TREATING EAR MITES IN OUR MEAT RABBITS.

There are days around here when every is peachy keen.

Then there are days where, when it rains, it pours. 

The last month on the homestead it has been a down pour of unfortunate events. My meat birds got sour crop, one corner of my garden was mostly demolished by my mare, oh ya and my whole sunflower patch, worst of all, my meat rabbits succumbed to ear mites...

Though this is the first time I have dealt with ear mites in rabbits, I have much experience with them in dogs. Many of the dogs I have owned have suffered from ear mites at one time or another. They are easy to treat when noticed and diagnosed the early. 


I dearly wish I had taken some photos for y'all of my rabbits. I completely spaced in the frenzy of the first few minutes that I forget to document. As I scrambled around in the barn going from cage to cage checking soft fuzzy ears, the very last thing on my mind was trying to hold a rabbit still with one hand while photographing with the other. And be it known that I do no have anything more fancy than an iPhone camera... something I mean to amend ASAP..

Anyway..

I first noticed the infestation on my buck, Chester, who I later discovered had the worst case of all the adults. Luckily none of the kits; the ones headed for slaughter, were infested. Chester was exhibiting a reddish scabby crust inside his ears. What were once soft flexible ears, were now hardened, still soft, though they had lost some fur. 

Not a good sign...  In all my research I discovered that once they begin to lose fur on the outside of their ears or on their neck, the mites are beginning to spread. Luckily I did not pick at the scabs, which are caused from incessant itching by the rabbit, because this will cause more bleeding, feeding the mites, their eggs, and causing sever pain to the rabbit. It is better to treat the rabbit then wait for the crust to either resolve itself and fall off, or gently remove it a few days after.

I frantically searched the web for answers to my questions. I turned to many of the homestead blogs I read for support, but I exhausted that effort quickly. Nothing. Nothing that could explain a step by step plan. Until, I found several rabbit breeding forums, many of which had a variety of ideas from different rabbit folk. I asked some questions and found some other conversations that made this learning curve much smoother. 

I found out that this problem could have been avoided. And that to my amazement there are quite a few ways to treat mites in rabbits, some even vet and medication free. At this point I was jumping for joy at the fact of organically treating this problem from home. Out of the several options I just so happened to have two on hand at that very moment. 

Treatment option 1: Almond oil

I know right? Who'da thunk it! Certainly not me..

Many other oils are also sufficient like mineral oil and olive oil. There are also several essential oils that help.

The premise of the oil is to smother the bugs and their eggs. This way the pest dies before it can lay more eggs. Basically you drip the oil down into the ear canal, you can expect the rabbit to begin shaking its head. This is a good sign as it helps the oils flow through the ear more freely. 

I took a cotton ball, soaked it in oil, rubbed it inside the ear while letting some drip down inside. This can be done once a day, every 10 days until gone. You can begin removing the built up crud and scabs from the ear with a q tip or tweeter once it begins to loosen up and fall off. 

Treatment option 2: Ivermectin 1% administered at .018 cc/lb of live weight

Going the medication route won't always be my go to choice. Had the mites only infested Chester then I may have gone with only the almond oil. Unfortunately I was not so lucky. I care about the well being of my animals, as they provide a sacrifice, and my family eats. So, when your entire colony of rabbits becomes infected you do whatever possible. And in this circumstance that meant medically AND organically tackling the issue. 

For rabbits, it can be very hard to dose the proper amount of ivermectin, it is technically a swine and cattle wormer, so anyone at a feed store can't really give solid recommendations against the proper usage of the product. The dose will be on such small scale it can be easy to over dose the rabbit. Another issue can be finding a small enough syringe for the little amount of liquid you'll actually need. If you can find a 1 cc syringe that will be your best chance. I simply weighed my rabbits, each adult was roughly 5 lbs, then I multiplied it by the amount per pound. 

