We have Comfrey plants out back and by the garage, those things return every year. Comfrey is a good herbal plant for bunnies. It was called "knit-bones" and was used as a poultice in natural medicine. Comfrey leaves provide water/hydration, vitamins and add variety to their diet. My bunnies don't seem to care for it as much as they did years ago. For anyone unfamiliar with Comfrey, it is very easy to grow. Don't buy it, just ask for a couple of roots from another rabbit person. It's like zucchini, you can't give enough of it away! Don't make the mistake of feeding it to any wool breed though. The back of the Comfrey leaf is a bit prickly and will Velcro itself to the wool. I made the unfortunate mistake of giving it to a Fuzzy Lop. I found said Fuzzy Lop in it's cage looking like a frog stuck on a lilypad. HINT - Comfrey leaves will grow larger if you pluck off its' lavender blossoms as soon as they appear.
Springtime chore done! We have hosta plants spaced across the front of the rabbitry and old horse barn. They provide an attractive border hiding the foundation. I love these plants, they come back each year bigger and more impressive than ever. Each spring I dump litter pans across the entire strip and over the hostas. The bunny manure fertilizes the hosta, the shavings provide mulch that keeps the grass and weeds from growing up around the plants. The shavings also seem to keep water "wick-ed" around the plants.
We have Comfrey plants out back and by the garage, those things return every year. Comfrey is a good herbal plant for bunnies. It was called "knit-bones" and was used as a poultice in natural medicine. Comfrey leaves provide water/hydration, vitamins and add variety to their diet. My bunnies don't seem to care for it as much as they did years ago. For anyone unfamiliar with Comfrey, it is very easy to grow. Don't buy it, just ask for a couple of roots from another rabbit person. It's like zucchini, you can't give enough of it away! Don't make the mistake of feeding it to any wool breed though. The back of the Comfrey leaf is a bit prickly and will Velcro itself to the wool. I made the unfortunate mistake of giving it to a Fuzzy Lop. I found said Fuzzy Lop in it's cage looking like a frog stuck on a lilypad. HINT - Comfrey leaves will grow larger if you pluck off its' lavender blossoms as soon as they appear.
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Front of rabbitry Here is a photo taken by Carrie last year of the front of the rabbitry. You can click to enlarge. Starting on the left is a rabbit clock with chalkboard, bulletin board and another chalkboard. We keep the latest empty grain bags behind the garbage can on left. A habit you might want to start. If there is a problem with the grain, you will have the empty bag with the date and plant stamp and product info handy. We use a few empty bags for storing things like swept up hay chafe to reseed a grass patch or place a bag over the top of oscillating fans for winter storage. They are great for almost anything to keep the dust off. The local Transfer Station recycles the grain bags separately that we don't keep. To the left of the front window is a black hose running up the wall that is part of the system that runs water along to the back of the rabbitry to a frost-free draining faucet. We attach the hose cart to the faucet to wash the litter pans outside the back door of the rabbitry. The good draining field is a handy place to wash the vehicles out there too instead of in the driveway. Next is the large stainless steel sink with running hot & cold water, beneath is stored a bucket for dirty bunny dishes, Odo-Ban, handcleaner, bucket for sifted fines and water travel jugs. Underneath the righthand countertop are two shelves housing three large plastic storage tubs containing clean dishes, tattoo supplies, water bottles, bunny care pamphlets and misc. I just slide them out as needed, keeps things organized and most of all clean. On one shelf is a show kit bag, Lysol & puppy pads. Both under the counter storage spaces are curtained off, not only for cosmetic purposes but also to keep the dust out when sweeping. On the right is the grain/sunflower seeds storage recycled freezer seen on the home page. Having it located here helps add more countertop space. Above in between the two large windows you'll see the front louver vent with a built in shelf for a box fan. We can manually adjust the louvers to allow more or less ventilation. Choosing for either fresh air or combine with the fan which is generally on a timer. On the righthand window frame is an indoor/outdoor thermometer that is super handy. I'd consider it a necessity in both summer and winter. A portable phone nestled underneath. The counter area has the usual array of containers with pens & markers. A four drawer plastic unit holds cage tags, file cards, scissors, tape, combs, nail clippers, bandaids, neosporin, eye ointment, hogrings, S-hooks and anything else that comes in handy. The ever-present barn radio set to the 50-80's Oldies station and never to be without Duct tape and lint roller for removing bunny fur beside it. The rubber mat comes in handy for any sink spills so that the concrete floor doesn't become a slippery hazard. It helps the tired feet too! Zebra baby. A new Holland Lop color variety - the Zebra Sablepoint. A very rare and previously unknown color variety has emerged! Captured in hand and on film for the first time. Notice the horizontal perfectly placed stripes from shoulder to hindquarters. I wish I'd gotten this photo blogged 2 weeks ago on April Fool's Day. Surely someone would have believed it and been tempted to take out an ARBA COD on it. The Zebra baby is now a few weeks old. Sadly, its' stripes have gone away. It would have been fun to put him/her on the show table. For anyone who knows Buckskin horses, I'd call this Dun Factor markings. If for that, it would have been a Dun Factor winner. All ARBA club secretaries, registrars and judges have received the 2013 edition of the ARBA Member Handbook. This replaces the previous ARBA Yearbooks that individual members used to receive. Any ARBA member may request one for a nominal fee from ARBA or as a downloadable file. This handbook has EVERYTHING! Order one if you don't have one already.
Lists of ARBA Officers & Directors, State & Provincial Reps, ARBA Depts. & Committee, ARBA Judges & Registrars and contact info for all. Also Breed abbreviations, the ARBA Constitution, Show Rules, Registration information, Grand Champion info, Request forms, Specialty Club Membership & Sanction info, suggested Charter Constitution & By-law's formats. More - ARBA Sanctioned Show Rules, Suggested Guidelines for Sanctioned shows. Late Show report policy, Show Rules, Show Sanction forms, Show Report forms & Youth Royalty. More lists - Chartered Clubs, Associations and Fair , ARBA Distinquished Service Award Recipients, ARBA History, ARBA Hall of Fame Members. Convention BIS winners. ARBA Supplies order forms, Ad rates and membership form. Did I say it has everything?!! Clubs should put this handbook on their fair and show display tables with ARBA membershipsforms with their club name in the Referred by section. With a minimum of 10 new members a club will earn $0.50 per new member. The more information out there the better. If you have a question, just go to this handbook and get not only AN answer but the CORRECT answer. There is a horse book called Blessed are the Broodmares, whose title I was reminded of this week when lovely BBF's Gemstone kindled. She kindled a day early and who could blame her?! I've never had a HL doe kindle ELEVEN kits before. Two were not viable and there are probably a few peanut (double dwarf gene) babies in the remaining NINE. I fostered two suspected peanuts to the blue doe Cobweb to keep her singleton warm. The litter was so large that several individual kits appear small as would be expected, but may not be peanuts, just crowded for womb room. We will have to wait and see. The added bonus is that I have not had a litter from this particular buck for many months and wondered if I ever would again.
So Blessed is the Broodmare, err, Brooddoe Gemmy! |
AuthorHoping to share the rabbitry happenings & thoughts. Also HINTS that I hope will help you and your rabbits.
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