The official RU-vid channel for The Kunkel Homestead! Based out of Western Kentucky, our page is dedicated to our adventures with our rabbits, dogs, cats, garden, and our lives in general. We strive to educate and entertain with every video!
Question, instead of nipples or cups on the PVC, could I cut the pvc as a trough like Justin Rhodes everflow system? I like your complete setup the best out of any I have seen, however I want to do the trough part and didn’t know if it would work on your system or if I would have to make some modifications?
@TheNaamanChannel had to look up and find the video you were referring to, interesting concept! Our system is gravity fed, so if it were left open into a container or trough it would overflow it and empty the barrell. It might work if the water supply were dug into the ground to simulate their pond being lower down to use siphon energy. Barrel would still empty pretty fast. Maybe circle the drain hose back into the source?
We've got a rain barrel system and something we had to add that you should consider is adding a standard clear housed particulate filter in your line after it leaves the rain barrel as gutters tend to collect all sorts of dirt/dust. Other thing is to add a larger screen / particulate screen where the gutter tube goes into the barrel so you can catch any leaves or other debris than could collect in the barrel and taint the water. Fall-winter is not to far off so we're about to add a ricurc pump, but also plan to insulate all our lines.... Why.... because I'm anal like that and LOVE redundancy.... LOL!!! PS... Add some food grade silicone well as plumbers tape to the watering cups with straight threads when screwing them in and you will resolve that leaking issue. Or you can put a plastic nut with a small rubber washer on INSIDE edge of PVC for a seal on inside well as outside, as our birds were not big fans of the metal nipples.
Please pin me my thing is I didn’t know my dad thought for the longest time because we got it from this person and she said we got it from two different people OK one it this one place and one a whole Nother place in a whole Nother state and This is what happened said oh yeah this is a girl and the other ones this is a girl but guess what they weren’t one was a boy one was a girl they had babies, but those babies died now she has a bigger litter and two of them have died and I’m praying that you know the rest of these surviveI need some tips on breeding
How often do you need to help them vomit? We have done it once but 2 hours later it seems full again, she is eating the yogurt and we did apple cider vinegar in her water.
thanks this was very informative! i was wondering why some of them were so easy to feed, no milk going in the nose or spitting out, went directly to the belly, while others seemed to keep gagging/spitting out the milk. Hopefully they all get used to it soon. I can't tell if my momma rabbit is neglecting them on purpose or if its because she has no milk. I tried holding her down and letting the kits suckle from her but they kept moving nipples so maybe that's why. Not sure if she's stills caring for them in other ways eg. cleaning them off, helping them to defecate/urinate.
I live in Thailand. Just got a Dutch buck and a Rex doe. Temperatures in the cool season averages 32 degrees C. At night, with fans, I can get it to just about 29 C. They get ice bottles too quite a lot. Am I sh1t out of luck for breeding? I read that they go sterile temporarily after 5 days over 28C. Thanks.
Thank you for not being like every other person/people on here, theres so much misinformation and you guys are on the ball, again thankyou so much for this video, its a lifesaver!!
Thanks so much for the tips! We get baby bunnies in our yard all the time and the mamas don’t always make it back. Good to know how to help them along when abandoned, instead of just calling animal control (to keep them from being dug up by our doodle).
My dog just brought in a baby bunny. I think though one leg might be broken. it's still breathing. I know where the nest is. should I just put it back in the nest and wish the bunny luck? I am so sad right now. The bunny has hairs already by the way but breathing very heavily. It's tummy is round so maybe it got fed by momma bunny.
Just found some from two rabbits I was given after being told the male had been fixed. The mom mad a nest in a bad spot in the corner of her pen. Can I move the babies to a smaller pen with her or will she reject them?
I have some day old bunnies that the mom couldn’t care for them. I’m keeping them inside, how warm should they be our house is 68 F how do I know if they are too hot or too cold?
I don't know precise temps, but we've always had more trouble when they're too cold than too warm. How many kits are there? What kind of nest are they in? They'll generally keep themselves warm enough if there's enough of them to make heat and they're well insulated in straw and fur. They should feel fairly toasty if you reach your hand in among them. If they get too cool they'll feel chilly, get slow and lethargic, and eventually die. Keep a close eye!
@@TheKunkelHomestead will they be good on goats milk until 8 weeks? Should I get kitten formula instead? What is the best thing to do. Please help I do not want any to die
@viavortex5380 we've never had to fully raise any on a bottle, but our research is that either should work. Some folks say to add in heavy cream as well. We'd definately recommend consulting with a vet or animal rescue as well. Good news is, once they are big enough to open their eyes and move around, their need for milk drops as they'll begin eating and drinking. Ours are usually weaned fully by 6 weeks! You got this!
@@TheKunkelHomestead thanks! So in 7 days when their eyes open I already start feeding them hay and pellets? I thought it was 8 weeks for weaning? but 6 weeks would be amazing if I could, seems a lot of controversy it’s hard to know! I’m giving them away so I want them to be healthy to who I give them too so they don’t die on them. Any input on that? Thanks for being so helpful you are taking stress off of me :)
@viavortex5380 it's a gradual process. Generally the kits will be interested in whatever mom is eating, just like a human baby. We usually start with giving them some of the powder from the bottom of the hay so they can get the smell and bits of the taste. They'll start to nibble when they're ready as they grow. They start drinking water around 2 weeks or so. Pellets later since they're harder to chew.
