TheRider'sPets

Monday 28 October 2019

3 Reasons Why Your Guinea Pig Is Scared Of You

TheRider'sReins October 28, 2019 0

If you have ever owned guinea pigs, you will know that they can be very nervous and shy. Most pet owners will just work with the fear instead of curing it.

Here is how you can gain your guinea pig's trust.

Dark Brown Guinea Pig sitting on a table beside flowers

1. You Intimidate Him

Think about even the size of your hands compared to your guinea pig. Reaching your hands into your guinea pig space is obviously to freak him out.  As your pig is intimidated by you because of your size, you must act in a certain way. Start by gaining his trust. You can do this by hand-feeding his daily veg each day.

This should make him realise that your hands aren't a scary monster that's coming to get him 😂 At first, try to keep your hand as still as possible. When you think he is getting more confident, start moving about a bit more.

Eventually, you can start petting him. If he gets scared, start at the beginning again.

A brown guinea pig sitting in a field eating grass next to a fallen tree

2. Your Not Practising Enough

To encourage your guinea pig to be confident and friendly, you need to spend time with him every day. Multiple times a day actually. If you don't have the time to spend with your pet each day, you shouldn't have one.

Like any other pet, guinea pigs need lots of attention. In fact, they love cuddles like any other pet IF you treat them correctly.

Apart from working on his confidence while hand-feeding veg, you can take him for cuddles while you watch TV, sitting with him while he explores a new room or give him a treat to eat on your bed. These things will help you to give him the confidence around you to become friendly.

Of course, at this point don't pick the guinea pig up if he runs away from you. Instead, let him come out of his enclosure by himself. A lot of times, he won't care as much about being picked up if he's in a large space.

Four different coloured guinea pigs in an outdoor run

3. You Pick Him Up Every time

Just like many other prey animals, guinea pigs simply don't like being picked up or carried. Being carried around means death in the wild. So, obviously avoiding that is best for keeping trust.

I personally use a pet carrier (with a treat inside) to move my guinea pigs around. when you do need to pick him up (for emergencies, health checks or vet appointments) more slowly and make it as quick as possible.

Three different coloured guinea pigs in an indoor cage with straw bedding

*Disclaimer*

I am not any type of animal expert but instead only an animal lover who wants to share her tips. Please consult relevant animal specialists and do not only take my advice.

The Rider's Pets

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Thursday 24 October 2019

How to stop your rabbit from being aggressive

TheRider'sReins October 24, 2019 0

Sometimes, rabbits are handed into rescues because of normal rabbit behaviour. Unfortunately, almost every time it is our fault that our rabbit is aggressive.

If your rabbit is biting all of a sudden or has turned nervous or stressed, you need to change the way you treat her.

Here are 4 reasons why your rabbit is biting you and how you can change the behaviour.

1. Hormones

I will say this over and over again, your rabbit should be spayed/neutered. Not only does it improve their health and help to reduce the number of rabbits in this world but it also helps their temperament. Rabbits who aren't 'fixed' will have a huge amount of hormones in their bodies (due to not being able to mate) and will quickly become frustrated. This can cause the rabbit to become aggressive and 'lash out' at you. I have found that female rabbits are especially aggressive and territorial.

I have a female rabbit that would attack me when I put my hand in her cage. We got her spayed and she quickly turned into a sweet girl. Rabbits do not want to be frustrated and angry. I feel like not allowing either breeding (which shouldn't be done, there are too many domestic rabbits as it is) OR spaying/neutering is poor animal care.

Peach coloured indoor rabbit exploring outside in a garden

2. Territorial

When reaching into a rabbits cage, he may lunge, bite, kick or growl at you. If this happens, it is important that you don't pick him up or pull him out. Instead, open the doors and let him come out to play but himself. I like to feed veg outside of a territorial rabbit's cage just to get him out.

