Tag Archives: rabbit hutches

What We Did This Week To Prep 8/17/12

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After I discovered the ease and convenience of recharging batteries, with our Goal Zero Nomad 7 Solar Panel and Guide 10 Power Pack, I decided we needed to expand out into the world of rechargeable batteries. This was a new thing for me, the rechargeable batteries that I was used to were the old fashioned kind that were expensive, didn’t last long, developed memories, and over-all not worth the hassle. The new kind can be charged over 1500 times and developing memory is no longer an issue.

I also recently learned about this topic on The Survival Podcast when Jack interviewed Steven Harris on Dealing with a Large Scale Blackout. Steven discussed how people could have been better prepared for the recent east coast power outage, and of course any future power outages, in some very simple ways with some very straight-forward products.

Steven Harris is a guru of all things ‘energy’. Yea he’s slightly goofy and tends to ramble a bit, but his knowledge and ability to easily explain the complex world of energy is incredible.

The products that he recommended–not his products, just ones he’s thoroughly tested and provided links to on his site: SOLAR1234.com–that we chose to order were:

  • Powerex Eight Cell Smart Charger (MH-C800S). An 8 AA or AAA battery charger that charges in one to two hours; it also has a large LCD screen showing the status of each battery. This will give us an easy, relatively low energy draw, way to have an almost infinite supply of battery power.
  • Sanyo 1500 eneloop 8 pack AA, and AAA, NiHM Precharged Rechargeable Batteries. (For use with the above charger.) We ordered one of each, Costco also carries these and we can get more there after we test them out. These can also be recharged with our Goal Zero Solar Panel and Power Pack.
  • Duracell 800 Watt DC to AC Digital Power Inverter (813-0807). It runs at 150 watts through your car’s cigarette lighter, or 800 watts when clamped directly to your car’s battery (comes with cables for each method). It has a display that shows: voltage in, voltage out, and watts (power) that you are currently drawing. With this your car becomes an improvised generator and power is stored in your car’s battery (800 watts is enough to power your refrigerator).

And the item we’re most excited about:

  • Trent iTorch IMP52D 52mAh External Battery Charger (for ANYTHING USB). It’s a portable rechargeable lithium battery that holds enough energy to completely charge a dead iPhone 3.5 times! We ordered one for both Sarah and I (and Sarah’s Dad, who happened to be here at the time). We’ve been searching for a product like this to add to our get-home bags (GHB) and this one comes very highly recommended. I plan on thoroughly testing, then reviewing the iTorch.

On another topic, we had to find a way to keep our rabbits cool this week. While I know we won’t get much sympathy from the rest of the country, it actually got hot here in Western Washington. We had temperatures in the mid-90s, which is really hot for us (keep in mind hardly anyone here has air-conditioned homes). To put that temperature in local perspective, I had a co-worker who would say, “Any time it gets above 80 degrees it’s god’s way of showing me what hell would be like.” Yes, the Pacific Northwest is temperate. Anyway with the “hot” temperatures we had to find a way to keep our (Western Washington, not used to the heat) rabbits cool. Sarah did some research and found one of the easiest ways is to put a frozen 2-liter water bottle into each of their hutches and they can lean against it if they get hot. It seemed to work well, the rabbits looked less agitated and seemed to be panting less.

What did you do?

 

Learning To Butcher Rabbits

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When we’re young we have lots of ‘firsts’. As we get older we have fewer and fewer; both because of life experiences and because we tend to specialize and stay within our comfort zones. Yesterday I had a first, I learned how to butcher rabbits. Now I realize that butchering most small animals is about the same, but I had never killed and/or butchered anything before. That includes hunting; though I’ve nothing against hunting–and plan to learn–I didn’t grow up hunting and have never gone as an adult.

I went to Rob and Beckie’s home–they provided our does–and Rob taught me how to butcher rabbits. The siblings of the rabbits I got from him had matured (three months). He did the first one as I watched, I did the second one and he walked me through the process. We then finished the rest, each working on his own, but Rob was always available to help or answer my questions.

As I reflected on how I felt about butchering the rabbits, both at the time and afterward, I think the best word I could come up with was ‘satisfaction.’ Satisfaction that we had done it respectfully and efficiently, that the rabbits had not suffered, and that the meat would be used to feed our families and improve our diets. Before we killed each one we calmed it, thanked it for it’s sacrifice, and promised to appreciate what it would provide.

I’m glad I’ve learned. I can’t say I look forward to the next time, but I feel confident that I can do it well, painlessly, and without waste. I like knowing that I can provide a healthy source of protein for my family. Both Rob and I would like to learn how to tan the hides and utilize the pelts.

I felt a bit overwhelmed when we first got our rabbits, but it’s much easier than I thought it would be. I enjoy the day-to-day chores of raising and feeding them; soon we will go through the process of breeding and bringing up the next litter, and I know now how to harvest the meat that we will raise. I encourage anyone who is considering raising rabbits that it’s a good idea, it’s easier than you think, and it will be a valuable addition to your homestead, big or small. Any help I can give you, either in the form of rabbits to raise as your own, skills I can teach you, or knowledge that I’ve learned I’d be happy to.

I’ve mentioned it before but I’d strongly recommend RiseandShineRabbitry.com and Storey’s Guide to Raising Rabbits. Both are excellent sources of advice and how-to information on raising rabbits.

