Bunny Money

I look around for a ton of ways to make a little extra "bunny money". With my feed at $16 a bag and hay at $10 a bale for anything decent, I've gotta figure something out!

I'm going to share a few sites I enjoy. If you want to sign up, GREAT, I'd love it if you'd use the links I'm going to post, as in some cases I get referral credits. If you don't want to sign up, that works too!

I recommend not using your main email account. I have a special account just for survey sites and things like that :).

Cash Crate is the newest one I've found. You can do point related offers to be redeemed for gift cards or other prizes, or do the offers for CASH. You can also do two surveys a day. I figure points work just as well as cash- if I save $20 at Walmart with a gift card, it's the same as $20 in my pocket (or in the pocket of the feed store guy).

Swag Bucks is another goodie. You use them to search through (instead of google, yahoo, etc.) You get the same results, but sometimes you win "Swag Bucks". These can be redeemed for gift cards or other prizes as well. Again- $5 free on Amazon is $5 in my pocket!





Send Earnings (click the banner above) is one I personally love- the $50 check I got from them may have something to do with that though. You get 5 cents per email you click on- that's literally all you have to do. You can do other offers through them and get money (Definitely check out the completely free offers!), or do daily surveys and it's great when you get your check in the mail.

I'm being summoned to work on dinner- I may be able to add to this in the future :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Cleaning Day!

Today was beautiful! Weather.com says it's a sunny 71 degrees, so we took advantage of the weather to clean cages. I wish we had had more time to really scrub the cages, but hey, 95% have beautiful, clean pans. Our neighbor has a trailer full of bunny poop for his new garden, and I have a day worth of stories to tell!

I took the opportunity to set up an X-pen and moved a few carriers outside. All does not bred got to visit the great outdoors today!

Bandit and Jasmine, the hares, got to romp in our semi-permanent outdoor pen. All was going well until I notice there is only one hare in the pen! Jasmine, after an hour or so of exploration, decided to leave us. I panicked and began to scan the yard- and a movement caught my eye. She had run to the outside spigot and was hanging out! Tim circled one way and I followed behind her. My biggest fear was that she'd head for the road, but thankfully when she realized we were trying to surround her, she bolted back towards the pen. We managed to tackle her and she went back to her cage!

Our retired mini lops Abby & Joe got to the X-pen and met Wooligans Raleigh for the first time- the three of them absolutely hit it off! Raleigh later got a date with Keep's Forest and I'm pleased to report things went successfully ;).


All of the does (Wooligans Leesa, TB's Secret Chance, and another who's name I'm blanking on) went on to have successful dates! WEEE! Could this warm day in the sunshine be just what the doctor ordered?

The worst part of the day came when Tim went to unload the brand new bags of feed we purchased. I hear "Oh no.."



A bag of food had split! But not only that........

It spilled ALL OVER the car! UGH. We spent 30 minutes trying to salvage what we could. We'll have to get out the vacuum here in a bit. *sigh*


Ahh well, it was a good day at least :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Ugh

If I didn't have bad luck, I'd have no luck at all.

My Californian buck died mysteriously- he had food and water, no sign of illness and no visible cause of death. He just passed away some time today.

Ugh. That leaves me with one junior Californian DOE and one possibly (but doubtfully) pregnant Californian senior doe. I'm not sure if I should bother with the meaties at this point. Ugh.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Evaluation of my Wooly Herd.

I spent a good hour outside today, evaluating and grooming every Wooly in my herd. Wow, the numbers have sure grown!

I was thrilled with how little work I had as far as grooming- only a few needed any kind of real work and they just had a few mats. I spent some time plucking dead fur out of the butts of molting adults and a few juniors- that fur went right in to the garden :).

I'm thrilled with what I'm seeing in my herd- tiny ears, beautiful large heads, short bodies and good wool. I'd like to see a little more thickness to the ear on a few of the animals, but I have some nice bucks that can help out with that. I'd also like a bit more "fullness" to the coats. I've got a nice looking set of brood does with wool for DAYS, so I'm hoping that won't be a problem either. I need to keep an eye on the size of my woolies- they are getting very small! Again- hoping the brood does help "up size" the herd.

