It's Shearing Time Again

Mrs. Weasley Before:



Look at those ear tufts! I've spent a lot of time grooming them so they would grow out with no matts. Her coat came in almost all creme this time, but the red guard hairs are growing out for her next shearing.



My records show that I sheared her 12 weeks ago, almost to the day. I should have paid more attention to when her coat started to shed and sheared her right then because I think I lost a good portion of Prime fiber and there's a short undercoat growing in again. Maybe her haircuts need to be 10 or 11 weeks apart. It's hard to judge when you're a newbie ;-)



All in all it went well but took way too long. The wind was blowing (the forecast is for some nasty weather starting Monday night) and she was not pleased at being exposed and I was totally chilled by the time it was done. Notes for next time.

After pictures tomorrow if the weather holds. She's looking kinda spotty with the red hairs growing in randomly.

Diet Changes...

The Real Food diet is going well. Too well, it seems. There have been some instances of Poopy Butt. A little research points to diet as the main culprit. Specifically that fat rabbits get poopy butts. Huh. So everyone is on a reduced diet (nothing too drastic to start with, never fear) with unlimited hay until we get the situation resolved. I've been spending too much time huddled over an upside down rabbit with a tiny pair of scissors lately...TMI? I could post a tutorial if anyone wants the nitty gritty details and if you aren't squeamish. Just leave a comment...

Prime Angora Fiber for Sale on Etsy

I've finally gotten organized and listed some fluff in my Etsy shop.

Here's Mrs. Weasley's offering -



And Studley's -



More will be coming soon, and I have a bunch sitting around in bags, so if you're interested in getting your hands into some of this luxury fiber, drop me a note at catmccall at gmail dot com and tell me what you want ;-)

Red gets her coat taken away

That's what Red (Mrs. Weasley) looked like before. She was shedding out bits of hair and the ends were getting really dirty, so I decided to take it off. The length was well over 3" for the prime coat and even her belly was nearly 3" long, thick and fine. My notes show that I sheared her last 11 weeks ago, so I guess we're on schedule, but it feels like this shearing is early.

Here we are during the process:



Aren't I a fashion statement? Shearing took place in the back yard on top of the (empty) dog kennel, so no neighbors saw me in all my color clashing glory. My family, of course, is used to this sort of thing. Why bother to match when you know you're not going anywhere and your clothes will have rabbit hair and poop on them when you're done? Functionality over fashion, I say! It's not like the rabbit cares...

No After pictures because my back was killing me - I just moved on to the next chore.

So, I think this is a good time to talk about how the Real Food diet is going. We settled on the following mix:

6 parts whole oats
4 parts commercial pellets (18% protein)
1 part black oil sunflower seeds
1 part rolled barley
1 part wheat berries
and free-choice orchard grass hay at all times. We tried some cheaper hay, but the bunnies were having none of it so we put it to other uses.

All measures are by volume, not weight. I haven't done a cost analysis yet but will report back when I do. The initial buy of barley, wheat and sunflower seeds seemed high, but they will last a lot longer than the oats and pellets. Seven rabbits were eating one bag of pellets (50 pounds) every 10 days, at a cost of $16.00 per bag, and each rabbit was cleaning up at least a cup of pellets a day. With the new mix, they eat a bit less than a cup each.

All of the rabbits are happy with the new diet and are in good weight. A bit heavy, perhaps, but I'm not breeding them, so they don't need to be lean and mean. Except for Studley - he would prefer only sunflower seeds in his dish, thankyouverymuch, and digs through the dish, tossing out the pellets until all of the sunflower seeds are gone and then he eats the rest. Bad bunny!

I also give them greens from the yard and/or garden on a nearly daily basis which they all love. Chard is a current favorite, as are blackberry leaves.

As far as wool production is concerned, I think it's up. I still need to weigh how much fiber Red produced, but I'm betting it's better than the last shearing. I do know it's longer and seems thicker, at least on her belly. All of the rabbits are ready to be shorn 2-3 weeks early, with only Macy and Studley still a bit short, but they are last on the shearing list. The white rabbits are blowing bits of their coats and have needed a bit more grooming than before the last shearing. I'll get to them this week, Macy and Studley next week.

All of the buns are eager and happy at feeding time and seem to have better attitudes than when they were getting only pellets. Weather may have something to do with it - we haven't had a Summer here, so temps are in the low 60's, pretty ideal for angora rabbits. It's been dry for the last few weeks with some pretty high winds, but they are protected in any case. All in all, I'd say they have a good life right now. If they were still in the Valley they would be broiling in their heavy coats and I would be putting frozen water bottles in their cages twice a day.

A Word of Caution

If your Dory-Man mows the lawn and the area where the blackberries grow, be sure to rake before putting angora rabbits in near-full coat out in their pens for a bit of sun. Yeah. Their bellies will pick up every stray burr and thorn and loose sticky leaf and you will spend a very long time trying to get the mess put to rights. The rabbits will not be pleased by your inexperience and will make the whole process miserable.

We Have Video!

We now have video capabilities here at the Rockin' Red Rabbit Ranch! Check out Mrs. Weasley in the rabbit yard:



Wait until we get sound!

Update: We figured out the sound thing. Here's Studley being blown away:

Exercise Pens

I answered an ad on CraigsList the other day. A woman was looking to buy a pen to exercise her bunnies on the yard and wanted to know if anyone had a used one they were willing to part with.



Being cheap...Scotch...frugal (whatever) I e-mailed her with my solution to this problem. I bought a roll of 1" x 2" X 24" tall wire used to build rabbit cages. I figure I'll need to do some re-building sooner or later, so if my idea didn't work I wouldn't be out any money. The wire comes in rolls 25' long, and I cut it in half so I could have two bunnies at a time out taking the air. I form them into circles and secure with a bungee cord.



As you can see, the rabbits can stand up all the way and not get the idea (knock wood!) that they can jump over the top. The wire rolls up for storage, the bungee holding it all together so it won't get used for something else. Easy, cheap, functional, and the rabbits seem to like their time spend on solid ground. As an added bonus, the pens can be moved around the yard to where the dandelions are growing and the rabbits munch them right down.

Of course, these pens will not keep a determined rabbit contained - some rabbits will dig right under them, or hop over, or just knock the wire down and make their escape, so do supervise them and be sure they won't be threatened by dogs or other predators. Don't be surprised if your neighbors stare and shake their heads at your folly.