16 replies to this topic

[Amanda]

I brought home my breeding feeder mice today. I have two or three litters that are only a few days old, and some little jumpers too. I think I have four females and one male.

 

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Kitties are already stoked.

[GoingPostal]

Do your cats already eat mice?  My cat completely ignored my mice for over a year, had no interest in them.  Now she thinks they are great. 

[Amanda]

I know my two bob-tailed cats love them, especially my female, Bobby. She destroyed my last mouse population when she was able to sneak into my room and tip over the mouse tote.   She ate the mother and her 7 just week old babies. She also had caught an escaped female mouse a week before that. My male cat, Orion caught the male mouse that had escaped the room. My grey kitten, Selena is very interested, I'm sure she will like them. They were trying to "grab" them in the picture. Pretty much attacking the side of the tote. 

[Amanda]

More mouse pics. I have a litter of nine jumpers, and three litters that are 2-5 days old. One has 12, and the other two are mixed together and I believe there are 16. There is one male, and four females.

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[Amanda]

  Got my totes finished and set up finally. I have two grow out totes(optional third) and two large breeding totes. The two breeding totes have three females and one male each. I have about 70 mice right now. 

  I have been feeding a dry mix of Taste of the Wild cat food, sunflower seeds, whole oats, barley, corn, and a wild bird seed (milo, millet, and wheat). They also get boiled soy beans and split peas, carrots, apples, left over leafy veggies and pieces of bread. They sometimes get raw and cooked chicken and turkey bones with meat on them.

 

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[Prey Model Raw]

This is so freaking cool!!! So far pretty successful? What's your cost into it so far? 

[Amanda]

About $40 into the totes and wire. Bought the water bottles at Walmart, they were $2.50 each. I got the mice free from my Vet tech program lab animal class. Food and bedding is pretty cheap. I've gotten good deals on bedding ($5 worth lasts 3 weeks) and free corn, soy beans, and oats from my sister's husband who hauls grain and collects the spillage. I think I have produced about 100 mice so far.

[Prey Model Raw]

As long as it beats the cost of feeder mice you'd buy to feed! 

[Amanda]

They produce pretty fast, and I think because of this it is comparable and maybe cheaper, plus I control and know what they eat. Oh and I don't have to pay for shipping. 

[Jordann]

What a great setup!

Still trying to talk hubby into letting me get rabbits/guinea pigs/chickens for food. Rabbit and chicken we could eat too ... Think guinea pigs would tak too long to be good meals for the boys, unless they ate a few babies.

I have read chickens and rabbits and guinea pigs can all be housed together, as long as the rabbits and guinea pigs have a space to get away from the chickens. That would make life even easier, than having 3 different setups. Just need to get chickens, then I can sneak a few rabbits in.

[Amanda]

I've seen setups with rabbit hutches off the ground and chickens fenced in underneath. I follow this guy on youtube.
http://m.youtube.com...h?v=1Tmt03fbVZE
I've also heard of raising quail and they are suposed to be easier than chickens. When I get done with school and get my own place, I plan on raising rabbits and quail.

[Jordann]

I didn't like the smaller, flightier birds, and I like the idea of letting the birds roam the yard when I'm home, so I'll be getting Orpingtons and possibly Barred Rocks. The Orps are supposed to be the broodiest of the dual purpose breeds. I'll get the girls that won't want to set, of course. lol Think we will order some broiler birds, two or three times a year, especially in the beginning when the dual guys will be so young.

We are thinking of doing a garden shed type coop, so I can walk in the coop to clean it. Hoping that'll be this year, but it may have to be next year.

[TRDmom]

What a great setup!

Still trying to talk hubby into letting me get rabbits/guinea pigs/chickens for food. Rabbit and chicken we could eat too ... Think guinea pigs would tak too long to be good meals for the boys, unless they ate a few babies.

I have read chickens and rabbits and guinea pigs can all be housed together, as long as the rabbits and guinea pigs have a space to get away from the chickens. That would make life even easier, than having 3 different setups. Just need to get chickens, then I can sneak a few rabbits in.

 

I know this is an old post, but breeding does generally are territorial and can get aggressive and stressed out if they aren't given personal space (which is why its best to house adult rabbits individually if you're breeding them). While people raise rabbits various ways, my goal is to produce offspring (meat) and there tends to be less infant mortality and regular production when the does are given their own cage/hutch. Stress can cause does to not want to produce (they're finicky enough already), or produce but not well. I know of rabbit raisers who have been die-hard in a particular method (e.g. 24/7 free grazing), but ended up changing because they lost too many kits.

 

The basics are: keep them clean, provide food/water, and keep them from getting too hot. Overall, rabbits are easy keepers and I think you'll have fun with it. If you haven't started already, I suggest looking into Tans and Silver Foxes. Californians and New Zealands are the most common meat rabbits, but Silver Foxes have better personalities and IMO look better. Tans seem to have a reputation for being feisty, but I haven't have trouble with mine (no biting or aggressive behavior). Tans are especially good if you lack space. Silver Fox and Tan rabbits also have a good dress-out (high percent of meat. Somewhere around 65% usable on average).

[Jordann]

I have done much more reading since that post, and I will be housing the rabbits seperate from the chickens, because I figured the chickens are a holes and would stress the rabbits out.

Thanks for the tip, I'll look into those breeds! I was thinking of doing the Californian and New Zealands since they are so common. Also thought about crossing some Flemish giant in, but we shall see. That's still a few years out.

[TRDmom]

Flemish Giants have a poor meat to bone ratio and are slower to mature (as well as eating more and needing bigger housing). We have a couple FGs but mainly because my husband likes big rabbits, not so much for their meat. We also have a Californian (who I believe is mixed with New Zealand) who is OK, but some people who have raised them say they will bite and latch on for no real reason. They are good meat producers and are popular commercially because the pelts can used for making garments (white is popular for rabbit coats, but the white can also be dyed easily to another color), so they are money makers for commercial breeders.

 

Unless you're going commercial, I suggest looking at other breeds before making a final choice (being a small/private rabbitry, you can choose whatever rabbits suit you, including mixes). Silver Foxes are generally good natured and good mothers to their kits. They can be a little hard to locate, but are worth the extra effort to find. Palominos, I am told, are another good choice. Some people really like the Rex for their soft fur and nice personalities.

 

I agree, chickens can be a pain the a--! I won't bore you with my tales, but I'm not into chickens (aka jerks that shit everywhere). I don't mind eating them, but I don't know that I would want to raise any. I would much rather have ducks. Rabbits are such easy keepers compared to poultry!

[Jordann]

We like the big rabbits. They'll be the pets. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into them.

[Iorveth]

We like the big rabbits. They'll be the pets. Thanks for the suggestions, I'll look into them.

 

You sound like me and goats... I plan on having some dairy goat wethers (I've really gotten to be fond of the Alpines and Oberhaslis although I've heard Alpines can be jerks without a firm hand) for pets and pack goats and maybe a doe or two for milk but I want Boer goats for meat.