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Happy Holiday bunnies part II!

On December 25, 2022

Three more cute Happy Holiday messages featuring bunnies!

First up is a young grey dutch (didn’t look at the gender yet). I was taking pictures with it and a littermate (below) because by themselves they weren’t very cooperative. Out of all the individual pictures, this is the only nice one…I happened to catch it right when it was checking out the sound of a goose sneaking up behind me so I got a nice side profile. Good bunny!

Next we have the aforementioned littermate with the grey Dutch above. They both decided that the feather boa was a good hiding spot and buried their noses down in it long enough for me to get a picture! This is one of the cute ages for sure.

Last but not least we have a Harlequin Dutch doe that I’m keeping to be one of my harli breeders. She’s very laid back…when I rested the stocking on her for the picture she hunkered down and decided it was a good place for a nap. She (and the other two Dutch above) totally ignored the jingle bells while I was trying to take their picture, which worked out well.

Well, that’s it for the good Christmas/ Holiday rabbit pictures! Maybe soon I’ll do an outtake post :). Hope everyone had a safe and happy holiday, whichever one you celebrate!

White rabbit in christmas stocking, only hind leg and tail sticking out

Holiday photo fun with bun….nies ! Three good pictures and a bit of story.

By nsmar4211

On December 24, 2022

In Holiday, Livestock, Rabbits

I had to make it rhyme, right?

The weather was nice and the lighting was good so I decided to set up a little studio outside and try and get one good holiday rabbit picture to send out. I ended up with a couple of cooperative subjects (kinda) so I decided to post the results on the blog!

This is Cyndi Hopper. She’s a young black otter Rex I got from one of my several Rex breeder friends, Georgia’s Farm and Rabbitry is how she’s listed on Facebook. I snapped this picture right before she decided to taste test the feather boa…but not to worry, I was faster than she was. She didn’t care for the bow and would not even let me put it on her for a second!

Next up we have Scarlet. She is one of the Rex babies I had to hand raise and force feed off mom (write up on that coming soon). They’re a sweet bunch, although you wouldn’t know it from the side eye I’m getting in this picture! Scarlet kept grabbing the jingle balls and throwing them around or nosing them off the table…hilarious to watch!

Last up for this post is Anabelle. She’s another of the hand raised Rex babies and the only REW (Red Eyed White) in the litter. In this picture I wanted to put her tail first in the stocking for a cute “rabbit head popping out of stocking” picture, but she was having none of that! Instead we went with “rabbit investigating stocking and then backing out” image. Next time I might toss some treat of some type in the stocking and have more time to get an even cuter picture !

*No rabbits were harmed in the making of these pictures and everyone got one on one cuddles after their photo sessions*

Please note all pictures are copyright Susan L. Marsh and not for distribution. Thank you!

Tiniest frog ever, you will be amazed

By nsmar4211

On December 23, 2022

In Nature

Look at this cute frog! Just chilling on a metal pipe….

But wait ..that’s not a pipe! That’s a cattle panel fence piece! I’m not sure how long this guy (or girl) has been past the tadpole stage but it can’t be far behind….so cute!

BTW, the title is poking fun at all the ads I’ve seen lately…although I was amazed when I saw this little teeny tiny frog.

Very slow hatching duck…will it make it?

By nsmar4211

On October 27, 2022

In Animal Health, Ducks, egg hatching

I somehow missed this post back then the ducks were hatching! Better late than never 🙂

I had one duck in an egg that just took his sweeet little time hatching. Problem was, the moms were stomping his egg and he wasn’t ready (note the bright red membranes). So I brought him in to keep an eye on him, using the heat from the brooder heat on him.

First coming in after I cleaned off the broken shell pieces:

A better look at him (no, I didn’t peel anything extra, this was the damage from the moms stomping him). I used some liquid coconut oil to moisten the edges of the shell where the membrances were to stop him from getting “shrinkwrapped” (membranes dry and trap the baby). Then I placed him in a small 1 quart cup with damp paper towels underneath and put him in the brooder directly under the light.

He stayed like this for 24 hours!

