Today MM picked up our 1st ever meat rabbits, New Zealand/Californian crosses. Interestingly they are not as available in Maine as we expected. We have 3 does and a buck. The does are 2 months old so we need to wait until the end of June before we can breed them. Their gestation period is approximately 1 month and rabbits are best to eat between 4-6lbs so we have a ways to go.Any suggestions for a name for our buck?
Then we had a early delivery...
102 Khaki Campbell's (egg laying ducks) Can you believe these little babies made it all the way from Pennsylvania in this box? No fatalities thus far. They are hardy birds! The kids have enjoyed having these little peeps in the wood stove room. So have the cats...
At all times there has been at least 1 cat standing guard. Just waiting for the kids to leave the cover open.We will keep a dozen for ourselves and the rest are for sale. Any Mainers interested leave me a comment or you know my number!
P.S. Maine Man's idea for the title...not mine!
20 comments:
OH BOY!!! Look at all those duckies! And what adorable baby bunnies! You're killing me with cute Kim. Please stop it! I think it's fair to say that you people are up to your eyeballs in critters right now. I want to do the same thing as you--get a few meat rabbits. The only thing holding me back is I have no hutches for them at the moment. As soon as I get my hands on some, I'm there!
OH! Those ducklings...if I had the chance I'd just climb right in the brooder with 'em and scoop up an armful of fuzz and rub my face in it.
I did NOT just say that out loud!
I don't see any smutt on these rabbits. Do they have black tails? I don't see black noses on any of them.
Today MM picked up our 1st ever meat rabbits, New Zealand/Californian crosses. Interestingly they are not as available in Maine as we expected.
This cross is referred to as smutt. Smutts are a terminal cross, meaning they're bred specifically to be eaten, not to be kept for breeding. Their offspring are slow growers that require more food to reach good weight. They should be hard to find unless. We bred thousands of rabbits here when I owned a commercial meat rabbitry. I tried breeding smutt x smutt, smutt x NZ, smutt x California - they're all slow growers when compared to NZ x Cal. I had to try it even though the rest of the breeders in the meat industry told me not to bother. Doesn't make sense to me but it is what it is.
I'm with you Amy...they look so soft! Those ducklings are way cute!
And Kim, your MM is FUNNY!
We had New Zealands and Californians when we were raising rabbits here in Ohio!
That is a lot of ducks! Holy moly, hahahahaha.
They're beautiful! Oh they're cuties.
How about Fryer for you Buck's name. Fryer Buck (oops to much Robin Hood watching).
Love the ducks. I would buy some from you if I lived closer.
Wow, wow, and wow!!! When I saw those ducklings, the first word out of my mouth was "holy s***"
They are very cute and the bunnies too!
Ha - love the cat keeping guard on TOP of the ducky pen. You should do a video of all the cheeping/peeping you've got going on in your house right now - I bet it's LOUD! :-)
I am not quite old enough to remember this...but what about Harvey for the buck's name? It's a mediocre movie but the name is a winner I think!
AMY, YOUR FUNNY I KNEW YOU'D LOVE THEM. THEY ARE JUST SOOOO KISSABLE. WE ARE UP TO OUR EYEBALLS, ESPECIALLY IF MM DON'T SELL THEM.
ROBIN, YOU OBVIOUSLY KNOW WAY MORE ABOUT MEAT RABBITS THEN US. WE ARE NOVICE FARMERS WITHOUT A DOUBT. MM SEARCHED HIGH AND LOW FOR CALIFORNIANS AND NEW ZEALAND PURE BREEDS SO THAT WE COULD BREED BUT HE WAS NOT SUCCESSFUL LOCATING ANY SO HE BOUGHT THESE WHICH THE LADY SAID WAS A MIX OF THE TWO. THANKS FOR THE GREAT INFO, I'D NEVER HEARD OF A "SMUT", I MAY TRY AND GOOGLE IT BUT THE RESULTS OF MY SEARCH MAY BE INTERESTING. I SEE YOUR FROM MAINE, DO YOU SELL RABBITS OR DO YOU KNOW A GOOD RESOURCE?
THANKS FOR THE NAME SUGGESTIONS GW & WARREN.
That is a lot of ducks! Before I read you were selling a lot of them I thought holy moly that is a lot of ducks for one farm. hehe. I want to get some chicks this year, and we will have to be careful to keep the door shut on the office and the lid on too because of our cats. Pretty rabbits! What about "Cotton" for a name?
P.S. The buck should be named Barry White. With 3 does to take care of he's gonna need all the mojo he can get!
Oh I forgot to suggest a name for the buck. How about Cotton?
Those ducklings are precious!!
I second Amy's idea: love Barry White!
I had a pet bunny when I was a kid, don't think I have it in me to do meat rabbits. Birds, I can axe no problem, I'd even eat those precious ducks when they got older. But I think it's that rabbits are too close to cats for me.
Isn't it funny the different attitudes people have toward eating animals?
GADZOOKS! That is a lot of duckies! When our kids were growing up, we had French Lop rabbits; they were a blast!
I see that you are getting into rabbits like we are! The kids are loving them and they are so adorable at 4-8 weeks old! I think they are definately easier than chickens and might just cross over from chicken to rabbit! We have yet to butcher ours... I don't know if the kids are going to be able to handle that one.. or me... but our babies are 4 weeks old right now and getting big fast! Good luck with the ducks... I don't know if I would conquer that one... but I suppose if you really like duck meat... that is great!
Looks like the hare club for rabbits...:-)
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