Kath Percival

Thanks everyone for your responses. He's starting to settle down a bit more now, he actually started eating pellets and grains for the first time in the morning of our hottest day for a while - not really sure why that gave him the kick he needed, but it did. He's also learnt to properly drink (not sure why I had to teach a 9 month old rabbit how to drink, but it's been 3 weeks of frustration) and rather than me having to drop drips of water down his nose into his mouth, he's now learnt to use the drinker. All around things are happier here, and he's eating a lot more grass too. I don't think it'll be long before he starts putting on some weight.
Vanessa, I did think I might lose him a couple of times over the last week! I've got a white cloth draped over a half of the hutch and every few hours I would go out and hose it down, and hose him down too if he was looking particularly droopy. He absolutely hated it, but I do think that it kept him alive. I tried the ice block thing, but he really took offense to it and kept attacking it and pushing it away from him. I am lucky enough (!!??) to be unemployed at the moment so I was able to go out every few hours and check on him. If I wasn't able to, then yeah, I think misters or a small sprinkler on the hutch all day would do the trick. Maybe something like those small sprinklers you have on an irrigation system. Not too much water would be wasted then. I have heard that too much lettuce can give them the runs, I've been keeping an eye on it, but I've had no problems with that so far. My biggest concern is that he was filling up on lettuce which is basically crunchy water, and not getting any nutrients or energy. I've dropped the lettuce ration down now, and added more herbs, not that he does more than taste them, which I think encourages him to eat more grass the the pellets. I'm at Semaphore, so we get some light sea breezes to cool things down.

I'm starting a backyard meat rabbit enterprise, I've had my buck, a NZ White, for 2 weeks now. He had some trouble adjusting to being in a new place and being alone (I haven't managed to find a doe yet), but seems to have settled in now. His appetite is not as ravenous as I would have hoped, and is losing condition fast. I've got him on grass (couch that I recently laid for this purpose - long story, but it was my only option), ad lib meadow hay, 2-4 cups of greens a day (his favourite is lettuce and parsley, nothing else really appeals), and a small amount of grain and pellets because I was so worried he wasn't really eating anything else. He hasn't really touched anything except the lettuce and parsley, sometime grass, and I can't tell if he's eating any of the grain/pellets because he likes to pick up the container and throw them around - he also does this with his water bowl. Angry little man. From my research I've offered him everything a rabbit should like, does anyone have any suggestions as to anything else I should give, or any other ideas in general to stimulate his appetite? I've got a source of free wheat berries, so I'll be growing some wheatgrass to supplement their diet, I'm hoping that'll be popular. I really want to get this sorted before I buy a doe and mate them, I don't want her starving while she's 'with child'. I'd appreciate people's thoughts, thanks!

I've been to the doctor. He gave me penicillin, which is what I'd like to avoid.

I would appreciate peoples advice on my latest injury...

I was bitten by the stray cat that hangs around the farm this morning. She's not very well and eats whatever she can find (rats/dead stuff) so her mouth is pretty dirty. She bit right the way through my thumb nail pretty deep into my finger. I went to the doctor to get a tetanus shot, and he also gave me a huge pack of penicillin to take.

I've had all sorts of trouble with antibiotics in the past, having had far too many for varied reasons throughout the years. I would really rather not take them, but don't want to risk a serious bacterial infection from the dirty cat mouth.

Does anyone know of any natural treatments that would prevent bacteria taking over my finger? My favourite remedy is soaking it in salt water a few times a day, but I don't know if that would cut it if there are potentially really bad things in there..

And if I do decided to take the antibiotics, what are the best ways to get over the massacre in my gut? I eat a lot of natural yoghurt, but I know that I'd need about 20 litres a day to replace my gut flora in a decent amount of time. Any things that I can make myself would be the best suggestions because I live on a conservative island where it's hard to buy 'hippy shit'.

Thanks

Hi Duncan,

I'm way up in Scotland on the Isle of Lewis.

Good luck with your plans, they sound fantastic.

I'm working on an estate, attempting to become more sustainable and self-sufficient. Just starting at the moment with the basics - chickens and vegetables. They already had cattle and sheep and plenty of fish, so we've made some steps in the right direction.

Kat

I have had the exact same problem, and after dealing with it once I (shudder) went onto a different pill for 6 months, and when I went off that I had the same problem again. Both times after much trial and error with all sorts of internal and external remedies I heard about Vitex (agnus castus or chaste tree berry). I take 1ml morning and night (of a good quality tincture) and after 3 or 4 months I'm all fixed. I start to see the acne diminishing after 2 months or so. It's a really good herb for balancing hormones, helps get your body producing what it should be producing, and not lazy like it was when you're on the pill. I agree that it's important to use the correct external cleansers (eg, apple cider vinegar's great), but you would know that your acne is coming from an imbalance inside you, not because you're not cleansing properly, and you need to deal with it primarily from an internal perspective. That was my experience anyway... good luck.

Thanks everyone, after all your wise advice I think if I do feed them it, it would only be in small amounts for the first few months that I have them.

Oh, such fantastic ideas!

I'll definitely try driving over them, what an amazingly easy way to crush them. Also, I'm glad to hear that burning them works too, I have such a need for lime here and no money to buy it!

And I'll for certain try the slug barrier, I'll let you know if it works.

Thanks so much.

Hi everyone,

I have a ton (literally, a ton) of out of date organic fish food - not the nicest stuff, but something that I don't want to waste as I believe when it was bought years ago it cost quite a lot of money. I'll be getting some pigs in the next month or so (first time pig owner) and I was thinking to supplement their feed with the fish food.

Do people think this is a good idea nutrition wise, also I have concerns about tainting the meat.

Thanks!

Hey everyone,

I was wondering if anyone has any tips for me. I have an ongoing supply of large amounts of mussel shells and some oyster and scallop shells. I would love to make use of them, or at the very least dispose of them in a nice way. So far I have considered crushing them up as a liming agent (here in western Scotland we have very very acid soil), but how to crush enormous amounts of shells small enough is beyond me. I also considered burning them, but I didn't know if that would turn the lime into a form that was bad for the soil.

Any ideas would be greatly appreciated!

Thanks