Peg's Place - 2009

[TinysMom]

Fancy77 wrote:

Peg I am a bit confused....help me out 4 a sec. lol U r talking about your new cleaner. for litter pans, cages, ect. But I was under the impression that Vinegar water solution works just fine to clean cages and pans with. SO what are the reasons u use this store bought solution vs vinegar???

When Animal Control came to visit the first two times....they said that in spite of what I'd been using there was still *some* ammonia odor. They also wanted me to use something that was a disinfectant, etc. since I have a larger herd than most homes.

I felt like the one animal control officer who was the most friendly explained it to me the best...he said it like this...

"A rabbitry is like a 'professional' establishment like a kennel or vet where multiple animals are handled...so we want to see you using professional equipment - especially for germ control."

When they came back the third time (I called them and turned myself in and said, 'they were supposed to come back - will you please have them come back so I know I'm doing ok???')....they were very pleased.

My one concern about vinegar is that it isn't a disinfectant - yeah - it can keep the smell down - but can it kill the germs?

I hope that makes sense.

I finished the rabbitry late last night/early this morning...so its good for a few more days!

 

[Fancy77]

Yes u did make a lot of sense not I didnt realize that it didnt kill germs...silly me If that is that case I will also look into that Home Depot stuff you have previously mentioned. I only have 3 but since I do daycare being sanitary is high priority!! Bleach is my best friend for everything except the bunnies then it the vinegar.

Thx a bunch!!!!

I didnt realize it too you that long to clean your rabbitry u mush have a hundred buns for it to take that long...wow kidos!!!!

 

[TinysMom]

Oh no - doesn't really take that long - we have a schedule of dumping the trays so that each section gets dumped once to twice a week and it only takes a few minutes.

But this was a full-out cleaning the floor and not only dumping the cage pans but spraying them down and doing deep cleaning.

I'm trying to get into the routine of doing a deep cleaning once a month where I pull out the cages and sweep behind them and stuff - and then the regular maintenance of cage cleaning on a weekly basis. Some cages get cleaned 2X or 3X per week and others get cleaned 1X per week - depending upon the situation. For example - the flemish giants who use their litterbox....1X or 2X per week because its mainly dumping the litter box and giving it a quick spray and refilling it with the wood pellets. I have a couple of other buns that are just totally messy - and that is 3X per week (every other day). I may not spray their cage that often - but I do clean it out.

I can't believe I'm saying this - but having animal control visit me was one of the better things that ever happened to me cause they were really nice - but they helped me find products that would work so much better for the rabbitry.

I know you can also use a clorox solution on cages - I want to say it is 10% or so? When I had a virus go through - Cathy (Blue Giants) told me to use a 20% bleach solution to spray the cages down and let them sit and then hose them off. (I was at a show that day and talked to other breeders only to find out they'd had the same thing happen that spring or earlier that year).

I did have over 100 rabbits at one time - but no more. My rabbitry is much much much smaller now - due to rehoming, etc.

 

[TinysMom]

I was trying to think of how to describe the cleaning so that other folks might understand.

You know how sometimes you might go through your frig and throw out old stuff and maybe wipe it down a bit?

That's my regular cage cleaning - and it doesn't take long.

But then there are times when you take EVERYTHING out of the refrigerator and you wipe everything down (my husband likes to even clean under the rubber gasket that holds the door closed) and maybe you even bleach it a bit or use baking soda or something....

That's the type of cleaning I was doing this weekend...and I try to do that once a month now.

 

[Fancy77]

Well that is a silver lining when u look at the bright side of animal control...

I have heard that large rabbitrys have around 100 or more...so amazing to me. Well if you ever need to re-home Athena let me know lol

I am scared to use the bleach on the buns...I am scared of contamination. But this home depot stuff sounds like just the ticket.

 

[Fancy77]

I get it lol and I hate cleaning the fridge btw with the kids spills are everywhere lol ewwe

 

[irishbunny]

I understand how messy bunnies can be! In my shed I have three bunnies caged and a group with three girls that aren't caged at all. I clean the whole place on a Sunday, by next Sunday the floor is covered in shavings, kicked out of the caged bunnies cages and the girls spread them everywhere, along with hay from their cage. They also refuse to use their cage for pooping, so they just poop where they are standing, so it all has to be swept up and we have to take all the cages and other stuff out of the shed every month to get the poops and shaving out from behind things. Plus power spray the cages because the bunnies like to poop on top of them and then mush it in :grumpy:

Messy buggers!

