Lops of Enchantment

As long as we’ve lived in Corrales, NM I’ve been begging my wife, Jennifer, to buy a tractor. “What kind of farm doesn’t have a tractor?” I ask. Her response, logical as always, stops the discussion in its tracks, “We only have 1/2 acre, most of it house and out buildings. You couldn’t even find a place to turn a tractor around, let alone find a use for it.”

Now most blue-blooded American males would find a use for a tractor.  I could drive it up down the drive way… I could plow our deep New Mexico snows… I could sit on it and turn it on once in awhile.  Anyway, all of my wonderful ideas have gone for naught…

Except today.   I now own a tractor - a chicken tractor.  Yes, it doesn’t make a vrrrrrrmm noise and it doesn’t smell like grease.  In fact, it doesn’t even have a seat.  However, if I must say so myself, it is the best chicken tractor found on the internet today and I built it with my own two hands.

Chicken tractors, for the uninitiated, are all the craze for today’s cage-free, range-fed chickens and eggs.  (people pay $4-5 a doz for the eggs)  Anything that can get the poor darlings out into the open to scratch for grubs and eat au-natural.   They do a great job on unwanted weeds and grasses as pictured above but they also tear havoc on a garden and lawn.  The chicken tractor is the perfect size to be easily moved around yet provides the girls ample opportunity for grubbing, dust bathing, grass eating and pooping; by far their favorite activity.

Well, there you have it, Gary’s first tractor.  (I wonder how many of these I will need to build before Jennifer gives in and let’s me buy one with a seat, big tires and a steering wheel?)

(Today we had an inquiry regarding the Bass cages we use in our rabbitry. In order to share our experiences so others can learn from them I am going to place a copy the email conversation here in our blog. We hope it helps.)

Hello!

I noticed your website on the Bass Equipment website and had a question about your cages.

We have 92 rabbits at this time and are looking to get rid of the dreaded trays. As you know it’s so much time cleaning the trays and I see from your photos that you have a customized system from Bass that looks like something we might be able to use.

Please let me know about what type of cleaning is involved and some of the negatives and positives so we can make a decision on which system to go with.

I hope this is not to much bother for you. As we have sooo many to purchase that I didn’t want to make the wrong choice.

Thanks so much,

CM

Dear CM; You are so very right about making the right choice in cage design because the wrong one can quickly destroy the enjoyment of rabbit raising.  Here is an outline of our experiences, needs and desires.  Hopefully it will help you in your decision.

First, the hours spent cleaning trays and the overall unhealthy environment for the rabbits when tray cleaning is delayed or forgotten is the primary reason we moved to a Bass washout system.  After years of tray cleaning it become so burdensome it almost drove us completely out of the rabbit raising hobby.  We now enjoy our hobby much more and can actually spend time with the rabbits… not their poo…

The Bass people are easy to work with in terms of customizing the cages.  There are a few restraints such as the five foot length requirement but within that five feet there are a lot of options.  We provided them with cage dimensions (width, depth, height) , door locations, height of entire system, styles of dividers etc.  We have small breeds so we wanted smaller cages.

One area of change we implemented was the depth of their standard cages. In our situation it  was too deep for ease of reach.  Bass accommodated our request but one of the issues this change presented has to do with the drip trays.  They are a fixed length and depth.  Changing the depth of the cages meant we had to shorten the trays.  This means that some of the customization was up to us to perform.  Cutting off 5 inches from the front of the tray takes away some of the stability and aesthetics but the overall functionality was unhindered.

The installation of the systems is fairly straight forward but it is a lot easier if you have the right tools such as j-clip and ring-clip pliers.  The cages do not arrive assembled which means much of the time spent is clipping wire together.  Other parts of the installation such as mounting the cages to the wall etc… was basically accomplished through ingenuity and personal experience.  We installed 1/4″ white hardboard to the walls behind the cages prior to mounting.  Over time the rabbits will scratch and dig at this material but it provides and overall wetness protection so you can easily spray-clean all the cages without generating a huge mess.

Once the whiteboard is in place you simply bolt the assembled cages to the wall.  I used 2 inch lag bolts into studs.  You start from the top, installing the first row of cages, attach the front legs and cross beams, and then the tray system before moving to the second row.  There are challenges inherent in reaching all bolt locations etc but as your experience grows it gets easier and easier.