5.0 x 0.018 = 0.09 cc Ivermectin

A simple subcutaneous infection was needed right between the shoulder blades. Be sure to pull up the skin and make your stick at a 45 degree angle. If you've never done a sub q before I suggest having someone experienced show you, or at least employ some you tube videos... wow I never thought how easy it would be for me to do that...hmm food for though.. I digress.. I chose this administration for Chester since his case was most severe. For the girls I simply went the route of squirting it into their mouths, more like dropping, literally it was basically a drop, maybe even less. 

Upkeep and prevention is now a must to keep the rabbits healthy.

Simple changes in the barn need to made in order to eliminate the risk of this becoming a recurring condition. We need to either paint or replace the legs of our hutches all together. Since they are wood, they naturally attract dust and mites. I'm opting for painting since it seems like the faster-easier option. 

Keeping their bedding extra clean is necessary as always and beginning to bleach the hutches regularly. I poured some bleach into a spray bottle, added some essential oils, and whamo! Homemade mite killing hutch cleaner. I removed all rabbits and gave their cages a good spray down.

I can also retreat with the ivermectin every 4 weeks for 3 dosages if I'm worried. But honestly within days I noticed the scabs had receded and fluffy ears taking on their former suppleness. The rabbits don't seem sluggish anymore and have quite their itching. Thank the homestead gods!

RABBIT MANURE TEA.

Sounds gross don't it?

Yeah yeah, well it is pure gold around this homestead!

Finding a fertilizer or composting agent that won't burn our plants but will also provide a good food source for them is key during these preparation months.

One great attribute of rabbit manure is that is is a cold manure. So, you can put it directly into your garden beds or onto your plants or via manure tea. The best part is, the process of obtaining manure is thoughtless. And better yet, the manure doesn't have much of an odor once its let to air dry, it can then easily be applied to indoor plants and not produce an odor.

Our rabbit hutches will soon hand a few feet off the ground so we simply situate Rubbermaid bins or a similar container below the hutches to catch the manure. At this point we simply move the cages out clean under and then replace them. New updated to the hutches coming very soon!!! It is fairly light weight manure when dry so we can let them fill and empty them maybe once a month. Conveniently our rabbits are situated quite close to  the compost and then the garden, so transporting the manure is virtually labor-less.

And this manure tea? Even easier!

Simply find an old milk jug or some other similar container. Transfer a couple tablespoons of manure into the container and fill it with water. You'll let this mixture sit for a couple weeks, agitating or shaking the container every couple days to breakdown the manure. And there you GO! Strain the water so the particles can be added back to the jug from there the mixture can be diluted farther if necessary or poured directly into the garden or onto your container plants.

Extra manure should be transferred into your compost or spread on your garden or fields. Rabbit manure is simply great! Especially since my fuzzy friends are fed an organic and non GMO diet, consisting mainly of sprouted fodder and feed pellets. I also gather them weeds and grass clippings as often as possible to incorporate some roughage into their diets.

Preparing our main garden and other garden beds is key this time of year. Trays and trays of starts are sitting under lights waiting for appropriate planting conditions. We have a great deal of work that still needs to be done so this week I plan to make 3 gallons of rabbits manure tea, some of which will be fed to my indoor plants.

Don't have any rabbit manure??? Worry no more, all you Central Oregon peeps yearning for some of this wonderful poo look no further! Head my way, I am more than willing to share. Heck! Take some horse manure for your compost pile while you're at it. For all you long distance folks, I doubt you want a pile of poo from yours truly gracing your mailbox. Take a look on Craigslist for your area or simply make a wanted add, easy peasy right? I'm sure you'll find a more than generous rabbit farmer to help you out.

In other news! I believe I have finally successfully bred Chester to our American cross doe, Snow. She displayed proper behavior leaning forward and pronouncing her vulva by lifting her tail, and after all was said, Chester fell off!!!!

Cool Q.... sounds like your rabbit STILL has no clue! 