The nipple is best, but any tiny plastic syringe or eyedropper may work. You can also try a brand new small paintbrush: absorb the milk in the bristles and the kit can suckle it out of them, but only use a brand new brush... no paint in the milk!
I tried this project. All the bunnies died. Don’t listen to her. They’re not a poster of goat milk. You’re post to mix materials with it to make it digestible. I bet that bunny died.
@@TheKunkelHomestead I found him cold outside and fed him bought milk three times. now he got stronger and warmed up. I don't know if bought milk is good.
This is such a helpful video. I was given a doe that I was told had been bred 2/3/24.. I added a nest box on 3/2/24.. other than burrowing into the hay and being VERY grumpy, there were no signs, no hair pulling nothing. By 3/7 I was pretty sure she wasn’t bred, but my gut said to just leave the box for a few more days.. since I personally didn’t breed her I didn’t want to miss something. I had made my mind up that I was going to remove her nest box and expose her to my buck on the 11th.. and guess what I find.. 5 kits and a much more pleasant doe.
Well, one of our girls was the first to get sour crop. I noticed it right from the start. I quickly started researching and your video was the first to catch my interest and everything you mention makes sense so we immediately isolated her and started the yogurt treatment and hydro-hen in her water. In less than 6 hours we noticed complete positive results in her behavior. Actually pooped and was looking for more yogurt. I added a dozen black fly larva and she gobbled them down with more yogurt. Her crop was completely normal the next morning. She had watery poop with some undigested scratch. Day 2 - she is ready to get out and explore however we are thinking about leaving her in the 2nd coop by herself until she is eating the feed and her poop becomes normal. Thank you for your experience and glad your video was there. I'm a subscriber!!!!! From middle TN.
I would highly suggest you mention that if there is no mom that they need to take a damp cotton ball and rub the tummy and potty area so that they go the bathroom. They don't go without stimulation at that age.
Oh no! We've had a couple mothers destroy their babies, but we've always been too late to save any :( They usually do it if they are stressed out. No idea if reintroducing them after a day or two would be successful. We have another video on bottle feeding them that hopefully helps!
Ive got 6 new born bunnies the mom hasnt fed them qnd they were born yesterday so ill be feeding them by bottle tomorrow morning. I hope i can find everything i need at the store. I did try to hold mom down so they could feed. I juat hope they hang in there
I tried doing this today and after 2 hours my hen died and I don’t understand why I did exactly what u did and I thought it worked but it wouldn’t stop trying to vomit like there was more inside so I kept trying and it died I DONT KNOW WHYYYYY did did I kill it pls tell me I didn’t or I can’t live 😭😭😭😭
We are not veterinarians nor have we seen your hen, but it's possible it wasn't caught in time and it was already too late when you began efforts. Sour crop is difficult to catch and treat. So sorry you lost your bird 😞
I love this solution and would implement it, except for one thing: it's surprising how expensive it is. First off, I like to go big with this type of stuff. I've already set up 4 feeder ports to a 5 gallon barrel. It works great and even when it rains, the food doesn't get wet. I'm still debating if I should one day cover my run. Anyway, any pipe solution should absolutely hold more than 5 gallons and I was thinking about using 6" pipe. If I get a 10' long section and cut it in half, the two 5' sections should hold close to 15 gallons of feed and I could easily go a month or longer before having to fill it up. The cheapest I've seen 6", 10' long pvc pipe is $80. I'd do that, but then the covers themselves are $30 EACH, or $120 just in covers. I could probably make my own covers from plywood, then caulk them to make them water tight, but it's stunning to me that pvc caps are that expensive. If you go with 3" diameter pipe, one 10' long pipe holds about 3 gallons. Even if I buy 2 of them (and have 4, 5" long sections), that's only 6 gallons. Not to mention since 3" is a much smaller diameter, I'd no longer be able to use my feeder ports and would have to use y fittings like you did. $37 per pipe (2 of them, so $74) and the caps and fittings (each Y fitting alone is $15) and you quickly have a very expensive feeder. I'll almost certainly one day go with the 6" solution and make my own caps. But for now, I use my very cheap 5 gallon bucket, that I have to fill up maybe once every 3 weeks.
While an unpainted stripe on your barrel allows for an easy way to check water level, it also allows for ultraviolet light to degrade the plastic, making a very brittle stripe eventually. I can think of 2 other ways to keep track of the level. 1 is a sight glass style from 2 elbow pipe fittings and some clear hose. The hose will also get u.v. damaged, but it's cheaper and easier tobreplace than the barrel. The other method would be to cut another hole in the top and use a float guage with a dial like what is found on some fuel oil tanks. Obviously, use a new one, not a second hand, just to be safe. Do yo insulate your distribution tubing and barrel in the winter? It would lower your heating costs.
We have used this several times to supplement successfully. We have never had occasion to fully raise a kit with a bottle so we cannt confirm that ourselves