The most critical component of the entire installation is the tray installation.  You have to consider the amount of clearance under the cages you will need for wash out purposes, the amount of slope you will need for draining, and the amount of room you will need at the bottom washout location.  Most importantly you will need to do a good job sealing the trays both to the wall and to each other.  Leaks are a constant irritant.  You will use ample quantities of Bed & Bath silicon sealer.  Make sure it is the highest quality product you can find because fixing leaks later due to an inferior product is not fun.

What we have done with the wash out is connect the bottom tray to a 3″ pvc pipe that leads through the barn wall to the outside.  How you manage this wash out material is entirely up to you and your preferences.  We like to “harvest” the manure for compost/garden purposes but did not have a method for dealing with the water.  Essentially, I dug a drainage trench that led from the rabbitry to a pit in the yard which allowed the water to seep into the soil.  A cottonwood tree nearby is thriving from this automatic water feature.  We place a screened container under the washout pipe to capture the manure and allow the water to drip down into the drainage trench.  There are supplies at garden supply centers designed for catching water and moving it underground…

This method has worked on one side of our barn where the volume is lower.  The problem is that even with an effective catch basin for the material, a lot of fines from feed etc tend to plug things up.  If the system is not large enough to handle the volume it could plug up and create a large mess in the yard.

On our higher volume side we put in a 50 gallon tank to catch the water.  We still have a screened container to catch the manure sitting in the tank and allow the water to filter through the screen into the tank.  We then pump the water from the tank to any location we choose.  The amonia is a great fertilizer and since we live in the southwest where rain is scarce, most of our yard watering needs are met from this source.

Yes, the installation and creative ways to handle the washout can be challenging.  It can be considered too much to handle especially compared to the ease of setting up a stack of cages with pans.  However, once in place, the amount of work to keep things clean is very minimal.  We generally do a wash out once a day while watering and feeding the rabbits.  It probably takes fifteen minutes to wash out our entire barn of 75 holes.  The air quality in the barn is great and the hobby has become a joy instead of a burden.  I think choosing the Bass washout system is the wisest choice we’ve ever made in our 16 years of raising rabbits.

I hope this helps.  If you have further questions especially on design issues etcetera, please feel free to contact me or Jennifer.  We are are happy to help.  Above all, have fun.

Gary Sims

There is a lot of controversy in the news these days regarding the “rescue” of animals, especially dogs and rabbits, from reportedly unhealthy living conditions. This is a very emotionally-charged issue. It will be my attempt in this article to insert a modicum of decency and logic into this debate.

One thing is certain; it is unlikely that animal breeders and animal rescuers will ever see eye-to-eye. Each of their individual belief systems spews flames of self-righteousness into their minds and hearts at the slightest hint of this topic being raised. Once self-righteousness takes over communications comes abruptly to an end. There is no room in Dodge for these two gun-slingers. Only one can possibly be right and the other has to go… or at least the scenario seems to go.

Below are some brief outlines of the separate belief systems as it pertains to rabbits:

Rescue Groups: House Rabbit of Society, National Humane Society

• Breeding any animal is bad.
• Caging an animal is bad.
• Selling an animal is bad.
• Raising an animal for food is bad.
• An excessive supply of unwanted pets especially dogs, cats, & rabbits burdens animal shelters and results in a large number of euthanized animals.
• All pet animals should be required to be neutered/spayed and even micro-chipped.
• Rabbits should be able to roam free, have access to an ample supply of feed at all times, and live peacefully with other rabbits in a setting of idyllic bliss.
• Breeder organizations cannot be trusted.

Breeder Groups: American Rabbit Breeders Association - ARBA

• Breeding an animal is good. It provides a complete sense of understanding and knowledge about the animal being raised. Through animal husbandry training children are provided a healthy understanding of animals needs and an understanding of the responsibilities associated with animal care-giving.
• Caging an animal is good. It provides a safe and clean environment to insure the health and well-being of the individual.
• Selling an animal is good. It provides an opportunity to share the love of one has for a particular animal with others. It also provides a flow of resources to the breeder to enable them to afford to provide the best living conditions possible for the animal.
• Raising an animal for food is good. In a world whose food supply is dangerously at risk from mass-production and corporate centralization, it is becoming increasingly important to develop locally grown and raised food to insure a healthy and safe food supply.
• An excessive supply of unwanted pets is not the fault of the breeders. Public education to develop a clear understanding of the responsibilities associated with raising a pet is what is needed. We live in a throw-away society and throw-away pets fall into the same category as throw-away marriages and families. It is a symptom of a greater problem that is not resolved by attacking responsible animal breeders or pet owners.
• Mandatory spay/neutering should be considered only on a case-by-case basis with the well-being of the animal and the responsible nature of the owner taken into consideration.
• The domestic rabbit has never lived in the wild. It is not genetically related to the cotton-tail or jack-rabbit species. It has been domesticated for 1000s of years and only exists today because of man’s efforts to grow and develop the species.
• Rescue groups cannot be trusted.

