Terry Farms' TNT Rabbitry

We lost our sweet Gandalf. Every rabbitry has THAT buck and he was mine. He threw my first leg winner... He made so many youth show projects. There are people throughout Oklahoma who have a little bit of Gandalf in their herd. He was iconic. He was my good little buddy.
The Patriarch of my chocolate herd. 🤎

He doesn't know it yet, but he's about to be my best buck this fall at his very first shows. ❤️

TNT rabbitry Star Gazer

I want to be transparent about every single rabbit that leaves my home to go to yours. A lot of people have become upset with me when I refuse to sell a rhinelander as a pet. This is why.

Rhinelanders are not a nasty breed. They are not inherently mean and they are not inherently hateful. HOWEVER.... their back legs are so strong and they are so wiggly that even I get got sometimes. Can you imagine bringing home a "pet" and letting your toddler try to pick it up and this happening across their face?

I know rhinelanders are gorgeous. I love them! I love them so much that I will put up with this to gentle a rabbit. I just will NOT sell one as a pet in the majority of cases.

First and foremost, they are a rare breed. I would be doing a disservice to my show quality rabbits to sell them as a pet and never let them pass down their genetics. We are actively working on their conservation because as far as I know, I am only 1 of maybe 2 or 3 breeders that raise them in Oklahoma. I go to a lot of shows and it's me and my friend Amanda with them. That's not only less fun, it's not really challenging for our rabbits to not have adequate competition.

Secondly, rabbits are a lot when you're starting out. There are so many things they can't eat, so many stereotypes about them that are dead WRONG, you have to learn how to trim their nails, deshed them, check their health, and then you have to keep them temperature regulated, gentle them, and clean up their bowel movements which are sometimes up to over 200 a day. The last thing someone needs when learning how to handle rabbits is a rabbit that has the kick power of a stinkin' mule. I want your kids and you to have fun and see how rewarding rabbits can be, not be discouraged by rabbits that frustrate you.

Rhinelanders aren't like little Peter Cottontail, they're more like a malinois dog. They are not a blanket beginner rabbit. It's not fair to you or them to pair you with a rabbit that I genuinely feel is not going to be a good fit. Running breeds are something to be taken seriously when you know you really want to be in the game deep. They're a job sometimes getting everyone running time and utilizing exercise pens and to be honest, they are EXTREMELY difficult to breed to standard!

Big world, little bun.

Here are a few forage options in Oklahoma for the rabbits! I did a little research here on the nutritional benefits of offering them common w**ds in addition to hay.

According to Virginia Tech's publication of
"The Nutritive Value of Common Pasture Weeds and
Their Relation to Livestock Nutrient Requirements" the nutritional values that have been recorded in these w**ds are as following:

Common Ragw**d: 73% invitro digestible dry matter
25% acid detergent fiber
25% crude protein

Dandelion: 78% IVDDM
17% crude protein

Horse w**d: * Only Feed when plant is immature!* Enjoyed when offered free choice in small amounts.
(Noble Foundation, 2007; personal observation)

Safe to nibble when plant is young for rabbits and has been observed to be non-toxic and bitter tasting when oils become concentrated to the point rabbits will avoid consuming the tannins.

('Alien Plants’ by Clive Stace and Michael J. Crawley)

It is also used to soothe diarrhea and possesses properties making it useful as an astringent.

("Antifungal Activity and Composition of Essential Oils of Conyza canadensis Herbs and Roots")

Something I have recently decided personally is that I think I enjoy seeing my rabbits on grass more than I do in cages. I see them engaging in natural behaviors like digging, playing, and social grooming (which I have posted videos of before on my page).

I started this journey out really small with just a few rabbits and doing a daily turnout for my 2 does and 2 bucks was pretty easy since the does were sisters and the bucks could simply go out one at a time. Through my passion for rabbits, my herd grew over the last couple of years and now I find myself in situations where it's nearly impossible to do a turnout for rabbits and I transitioned to the more traditional way of just cage raising and not worrying so much about turnout time.

I think that even though cage raising has so many good benefits like absolute predator security, keeping them pretty clean and spot free, and being in the air conditioning... I can't forget about the major difference in their general happiness and expression of personality that I see when they are allowed to be rabbits.

I would never knock anyone for cage raising, I'm still cage raising right now. It's a smart way of doing things! I just think that somewhere along the line I stopped prioritizing the happiness of the rabbits and got focused more on doing things that were convenient for me.

That being said, I visited Lowes yesterday and made an investment into materials to build more grazing hutches and pens and I have currently moved some of my brood does to the exercise pen now that their babies are weaned. I think this is going to be a cool start to something that is going to end up really benefitting the rabbits.

I have several polish who can hop on this route!

Very tentative JUNE JUNE JUNE route. Lol. May is full. Leaving northern Nevada June 20-23.

UNFORTUNATELY if gas prices are the same or higher, I'll have to raise rates. I really really don't want to

BOOKING JUNE 1-3. FORMS ARE NOT OPEN YET.

One of my blue rhinelander kits from this spring's crop. We should have blacks on the way as well!