 

[TinysMom]

Fancy77 wrote:

Well if you ever need to re-home Athena let me know lol

I bet she would be spoiled rotten!

She is so funny - its sad because I must admit that Sophia and Nyx have been my favorite two girls - but in the last week - Athena has been becoming a cuddlebun with me...that is....when she's not laying beside Herme's cage telling him how much she loves him.

 

[TinysMom]

Fancy77 wrote:

Well that is a silver lining when u look at the bright side of animal control...

I have heard that large rabbitrys have around 100 or more...so amazing to me. Well if you ever need to re-home Athena let me know lol

I am scared to use the bleach on the buns...I am scared of contamination. But this home depot stuff sounds like just the ticket.

I meant to say - when I was in Connecticut and went to the Storrs show - there was one guy there who said he has something like 300 rabbits - and I think he was saying 300 flemish giants.

I'm trying to imagine his food bill for that - not to mention the amount of cleaning.

 

[Fancy77]

TinysMom wrote:

Fancy77 wrote:

Well that is a silver lining when u look at the bright side of animal control...

I have heard that large rabbitrys have around 100 or more...so amazing to me. Well if you ever need to re-home Athena let me know lol

I am scared to use the bleach on the buns...I am scared of contamination. But this home depot stuff sounds like just the ticket.

I meant to say - when I was in Connecticut and went to the Storrs show - there was one guy there who said he has something like 300 rabbits - and I think he was saying 300 flemish giants.

I'm trying to imagine his food bill for that - not to mention the amount of cleaning.

OMG :craziness

I always get surprised at how many crazy ppl there are in this world...300 U have got to b kidding me WOW

Ya Food, Cleaning, Time, Money, Space and to my knowledge the rabbit business is not a profitable one. I cant wrap my mind around crazy lol

1 maybe 2 flemish would b just enough for me. I would love to get a white flemish doe. For my Jay Jay, but that is a while down the road. I have a breeder in my area but I am very mad with him not sending my the pedigree for Jay Jay so I dont think I will go through him again.

Do u just have the 3 yourself??? I read your blog but I am always wondering how many Flemish u have.

 

[JadeIcing]

Fancy77 wrote:

Do u just have the 3 yourself??? I read your blog but I am always wondering how many Flemish u have.

Peg has... Nyx, Sofia, Athena, Hermes, Mercury and Zeus a Flemmie mix.

 

[Fancy77]

JadeIcing wrote:

Fancy77 wrote:

Do u just have the 3 yourself??? I read your blog but I am always wondering how many Flemish u have.

Peg has... Nyx, Sofia, Athena, Hermes, Mercury and Zeus a Flemmie mix.

*using fingers* 1...2...3...4...5...6 ok thx lmao

:biggrin2:

 

[TinysMom]

I have Zeus - who is my pet flemish giant mix - he lives in the bedroom and sleeps with us.

For my flemish "herd" I have three does and two bucks. The does are Athena, Sophia & Nyx. The bucks are Hermes and Mercury.

Currently, I think Athena is bred...so we may be having babies in 23 days or so...I need to palpate her at the end of this week.

I may eventually go up to a herd that would be maybe 12 flemish...I am making arrangements to bring two or three in from New England this spring to add to my bloodlines and create my own lines versus just continuing the lines of someone else. (Four of the five are from the same breeder here in Texas - one of the top breeders in the nation).

But when I say "12" flemish - I'm thinking of those I might keep after they retire.

Anyway - back to my plan. I want to breed my girls two times a year and I want to plan the breedings around show season so that I can sell to 4H kids and people who want to show (along with pets). I also want to compete at certain shows - like the flemish giant specialty shows, etc.

Once my girls are 2 or 2 1/2 - I hope to neuter them and retire them...and possibly place them in good pet homes. I may ask for something like 50% of the cost of the neuter (or maybe even 25%) just to see them get into a good home.