I recognize that I allowed my biases to affect the lists above. It is difficult to stand on one side of a fence and totally understand the perspective from the other side of the fence. And this is the source of the problem… breeders and rescue groups both feel they are doing what is best for the animal. They both love the animals. They both think their perspective is right. And, as listed in the bullets, they both do not trust the other.

The sad fact is that there are situations where the health of the animals is at risk. The problem is the defining of what “at risk” means. When we willingly set aside our feelings of self-righteousness and openly validate each others opinions we can come to realize that neither group is 100% right. There are severe pet issues that need to be addressed in our society. But there are also legitimate constitutional rights being violated in the name of “rescue” as well. How do we balance the two? How can we eliminate the bad without tramping the constitution into the dirt? How can we “rescue” and maintain due-process at the same time? How can we save bunnies without destroying people’s lives?

In a pressured-charged and divisive society, it is time to come together in all issues of debate. The red and blue divisiveness on a political scale permeates the seeds of self-righteousness in all levels of society. This divisiveness is tearing apart the fabric of our country and destroying all that is good about America. The constitution is tattered and hate permeates our Judeo-Christian upbringing that is supposed to be founded in love.

Which side is right? Where are we headed as a society? Aren’t there more important issues facing us today such as poverty, national health care, and global warming that desperately need the bulk of our resources? Is it right to be at war over the differing opinions how a rabbit should be housed when children around the world are starving and dieing of malaria? Isn’t it time to set aside our differences, set some working standards that are acceptable to both sides and then turn our attention to the really important issues facing our country and planet? We can continue feeding our feelings of self-righteousness and destroy all that is good about our country or we can put our rich resources to work together to build a better tomorrow…. the choice is ours.

Last weekend we attended a rabbit show in Colorado. Our friends who wonder about our rabbit hobby always ask: “Why do you raise rabbits?” The answer, “we attend rabbit shows,” always seems to leave them a bit perplexed. And yet, anyone in the rabbit world who hears the phrase “we were at a rabbit show” immediately understands.

Rabbit shows are where “rabbit people” gather together.

We get up early on a Saturday morning and load the car with our folding chairs, ice chests, and grooming tables along with all the rabbit paraphernalia anyone could imagine. We will have rabbit tee-shirts, rabbit jackets, rabbit earrings, rabbit license plates, and rabbit coffee mugs. There will even be, at times, people wearing rabbit ears or rabbit slippers. We have travel cages, grooming brushes, toe-clippers, tattoo kits, aprons, wagons and carts, and an endless supply of baby wipes. We carry hay, water, feed, litter, and treats. Oh yes, we even, if we’ve remembered to load them in the van, truck, SUV, or car, have rabbits - hundreds of rabbits of all makes, sizes, and colors.

We drive, oftentimes hundreds of miles, to gather in a barn or local fairground. The barn is usually too small, often too cold or too hot, and rarely very well lit. The show usually begins around 8 or 9 in the morning, so those with any distance to drive have had to rise and shine long before there was any shine in the day.

The first activity after arriving, besides a few hugs and handshakes with old friends, is to find a place in the barn to stake out as your own for the next 8 to 10 hours. For shows like the one we attended last weekend where space was at a premium, you strive to arrive early enough so you can find enough room for all the stuff you’ve decided to haul to the show, plus a little leg room and standing space. If you happen to arrive late, ie: 8 am, you will be forced to squeeze your rabbit cages into small, cramp spaces and leave your chairs in the car. The rest of the day is spent walking in, around, and over the maze of cages, chairs, and people.

Once everyone is settled in, the judging begins. There will be 4-6 judges standing behind tables with cages. Rabbits are brought to the table by breed and class so there is a lot of shouting and microphone announcements telling people which breed of rabbit and which class in that breed is being judged by which judges. This “noise” will continue throughout the day as people carry their rabbits to and from the appointed places at the appointed times to be judged by the appointed judges. Winners celebrate and losers ponder.