No seriously though, I have read articles and books that all say that its easy to spot a successful breed if the buck freezes and falls off at the end. Is this true? Is it fiction? Who knows but it happened! Which is more than I can say for the last few breeds. After much praying I hope for Snow to kindle sometime the end of April.

Chester did perform in this same manner with our doe New Zealand doe, Belle, at this beginning of this month. She was not so intrigued but he performed as though he had made success, so if he did, then hopefully I will have a litter born this week. Here's hoping! I have yet to notice any signs of Belle's pregnancy or nesting for birthing. So we shall see, oh yes.

And finally coming end of April the other two girls, Rosie and Ginger, will be matured enough to start breeding! I cannot wait to see the babies Chester and Rosie will kindle, as they are both beautiful broken red New Zealands. It's safe to say I have baby fever, of all shapes and sizes. Did you see our new kittens? GAH, I almost die from their cuteness.... blah blah blah ha ha have a good day ya'll!

Considering rabbit stew.... Okay, maybe I'll give the ole girls a few more tries.


Q

KICKING OFF 2015: PART II

In 2015 I want to learn.

I want to try things I have never tried before.

This year I want to begin slowly expanding our homestead.

So this January I will take you through our 2015 Homestead plan. This plan will show all of current projects with their tasks and any updates or additions they need. As well as new tasks or skills we want to incorporate on the farm. This month is one of brainststorming, planning, and preparing, for there is much to be done before spring!

Lets get started!

So If it isn't already obvious I love animals. Spencer, my fiance, refers to it as my animal addiction.... He might be right! I'm not sure when/if I'll ever hit that point where I feel I have too many. My poor parents painstakinly endured many many of my animal experiments and projects, praise the Lord for their patience. I look at my little managerie as a privelage that I am so grateful for. My animals rely on me for all of their basic needs, somehting any animal enthusiast, or horder ;, never takes lightly. For ifI were to see anyone mistreating my fur babies, girlfriend would be one amgry mama. For one, ok, two main reasons I feel this way. 1) my animals all serve some purpose or provide some service, from my bull dog Dixie to my horse Sweet Pea, every breathing animal serves their divine purpose in the grand scheme of our stead. And we could not be more blessed to receive the gifts they give us of all sahpes, sizes, and forms. Spencer would say he is most grateful for those animals whose purpose is so feed our family. Currently these animals consist of our laying hens, laying ducks, 2 pigs, and our meat rabbits.

In the spirit of prepping and my anxious excite about animals I jumped the gun when a little extra money came in and invested in our rabbit program, this is where our intro to 2015 begins..... rabbits. Following the reccommendtaion of a fellow blogger, Shaye, at The Elliot Homestead, we decided to begin our breeding program with 5 rabbits. So, mid December 4 does and 1 buck came home to the farm. Though I may jump head first into my projects and sometimes a bit hap hazardly, I always do my research.

(A side note to anyone looking to trade urban for rural: Be ready for a lot of reading, the wealth of information available to the modern homesteader via book or internet is limitless, and is the easiest and quickest way to learn a new skill or research one you want to learn, which at the end of the day is the whole point of our endeavor... To learn to cultivate and preserve a humble healthy lifestyle to pass onto our children in the the spirit of getting back to basics and living a wholesome life.)

So, I spent weeks and weeks fawning over homestead magazines with nest box blueprints and webiste after website of how to's and facts for the meat rabbit raiser....have I said this is my first time over seeing an animal husbandry project? Holy cow I've only dreamed of baby animals my whole life and what better to start with than fuzzy kits! Gah! This mama is so ready for babies!

