Rabbit Hutch Frame Complete

Hello Everyone,

The Rabbit Project is moving along nicely. We were able to gather the hutch frame materials through donations from village leaders. I was able to provide the quarter inch wire for the bottom of the cage and the chicken wire for the sides from donations from friends and family back in the states. I am really impressed with Ison, we are basing the design of Isons hutch of off Sebastian, he was able to build the exact same frame from memory without using measurements or a drawing. Ison also used all of the wood material with only one piece of 3ft 2x2 treated wood left over. He certainly has talent and skill, the frame is constructed from 15 12ft 2x2 treated wood pieces and 2 2x2 treated 15ft wood pieces.

Me and Ison talking about the Project:


Ison talking about his hopes for the Rabbits:


Pictures of the frame:




Isons home with his mother, brothers and sisters:


All that is left to construct the cage is installing the wire, sheet metal roof, legs for the hutch from local wood, and latches and hinges for the doors. I will be back in Saint Lucia on the 27th and will provide updates on the final construction then.

I would like to thank the following people from the village for their donation of time and money.

Press Scott
Spring
Surprise
Mr Jon Baptiste
Agatha and Gary
Andre
Sebastian

and not to forget
Joe
Daniel
Tina
Laura
and anyone else I forgot to mention.

Rabbit Ear Mites Gone, Cured by using Baby Oil.

Hello All,

My Bunnies ears are pink and healthy again and they are happily doing what bunnies do best, eating and propagating. Me and Marcy soaked their ears with baby oil, in hindsight we over did it for sure filling up their ears with oil like little gas tanks. But it worked and they did not seem to mind. The oil loosened up the nastiness
and the rabbits shook it out and the rest healed clearing up in 2-3 days. Below is all the info about how this treatment works:

Rabbits kept outside are likely to come in contact with ear mites. Ear mites are not likely to be serious, but left untreated, they can lead to infection and deafness.

The ear mite is a parasite, known under the name of Psoroptes cuniculi. they are a member of the arachnid family, which includes spiders and scorpions! The average life span of an ear mite is 21 days.

If your rabbit has an ear mite infestation you are likely to notice a brown waxy build up inside one or both ears. Your rabbit will likely be scratching or shaking his head more then you have previously noticed. Over the next day or two the waxy build up will become scab-like or flaky in its appearance. your rabbit will also have several scratch marks in his ear.

Treatment for ear mites is fairly simple. There are several over the counter treatments that you can use, such as Rabbit RX or a cat ear mite treatment. You may also use any mineral based oil, such as baby oil or even vegetable oil. The oil will suffocate the mites and kill them.

For the oil treatment:

Warm the oil to a lukewarm temperature.
Use a dropper or small plastic syringe.
On day one, place 2-3 drops in ear and gently massage the base of the ear. You may also use a cotton ball to coat the inside of the ear.
Days 2, 4, 6, 8 & 10: repeat day one.
Treat again on days 14, 21 and 28. Mite eggs live for 21 days so be sure to follow through with this treatment.

With this treatment, your mite infestation should be depleted.

Do not remove the crust that may appear in your rabbit's ear. This will leave open, bloody skin that will easily become infected. It will also be exceptionally painful to your rabbit. The crust will come off when it becomes saturated and your rabbit shakes his head.

It would not be unwise to gently wash your rabbits ears on the odd days during treatment. This will help prevent infection and also help in the bonding process. Again, be careful not to stress your rabbit or to pull at any scabs.

Another treatment for ear mites is the medication called ivermectin. I do not recommend such treatment without the supervision of a veterinarian.

If you use the cat treatment, follow the directions on the package. This goes against the manufacturer's suggested use, but the treatment is effective.

This all comes from By BunnyMama29 at:
http://www.associatedcontent.com/article/62619/treating_ear_mites_in_rabbits.html

The Start of the Canaries Village Rabbit Cooperative

necessity is the mother of all inventions.

unfortunately I cannot murder thumper, so the idea to start a Rabbit Co-op has been born partly due to the suggestions of my aunties. The idea is to train Canaries villagers in raising rabbits as an easy way to make extra income or provide extra food. Here is a copy of the program and funding proposal for the Co-op. I will be pursuing funding through the local government and donations. Enjoy.

Canaries Village Rabbit Cooperative

Purpose:

To train Canaries Villagers how to raise and sell rabbits in a profitable self sustaining way that will provide economic benefit to young unemployed single mothers and young men.

