Angora-phobia

Today marked a milestone in our farm experience. We sold livestock. In March our Angora doe, Flora, gave birth to her first litter. I had been putting off breeding for a long time nervous and anxious about the possibility of landing an enormous litter of kits and no one willing to buy them. "Breeding like rabbits" isn't just a cutesy saying.

Its a big responsibility, this breeding business. But this is one of the main reasons we got into rabbits in the first place. They are small, economical, breed quickly, low maintenance and can bring in money by the hair on their backs.

We have owned rabbits for about 18 months now. I am still a nervous wreck when it comes to breeding. Flora's litter netted 7 babies, three of which didn't make it. This isn't uncommon for a first time mom and four healthy kits is a respectable number. Three does and a buck turned 8 weeks this past Thursday. I weaned them from their mom, giving them cages in the house for now while they await their new owners. Leaving the buck with the other girls could be a bad thing in a couple weeks. Two of the does are promised to an Alpaca fiber farm down south and the buck went home with a nice girl across the way.

For some reason, I feel safer having does on hand than bucks. Maybe because males are so under-prized in the farming community. You need only one, really. This sale today makes me feel a little more confident in breeding our rabbits for sale. I will expose Flora to Duncan again this week, giving her a break between litters to dry up and grow back her tummy hair. I will only breed her three times this year. I want to breed rabbits for sale, placing them in homes where they will be cared for properly and enrich lives by their companionship and fiber, not churn out a rabbit mill.

So, I mark today a success in the books of the HeartSong Farm Rabbitry.

Poor Practice

I've been searching for some older does so we can start milk productions sooner than next spring. I love my little does but the grocery bill needs a break. When I was searching for the two I initially bought in December I came across a dairy farm that had advertised "bottle babies" for $45. After many days of back and forth emails I had decided to come out to the farm which I mentioned in my email and all of a sudden the reply stated that those $45 babies were sold two days ago and now the only ones left were $125 and up.

But I'd love them anyway so come on over. With cash.

I was disappointed in the bait and switch. Why didn't she mention this in all the prior emails? I wrote them off and continued searching. I found a great goat farm just a block over with the same kind of bottle babies at the same price. All wasn't lost. Buttercup and Felicity are happy little kids in our barn.

Well, I realized now that waiting until next spring isn't going to work for us as far as milk production goes, so I am in need of older does that are in milk now or pregnant or can at least be exposed to a buck prior to pick up.

In searching today, I came across the same farm listing does up to 4 years old for sale. So, as I'm often in the habit of doing, I gave them the benefit of the doubt and emailed them telling them what I was looking for. I just got a response.

Apparently, I can buy a doe but I also have to buy at least 1 buck. She now won't sell the does alone which isn't at all in her ad of "does starting at $100". I can buy as many does as I want but I also have to buy a buck. One doe, one buck.

I don't want a buck. I never mentioned buying a buck. I dont' have the facility for a buck. I have kids too young to be exposed to a buck. I don't care how she reassures me (not knowing I don't have the right farm for a buck) that I'll love the bucks and they'll be SUPER great and I better hurry before Sunday because she'll sell them to someone else that's scheduled to come. Oh, and she takes cash, just so I know.

As a begining farmer, I see how this is a terribly poor practice of livestock sales. She gets you hooked with low prices and false promises and then slams you with the catch be it higher prices or multiple animals. This is a large farm, they have a CSA, they've been in business for years. I'm wondering how many people they take advantage of this way. It gives farming a bad name and gives me another dose of learning the lesson of never offering second chances.