I noticed that my rabbit Bunnykins (she was adopted with the name, not my choice 😉) would attack me while I was cleaning her rabbit room. I completely fixed this by letting her come out of the room before I touched her things. Just learn to work around the aggression she that your rabbit is not seeing you touch 'his things'. Eventually, he will realise that you aren't trying to take over his territory.

A close up of a wild coloured rabbit lying down

3. Scared

This is an obvious cause for aggression but it's important that you know about it. Your rabbit can lash out at you if he is feeling nervous, scared or cornered. Your job is to find out what is scaring him.

It could be that he doesn't want to be picked up, you are moving too fast or that he is in too small of a cage (and therefore doesn't have room to run away, cage-free all the way😊). It is really important that you fully bond with your rabbit before you start picking him up of taking him out of his house. A rabbit who has bonded with his owner should not be scared of them.

An alert black and white rabbit indoors standing up

4. Hurt or Ill

If your rabbit suddenly became aggressive, it could be due to him being in pain or ill. Prey animals are great at hiding any illness or injury they may have. This will cause the rabbit to lash out 'suddenly'. Bringing your rabbit to the vet for a check-up is essential for any aggression out of the blue.

If it is due to these reasons, the meanness should go away once your rabbit is treated. There is a possibility that you have accidentally hurt your bunny in the past while picking him up. He could be worried that you will hurt him again. Build his confidence slowly from petting, encouraging him to jump onto your lap to eventually picking him up. Make sure you know how to pick a bunny up correctly.

A light brown and white rabbit with blue eyes exploring outside.

Hopefully, this will help you with any aggressive rabbit you may own.

I'd love to hear some funny stories about your angry rabbit experiences!
*Disclaimer*

I am not any type of animal expert but instead only an animal lover who wants to share her tips. Please consult relevant animal specialists and do not only take my advice.

The Rider's Pets

Rabbits Read more

Monday 21 October 2019

How to Choose the Best Animals for Your Homestead

TheRider'sReins October 21, 2019 0

Whether you own a hobby farm or a backyard homestead, choosing the right animals is important.

You may need to choose the most profitable farm animals, the quietest animals for an urban homestead or the best animals for a non-meat farm (hint hint... you will be able to tell that I don't like animals being killed. But I guess that's up to you 😶).

Poultry

Chickens -

Chickens are great for their eggs (and meat if you're into that, I'm not). They can lay up to 300 egg per year (in their first year). The best breed to get for this amount of eggs is the hybrid, golden comet. These are the chickens that are constantly mistreated for egg production so, rescuing is the best option.

They do best (and should be) free ranged but don't need a huge amount of land. I currently have over 20 chickens (along with 18 ducks) on 3/4 of an acre and it's roomy.

Laying chickens should be fed around 1/4lb of layers pellets per day (although you should just allow unlimited access) and fresh fruit, veg and herbs as a treat each day. They will also forage for bugs all day long so can be co-grazed with other animals.

You do need to worm them every 3 months to keep them healthy. They will also need vaccines so they don't catch any diseases as chickens tend to get ill quite easily.

I'd stray away from raising chickens. There are so many out there needing homes, there's no need for anymore. Also, if you are like me (refusing to kill any animal) then you will be overrun with cockerels.

Orange colours hen with 6 yellow chicks drinking from a DIY poultry drinker

Ducks -

Similar to chickens, ducks are great for eggs, bug control and much more. They eat more than chickens, about 1/2lb per day although meat ducks eat waaaaaay more. If you aren't using ducks for meat, learn from my experience and don't get 'meat' ducks.  Again, they need to be wormed every 3 months and should be given fresh fruit + veg, herbs, mixed corn and more to get a full diet.

Ducks STINK. I cannot even describe the smell but unless you don't mind a terrible smell (and cleaning their coop out very often), I wouldn't choose ducks. They also make a muddy mess where ever there is water so keeping them free-range in a field will cut down on the mud.

Ducks are my favourite type of poultry due to them being SO hardy and never really get ill (and don't get most of chicken type illnesses). Ducks are just the best poultry type.