The community and people:

The community of Canaries is one of the more economically distressed areas in Saint Lucia, with high unemployment and low family income. According to the 2001 population and housing census, the district of Canaries had the highest unemployment rate on the island, a rate which was twice the national average. The unemployment rate among females was even more alarming, with over 50% of females unemployed. Few employment opportunities currently exist in the village. This problem is further exacerbated by the lack of employable skills among residents.

Figure 1

DISTRICT	UNEMPLOYMENT RATES
	MALE	FEMALE	TOTAL
Castries City	16.8	18.8	17.8
Castries Suburban	14.7	13.2	14.0
Castries Rural	15.5	19.9	17.5
Anse La Raye	15.3	23.3	18.6
*Canaries	25.2	50.3	34.7
Soufriere	13.8	18.3	15.6
Choiseul	19.1	27.7	23.0
Laborie	19.3	21.9	20.4
Vieux Fort	15.1	17.4	16.1
Micoud	15.8	26.2	20.1
Dennery	17.6	29.9	22.8
Gros Islet	12.6	15.5	14.0
TOTAL	15.5	19.4	17.3

Source: Housing and Population Census 2001

A strong culture of dependency particularly on remittances from England, a weak tradition of entrepreneurship and self-employment and an inability to come together to tackle community problems has significantly retarded the growth of this community. However, in recent times a spirit of self-help and community mobilization seems to be emerging.

Benefits:

With Canaries Village suffering from chronic unemployment forming a rabbit Co-op is a cost effective way to provide income from breeding and selling rabbits. In addition it teaches basic entrepreneurial skills and business management. Even if rabbit raising is done on a small scale for a family it can reduce the families food costs because rabbits can be fed on vegetable scraps and banana leaves and other local flora.

Implementation:

Currently the Co-op is operating a full size rabbit hutch that has 6 rabbits. With gestation taking less then 28 days from breeding time this population will rapidly expand. The rabbits are being cared for by the Canaries Peace Corps volunteer and two local youth. The rabbits are being bred currently for the Co-Op with the intentions to provide one female doe to each member that completes the program.

The program will consist of 14 families with the expected attrition of at least 4-5 families because of the program demands listed below:

Six Week Rabbit Care and Feeding Program:

Members will participate one day per week in feeding and caring for the rabbits for 6 weeks. This approach will provide direct skills transfer in a hands on manner. The length of the rabbit care and feeding program is long with the intention of providing intensive exposure and training in addition to developing the discipline necessary to successfully raise rabbits which require a small amount of daily care. Attendance will tracked through a sign up sheet. If a member misses two feeding times they will be disqualified from the program.

Two Morning Workshops:

There will be two morning training workshops in the village community center. They will focus on education and training for the rabbit Co-op on the following topics:

-Rabbit Physiology and Health

-Rabbit Breeding

-Food and Diet

-Profit and Cost Analysis

-Hutch Design and Maintenance

Members will be required to attend both workshops if they miss one they will be disqualified from the program.

Rabbit Hutch Building:

Each member will required to a build a 3 cage hutch using a basic design that utilizes local materials in particular bamboo, a free, hardy, natural, available material from the rainforest. The other building materials will be chicken wire and wire mesh along with hinges and nails and screws and sheet metal for the roofs donated by Caribbean Metals. These materials will be provided along with direct supervision and assistance.

Members will also be required to construct a food container, breeding box and self watering system for the rabbits.

Upon completion of all of these tasks members will receive.

1. 1 Female Doe
2. 1 50pd bad of rabbit feed.

Accountability:

The program will be carried out with the supervision and support of the Community Development Officer Urania Joseph who is responsible for assisting in economic activity on the West side of the Island and the Canaries Village Council. Updates of the project will be provided at the blog and copies of receipts for purchases will be faxed or mailed to donors.

Conclusion:

This easy self replicating project can have economic impact in Canaries village in a minimum of 10 families’ lives. Families that mostly consist of unemployed single mothers and young people looking for self employment opportunities like this. The below section is the program budget breaking down the requests for funding for the following materials to begin the program.

Thank you for your consideration in this project.

