Attack Rabbit

You'd think I'd learn from my last Rabbit show experience.
Apparently I am destined not to learn from my mistakes.
My mistakes; attending a Rabbit Show after having worked a night shift - sleep deprived, seeking counsel from a family member who has ulterior motives, and last but not least ignoring my own plan of action.
It's hard when you enjoy a homesteading activity such as backyard rabbit meat production not to be like a kid in a candy store. Soo many rabbits soo little space. It's hard to make an intelligent decision that is appropriate for your situation.
Hence the Satin Angora Angst of 2007 where I bought over $100 worth of Pedigreed Satin Angora buns only to give them away a year later. While I have nothing against Angoras that was the wrong breed for our application. No one had time to groom let alone spin the wonderful fiber those buns produced.
So here I am alone in the Dome Arena in Henrietta, New York, attending a Rabbit Show.
So far so good. No one to cloud my judgement as Husband was window shopping at a Gun Show in another area of the Dome. Children were home.
It's just me, grasping a dog carrier. Cold hard cash in my pocket burning a hole. I meander leisurely about enjoying my urban homesteader's shopping spree stopping to inquire about this breed and that breed. I linger here & there letting my hand glide down the backs of bun's who's fur feels like velvet.
After two passes in the exhibit hall still intending to stick to my game plan I stop to talk with a breeder of Giant Chinchillas.
I listen to his enthusiasm.
I enjoy the gentleness of the breed.
Their curious nature.
Their lack of shyness.
Their big 'ss size.
Then I realize I could kill two birds with one stone, so to speak.
Yeah I could have it all.
A buck for my meat production & an attack rabbit.
See who's laughing now my alternative lifestyle neighbors with their foo-foo 4 pound dogs that run a muck muck down our driveway. Leaving lil turds trailing behind them that generate empty promises of removal by their owners.
Visions of a bloody massacre with the only thing left being pink rhinestone collars danced in my head. Let your dog groomer sort it all out later.
I would have a decent poker face when they dog warden came calling wanting to know the facts.
"Just the facts Ma'am".
"Just the facts I nod".
"A Rabbit they said, size of a poodle or a poodle that looked like a huge rabbit. No dogs listed for this address Ma'am".
"Yes, that's right we have no dogs" I gesture towards my tiny city lot.
"Nice bunny rabbit Ma'am".
"A Cotton tail Warden".
"Nice garden Ma'am".
"Thank you" I beam.
"Sorry to have bothered you Ma'am".
"Here enjoy a tomato Warden, It's an heirloom variety named Cherokee Purple".
"Thank you, Ma'am never had one before".
"It's to die for Warden".
So I paid the breeder and told him I had to go find My Man who no doubt was next door caressing Smith & whispering sweet nothings into Wesson's ear. Be back in a few I yelled over the crowd as I asked to leave my one carrier with him.
Long story short Husband fell in love with a blah blah blah (can you tell I'm a one gun gal type person so every gun looks alike to me) so to alleviate some of the "you bought a what" heated conversation that would no doubt had taken place on the ride home he began his plan of attack.
"That's a nice big rabbit", he said standing with his hand on his chin rubbing thoughtfully.
"What's it dress out as", as he poked a finger in the 3 hole cage.
"Not sure but I was planning on using him as a buck to our Cotton tails and later maybe to a New Zealand doe", I smiled pleased with my selection. "But it's just a Giant Chin then gotta be @ least 8 pounds a good sized fryer huh". Didn't mention that I had deviated from the NZ buck plan in favor of a dual purpose bun
He nodded slowly with a smile had I not been tired and excited by my purchase I would have recognized as his "let's have a barter deal".
"Wouldn't it be a good idea since we're here to go ahead & get a doe to match", he spoke into my ear pulling me closer to him. The faint smell of testosterone distracting me.
"Then later if you have a change of heart and want to have more Giant Chins ...", he smiled or was it a smirk?
"I see no evil if you see no evil", said so mater of fact. "See if you can find a doe you like to match". "I'll be back in a few there's something I need to go see about".
Gone in a flash back to the Gun Show.
Long story short I picked up a Giant Chinchilla doe non papered with a great disposition.
Which worked out good 'cause I ended up carrying her out in my arms as he toted the dog carrier with my buck. And his blah blah blah neatly holstered out of sight.
As he guided me out the door and past a local news reporter with cameraman looking for an angle to a lead story on gun toting attack rabbit owners from the hood he leaned into me planting a kiss on my forehead.
"Good doing business with you my wife".

