Bijou Homestead

10/09/2025

Wahoooo the egg strike is over! It finally happened after about 2 months of a hard molt. The silkies have started laying again and I'm absolutely ecstatic. Despite what others might think, chickens do go through periods where they don't lay because of molting or stress even. Stress can be as simple as a weather change or if their pen or area is changed in any way....this can even be a new feeder.

09/21/2025

What does a feed tag look like? That's a good question. Usually you can find them at the bottom of the bag of feed. They often have the company as well as an analysis of the feed itself plus an extensive list of ingredients. The ingredients list them in order from most used to least used. I've included in the picture copy of my bags feed tag.

09/21/2025

Looking to stop counting days for breeding? Need a reliable calculator? Have no fear! Use Teal's calculator for rabbit breeding dates.



https://www.facebook.com/share/1CHW1gfhvj/

Here's your next rabbitry bookmark - a simple rabbit gestation calculator! No fluff, just plug the breeding date in and mark your calendar for palpation date, nest box date, and kindle date 🐇

EDIT: A friend reached out saying dates were displaying a day early. The code has been fixed! Let me know if anyone runs into other issues 🙂

Make sure to share with your rabbit breeder friends! Facebook doesn't love when I share links directly on my page.

https://www.tealstonehomestead.com/rabbit-gestation-calculator

09/20/2025

Meat cross doe breeding age, NZ cross. Not the rabbit in photo of course. I am helping my cousin place her rabbit. Flatwoods WV

09/16/2025

I am as transparent as possible. If I end up having a rabbit fail quarantine, they have snotty nose develop and it's colored, they are immediately terminally culled unless they are very special with something that is curable after a swabbing is done and I have a special needs home that wants a special case rabbit. I do not use rabbits in my program that have known weak immune systems. I do not use rabbits in my program that have shown active colored snotting.

In the case of allergies, has happened a handful of times, they are removed from breeding.

I sincerely believe and practice only breeding those that pass health checks. There are things that can happen that we don't know about, but we should always promote good practices and ethical healthy breeding. There is no rabbitry that hasn't had something pop up, but how they handle it is important.

09/15/2025

I used this incubator for a couple turns. Hatched okay, despite my eggs being a crap shoot. Then the heater part quit working. I got another one and I'm not replacing the heating element in this one. I can't guarantee that's exactly what is wrong, but it seems to be the common issue with these. It blows air, turns, and counts as should. I can show it working. It has been sitting in the closet for about 8 months now and needs a good cleaning. It is TEN dollars for parts. If it is the heater element, its a less than twenty dollar fix on Amazon. Pick up is in Gassaway or Flatwoods WV at the Wal-Mart.

09/15/2025

It has been a rather busy time lately. Trying to find a new place and then just the general day to day has been exhausting. I'm sure others can relate to this, especially with preparations for winter in full swing.

I have yet to update the Silkies coop which I have to do before the first snow fall. I am now in a position to at least do it, but getting it done on a "good" day has fallen short as other things have taken the lead. It will be done and when I do get it done, I'll post photos as I intend to burn pattern and clear coat it to have a unique coop.

I'm still not getting any eggs from the Silkies. They are still in some degree of molting. I blame this weather of high 80s then low 40s at night. Some day soon it will stop and they will start laying again....

I do have a couple rabbits that I am trying to get bred. If they take I will have a couple litters of Holland Lops and Mini Plush Lops finally. It has been a very long dry spell. I haven't had actual litters of my own for over two years now. I'm excited. I'm also hoping to take a couple rabbits to Zanesville OH show November 30th, pending time off work as well as good weather. I haven't shown in MANY years and am beyond excited to be able to even think about it again!

~The photo is a modified version of my dog Tsula. She does *not* have both eyes; it was a courtesy edit as some people do not or cannot stand the absence of an eye and I do understand that. At some point, I will post more photos of her, but for now just this one.~

09/04/2025

Colder weather is coming soon! Be sure to winter proof for your animals and yourself. I know I'll be working on getting some extra hay in as well as cleaning the heater. I'll also be trying for fall litters.

08/24/2025

Feed is always a hot topic and there will always be a hundred options and opinions. The freshest for your area with the most consistent formula that is not old, clean, no mold, and no bugs is always best usually. I have some limitations and concerns others don't have; I have days I can't walk far let alone carry 50 lbs or more of feed and water. I have got my gravity fed water ni***es back up and Chewy delivers to my door.

I currently feed Kruse's. It is a bit pricey compared to the Blue Seal I was feeding, but it has almost no dust. This is wonderful for the rabbits but also great for me as it is a really bad trigger for my asthma. I've attached a photo of the information. The brand photo nor the information photo are mine and belong to their respective company.

08/24/2025

Chewy is awesome!

So I have used Chewy several times before but then I have ended up having to use local sources for pellets again. I've been working on changing where I spend my time and energy as my health can have me at a disadvantage on traveling much even if that's just 30 minutes away. I used to be able to do hours upon hours trips, but not now. Anyway, I ordered pellets from Chewy. FedEx delivery took them to the wrong house 🏠. I made a report, contacted Chewy and crossed fingers. FedEx found the pellets and brought them to me correctly. Chewy gave me some back to cover emergency food until my order was found AND sent another for the trouble. They made sure it was delivered correctly the first time too! This makes my day and really makes the higher cost worth it.

Photo is *not* mine.

08/24/2025

While this isn't everything, it's a small list. Rabbits are NOT easy.

08/23/2025

Yes,. everyone does things differently. However, I can always learn something from reading and taking in other experiences.

https://www.facebook.com/share/1BsAPEhBz4/

‼️LISTEN TO BREEDERS WITH EXPERIENCE‼️
I am NOT saying listen to everything they say like it's the law.

What I am saying is
Be careful when you see someone with a huge following giving information, but never having first hand experience, or long term success stories they can tell you about.
(You know the issues that popped up & then never popped up again.. Those type stories)

What I am saying is be careful with taking advice from someone thats never been in the hard situations before & the ones who always seem to have something going wrong with their herd when no one else does.

Be careful when you hear what you can and can't do with animals especially when the breeder you have purchased from has gave different advice.

Every breeder will have different ways of Handling things and may have different advice.

YOU have to use discernment and make choices on what you do and don't do with YOUR animals.

When you have questions please reach out to YOUR breeder or a breeder that you know and trust fully for information because if you aren't careful and don't look into backgrounds of some of these advice pages, it will honestly hurt you more then help you & that is truly something no new pet owner wants to go through.

Also please understand if you have asked your breeder & then go against the advice they have given you and something happens to your rabbit - it's not the breeders fault.

Sincerely,
A very concerned rabbitry 🫶