The Compost Crew

[Nyboy]

vote for tiedye what is a dewlap ? In a well bred dog you should be able to tell sex just by looks.

 

[LocoYokel]

The dewlap is an extra fold of skin under the neck of almost all mature does. It holds fatty deposits that they draw from during pregnancy and nursing. It is also the place they pluck the most fur from when nest building. Bucks don't have them but they do have a more masculine (squarer, heavy boned) head.
Here you can see Suki's dewlap and where she pulled fur:

a more normal looking dewlap:

My buck's head, notice no dewlap:
Different breeds will present more or less the same.

 

[Nyboy]

Got yep I think Harvey is a male.

 

[baymule]

Or you could just turn him over and look for two pink testicles.

 

[LocoYokel]

New Crew!! I couldn't help myself!

Meet Thurston Jr. and Lovey, the lost Howell kids!

I only had two litters survive this year, out of three so that's not quite so terrible... One was from Ella and Pookie, a Flemish Giant buck I borrowed. The other was from Ma'tilda and FurNando. A lady came to get one of Ella's doe kits and ended up letting her daughter have a buck from the other litter. Guess who didn't get separated soon enuff! We have been keeping in touch by email and when she told me about the litter I asked her if she would be willing to sell me back a buck, she said if I took two I could just have them! She also drove the two hour drive with all 8 kits, we sexed them and I got to take my pick.
They are so sweet, unlike the kits I raise for meat these two have been held and cuddled and loved since birth. They are still small enuff (8 weeks) that I can pick them up without my back screaming at me, O the cuddles in the barn have been good for my heart.
I never realized Thurston's true colors until I took photos, he just looked solid grey that day I picked him for his size. Lovey had the most color of the white ones, her pale grey siamese points should darken as she gets older. She has the softest coat, must be from her Silver Fox grandpa, 'Nando. They will live in the barn till spring as they are so young and DH needs to build me another hutch, or three...

It is truly like having lost family return from a deserted island, second generation!

(The compost pile is full but the crew keeps adding to it, and I keep adding to the crew, anyone need some bunny berries/shavings for the garden? Hot chicken/straw mix also available. )

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Without tipping the poor baby upsie-daisy I would guess Harvey is a boy from the pic. No dewlap. Dress Harvey in TieDye, very unisex and would look wonderful with his complexion...

My guess is boy too.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Beautiful rabbits. I hope you have good luck with these. I have a feeling if you want them to live they die and if you don't want any rabbits they multiple like rabbits. lol I had 1 litter of baby rabbits. I did nothing to make this work. Lulu was pregnant when we caught her and we did not know it. She had 5 and all 5 lived. I did not do anything to make this happen. She made the nest, they nursed and one day decided to start coming to the front of the hutch and start eating, but I did hold them a lot and clean the area when they were little, but still they did not like to be carried much. I only have 1 left of the 5. I thought they would be the healthiest of all rabbits ever. I read and read, but the rabbit food I was buying, I think something was wrong with it. It went out of business and they had a recall and i never knew it. These 5 had teeth and ate pellets, carrots, grass, kale, all kinds of stuff and when they were about a year old I noticed some of them having trouble eating. I had one put to sleep he was sick and the vet could not believe his teeth, basically no teeth. The rabbits that were dumped on me and the mother of the 5 all still healthy. I started buying Timothy based hay pellets instead of alfalfa. I guess if you want to raise rabbits to eat and butcher when young that is the best. I don't know, but these fat things are not having any problems right now. I give them stuff out of the garden and weeds and things too and lots of Timothy hay to eat. I know how you feel about your rabbits. I really got attached to mine. I hated losing the ones I raised from babies but they first one died was over a year old and I think most of the problem was the pellets. I did read a lot at first trying to figure out how to raise them without getting the diarrhea and only thing was I came up with was not to separate them too early, but who knows. I NEVER lol no NEVER want to raise another litter. It is like having kids. I have no business raising animals and getting attached to them. My 3 cats are enough.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

New Crew!! I couldn't help myself!

View attachment 23010 View attachment 23011 View attachment 23012
Meet Thurston Jr. and Lovey, the lost Howell kids!

I only had two litters survive this year, out of three so that's not quite so terrible... One was from Ella and Pookie, a Flemish Giant buck I borrowed. The other was from Ma'tilda and FurNando. A lady came to get one of Ella's doe kits and ended up letting her daughter have a buck from the other litter. Guess who didn't get separated soon enuff! We have been keeping in touch by email and when she told me about the litter I asked her if she would be willing to sell me back a buck, she said if I took two I could just have them! She also drove the two hour drive with all 8 kits, we sexed them and I got to take my pick.
They are so sweet, unlike the kits I raise for meat these two have been held and cuddled and loved since birth. They are still small enuff (8 weeks) that I can pick them up without my back screaming at me, O the cuddles in the barn have been good for my heart.
I never realized Thurston's true colors until I took photos, he just looked solid grey that day I picked him for his size. Lovey had the most color of the white ones, her pale grey siamese points should darken as she gets older. She has the softest coat, must be from her Silver Fox grandpa, 'Nando. They will live in the barn till spring as they are so young and DH needs to build me another hutch, or three...

It is truly like having lost family return from a deserted island, second generation!

(The compost pile is full but the crew keeps adding to it, and I keep adding to the crew, anyone need some bunny berries/shavings for the garden? Hot chicken/straw mix also available. )

I have a lot of rabbit manure too and I am hoping my rabbit manure will make my DB and my SIL start thinking I am not so crazy having a few rabbits for pets.

 

[LocoYokel]

I have a lot of rabbit manure too and I am hoping my rabbit manure will make my DB and my SIL start thinking I am not so crazy having a few rabbits for pets.

It is the most wonderful thing, EVER! Straight on the garden, in the flower beds, around the trees and sprinkled over the lawn. Anytime of the year.
Your bunz are beautiful, love their colors. The DB and SIL will change their tune when they start seeing the results! I way overplant my small garden and in the past that did not always work out very well, by mid summer you could see the stress on the plants. Now that I have "quick compost" my garden supports my overplanting by overproducing!

I do have compost piles from the chicken manure "cooking". That gets spread late fall (it will be early spring this time) and worked in well before planting. I try to let that stuff cook for at least two years, with several turnings to help it along. Keeping the piles wet in the summer really helps too.

 

[Gardening with Rabbits]

Beautiful garden! I plant very close too. I have most of the garden covered in rabbit manure. Now that the snow melted off I am going to finish spreading the manure and put leaves on before it snows again.