Caveat…always give them enough time to come out on their own. 24 hours seemed forever for this guy to just be sitting in the shell, but that’s how long it took before the veins in the shell membrane were gone! Had I tried to get him out too early, he would have probably died from blood loss. Make the conditions as good as you can and then wait…

Then…I looked over and he decided he’d had enough and gave a HUGE kick and tada!!! Freedom! I didn’t even have time to get a picture…

However, he wasn’t done yet since the umbilical cord area had not closed up (barely visible here).

I changed the paper towels and removed all the shell/membrane pieces and gave him some freshly dampened paper towels to lay on. I also placed a small amount of triple antibiotic ointment on the open naval area.

He stayed in the cup for another 12 hours until he was dry and the navel dried. The puppy pads were about to be changed in this picture…ducks are messy!

Once dry, a final inspection (including a sniff from Rudy, who never cared about baby birds oddly) and he was added to the group.

A few hours later…Can you tell which one he is? He ended up blending right in and had no issues!

Gator vs goose :( Very sad situation for all involved.

By nsmar4211

On October 13, 2022

In Animal Health, Geese, Livestock, Pond, Wildlife

WARNING: VERY GRAPHIC PICTURES AT BOTTOM!!!!!

A good sized (6 foot plus) gator managed to get into the pond without me noticing. Had I know it was there, I would not have let the geese in the yard-but they were free ranging on the property that day.

The gator snuck up on and grabbed one of my geese! Someone was outside and got me after noticing the goose flapping frantically across the pond…and then noticed the gator following it.

I ran outside and grabbed the goose out of the weeds at the pond’s edge, less than six feet away from the gator who was still coming for its dinner! Too late though…the gator had already torn large chunks of skin off my poor baby. Luckily for me, the gator stayed in the water.

After getting the rest of the flock to go into the fenced area (not an easy task while holding one of them), I took her inside to try and treat her. I sprayed her wounds with Vetericyn Wound Spray and put gauze pads dampened with the same spray over the open areas. She ended up with 2 large areas and several smaller areas down to the muscle

I then wrapped her with vet wrap to hold the gauze in place and put her in a plastic carrier with puppy pads in it (bedding would stick to the wounds). She was in the shower enclosure and I closed the door so she’d stay warm, leaving the light on for her and checking her every 20 min. I offered her a bowl of warm water with a little molasses in it, she drank about half of it during the rest of the day.

A couple hours later on one of my checks I noticed she was breathing heavily. My heart sank as I somehow knew this was the end. I picked her up and held her and comforted her the best I could, tell her what a good girl she is. She laid her head on my shoulder and calmed down…and then shortly passed away.

RIP girl…you were loved.

I hate this part of having animals.

(and no, no animal is allowed to free range any more until I figure out how to keep alligators out of a pond)

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For those who may be trying to figure out what got their animal, I’m including her injury pictures. Please do not share without permission.

What magic device do I use to trim rabbit toenails?

By nsmar4211

On October 4, 2022

In Animal Health, Livestock, Rabbits

Stay tuned for the secret, magical instrument that keeps my rabbit’s nails from being the Destroyer of Human Flesh (TM)!

I will soon unveil…right here…right for you…my secret. And no books to buy, subscriptions to start, videos to watch (yet).

Are you ready?

Got your wallet out?

Because …it’s….toenail clippers!

Wait…what??? Just regular human toenail clippers?

YES!

But seriously…I prefer the heavier duty nail clippers (like for men’s toenails) to any guillotine type animal clippers. Easier to handle and they don’t slip while you’re halfway done cutting.

My current set is these from amazon…because…they’re cheap enough in price that when I lose them (and I will), it won’t be a huge drain on the finances!

So you don’t need anything fancy. Just grab some nail clippers and go for it!

Hinges and more hinges-odd solutions for tricky spaces too!

By nsmar4211

On September 30, 2022

In Home repair, Housing and confinement, Livestock

This post will be a post about posts….well, at least ones with hinges attached :). I snapped a few quick pictures to show some of the different ways I’ve attached gates to posts around the homestead.

First up is a galvanized tubing gate attached to a round wood post. I used an inexpensive (Harbor Freight) strap style hinge here. Drill holes through the tubing and put bolts with nuts on the gate side. For the post, the hinge is made out of a soft enough metal that you can bend it round with your hand or gentle taps with a hammer. The star head wood screws also help pull it in.