Geese/Swans -

These are huge types of poultry who don't lay very much. Swans are basically just nice pets and geese can be used as fancy lawnmowers.

They obviously eat A LOT and can be very aggressive if you don't bring them up from chicks. Geese are often used for meat but you can also sell both swan and geese eggs for eating or hatching.

A large white goose standing on the edge of a huge pond in a homestead

Turkeys/Peacocks

Turkeys are obviously used for meat but they make great pets, good broody hens, for selling their eggs to hatch AND guarding other poultry.

Peacocks are only bought as expensive pets but you can easily get your money back quickly by selling their eggs for hatching. Peacocks don't lay very much (less than 50 a year IF they don't get broody) and hens don't start laying until they are 2 years old.

Be very careful if you hatch or buy peachicks as they are fragile to rain and cold weather.

Guinea Fowl

I would say there are only two reasons you should keep guinea fowl, for eggs or as a guard. You will not get the same amount of eggs as you would with a chicken but they will lay a decent amount BUT you will need to find them first. Guinea fowl are very known for laid eggs all over the place.

Many chicken owners will own guinea fowl as a guard or 'alarm'. They will start calling or 'shouting' if a predator is nearby, so you can go outside to check.

Quail

If other poultry is too much work for you OR you don't have much space, have a look at quail. Quail lay a lot for their tiny size and start laying very early.

They can be kept in smaller areas although they should still have a nice coop and run (please don't keep them in those tiny laying cages). Quails don't have the same perching instinct that chickens do so it's best to put them into the coop every night by hand.

Rumin

Sheep

These days, sheep are really only used for meat but they make great pets if you have the land! Unless you have hundreds of sheep or very rare breeds, their wool is worth almost nothing in Scotland these days. You can use sheep to milk as I have heard that sheep milk is a better substitute for cows milk than goats is.

Cows

I don't have much experience with cows (yet 😉 got my heart set on a few pet highland cows) but they are great for milk. Keep in mind that one cow will eat as much grass as 3-4 sheep so you will need enough land.

If you are into the whole meat thang, cows are probably the most profitable livestock.

A ginger highland cow lying down in a hilly pasture.

Goats

Again, goats are usually used for milk or just pets. They will pick at grass but definitely aren't lawnmowers. Goats need constant access to hay and love to eat weeds, trees and bushes. This means they could be used to clear land.

You can also raise goats (they need to be bred to give milk) and sell them for profit too. Goats don't need a lot of land which makes them great for a small or urban homestead.

Other Homestead Animals

Donkeys

If you are looking for a great protector for your homestead, look no further. Donkeys are well known for attacking predators on your land. Their calls are so weird that may animals are actually scared of them. They have even been kept with bulls as their call stops the bulls fighting.

Donkeys are great at keeping the grass down and are overall easy to keep. They will need yearly vaccines and farrier appointments every 2 months (like horses). They will also need yearly dentist appointments and wormed every 3 months.

As long as you can keep up with these simple health steps, your donkey will be happy and healthy.

Bees

Fresh honey sounds good to me. You can start bee-farming on a small scale and build up from there. Depending on how much honey your bees produce, you can also sell the honey to make some extra money.

Pigs

Obviously, most people would keep pigs to butcher them. I personally think that pigs make great pets on a homestead. They will eat every bit of your leftovers and some breeds (like the Kune Kune) even eat grass. Pigs overall make great pets or are great for breeding.

A black kune kune pig in a grass pasture facing the camera.

Overall, every animal on this list can be incredibly helpful for any homestead. You must pick the animals that are most suited to your homestead.

You couldn't buy a cow with only 1 acre of land. You wouldn't buy sheep unless you wanted a pet or meat.

Also, remember that each animal has care needs that must be met. These can be expensive, so choose wisely.

Which animals on this list are your favourites? Mine would have to be ducks, peacocks and sheep at the moment but I love them all 😂

Homestead Animals Read more