[Taylor Margison]

What a cutie! Congrats Eli! Is she a cross? It looks like she has some spots?
– Tay

[Taylor Margison]

Wow! What nice looking rabbits! Thanks for posting!
Those babies are adorable, and that first bunny pictured looks enormous. But maybe it’s just the fluff….

We also decided on angoras for their pet/fiber duality and we’re also keeping them outside. I’ll post some pics of the cages I’m making. I’ll look into the Bass company as well. When we were looking to buy cages I priced materials and actually managed to make them for significantly less, and with my own customizations, than what I could find at the store.

How many babies did you end up with? I love that black bun!

-Taylor

[Taylor Margison]

@sean518 39704 wrote:

Where in NY did you get the English Angoras? The French Angoras seem to have very calm temperments to me, are they not supposed to?

I started an Angora thread here:

http://www.draftanimalpower.com/showthread.php?6174-Angora-Rabbits

Awesome! I’ll go check out the thread!
From all the research I’ve done, it seems that the english angoras consistently have the sweetest personalities. The french angoras our friend has tend to be nippy with our kids, and another they are related to is really mean (his name is Diablo, lol). But I think that there is certainly a range of personalities within the breed. A lot of people have the french because they have short fur on their faces, ears, and feet, which means they are less likely to develop “wool block”. It also means less routine maintenance brushing.
The breeder is in Hudson Falls, near lake George. I almost got a deal on several older does but they went too quickly. Her breeding does are on break for a couple months, so we’re on the list for the next couple litters. I can’t wait!

– Tay

[Taylor Margison]

@sean518 39693 wrote:

Thanks for joining us, Tay!

We just had our first litter of French Angoras here after getting two does and a buck about a month ago. They’re interesting rabbits, nothing like what I was used to from the rabbits I had when I was a kid. Good luck with everything!

– Sean

Thanks for the welcome Sean!
I’m really excited about the rabbits! We’re waiting on a litter from a breeder of english angoras in upstate New York. There is literally no one who sells them any closer so I think we’ll have a good market for our litters. We’re connected with a local spinner who has a couple french angoras and will be a good outlet for our fiber. We went with the english because of their excellent temperments, which will hopefully make them a little more tolerant of our kids. I think we’re going to to go with 3 does and a buck. Building cages has become my winter project! I would love to hear more about your bunny journey, and see pictures too! Do you have a thread going?

Congrats on setting out on the never-ending journey. I’m right there with you on the reclaiming pastures and managing woodlots.
I’m looking forward to meeting you when you come down for Game of Logging. I’m certain you’ll love it, and will take a lot out of it.

Thanks Jay, I look forward to meeting you as well! Carl told me you guys were just getting into draft work. I would love to see what you have going on!

-Tay

[Taylor Margison]

Thanks for the welcome, Erika!

“When you find that good work horse, don’t worry about it “not looking to good” down the road, because as long as it works good for you, it can work well and not look good. If you watch Carl’s mare work you can hardly tell she can’t see squat, a true testament to a teamster being a good leader.”

I think that mare of Carl’s is just as good lookin’ now as she was the day I walked her the 7 miles home as a 3 year old. 🙂 If my truck is any example, looks don’t count as much with me as reliability and work ethic do. I’ve been cruising the classifieds for a while now, just getting a feel of what’s out there. I want a horse who has the power to work efficiently as a single hitch, with some spirit and good brains. Looks and training are the two qualities at the bottom of the list.

“You will love the GOL course, I was in the same boat a few years ago. Just this fall I finally got to the point where I can go down to the limb pile with my pair of steers and cut up a couple loads of firewood on my own. You won’t regret it, just always respect the saw!”

That’s good to hear! Sometimes I feel like I’m the only one who doesn’t know how to run a saw! We’ve been blessed with kind, “city folk” neighbors who are willing to let us use their 180 acres of pasture and woodland for our little farm. The pastures need to be reclaimed, and there’s a lot of down trees in the woods, so I think those will be our first two major projects to tackle. I’m definitely going to start searching around here and gleaning all the info I can on reclaiming pasture. We’re getting a few goats this spring (for dairy) that will hopefully be the beginning of our managed grazing program.

Thanks again for your support!
-Taylor

[Taylor Margison]

Thanks John! I can’t wait!
– Taylor

[Taylor Margison]

🙂 Thanks Carl! You are a huge inspiration to me, and one of the few people I can really “talk horse” with. I truly cherish our time together and all the wisdom you have shared with me. You took that gangly, goofy 4 year old filly and turned her into a true work horse, blind or not 😛

Get ready for more visits from me once we get some better weather, I’m coming to pick your brain!

-Tay

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