An interesting side-note: When we first got our “does” from Rob (at six weeks), we instead got one female and one male (it’s harder to tell than you think). When we discovered this, Rob told me to just bring the male when I came and we’d swap it out for a healthy female.

Rob knew that I pastured my rabbits as much as possible (maybe half their diet), and he feeds his strictly store-bought rabbit feed, so he suggested an experiment: once butchered we’d compare my male and how much fat he had and how much the meat weighed to the ones Rob had raised. We found that my pasture fed rabbit had considerably less fat, but the meat weighed almost the exact same.

What We Did This Week To Prep 7/13/12

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It’s been a busy week as we get ready to leave on a family vacation. We’re heading to Colorado Springs, CO to see my parents and other assorted family members. We’re looking forward to the trip; my two youngest, Emily and Alison, have never flown before and are very excited about that.

We did get a few things done. We picked up a seven month old male American Chinchilla Rabbit this week, from another breeder. He will be the patriarch of our future litters; he’s full grown and sexually mature. The does are just three months old now and we need to wait until they are five months to breed them; so the first breeding will be about mid-September. (Winston, our male, looks more brown than gray in the picture, my understanding is that his coat was discolored from the sunlight.)

Speaking of does, I should instead say doe. As advised, we went back and “sexed” our two younger rabbits to ensure they were both female. Turns out one is male. It’s much harder to determine, especially when they’re young, than I would have thought.  Rob, the breeder we got them from, is more than happy to exchange him for a her. I’ll be going to Rob’s place in just over a week to learn from, and help, him butcher his next batch of rabbits. I’ve never done that before and I look forward to the opportunity to learn, but am a little cautious about how I will feel doing it. I believe in what we’re doing and I think it’s important, but taking another life is–and I believe should always be–a difficult thing. I’ve discussed it with Rob and he’s very respectful and efficient about it.

One of the things I really wanted to get done this week, and did–sort of–was to set up an automatic watering system in the rabbitry. Trying to attach a 2-liter water bottle to the side of the hutches is a pain in the butt; I wanted a system that would provide them plenty of water and we wouldn’t have to hassle with it. Sarah’s Mom will be staying at our place and taking care of the dog, cat, rabbits, and garden while we’re gone and I  wanted to make things as easy as possible for her. The system we built basically worked, though I’ll have to spend some time fine tuning it when we get back. We put it together using a 5-gallon bucket to hold the water, 1/2 PVC pipe, and attachments and auto feeding spouts (I got from the feed store). I have little experience with plumbing or PVC piping, but it seemed simple enough. My first attempt leaked too much and had to be redone. It still drips a little and I’ve only routed it to the first two hutches, but it’s fine for now and will be relatively easy to fix and extend as needed. My eventual goal is to use the surface area of the rabbitry (4’ x 12’ = 48 square feet) to catch rain water and channel it into the 5-gallon bucket. After all, we live in Western Washington and have plenty of rainfall, even on that small surface we could collect almost 1200 gallons of water annually; yields will be as low as 30 gallons in July and as high as 170 gallons in November.

What did you do?

 

What We Did This Week To Prep 6/01/12

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Now that the garden is mostly in place, minus a few things still in the greenhouse, there really isn’t that much to report out there. I go out and check the garden each day and smile as I see the progress our plants are making. Strawberries and squash are starting to bloom, the raspberries have lots of small green berries. I weed as necessary, water when it’s too dry (though we do live in Western WA and that’s not a big problem), and reset the mouse traps.

Mouse traps? Well we’ve had a problem keeping Kate (our 9 month old Border Collie) out of the garden, and especially from digging in the nice soft soil (that we worked so hard to get). We debated options of fencing the whole thing in (but she can easily jump over three feet, she’d just see it as another fun challenge), or putting in an invisible fence–though that costs a lot and seemed to be a bit of over-kill. So I came up with the idea of trying mouse traps. She’s already jumpy and overly cautious of the unknown, so I put traps in the places she had been digging, near the compost, our new plants, and her usual paths. In the past couple of weeks she’s set off several of the traps (getting her nose once) but is getting much better at avoiding the areas they are in and, in general, just staying out of the garden.

I finished reading Holding Their Own II: The Independents (the sequel to Holding Their Own that I reviewed a couple weeks ago). It was okay. It’s changed from being a prepper-type book, with many good ideas incorporated into a novel, to a post-apocalyptic, adventure, “super cool guy hero” book. (If you enjoy Lee Child’s Jack Reacher novels you’d probably enjoy continuing this series; though they’re not nearly as well written as Child’s). Joe Nobody expands the scope of his original book and is now taking on the task of rebuilding the nation, with opposing factions–the federal government and the “Independents”–moving toward civil war. The second book ends leading straight into a third book.

Ryan and I (with some help from Emily and Alison) spent quite a bit of time this week building rabbit hutches. I bought a roll of 1” x 2” 14 gauge galvanized wire fencing, cut it and bent in into a square. Then, using J clips, attached it to itself and put on a roof, and using 1/2” x 1” wire fencing, attached the floor. This weekend we’ll build the frame to hold them and be ready for the rabbits. I’ve got a potential lead for rabbits, but haven’t heard back from him yet; if anyone knows of a good source of rabbits in Western Washington let me know, otherwise I’ll just hit Craigslist.

Quote of the Week: “The only time you can have too much ammo is if you’re drowning or on fire.” -Jeff Chudwin

What did you do?

(Monday: We’re Raising Rabbits)