Rabbit Cooperative Funding Request	Price	Quantity	Total in EC	Total in US
Chicken Wire (Price Per Yard)	$25.00	50	$1,250.00	$471.70
1/2 Wire Mesh (Price Per Foot)	$5.00	150	$750.00	$283.02
Bottles of Wood Glue	$15.95	7	$111.65	$42.13
50pd Bag of Rabbit Feed	$32.00	14	$448.00	$169.06
Brass Hinges	$2.95	88	$259.60	$97.96
1'Drywall screws, for hinges and clasps (Price per Pound)	$3.00	7	$21.00	$7.92
Headless 2inch nails (Price per Pound)	$3.75	7	$26.25	$9.91
2x4 x12 Pressure Treated (Hutch Frame)	$30.12	21	$632.52	$238.69
Clasps (to lock cage)	$3.50	21	$73.50	$27.74
Galvanized nails for roof (Price Per Pound)	$3.99	7	$27.93	$10.54
4x8 3/8 Pressure treated plywood (Feeding and Breeding Boxs)	$72.48	7	$507.36	$191.46
Total Funding Request			$4,107.81	$1,550.12

Budget:

Contact Info and References.

The following information can be found at the Peace Corps volunteers blog.

http://bigcountryleo.blogspot.com/

-Pictures of the rabbits and hutch, self watering system, breeding box.

-Info on costs for and design of a 5 cage hutch. (this design did not use bamboo)

-Info about Canaries Village

-Info on the Volunteer

Contact information and mailing address:

Volunteer Lee Klejnot

US Peace Corps

PO Box 123

Castries, St. Lucia

West Indies.

Cell (758) 285-5103 Email: Lee.Klejnot@gmail.com

Canaries Village Council Contact Info and Address:

Town Clerk Mrs. Morrisette

Canaries Village High St.

Canaries Village, St. Lucia, West Indies

(758) 459-4107

Community Development Officer for Canaries and Anse Le Raye:

Urania Joseph

Office (758) 458-3806 Cell (758) 287-1802 Email: urania_joseph@yahoo.com

References on Canaries per the 2001 Population and Housing census:

http://www.stats.gov.lc/cnews06.htm

Figures, Costs, Demension and Info on Rabbit Hutch

Okay continued progress is being made on the rabbit hutch project. But first some quick info on dimensions and material costs.



















The cage is 10"x2"x28" (PS thats HUGE)
It has 5 seperate cages.
It was designed by Michael Ward the Soufriere PCV.
It was built be the students of the Soufriere Enrichement Centre with hthe instructions and supervison of Michael.

Material Used and Costs given in EC$
2 4x8 3/8 Pressure treated plywood 145.71
5 2x4 x12 Pressure Treated 151.60
1lb of Headless 2"nails 4.95
2lb of 3" nails 7.50
1lb of galvanized nails for roof 3.99
Tin Snips for cutting tin metal for roof 9.99
10ft of wire mesh, sides of cage and cage seperators 50.00
2yrds 1/2 wire mesh for bottom of cage 45.50 (baby rats cut feet on bigger wire)
5 brass hinges, for doors 14.75
30 1'Drywall screws, for hinges and clasps 3.00
5 clasps, to lock cages 11.25
1 bottle of wood glue 15.95
(labor was donated my Michael and Souf youth)
(galvanized sheet metal for roof was donated)
Total Cost $464.19



















Thanks again for the fantastic workmanship and time from Michael and the young people of Soufriere who helped make this project possible.

2 Development Projects

Here are two projects that need monetary help to assist the citizens of Canaries that I am working on. They both focus on unemployment, Canarians suffer the highest rate of unemployment on the island at a staggering 30.6% per the Saint Lucian Ministry of Social Transformation.

As a Peace Corps volunteer the majority of the activities I have been focusing on have to deal with economic development since that is the most critical issue for Canaries Village. I have identified two projects that need seed money to help provide more employment and economic opportunities for a group 8-10 single unemployed mothers. The second project involves a group of unemployed young men.

"Sea Moss Project"
First of all what is Sea Moss? Sea Moss is a form of seaweed renowned for its nutritious and energy-giving properties. Of the hundreds of Caribbean varieties of sea moss, the two most popular in St Lucia are the local gracilaria, and euchema from Belize.

Sea Moss is probably one of the easiest self sustaining businesses to start. Essentially Sea Moss is grown on 100-200 ft ropes that are 150-300 feet out from the shore. The rope lines float just below the surface of the water by attaching large plastic bottles to the rope at 10ft intervals which also act as marker for boats to avoid. The Sea Moss ropes are anchored below to the ocean bottom using very large stones rapped in old fishnet and steal bands attached to the rope. Sea Moss is grown by purchasing a starter stock. The moss is attached to the 3 ply rope by twisting the rope to separate the 3 strands and then the Sea Moss is pinned between. The starter pieces of moss are placed at 8ft intervals. After about 6-8 weeks the entire line will be covered in Sea Moss.

