weeks of force feeding, he accept a bowl of dry food for his first real meal, despite my

a new chapter

Things are changing around here. I haven't even finished my cob series, but life just keeps getting in the way. Jonathan and I are currently looking for a new place to call home. Sometimes you have to accept that things aren't working, and do something different. Unfortunately we are going to have to quit our farmers market. We are looking for homes for our animals, and selling off what we can. We will miss everyone so much, but his is a new chapter in our lives. We are excited about finding a place closer to our friends and family, where we can visit and hang out more often. We can't wait to have a house to call our own again, or an apartment, or whatever it may end up being. We haven't had a place all our own since we lived in the studio apartment just after getting back together. I think that was in 2010, whew! It hurts to have to start over, but we are trying not to be discouraged. We have confidence in ourselves and each other, and we're gonna be just fine

the point is

DISCLAIMER: This post contains material that may be considered graphic or inappropriate to some individuals. Continue at your own risk. You have been warned. Ok.Thanks.Carry on. My aunt, my dad's sister, came to stay last night. She has never stayed the night before, in fact we haven't ever seen her too much, holidays and whatnot. Several times a year. She is a nice lady, but she has some issues, we'll leave it at that. My problem is this: as soon as we arrived home last night, around 9:30 at night, after being gone since 9 that morning, the moment we see each other, the first words out of her mouth are, "you're poor bunny rabbits are freezing to death out there!" Imagine my long exasperated sigh here. Having farm animals isn't the same as having pets. I think Jon Katz said it best in a post last week, "I can give them shelter, warm water, good hay, I cannot make them comfortable or keep them warm, they accept their lives." We raise rabbits

luna acres

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