Throughout the entire day there is chatter. Mostly the talk is about rabbits - people sharing their experiences and challenges with other people who truly understand and know rabbits. As a rabbit breeder most of the time you only have yourself, and if your lucky, a spouse or family member with which to talk rabbits. A rabbit show is a glorious opportunity to discuss a plethora of rabbit topics with those who know such things as what it means to have a rabbit with 3-legs or how the shaded gene affects the Tan or Agouti colors. It is talk craved for and it is this “talk” that is the main attraction for attending a rabbit show.

The other, perhaps, minor purposes for attending a show are: winning (this has negligible benefit as the “prize” other than temporary ego-inflation is rarely worth more than $5); buying and selling of rabbits; vacation/relaxation/fun; spending money; and assessing the quality of your rabbits.

Now that we’ve returned home and put all the rabbit paraphernalia away we muse over what we may have learned; we think about our friends and the issues in their lives; we establish new goals in our breeding program; we make plans for new cages (there are never enough cages); and we dream about the next rabbit show. Our next opportunity for a show is in September, which seems too long to wait. In the meantime, we’ll just have sustain our rabbit desires with time spent cleaning cages, talking to rabbits, reading rabbit journals, catalogs, and participating in Internet discussion groups.  All of this may seem silly to you but it is the life of a rabbit fancier. We love it!

If you attend rabbit shows, what is your favorite part?

One of the most basic of all animal chores that applies to the needs of the entire animal kingdom is to provide a home, habitat, or shelter. All shelters have similar purposes such as safety from predator or storm; places to sleep, roost, or nest; or simply a place they can call their own. However, every shelter also has unique characteristics to meet the specific needs of the animal in question. A chicken coop, for instance, usually provides the chickens a place to roost and a place to lay eggs. Even though chickens and turkeys are similar, a structure built for a chicken in mind falls far short in meeting the needs of turkeys. Every creature has basic likes and dislikes. A wise and successful breeder bears this in mind when designing a home for whatever animal they choose to raise.

Because of this, I did not haphazardly move forward in the design and construction of our new goat barn and goat corral without first spending some time with our goats in order to get some basic understanding of their likes and dislikes. One thing I’ve learned is that goats, at least our goats, do not like rain. The slightest sprinkle sends them scurrying for cover. They will forego their favorite pastime - eating - in order to avoid being hit by even one drop of rain. I was surprised by this. Perhaps this is a New Mexico goat phenomenon only, where none of us really know what to do when it rains or snows. I can’t imagine a goat in Portland, Oregon having a similar psychosis. If it did it would surely starve.

So our goats do not like rain. Our shelter then, needed to be rainproof. I learned very quickly that our turkeys do not share this same hatred for rain. In fact, quite the opposite. They seem to love the rain or they’re too dumb to know what to do about it. I’m not sure which. (I want to go on record, however, that I do not share the dumb turkey opinion that many people have. Turkeys are wonderful and amazing creatures. They perhaps have a simplistic view of the world, but the joy they have exploring their world each day is beyond compare.)

Second, a goat enclosure has to be secure. Any gate latch is fair game and, in most cases, they’ll eventually figure out how to undo it. It is not that they dislike their enclosures; it is simply that the grass on the other side is always greener. They could be standing knee deep in fresh weeds and spend the entire day reaching through the fence for the piece of brown, dead leaf on the other side. If they were to somehow gain access to the other side, then they’d strive to get through the fence to the green weeds. There is simply something in their brains that causes them to endlessly push at their boundaries.

Finally, there must be entertainment. Their favorite game is king of the mountain and if anything is available that will provide them a height advantage, they will play the game for hours on end. If they do not have a device to climb on, then they will revert to the only other pastime they know called “escape the fence.”

I know I said “finally” already but there is one main attribute of a goat yard that is a must in every case: Food! Goats are grazers, which means there must be some fresh food entering one of their four stomachs at all times. Without an ample supply of food available, every non-food item in sight becomes fair game. Needless to say, a hungry goat is not a happy goat and an unhappy goat owner will lose property and limb to the hungry goat if care is not taken.

So, I’ve built a goat barn. (see pictures under “Other Animals.”) We’ll have to see if they like it or if renovations are in order. The first night it became available they slept in the overly crowded dog house they’d been using. If they continue to snub my wonderful creation, I just may have to move the dog house into the barn - that’ll show them.