Farina

Our rabbits are multiplying, and none of them have even bred yet. After our new addition yesterday, we're up to six.



This is Farina, a beautiful angora rabbit. We had been trying to find one for a while now, but without luck. Then, earlier this week we stumbled upon a flyer at the Stockyard, our local feed store. A breeder had three angoras for sale for $12 each.



We've named her Farina, after the main ingredient in Cream of Wheat. Cream of Wheat is my favorite breakfast food, and because she's known as "oatmeal" colored, we thought it was perfect.

So why do we want this furry little creature? The hair makes for wonderful spun yarn. Mixed with wool, cotton, or other spinning materials, it creates an elegant, warm, and soft fiber.

Timothy hay

Taylor and I are hoping to raise rabbits in the near future for several reasons:


They breed like... well, rabbits.
They're a great source of lean meat
They have a really high ratio of input(food) to output(meat)
They're quiet, don't make a huge mess, and are relatively low-maintenance.
They're a great source of high-nitrogen fertilizer.


After looking into this quite a bit, we've decided it could prove economical and efficient to grow our own food for these rabbits. In addition to giving them leftover greens from the garden, we also plan on growing timothy hay (and eventually wheat straw) to feed them.

This brings me to the second package I was expecting in the mail: timothy hay seeds!


We ordered one ounce of seeds for about five bucks with free shipping. We're hoping this will fill about 100 square feet of area, which should be plenty to feed four rabbits.

Timothy hay is a perennial, so hopefully we can harvest this in a manner that lets it continue to grow without having to reorder more seeds. For five bucks though, I think this might be a great investment. One ten-pound bag of commercial rabbit feed runs about $8, and consists mostly of timothy and alfalfa. With some extra veggies thrown in for more vitamins, I think these rabbits should do just fine.

A great fertilizer

Our pet bunny, Atom, is more than just a cute face.

Isn't she adorable?

She is a poop machine. If you feed her a carrot, you can actually watch it go straight through her. She takes a bite, and out comes a perfectly round pellet of poo. I might be exaggerating, but she must drop a turd every five minutes. Lucky for us, this rabbit poo makes a great fertilizer.

I normally wind up making a "tea" from her teeny turds. I just throw them in an old Gatorade bottle, add some warm water, and let it sit for a day or two (it helps to shake it every once in a while).


Be forewarned--- things can get a little smelly. The good thing is, you can store the dry pellets in a ziploc bag until you're ready to mix it, and that doesn't smell at all.

Rabbit poop is very high in nitrogen (it has more than chicken manure). Also, it contains plenty of phosphorous, which is great for fruit formation. Try putting some of this in your corn bed before you plant, and it should work out great. Just be warned--- too much of this can easily burn young plants.