My two youngest junior does are looking GREAT- oh man they are turning out beautiful. One is a siamese sable, the other is either a black or a seal- it's so hard to tell, especially when 90% of the body is covered with off-color baby fuzz.

I've also decided to offer a siamese sable holland lop doe for sale and possibly a young broken tort buck. More to come on them later :)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

Heartache

My one Jersey Wooly baby is dead. It was a pure case of selfishness on the part of the mother- she apparently kicked the baby to the front part of the nest so SHE could snuggle in the wool in the back. I'm so angry right now, I'm not sure how to really articulate how I'm feeling.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

The Lure of Woolies

I'm amazed by Woolies. Obviously I think they are adorable, from their wide faces and tiny little ears to the beautiful wool. I've even gone so far as to scale my Hollands down majorly and up the Wooly herd.


This post isn't about me though.

I first noticed it, obviously, when my friend Joni got her first Woolies. She loved Forest's cuddly personality and sweetness (and ironically, he's the only one who has ever bitten me lol), so she added a Wooly or two. Then another. And yet another. Last show, she mentioned she was considering maybe downsizing a Holland or two and adding in a few Woolies. Interesting.

Flash forward a bit- a Holland breeder I know happens to pick up a few Woolies. She shows them, she loves them, within weeks of the purchase she is talking about downsizing the Hollands and adding more Woolies!

When Marlee sold out, her mom Malena came oh so close to joining the Wooly movement- and Malena is a staunch Holland lover!


WHY? How do they cause established breeders to suddenly think traitorous thoughts about other breeds?

I think a lot has to do with the showing aspect. With so many color groups in Jersey Woolies, you've got a better chance of winning- or at least placing second. I'm sorry, I love the hollands, but it gets very discouraging when you have a NICE rabbit and it can't beat the G.C. 3 year olds on the table.

Which brings up my next point- woolies are competitive as young as 2 months old. You doubt me? I've won LEGS that young.

The biggest reason I've heard though are the people. Wooly people the country over seem to have a reputation for being laid back, friendly and welcoming. I only know of one person who had trouble with an individual and it was an obvious case of jealousy over the quality of animals the upstart *newbie* brought. I remember taking my first Woolies to the table- they applauded when my junior buck won his class, said hello, showed me their animals...it was a great time.

I hate to say it Holland folks, but we don't exactly have a reputation as a warm, happy, welcoming group. I've been lucky, the folks in Hollands here ARE sweet people. When I started in the Hollands years ago though, that definitely was not the case. I did not feel welcomed by any of the breeders, although no one was hostile. Those of you that show with me may notice I always try to greet the new breeders- it's because I clearly remember what it was like not knowing what to do or anyone and being so alone.

My last suspicion in the Wooly movement is color. Nice rabbits come in all shades in Woolies and I think that's a big perk for people.

So, if you're considering getting Woolies, beware- may cause severe love of the breed, to the detriment of others you currently own! Well worth it though ;)

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry

My Update

Well, Dreamer kindled- unfortunately she had 3 on the wire. One was a peanut and the other two appeared to be DOAs anyway. Hey, the good news is that she's started now. I rebred her immediately to Burlington, so I'm hoping we get some babies next time.

It's pouring snow here- the tree limbs are coated, as well as the tops of things, but it doesn't seem to be laying very well on the ground. It will make feeding mildly unpleasant- gotta love frozen water bottles and bitter cold! I was so ready for Spring :(.

My Barbi girl is due today. I really, really, really want her to kindle this time! We've got others due in a few days as well- I thought I felt babies in at least one.

Speaking of babies, our mini dachshund puppies are working on eyeballs! "Red" peeked out at us yesterday with a single eye- he looked a bit like a pirate with only one eye open lol.

-Kristen
Keep's Rabbitry