Everyone knows that if you only bring one carrier you'll only buy one bun, right?

This is the buck that I bought out of Michigan being judged.
Would like to write what it is that the judge said but I can't remember other than he said work with him & see you next year.
Curse or insight?

~~ pelenaka ~~

P.S. nice post on my husband's blog about how a simply old fashioned chore binds a family together Woodsrunner's trail: Bread, the families staff of life

Urban Winter

Some where under neath all that snow is my flower garden.

It has been bitterly cold for a very long time here in Western New York. Normally we only have to suffer though two or three weeks of temps in the 20's and below. This Winter it has been a good portion of December, along with the majority of January.

Despite night time temps of zero or near zero we've been good about keeping the furnace set on 64 degrees when everyone is home from work & school.

During the day when it's only me @ home I keep it on 54 since I'm sleeping (night worker) under 6 or more covers.

Fleece P.J.'s and a lined hoodie. Two pairs of wool hunting socks. Knit hat. And sometimes cotton gloves. Needless to say as I get older I grow colder.

So far the heating bill (natural gas 80% efficiency furnace) has been $100 ish to $160 this Winter. This also includes the hot water tank which is 8 y.o. set @ 125 degrees. Our area had an increase in the cost of natural gas earlier in the fall.

New to the on going saga of installing a wood stove is that we finally have all but 2 pieces to complete the class B stove pipe (buying parts on discount as fiances allow). That's the part of the pipe that will be on the outside of the house. Left to buy is the fireproof backer board for the hearth, grout to lay the hearth tiles we bought last Summer, and well the stove & inside stove pipe.

My heart has been set on a Morso Classic that has an upper chamber shaped like an arch. I have only seen one online so once I'm actually get up close & personal could all change.

The second choice is a Jotul black bear model.

Goal is to only heat half of the house at one time with wood heat. If we tried for more we wouldn't be able to use the room the stove was installed in not to mention that is alot of firewood to find & store. Learning curve remembering to open up the bedrooms to allow the heat to rise before we need them to be warm.

In addition to installing the whole stove set up we will also have to rehab a spare door close off the stairs. Depending on how well that goes then I'd like to put back the pocket doors that once closed off the living room or parlor.

Urban Pantry Challenge - To be truthful it's not going as well as my reality depicted it (stop laughing my husband!). But it has kicked my butt into high gear to be more resourceful.

One example is to use more of our whole wheat that we grind in everything that would normally call for white flour. So far we have been making from scratch one egg cake recipes with 1/3 of the cake flour replaced with whole wheat.

So this month I bought a pound of German bologna for school lunches, bacon that was price as a bogo (thinking of making German potato salad & quiches) , gallon of 2% milk on sale $1.99 and 5 dozen eggs (79¢ per doz) @ my local mega mart on the 2nd.

On the 4th at Aldis I bought a bag of brown sugar, bag of raw baby carrots (fav of DD 14) and two bags of tortilla chips for nachos.

Yesterday we bartered freshly ground rye flour for organic grapefruit & oranges. The rye berries were bought last year or so for $50 a bushel, certified organic. Needless to say I still have about half a bushel left.

DH also bought two pounds of Italian sausage & ground beef from the butcher. I'll have to wait to post what he spent there.

Lessons learned - research making whole wheat tortillas and work up some bartering ops.

Neglectful in mentioning that a few months back DH made this for me in an afternoon out of scraps. The roof is plastic as is the corner in the center of the pic, allowing sunlight. We place a scrap piece of plywood over the opening to block wind at night.
There is also a huge pile of hay inside the metal cage that this doe has made into a burrow.


















Senior Cottontail doe (mixed breed) in her store bought hutch. DH made me this nest box outta scraps.
Hard to see but the 3 open sides of the hutch have hard plastic screwed on to block the wind. The plastic is florescent light panel covers.


This hutch rests on bricks over one of the raised beds bunny poo for the garden.
It's been a challenge keeping her nest box stuffed with bedding as she loves to chew it up & move it out.










While my daughter's have been enjoying this Winter with sledding @ local city & county parks along with a Church Sponsored Winter retreat out in the wilds of Wyoming County, I haven't had the energy nor time to venture outside our backyard. Working 5 to 7 nights in a row has really sucked the life outta me. Hard to put my foot down in light of our current economic climate.
Good news is that we have been making very good headway on paying down our debt and affording home improvements.
Eventual goal is to not have a mortgage.


