The Good News at The Miniature Smallholding
Yesterday our mini lop doe, Fern, had a litter of four kits. They are all strong and healthy and this time there are no obvious runts.
Two of the babies shortly after birth yesterday.
All of the babies today.
I'm always a bit worried about Fern due to the toll that pregnancy and feeding the kits takes on her body, but she's doing well.
The proud parents; Fern on the left and Polar Bear on the right.
In other news the Easter Egger hatch that is coming to maturity is looking like it has mostly females. Selling the pullets means a small income to help cover feed costs on the smallholding. Out of 8, five are looking pretty certain as girls and there is one we're still undecided on. In this picture it is the dark one on the roost at the back. They are nearly 3 1/2 months old. Any thoughts from the chicken experts out there?
Our first hen raised chicks are now nearly two months old and are doing well. I was worried we'd have losses, but I should have put more faith in a hen's natural instinct!
I've been calling this one Puddin'
We are hopefully getting into rabbits in February! We're very excited. Yay on the cute little babies!!
Exciting! Any particular type?
New zealands for now but eventually we want to get into silver foxes
New Zealand's would be for meat right? I've not heard of silver foxes. Off to look them up now!
I see they're quite rare. Sounds like a good breed to get into. So are you thinking meat and fur with them?
Yes! Originally I was only interested in the manure but realized we were missing out on a golden opportunity for some food for us and the animals. My husband is also looking into how to use the pelts
Ive got to get a rabbit!
We'll have mini lops available in a couple of months!😉
Ill buy a female from you when theyre ready
I'll keep you updated on them.
Congrats on the baby bunnies. They are so small it's unbelievable! Those Easter Egger hens are neat looking birds. We have 56 Easter Egger's they are my favorite chickens.
Thanks for using the #thegoodnews tag and congrats on your good news.
A successful birth! :)
Thank you. They are pretty miniscule! 😄
Now you're just trying to make me jealous. 56! You must get quite a rainbow of eggs. I don't have the room to keep any of these, but I'd love to see what their egg colours will be. They're a really sweet and curious bunch too.
Yes we sure do get a rainbow of eggs and a huge variety of egg sizes. We have a couple of birds who lay a greenish/bluish egg, a few that lay almost pink, a couple that lay pinkish/brown and some lay white eggs. I've seen online people have chickens that lay these awesome looking red eggs but I don't remember the breed.
Next on the list for us is "Silkies" My son keeps asking to get them. He even wanted a "Silkie" for his birthday or Christmas but we told him we would wait until spring.
Red! Wow! I'm going to have to look into that. I can probably guarantee we can't get them here though. Australia makes it prohibitively expensive to bring in new breeds.
My daughters would like silkies, but the the runs turn into mud pits in winter, no matter what I do. I'm hoping I can improve things over time though. I'd love to be able to breed something like a Svart Hona or Ayam Cemani using black silkie genes, as we can't get them here.
That would awesome! I remembered the breed that lays the red eggs.
Black Copper Maran is what they are called
I know of marans. I thought they were more of a chocolate coloured egg, although we mostly get wheaten marans here. Maybe that's why Black Copper ones are more sought after, not just because they're rare.
Yes I'm not sure! I don't know the availability of the Black Copper Marans!
I'd never seen new born rabbits before.. How cute. Glad they are all healthy as well as mum
Cute and odd looking at once! I've never taken them out this young before as I wasn't sure how mum would react with her first litters, but she's fine. So this is the first time I've seen them as fresh born.
Oh wow that would be a great new experience for you then🐰
Those kits are adorable @minismallholding. We bought 6 Ameraucanas about 3 months ago. My wife wants all the different colors in the egg spectrum. lol
If I had the space I'd be trying for any egg rainbow too! I'm missing dark chocolate and pink. 😁
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So sweet! Best of health to the babies and mama!
Thank you. 😊
Could Puddin' be the next meme? 😋
I wouldn't have thought of this one for a meme.
I was just kidding.
You've got a lot of cute babies!
Yeah.... That looks like a bird with something on it's mind! lol
I just came over to reply and saw that this mornings reply didn't post. I've been having some lag on Steemit for a day or two. 😒
Haha! No it posted, just on the other one! I've been doubling up due to steemit problems yesterday!!
lol. 👍
Yeah.... That looks like a bird with something on it's mind! lol
I didn't realise that posted twice! I was having trouble posting and upvoting at all last night, then I guess it tried to make up for it! Lol