Firstly, I had no idea where to begin... So when in doubt sister simply typed meat rabbit into Pinterest... watch out! You'll be enthralled for hourss just like I was... Eventually I found so much great information that I setttled on 5 breeds that seemed to be the best for meat breeding. New Zealand, Californian, Silver Fox, Satins, and Standard Rex are the most commonly bred meat rabbits. Alas I knew what to look for as my plans began to come together, so I set a budget according to what I thought I needed for housing them and how much it would be per rabbit. When looking for my rabbits I did not bother to care about pedigree and registered status as these rabbits will never be shown, they're simply our little farm bunnes.... Although wouldnt it be fun to start a rabbitry for farm baby when she is a little older? I'm entertaining the idea, this would be a great way to incorporate her into the farm as she grows and teach her some valuable lessons along the way.

Secondly, we at The High Desert Homestead are working on a conrnerstone of homesteading and micro farming, frugality.... Not that I ever spend money unneccessarily on myself or material things, I just tend to over anticiape additions to the homestead and at times may jump the gun when money might be better spent somewhere else. Granted it usually works out in our favor. Becoming more frugal and saving more is a serious goal for this farm mama this year! So... when it comes to purchasing animals, equipment, or farm materials I rarely have to look past another of my daily addictions.... Craigslist. I dont care who you are or where you are, there are always a plethora of animals and equipment floading this oh so wonderful black market network.

Back to the drawing board....

Where will the rabbits be housed..... Next to the chickens underneath the eve of our barn....

And in what.... A homemade rabbit hutch that cost... wait for it.... Nothing! We were able to build it completly costless from recycled materials and some gifted supplies from my unlce... Who by the way gave me the courage to start this rabbit endeavor after he told me about all of his rabbit experiences, and he even said he would help show Spencer and I the whole butchering process! Another homestead lesson in the bag... in about 11 weeks...more on that later!

How much will each rabbit cost..... In central Oregon rabbits prices vary but here's a breakdown of our rabbits cost:

Chester - New Zealand buck (6 mos): $20
Ariel - New Zealand doe (9 wks): $10
Fiona - New Zealand doe (9 wks): $10
Snow - California cross doe (2 yrs): $15
Belle - New Zealand cross doe (1.5 yrs): $15 (with these two does I also recieved 1 rabbit transport cage, 2 water bottle, 2 feeders absolutely free from the breeder who was liquidating his commerical breeding program, homestead win!!!)

As you can see rabbits aren't initially very expensive as far as start up goes and its free to breed them to your hearts content as long as you are prepared for a lot of babies and are sensitive to the mamas' needs throughout gestation, nursing, and weaning. Aside from the cost of the rabbits ($70... Which I might add I won in a game at Spencer's company christmas party!), one large water bottle ($10), and one large feeder ($12) our start up was virtually free. The costs associated with feed are recuring at $11.75/ bag/ month from our local feed company, HayStack Naturals, (20 miles from our house!!! Making Local Habit!) which is sold throughout the county.

Ok, ok wanna see the fur babies???

Pretty dang cute huh?!? The top picture is my main man Chester! He is a broken red New Zealand and boy is he frisky. He always thumps his feet at me when I'm trying to catch him. The second picture shows Snow on the left with the Californian black ears/ nose and Belle on the right with black spots, she is a broken black New Zealand. Last but not least little Ariel the broken red and Fiona the chesnut. As you can see from the picture the two little girls are living in a temporary home until the finishing touches are put on their side of the hutch that the other older girls are sharing. More about out choice to colonize our rabbits instead of individually house them latet!!!

So there you have it!

This is my first step toward a more sustainable food source.

AND... my first new homesteading task to master this year! With the help of Spencer who built my amzing huthces (pics to come later) and always completes my ridiculous requests, and my unle who has experience with meat rabbit raising( and who also happend to be a custom knife maker.... oh ya he said he would make me some of my own processing knives!) we will be well on the road to baby rabbits without stress...

By the way... Snow is expecting her first litter by Chester at the end of this month! Soon we shall seperate her from Belle and give her a nest box this weekend to begin making her nest.

Follow here and the other girls progress her at The High Desert Homestead

Overly excited!
QB