~~ pelenaka ~~

Beds & no pillows

Apparently I can grow Cabbage (center middle of the pic the area that is Sunny), which is something new since my one previous attempts had been a waste of growing space. If all turns out well then I'll can these babies up in a Cole Slaw recipe using jelly jars for individual servings. Only a few of us enjoy it so if I make it up fresh more than half goes to waste.
Foreground is a new raised bed that my New Zealand & Mixed Flemish buns are hard at work providing bunny poo for. Rabbit manure has 4.2% Nitrogen, 1.4% Phosphoric Acid , and .6% Potash. This method saves me on tray cleaning along with not having the cost of wood shavings.
Odor so far hasn't been an issue.
By next Wednesday I hope to have added the final 3 inches of soil & seeded salad greens in this bed & DH has built a lid of some sort - our 2nd cold frame, (hint hint my husband).
1st frost is scheduled between September 23rd to September 29th for my area zone 4/5. Provided Mother Nature doesn't have her own schedule. Not gonna bet the farm that I have a decent harvest of Eggplant or Green Bell Peppers.

Beginnings of a raised bed located in the very back of the back 40, feet that is. The first layer was bunny poo then gradually as compost material becomes available it's added.
Can you guess what I'm canning today? A tip from my B.B. let DH & the girls to a cornfield that wasn't able to be machine harvested. As my 12 y.o. informed corn picking isn't as glam as the old days. I believe she was referring to a hoe down & finding that specially designated corn cob that meat you could kiss a boy. By boy I can only guess she means a Jonas brother.
So today & this evening & more than likely the wee hours of the night I will be pressure canning sweet corn. So far 12 pints are being vaporized as I type.
Later when I have some help I'll move the lovebirds a.k.a. Willie & Handsome (don't judge ... actually Handsome was miss named he is a she), over to this bed so they along with our 3rd bunny can do their duty to the homestead.
In between layers of composting supplies I toss a thin covering of wood ash from the canning stove to provide minerals.
Also when I have enough ground up a thin layer of eggshells for calcium.
Followed by a layer of dirt.
Then bunny poo.
Shampoo. Rinse. Repeat.

Same tomato plant that was pictured being watered by bucket-drip irrigation a few weeks ago. Plentiful but not exactly large in size. I think my biggest was 3 oz. So far about a bushel has been harvested. Never the less these have been making some tasty salsa.

~~ pelenaka ~~

Urban Homestead Livestock a.k.a. putting meat on the table.

This is Handsome, our two y.o. Flemish mixed breed buck bought for $5. He is quiet, eats almost anything I throw at him such as garden weeds along with his rabbit feed.

Right now he is giving me the look since I had actually touched his lady Chocolate. The look says "You know better".

Come winter I set up my portable greenhouse moving their pen in. They both sleep in a big hay filled nest box.

The plan is two or three times a year Handsome jumps the fence and has a tryst with our meat rabbits does.

The after about 16 weeks the results are sent to freezer camp.

Rabbit isn't our primary meat source on our menu so we don't grow more than say 10 fryers of 5 lbs. weight a year. Often it's less than that which is fine for now.

Raising meat rabbits is more or less a two fold benefit on our urban homestead.

First is the bunny poop which is the greatest manure ever since there is no need to age the poop before application. Here is a nice site http://www.rabbitfarming.com/manure.htm

Better garden production = more harvest = less $ spent on food = extra income.

Second is that raising this type of meat is very do able both in cost & location wise.

Can't buy a beef cattle for under $25 and pasture it in your backyard.

So if the worst case scenario does happen be it a version of Red Dawn or simply that money is tight we can still eat.

Rabbit is good eating. Delicate white meat that can be cooked anyway you would chicken.

I can directly control what my rabbits eat.

Resulting in a healthy meat that isn't laced with hormones or antibiotics. Or jammed pack with preservatives.

The care & welfare of my livestock wasn't trusted to a multinational company who's bottom line will always be profit, think pet food or peanut butter. Or the latest- Sara Lee products.

Good site on raising backyard rabbits http://www.rudolphsrabbitranch.com/rrr.htm

~~ pelenaka ~~

Urban Homestead Livestock

I said, "ARE YOU LOOKING AT ME"!

This is Chocolate a pig who is after a year the common law pen mate to my Flemish mixed breed rabbit, Handsome.

What can we say it works for them.

He protects and warms her on cold winter nights in their nest box and she signals for more food with a glass shattering squeal.

Chocolate came to us about six months old from a home that had two big dogs. Her cage was on a small table in a dark hallway. She was a bundle of nerves to say the least. She isn't real social, dislikes being held, but will take feed from your hand now.

Last time she was weighed she came in just under a bit over a pound.