Quick Hit: Conventions

The lady of the house went and sold art at Anime Boston this past weekend. I've never done Anime Boston with her, but usually when she does cons I go and do security there and help her out. It's an obvious thing but I realized how much it would have cost if we'd both gone this weekend instead of me staying home. Now that we have a dog, and the rabbits it's no longer a quick simple once a day thing we ask a friend to come and do. Now we'd have to hire someone to come in, walk the dog, feed all of the animals, and make sure everyone's ok. That said, there are conventions we will both be going to, but we have to factor another $50 per day we are both gone. We will also have to make sure with our breeding to make sure none of the rabbits will be kindling while we are gone. Butchering can be delayed by a few days if need be, but we want to make sure we are around for births at least.

Why Still Pay Attention To Politics

It came to the attention of the Lady of the House yesterday via a community she is part of online that the Department of Natural Resources in Michigan is implementing an order that could lead to small scale farmers being declared felons. The law itself isn't specifically targeting these farmers according to the MDNR, it is targeting feral pigs. However it is defining feral pigs by their physical characteristics, not by whether or not they are loose. If you look up this order from any sort of major news source it is reported as a positive thing, backed by environmentalists and pig farmers both, but a little more research is always a good thing.

Settling Into The Rabbit Routine

Dawn, Sunny, and Umbra have been with us for almost a week now, and so far the routine has been fairly easy to settle in with. There have definitely been a few learning experiences that have come up, and a couple funny moments. The personality of the rabbits has also been coming out very clearly as we interact with the three of them. I have also learned that I need to get clip on water dishes.

The First 3 Rabbits Are Here!

Yesterday morning as it hailed and spat cold rain I went back to Michelle Chandler's farm, and was able to pick up the first three of the four breeder rabbits we are getting from her. The fourth, an American Blue female isn't quite old enough to be sexed accurately yet. So, time to introduce you all to the rabbits.

This is Umbra, son of Shadow. He is the son of one of Michelle Chandler's stud bucks, and his mother, an American Blue, produced substantial litters.

Quick Hit: Rabbit Genetics

I'd intended to post about building the hutches today with pictures. Unfortunately I appear to have forgotten to upload the pictures the lady of the house took of me working on the hutches. I want to actually do a post on building the hutches another time with those. Due to my failure to properly plan I'll give a few links to the information the lady of the house has been reading about rabbit genetics in preparation for picking up the rabbits on Wednesday. I'll leave a post on genetics to her since she knows what she is talking about, and I do not.

An easy to understand article on color genetics in rabbits.
http://www.thenaturetrail.com/rabbit-genetics/color-information-easy-to-understand/

A primer on rabbit color genetics over all that was a bit dense for me as someone who hasn't really learned more than Mendelian genetics, but understandable.
http://www.threelittleladiesrabbitry.com/colorgenes.php

An article specific to American Blue Rabbits. Or buck will be a Black, American Blue is why this was of specific interest to us.
http://www.americanrabbits.org/about-americans/27-american-genetics-achieving-a-true-blue-white-in-two-easy-steps

Thursday will have pictures of the three breeders we will be picking up then, and after that I will talk about the process of building the hutches and some of my learning experiences.

The First Two Hutches Are Complete!

Quick post for now, the first rabbit hutch is complete! It isn't perfect, and there are a few things I've learned from it for the future ones, but it is done!. I should have the second one done today, and can probably finish 2 more tomorrow. Many thanks to a friend of mine, Charlie for helping me out with the things that are just not one person jobs. Below the cut are pictures of the one that is done, and the two that are in process right now. Hopefully next week I will be able to have a pictoral step by step of the process of building a hutch.

Recipe: Butternut Squash Lasagna

A recipe from the Lady of the House for the post today. Decided to post this since for our communal birthday party we did a local or home made food potluck party. When we hosted the party many people commented about the lasagna being vegetarian, and being doubtful about it. Yet at the end of the party almost all of it was gone. This as recipes goes is fairly easy and tastes great. Though you do need to make sure that you cut the cheese quite thin or it'll be uneven. The Lady of the House goes into the recipe, and what prompted it below.