See the below picture for the concept.

The sea moss is then harvested leaving enough on the rope for it to regenerate. It is then dried and bagged and sold individually to people and as a main ingredient to drink companies, candles makers, and food processors. The going price for one large bag of dried sea moss is $50EC (about $18.65US) which is considerable.

I have identified 2 young unemployed men and another entrepreneurial man (he sells sea shells to passing yachts’ from his Kayak) that are excited to start the project.

The Sea Moss will be grown in Anse la Liberte beach that has a protected area of water

See the below picture of Anse la Liberte.

We will raise sponsorship locally to purchase the following materials to begin the self sustaining project of Sea Moss Farming. ($1US dollar equals $2.68EC.)

• 300ft of half inch 3 ply rope. $288 EC in US $107.66
• Starter Sea Moss. $100 EC in US $37.31
• Construction of a Drying Rack using a local carpenter. $120 EC in US $44.77
• Old fishnet and steel bands to anchor the rope. $50 EC in US $18.65

Other successes on the island with Sea Moss farming: Phillip Simeon from another village on the eastside island has been a fisherman most of his life, but several years ago he realized he could get a better income from farming Sea Moss. In another village called Praslin a group of women have decided to cultivate Sea Moss even though its considered a male activity. Now they've taken the business a step further. Greta Joseph recruited other women and they eventually started their own company selling a drink made with boiled and strained sea moss, sugar, and fruit. The demand for this natural energy drink has increased to the point where the women are considering bringing in more people to help with the processing.

“Rabbit Project”

The main project I am working on in Canaries Village is the Creole Pot Street party.

The Canaries Creole Pot provides economic stimulus and employment for 10-12 vendors whom demographically are single unemployed mothers who look to this event as a valuable means of support. The featured dish of the Canaries Creole Pots is traditional Creole Rabbit Stew cooked in red wine and coconut cream. As our signature dish our vendors spend considerable amount of their money purchasing the rabbit and are finding it very difficult to turn a profit when the rabbit is $16EC per pound.

My proposals is to think local and grow local and most importantly to bring the cost of the rabbit down so these ladies can make a profit. A profit that can go directly back to their families to pay for costs such as school books and uniforms for their children. This Rabbit Raising project will greatly enhance the capacity of the Canaries Creole Pot vendors as they strive to develop and grow the event by subsidizing the Rabbit costs from $16EC per pound to a price of $7EC per pound (at cost price).

Some brief information about Creole Pot that comes directly from the promotional brochures we have developed: The Canaries Creole Pot Street Party is the best way to experience Caribbean Kweyol flavor and culture in the intimate small fishing village of Canaries. Experience a street party with “LIVE” Kweyol Music with the West Coast Band. They will be mixing in Soka and traditional Kweyol songs with some classics from Bob Marley starting at 6pm. Taste genuine Kweyol Cuisine from our Food Health Certified Vendors. Have the Rabbit Kweyol Platter, serving our signature dish of stewed rabbit in red wine and coconut cream with all the traditional sides like breadfruit and dasheen. For the less adventurous we always have plenty of BBQ chicken and fish. We also offer traditional Vegetarian Rasta food that’s always fresh and organic.

The rabbits will initially be raised by me with assistance from the vendor’s children and will gradually be turned over to the vendors as they empower themselves. We will seek assistance from BNTF and PRF two development groups to provide assistance with the start up costs of building a hutch using local wood and bamboo. It will measure 10ft across and will have 5 separate pens. See example picture below.

We will be using native materials including bamboo wherever possible to keep the costs down and we also require a bar and lock to prevent theft.

The rabbit hutch will be constructed by another village where another older Peace Corps volunteer has a woodshop program working with at risk youth (teens that could fall into drug use).

We will need two 50pd bags of normal feed and one 50pd bag of enriched feed (has critical antibiotics and vitamins added to keep rabbits disease free). We will also need to purchase 1 buck and three doe rabbits of the White New Zealand/Flemish Giant cross breed from a breeder in Micoud Village.

Startup Costs:

• Rabbit Hutch Cost: EC$486 in US$174.62
• Start up feed. Cost: $150EC in US$55.97
• Rabbits. 1 buck and two does at $60EC a piece =$180EC in US$67.16

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