Wednesday, May 9, 2012

Meet Our Rabbits!

The week after Easter, I went to a swap meet/flea market that was only a few miles away. I had never attended one of these before. It was fun, but there was so much to see... all kinds of animals for sale or trade. I saw chickens, guineas, ducks, geese, turkeys, quail,  pigs, goats, sheep, puppies, rabbits, and even some calves. The rabbits are what I was looking for. I met this nice couple from our area and bought some rabbits from them. I bought 2 does and a buck. They are so tame and pretty/handsome. I brought them home. Then told Kevin we needed a hutch. LOL Yes, he knew I was planning to find some rabbits, but as usual we weren't prepared. So, we got to work and built a hutch.
We didn't want to spend a lot of money on this, so most of it is from scrap and recycled lumber. (The front leg on the right, isn't leaning like that. It is the angle of the camera.)  We still need to get the roof on, but need to buy some plywood first. It will have a pitched roof when we get done. We laid a couple of pieces of tin on top and held it down with 4 concrete blocks. Kevin said that would be enough to hold the tin on. He was wrong. LOL We live on a hill and get lots of wind. About a week after we got this built, we  had a day with furious winds. I was sitting in the house and heard tin rattling. I thought, 'Oh no, the hutch!' I looked and sure enough it had blown off. It took 3 tries, but with the help of the Lord, I finally got the tin back on and the blocks weighting it down. Then I drug 4 more blocks out and put them on it. Then for good measure, I stacked 2 tires in the middle of it. It has not blown off since. I am a good finagler!

So here is our Buck, Sam. He is such a love bug. Isn't his color gorgeous? These are basically just mutt rabbits, but I don't care. He has just a bit of Lop in him. That is why his ears flop around some times. LOL
Here is Sara. She is the eater of the bunch. Wow can this girl put it away!
Now this girl was supposed to be called Abbie. Hmmmm, she has such attitude that her name became Sassy. She tried to escape by going right over Kevin's shoulder when we first put her in the hutch.  She has pulled on her feeder and dumped the pellets. She just has attitude, but she is the friendliest one. I love her.  By the way, their feeders are now fixed where they can no longer dump them. We took care of that yesterday. (grin) Here is Sassy, our attitude girl.
We built the does cages in one unit  (a wire separates them), then screwed it on to the base. The base legs are treated 4X4s set into the ground. The buck cage is separate, but also screwed onto the base. At the moment, I have cardboard stapled over both ends and the back. Before winter, that will be replaced with plywood. I might also remove it once the summer temps begin to sore. They will need every bit of breeze they can get. 
Here is another picture of Sam before I stapled the cardboard on it.
I hope you liked seeing our rabbits. I visit them quite often throughout the day. They are so soft. When we bought them, we were told the does are sisters and 4 months old. The buck is about 5 months old. 

Thanks for visiting. Please come again.

9 comments:

Allie said...

They're beautiful!!!!!

Just Ramblin' said...

I love your rabbits and how fun that they have such distinct personalities. My granddaughter acquired a rabbit last fall and I think she and her daddy are going to building a hutch for it. Right now it lives in a small one inside their garage. Have fun with your bunnies.
Nola

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi Winona, I enjoyed seeing pictures of your rabbits. I think if I had rabbits and chicks I would be out there loving them all the time! Back on the farm I use to go to the barn, get in the pen with th calves and love them. Not sure much gardening or cooking would get done if I had animals. Nancy at Cozy Thyme Cottage

Teresa said...

They are so pretty, Winona. I like Sassy's coloring, dark head and feet against her lighter colored body. Amy had a Mini Rex when she was younger. His fur was SO soft. He was house trained and loved to have his tummy rubbed.

Cozy Thyme Cottage said...

Hi again! Since I can't post on Homemaking/Homesteading site I just wanted to say your Birdie Stitches quilt is so nice! Nancy at Cozy Thyme Cottage

* Crystal * said...

Aww they are adorable, I love rabbits :) Was raising standard Rexs & Californians for a while.... The Cali's were mean, but the rexs were so mellow & sweet... When I crossed the two, I got bunnies that looked like your Sassy :)

Had to choose one obsession though, and keeping the bucks cool enough through our summers was a challenge & labor intensive.... That caused heat sterility and no babies.... So, I just focus on my goats now :)

One of these days I wanna build a big colony to house a buck & 4 does and see if they'd do better with the heat if they could make burrows..... Not happening anytime soon, but maybe sometime :)


Thanks so much for stopping by my blog & commenting! Enjoy your bunnies :)

Paula said...

Your new rabbits are beautiful, Winona! But I'm more impressed with the coop~ you all did an awesome job! I'll know who to call next time I need a chicken coop... *wink*
Stop by and say hi when you can... I'm trying to get back into blogging regularly again. Blogger went and changed everything and I'm having to learn it all over again. *UGH*

Sharon said...

I LOVE those bunnies!

superman said...

very Nice Article and Pictures are very beautiful I forgot to mention last night Play bazaarthat I've nominated you to receive The Versatile Blogger award.Satta king

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