Our sister gave us a couple rabbits. They are babies and are only 5 weeks old. We named them Bugsy and Cuddles. Rabbits are herbivores. That means they eat fruits and vegetables. Some of the things Bugsy and Cuddles like to eat are: broccoli, apples, grasses, carrots, and pea pods. Their father is a dwarf rabbit (a very small one) and their mother is a giant rabbit (a very large one). Because of the different sizes of the parents, the babies inherited different size genes. Bugsy inherited more of the dwarf genes from their father and Cuddles inherited more of the giant genes from their mother. Their mother is white and their father is very dark grey. The babies inherited color genes from both parents. Here is a picture of Cuddles eating a piece of apple. Cuddles really likes apples. They will turn and twist their heads to nibble on different parts of their food. Look at the gigantic foot on Cuddles! The fur on the bottom of their foot helps to cushion their foot and protect it from ouchies and anything hot or cold. Bugsy wasn't very happy getting pictures taken. But, here is an ear! Bugsy and Cuddles have ears that stand up. Their ears are big so they can hear better. Bugsy's tail looks like pompom. It's mostly fluff!
As they grow, we will post more about them. In later entries, we will include information on caring for pet rabbits.
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Stevie is an Eastern Mole. Eastern moles are the most widely spread mole in the world. Despite what people might think, moles do not eat roots or plants. Stevie is an insectivore--that means he eats bugs. On a rare occasion, a mole may eat a baby bird, but that doesn't happen very often. Even though a mole's mouth is full of sharp teeth, they can't open their mouths very far. Also, they can only see light and dark. Eastern moles typically live only 3 years in the wild, but some can live up to 6 years. Stevie is already full grown, but we don't really know how old he is. He was found by our chicken pen, and we saved him before a chicken could eat him!
Moles are no threat to chickens nor humans. In fact, they are quite beneficial! They eat the bugs that would harm our gardens. Moles eat 20-100% of their weight in bugs every day! Moles like wax worms, crickets, earthworms, flies, and larvae. If they're kept as pets, they can also eat ground beef, dog food, and cat food. They like foods with lots of protein! Their front feet kind of look like hands--they have 5 toes and are big and flat. These feet are at the sides of their heads to help them dig. They are very strong! Their back legs and feet are much smaller than the front ones, and are very weak. If you keep one as a pet, make sure to fill their home with lots of dirt. To feed them, you'd just drop in their food. Some bugs will start going underground and some will stay on the surface. Moles spend most of their time searching for food, so don't put it in a bowl! You do not need to give them much water. They get most of the water they need from the bugs they eat! This is a special blog entry. We normally won't do this, but we did this just for you! We want people to know and respect all kinds of animals, especially those that people have misconceptions about. We all want to know how to protect our cluckers. This is one of the most important steps to keeping chickens alive.
Chickens have many natural enemies: foxes, opossums, rats, hawks, eagles, snakes, raccoons, cats, dogs, etc. They are called "prey animals" because they get hunted a lot. To prevent your chickens from being eaten, you need to have protection for them. Every so often, you need to inspect their pen to make sure they can't get out or something can't get in. Chickens like to dig in the dirt, so you'll need to fill up any holes by the fence. Chickens dig by scratching the dirt with their feet. Sometimes, the babies will be able to get out through small holes. So, every so often, check for holes in the dirt. We like to fill ours with concrete because they can't dig through stone. If you live in an area with a lot of predators, you'll probably want an electric fence. This will provide extra protection from ground predators. Electric fences typically don't kill predators, but they give a hot shock that causes a predator to leave. Snakes probably won't be effected by an electric fence because they stay close to the ground and the electric fence wire is a few inches above the ground. The pen needs walls to protect the chickens from weather, like wind and rain. You'll also need a fence and, if you have flying predators, you'll want some sort of cover on top. The fence should not have large holes in it because chickens or babies can get out or stuck. The fence isn't just one giant piece, so when you put it up, you'll need to make sure you use some sort of zip ties or twine to tie the pieces together so there aren't gaps. Another important thing chickens need is a place for them to perch. They perch to stay safe from ground predators during the night. Chickens are blind in the dark so they can't see if a predator comes for them. By being on a perch, they're safe from the ground predators, like opossums, raccoons, and rats. Mice are a threat to chickens, not because they eat chickens, but because they eat the food and spread germs. You'll need to protect the food by not feeding the chickens at night and not storing the food in bags. If the food is kept in a bag, the mice will chew through the bag. Mice poop and pee is what spreads diseases, so you want to make sure none gets in the food. Roosters let out a roar when something startles them that they think might be a threat. But, that's not when you need to check on them! They have a different alarm for when predators are near. It's like "buck-buck-buck-BUCK-BUCK!" over and over. When you hear your roosters (or even dominant hens) make this sound, be sure to check on them. That alarm, if repeated over several times, means there's a threat near by--it could be at the fence or even inside the pen! Some hens like to "sing" when they lay eggs or just after laying an egg. This is not an alarm, but it is their way of bragging. Not all hens do this, though. To a new chicken owner, it may take a little time to tell the difference between this and an alarm. Keeping your chickens safe sounds complicated, but it's actually not. Just make sure their pen is secure and their food is protected. Nanners says, "Raising the chickens is fun! But, it can, also, be a challenge."