Next is one that was done for me. This is a gate that is simply a cut up piece of cattle panel. Another strap hinge was welded onto the panel for me. Then this time the flat part is simply screwed onto the post-this was a landscape timber so it had a flat face.

Third in the line up is another cattle panel gate. This hinge is actually designed to be welded on both sides…again, I had it welded onto the cattle panel for me and then a hole was drilled into the flat part and a lag bolt put on. As you can see, the zinc hinges start rusting almost immediately after being welded (the heat destroys the coating).

Last but not least, this required no welding at all! The gate is actually the spring base to a baby crib that I found by the side of the road. The square tubing it is made out of is thin enough that self tapping metal screws went right in. To attach the other side to an existing post with layers of fencing on it, pieces of #9 galvanized wire (fence repair wire) were put around the existing post and twisted together. This gate is a little floppier than the others, but since it only divides duck pens there’s not much pressure on it.

Things to bring to a farmer’s market (as a vendor)

By nsmar4211

On September 23, 2022

In Shows and Markets

This is a quick list style post of everything I took as a vendor to a local farmer’s market. Hopefully it helps someone not forget something! At this particular one I brought ducks, rabbits, bonsai, and pottery. In no particular order, here’s the packing list:

Tent
Tent Weights
Table(s)
Tarp – for bad weather
Tarp-lining the car against poo
Apron
Signs
Cell Phone
Change
Check / set up square account for taking cards
Boxes (to send sold animals home with)
Bag of bonsai soil (in case of spills)
Old keyboard stand for under rabbit carrier
Water bowls
Gallon of water
Table covers
Drinks/snacks for me (needed more drinks)
Hat
Sunglesses
Towels to cover cages from heat
Ducks in cages
Rabbits in Carrier
Bonsai in crate
Other plants in plastic planting flat
Pottery (pre priced) in a plastic tote
Paper towels
Rubbing alcohol (for scratches)
Baby wipes
Permanent marker
Blank tags (last minute signs)
Rabbit nail clippers
Bucket (to put purse and supplies in)
Purse
Binder clips (to hold signs down)
Battery operated fan (mine was a neck fan)

I think that’s it! And it all fit in the car 🙂

Bad nope rope…almost a disaster for baby birds

By nsmar4211

On September 21, 2022

In Animal Health

It rained…a lot ….6 inches in 3 days and still coming down. So the dogs can’t just stay outside and I end up letting them in and out a few times more than normal.

As I’m bringing them in, both of them looked next to the brooder and jump a foot back! Anything that startles the dogs is never a good thing!

So I carefulyyyyy check behind the brooder…and there in the shadows is a red and orange rope that suddenly coils up and tried to look fierce!

I don’t mind good snakes, aka nope ropes. I encourage then to hang out in the yard and am sad when one doesn’t win in a fight against a lawnmower.

BUT…..I draw the line when they go after my animals. There are enough mice and rats and even lizards, so when something eyes a baby quail I am not happy.

I managed to get the dogs inside and get help holding a flashlight to find the red rat snake.

Next thing Mr. Rat snake knows, it’s being grabbed up by a pair of rubber tipped grabbers and unceremoniously ushered out in the yard , rain or no rain.

A quick head count shows that I was right on time as the snake had not gotten into the brooder yet…whew. This snake was small enough that the wire on top would have let him get in for dinner.

It’s for these reason I try and keep some wire on hand…a grinder, tin snips, and 5 feet of 1/4″ hardware cloth later the quail had another layer of wire on their brooder. Then I did the same for the chick brooder to hopefully prevent any successful snake snacking!

Update: It’s been a month and no missing chicks of either type 🙂

New collars for mischievous baby goats with cool feature

By nsmar4211

On September 16, 2022

In Goat, Livestock

Decided to start collar training the baby goats because of how hard they are to snag when they don’t want to be caught (aka any time there isn’t food involved). As they tend to get themselves into everything, I ended up buying cat collars that have a breakaway feature. Inexpensive enough that if (when) they lose them, replacing won’t cost a fortune. Multi colors to tell everyone apart, although they are pretty obviously not the same. We’ll see how long these last!

The little cat head is the breakaway feature.

(Update: Two days. They lasted…two days. Still looking for two of them….Time for plan B.)

Tag: animal Page 2 of 4