The bucks I also hope to retire by the age of 2 1/2 or 3 and let them go to a pet home if someone is interested.

I will definitely be interviewing people though who want them as pets - to get a feeling for what type of home the rabbit is getting into.

Alicia & I have been talking a lot about rehoming some of my lionheads and I'm seriously considering starting to rehome them around the first of the year. I don't plan to rehome all of them - but I have some that would make EXCELLENT pets and even though I would love to keep them - Alicia has been pointing out that I need to do what is best for them. For example - I'm sitting here looking at Sting and thinking how much he loves pets and out time - he'd be a prime example of a good pet candidate. I might even rehome Triad - who I love dearly - because I think he might be happier in a home.

I'm reminding myself that if I rehome these ones...it will help me have more room in the bunny barn to create play space for the ones I do keep...

Anyway - I ramble far too much - don't I?

But you asked how many I have...I have five flemish giants in my herd at this time - and Zeus as a pet.

 

[TinysMom]

I forgot to add - I know of some breeders (flemish giants and others) who keep some or most of their retired animals. I know already that Nyx and Sophia and Mercury will live out their lives here.

Athena I will keep if I don't find her a forever home that she likes...and the same with Hermes. However - those two are the ones who are most likely to find a different "forever" home.

Also - lets say someone fell in love with Athena and I could tell that she was in love with them...like 6 months from now or something.

If I could tell she wanted to be with them (and yes - you can tell) - then I would forget my breeding plans for her and let her go to a good home once I felt comfortable with the people, etc. My ultimate goal would be her happiness - even if it meant I didn't breed her as I'd planned.

Crazy?

 

[Fancy77]

I think that sounds like a great plan Peg. Isnt it nice to have someone like that that u can bounce things off of...that is cool!!! Well When u start this plan put me down for one, oh wait ur in TX I will have to call Dave and Karen 4 one...White of course lol

 

[JadeIcing]

I am liking Athena more and more. She reminds me of Sam the more you talk about her.The more she developes the more we see Sam in her.

 

[Fancy77]

Crazy...naw....smart!! Send her my way when your done Or I could take a vacation to TX lol

I forgot to ask Why New England stock??? is there something about the flemish out there that has made u more interested??? I mean besides extending someone elses lines like now???

 

[TinysMom]

JadeIcing wrote:

I am liking Athena more and more. She reminds me of Sam the more you talk about her.The more she developes the more we see Sam in her.

I can kind of understand that - nothing bad about Sam - but Athena is just sorta stand-offish. She can take people - or leave them. She comes out and does her own thing (loves to sit beside Hermes - he is her best friend) - sometimes she'll hang out with the other two - other time she's just a loner.

She's kinda hard for me to connect with. I feel bad thinking that I might rehome her some day....because I do care about her. But I'm not sure we're the BEST choice for her "Forever" home once she retires.

Seriously though - I've been praying about her - about maybe letting her go sometime next year if the right "forever" home came up for her...

I cry when I think about it - but in the back of my mind is the thought that there is a forever home for her somewhere and its like she's staying with me while we wait for it to pop up.

 

[Fancy77]

TinysMom wrote:

Seriously though - I've been praying about her - about maybe letting her go sometime next year if the right "forever" home came up for her...

I cry when I think about it - but in the back of my mind is the thought that there is a forever home for her somewhere and its like she's staying with me while we wait for it to pop up.

:tears2: u just broke my heart *sniffle - sniffle*

 

[JadeIcing]

TinysMom wrote:

JadeIcing wrote:

I am liking Athena more and more. She reminds me of Sam the more you talk about her.The more she developes the more we see Sam in her.

I can kind of understand that - nothing bad about Sam - but Athena is just sorta stand-offish. She can take people - or leave them. She comes out and does her own thing (loves to sit beside Hermes - he is her best friend) - sometimes she'll hang out with the other two - other time she's just a loner.

That is Sam to a T! She became my bestfriend because I didn't expect more. She didn't not really care about people but would tolerate interlopers.Her love was Ringo, she could sit by him forever. The only one who would.