Mashers says, "You get to see how they grow, their personality changes as they grow, and their behaviours. Some might be grumpy, some might be sweet, some might just be lazy!" Chickens are so funny sometimes! They can run into each other when they get really active. Other times, they stick their heads into everything they think there might be food in (like a lizard, a bug, or their feed). It's so cute when the babies poke their heads out from underneath mama. Some of the adults aren't as fond of being touched, but they don't peck us. Instead, they will try to hide their faces underneath the chicken next to them. Sometimes, the chicks play with each other, like when one grabs a piece of food and runs around peeping so the others will chase them. Chickens are very smart birds! They can learn how to push doors open, get to high places, and hide eggs they want to sit on. They know how everyone looks, even people. They know which person feeds them good stuff, which person is too noisy for them, which person they can jump on, and which person they should run from. They know who each member of their flock is just by the way they look, even if several look the same to us. They know when someone from their flock goes missing, and they sometimes grieve if that individual is dead. It's funny to watch Big Mama keep the roosters in line. It doesn't matter how tough the rooster thinks he is, if he crosses the line, Big Mama will put him back in his place. She has a very dominant personality. Others, like Egg Muncher, are very timid and keep to themselves. Some of them, despite being huge, are just big babies, like Hugh, the huge, sweet baby. He's "Hugh-mungus!" "No matter what their attitude is, we still love them," Nanners said about his feathered friends. "I think it's cool how chickens have their own personality," said Mashers, matter-of-factly. Candling is used to see inside an egg without breaking it open. It allows us to see if the eggs are developing babies. To candle an egg, you need: a bright light, an egg, and a lot of patience. To candle the egg, we put a light under or behind an egg. The light shines through the shell, only a little, which lets us see veins, body parts, and the yolk. In the beginning, we may only see the yolk, but if we wait a few days, we can see some veins. After about a week, we will start to see the baby forming. We don't get to see details, but we can see a shadow. This entry has eggs that are about to hatch. This is an unfertilized egg. There is no baby inside. This is not all yolk! In the middle, you can see a darker area, and that is the yolk. We can't see any veins, even though this egg was under a hen for the past three weeks, so that means that it's not developing a baby. (All the dark stuff on the egg isn't inside. It's dirt, and maybe a little poopy from mom. This is perfectly normal.) These eggs are both fertile and are filled with babies! The egg on the left has a white shell and the egg on the right has a brown shell. At this stage, just before they hatch, the baby has nearly completely filled up the egg. That's why it's so dark! In the egg on the right, you can see a little air pocket. This is okay because it's small. If the air pocket was big, that would mean that the baby was dead because bacteria got inside (bacteria let off gasses that create air pockets inside eggs). We can tell that these eggs will probably hatch in a few days by how dark and full they are.
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Just two brothers
Nanners & Mashers are brothers who just want to share their birds with the world. Archives
April 2016
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