Update on my new rabbit venture...
Oct 4, 2014 21:40:15 GMT -7
geron, angelhelp, and 2 more like this
Post by Deleted on Oct 4, 2014 21:40:15 GMT -7
Ok, so I have always had meat rabbits...this past July I got into pedigree Flemish Giants. The buck Jim bought me to begin with for $125 was Blackjack...he was so awesome...in August we had some nasty heat and he didn't make it, the heat was to much for him. So Jim bought me another buck from the same man, Blackjacks full litter mate brother. His name is SlimJim (named him after my BFF for multiple reasons). Slim has turned out to be so sweet and gentle and huge and wonderful and I DEARLY love him!! I currently have him and 3 does....all have full pedigrees with very sought after show bloodlines. I consider myself lucky to have an excellent start. I will be selling one of my does, and have made arrangements to gain a few more high quality does between now and the beginning of summer next year.
I have Gator, a beautiful dark steel doe that several people across the country are wanting...as soon as I verify her pedigree with the original breeder, she will be put up for sale. I want light grays, and although she has them in her pedigree, she would be much better off in a rabbitry with someone breeding for steels, especially since her color is VERY hard to find...so I know I can sell her and invest in another top bred show quality doe for my breeding stock. She will probably either end up in Florida or New York.
I have Ethel, a steel doe. She is 16# and still gaining. She was not one I expected to have and at the time did not want, but now that she is healed and healthy and I know her pedigree is legitimate (thanks to the original breeders record keeping!), I am THRILLED to have her! She is bred to have my first litter of pedigreed kits around Halloween. Only the best will be tattooed and sold or traded...the absolute best (buck or doe) will be staying with me as a future breeder and show prospect. Then when her kits hit 8 weeks and are weaned, My mentor (the man teaching about breeding and showing pedigree Flemish Giants (FGs)) will be trading me his best light gray junior doe or buck (the opposite sex of whatever I keep so I will have a second buck for backup) and $150 cash for her.
This cash will go into a jar for feed and for reinvesting in another doe from a breeder out of Florida. A friend lives down there and I plan to pay them a visit next summer for a few days and hope to set it up to bring a new junior doe home with me when I come back. This doe and the one traded for will put me back at 3 does and 2 bucks for my breeding stock. So far, so good....IF everything works out.
Then we have my precious Raylene. She is half sister to my buck through the sires side, and bred to be a top show producer. She is my baby girl. I will be breeding her for the first time around mid December. I will pick the best doe they produce and grow it out until May. A very highly respected breeder (recognized around the world for his stock) from Texas will be showing in the Nationals in Ohio in May. He will be bringing me back the best of his junior dies that places and trading me even for the doe from my litter. This will be my 4th and final doe...for the time being...until I can get more hutches built and a building up to house everyone comfortably.
I am trying to come up with a name for my place to register it, so I can list it on the pedigrees...I am leaning towards A&B Hobby Farm or A&B Homestead...not sure yet what it will be yet. We have decided to turn the 12'x24' hay building into a shelter for my precious buns this fall, winter and early spring. Jim has his pad almost complete, so when his new (2nd) shop goes up and is finished, he is going to see if the company will come to my place and go ahead and put me a small barn up...something big enough to hold 60 solar panels on the south facing roof...but small enough it won't kill me on the taxes. This will be a major part of the rest of the plans for my place!! The area for the buns inside will be closed off and have air conditioning in the summer and minor heat int the winter. Just enough to keep it warmed to about 40* in the winter and cool enough to keep it at or just below 80* in the summer. We don't want o chance loosing any more to the weather. And this will make it possible to breed any time of the year and not be pushed to breed during the deep of winter.
I plan to start showing next spring or as soon as I can in the next couple years, at least here in Missouri to start with...IF I have time with classes an everything else. Otherwise, I will wait until I graduate and just spend the time between now and then establishing my own rabbitry and pedigree lines and start showing after I graduate. It is a hobby that has turned out to be a lot more fun and educating than I ever thought it would be,,,and is a lot cheaper than having several head of cattle...which is another deal I have going on! LOL!!
Enough if this mess for now...here are my current babies...
