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When I was thinking about what to do for E, I almost chose the English Lop, the problem is, I have no pictures of an English Lop and other than the remarkably loveable few I’ve met… I don’t know all the ins and outs of raising them. 🙂 Ergo I changed my focus to talk about errors in judgement. We all make them. It’s SO not fun to do so, but errors teach us something if we’ve a mind to pay attention.
Errors vary from the “oops” that wasn’t smart to the “oh man…that was SO not good…hit yourself on the head and vow to never to that again” variety. Working towards the oops rather than devastating is always a step forward.
Small Mistakes
Letting sentiment rule.
I have a three strikes and you are out rule. My thinking, over 14 years of raising rabbits, is that if every other rabbit is healthy and doing what they should be, and this one rabbit isn’t something is wrong. Problem solve it. Watch the rabbit. Adjust feed. Try again. And if things aren’t right after three cycles, it’s not going to be right so let them go. SOMETIMES I get attached to a rabbit. It never turns out good. So I keep fighting the “letting sentiment rule” mistake. And probably will until I stop having my bunnies.
Picking the wrong bunny to hold back.
Occasionally, let the sentiment mistake above, I forget what I am aiming to breed. Tricolour lops with chocolate and blue. I let other factors influence my decisions. I need to stop doing that. If I want to get to point Z down the road, the decisions I make now actually matter.
Selling off mom, before having a replacement.
Sometimes I have a doe that I adore and she’s good enough to keep babies from. I end up thinking, okay… person B wanted her and I have this half-grown youngster (or two) almost ready to breed, let her go. Do that and then someone comes in and steals those half-grown youngsters. Or a wind-storm happens that stresses them out. Or a possum comes through (let’s not go there) BAD memories that! Now I hold on to them until I’ve a grown daughter/son because Person B will wait and then perhaps I’ll get a back up.
Big Mistakes
Tiredness Hit
I made one such mistake the week of March 7, going out to shelve babies for the night and accidentally leaving a cage door open. I’ve done this in the past though I never intend to. Always happens when I’m really tired and went out too late. Anyways, this time the doe jumped out of the cage during the night. Six feet to the ground. I found her in the morning as was totally relieved to do so and thought all was well. Until I watched her “NOT MOVE”. Not moving is SO not a good thing. Two things it could be… broken back, or injured nerves. Only time would tell. Fix: Help the doe, put in a double check system for all cage doors at night.
Lack of Quarantine.
This was a mistake I made early one. Bought a rabbit and ASSUMED it was healthy. It wasn’t. As a result I lost an entire batch of young rabbits, all because one seemingly healthy rabbit wasn’t. Fix: quarantine for one month minimum with mild stressors added.
Feed
How you feed rabbits is actually rather important. They are sensitive to mycotoxins (moulds) and feed changes. Have mould they stop eating, too quick with the feed changes and upset stomachs result. Fix: no mouldy hay, no feed with corn, slow feed changes. If it is suspect just throw it out.
Trusting the wrong person
One time I went on vacation and someone asked if they could bunny sit. I said okay and then FOOLISHLY paid them as they would be gone before I got back. They left three days into my two week vacation…. how to feed cats, bunnies and birds when I’m more than 10 hours away… GAH. That was a mess. Fortunately mom and a friend helped out. Could have been totally devastating for my herd.
Letter E Link Up
Each week we will be linking up with the hosts of Blogging Through the Alphabet. Please visit some of these other blogs to get things like book lists, vegan recipes, and wonderful places to visit, just to name the topics I can think of off the top of my head.
- Amanda @ Hopkins Homeschool
- Christine @ Life’s Special Necessities
- Kimberly @ Vintage Blue Suitcase
- Dawn @ Schoolin’ Swag
- Wendy @ Life On Chickadee Lane
- Yvonne @ The Life We Build
- Jennifer @ A Peace Of Mind
- Kristen @ A Mom’s Quest To Teach
- Kirsten @ DoodleMom Homeschool
Wow! I am so sorry for the problems you have run into while breeding your rabbits.
Having worked with a variety of animals at a zoo, I know it is hard to see them as something other than a loved companion, friend, etc. There are still rules to follow and such but it is hard.
sometimes things happen when you raise critters, on the farm growing up we ran into the same issues with the cows. Just … different. 🙂
Wise words included here. You are doing a great thing in helping others learn from your mistakes over the years.
thank you. It’s hard sometimes to show the reality of raising rabbits and the mistakes I’ve made along the way.