My new light gray buck, SlimJim...weighs 13# now at 8 months old and meets the SOP minimum weight.
My newly bred steel doe, Ethel...weighs 16# now and still gaining, has passed the SOP minimum weight.
My light gray doe, Raylene...weighs 13# at 7 months old, needs to gain 1# in the next month to meet SOP minimum weight.
My steel doe, Gator...weighs 13# and still gaining, needs 1# to meet SOP minimum weight...FOR SALE SOON.
I have Gator, a beautiful dark steel doe that several people across the country are wanting...as soon as I verify her pedigree with the original breeder, she will be put up for sale. I want light grays, and although she has them in her pedigree, she would be much better off in a rabbitry with someone breeding for steels, especially since her color is VERY hard to find...so I know I can sell her and invest in another top bred show quality doe for my breeding stock. She will probably either end up in Florida or New York.
I have Ethel, a steel doe. She is 16# and still gaining. She was not one I expected to have and at the time did not want, but now that she is healed and healthy and I know her pedigree is legitimate (thanks to the original breeders record keeping!), I am THRILLED to have her! She is bred to have my first litter of pedigreed kits around Halloween. Only the best will be tattooed and sold or traded...the absolute best (buck or doe) will be staying with me as a future breeder and show prospect. Then when her kits hit 8 weeks and are weaned, My mentor (the man teaching about breeding and showing pedigree Flemish Giants (FGs)) will be trading me his best light gray junior doe or buck (the opposite sex of whatever I keep so I will have a second buck for backup) and $150 cash for her.
This cash will go into a jar for feed and for reinvesting in another doe from a breeder out of Florida. A friend lives down there and I plan to pay them a visit next summer for a few days and hope to set it up to bring a new junior doe home with me when I come back. This doe and the one traded for will put me back at 3 does and 2 bucks for my breeding stock. So far, so good....IF everything works out.
Then we have my precious Raylene. She is half sister to my buck through the sires side, and bred to be a top show producer. She is my baby girl. I will be breeding her for the first time around mid December. I will pick the best doe they produce and grow it out until May. A very highly respected breeder (recognized around the world for his stock) from Texas will be showing in the Nationals in Ohio in May. He will be bringing me back the best of his junior dies that places and trading me even for the doe from my litter. This will be my 4th and final doe...for the time being...until I can get more hutches built and a building up to house everyone comfortably.
I am trying to come up with a name for my place to register it, so I can list it on the pedigrees...I am leaning towards A&B Hobby Farm or A&B Homestead...not sure yet what it will be yet. We have decided to turn the 12'x24' hay building into a shelter for my precious buns this fall, winter and early spring. Jim has his pad almost complete, so when his new (2nd) shop goes up and is finished, he is going to see if the company will come to my place and go ahead and put me a small barn up...something big enough to hold 60 solar panels on the south facing roof...but small enough it won't kill me on the taxes. This will be a major part of the rest of the plans for my place!! The area for the buns inside will be closed off and have air conditioning in the summer and minor heat int the winter. Just enough to keep it warmed to about 40* in the winter and cool enough to keep it at or just below 80* in the summer. We don't want o chance loosing any more to the weather. And this will make it possible to breed any time of the year and not be pushed to breed during the deep of winter.
I plan to start showing next spring or as soon as I can in the next couple years, at least here in Missouri to start with...IF I have time with classes an everything else. Otherwise, I will wait until I graduate and just spend the time between now and then establishing my own rabbitry and pedigree lines and start showing after I graduate. It is a hobby that has turned out to be a lot more fun and educating than I ever thought it would be,,,and is a lot cheaper than having several head of cattle...which is another deal I have going on! LOL!!
Enough if this mess for now...here are my current babies...
My new light gray buck, SlimJim...weighs 13# now at 8 months old and meets the SOP minimum weight.
My newly bred steel doe, Ethel...weighs 16# now and still gaining, has passed the SOP minimum weight.
My light gray doe, Raylene...weighs 13# at 7 months old, needs to gain 1# in the next month to meet SOP minimum weight.
My steel doe, Gator...weighs 13# and still gaining, needs 1# to meet SOP minimum weight...FOR SALE SOON.
