Finding our Jane Doe

It was just a normal morning. Big Onion and I had to work so we both dragged ourselves out of bed before dawn, bundled up against the freezing temps, and headed out for morning chores in the frosty dark.

Groggily, I fed each of the rabbits, refilled their hay and water then set to work milking our two new momma goats, Eve and Amelia, while Big Onion busied himself feeding the poultry and the rest of the goat herd.

I was just finishing up feeding Amelia when I heard Big Onion calling to Rialey. She wasn't with me in the milk room which was odd in itself. Even weirder that she wasn't with him either. A few minutes later, he peeked his head in the milk room to tell me that Rialey was running back and forth along the pasture fence while a wild cotton-tailed rabbit was just sort of sitting there looking at her.

I finished up with the girls then followed him around the back of the poultry pens to see Rialey running up and down the fence line and making the whining, yelping sounds of a very upset farmdog. We spent a moment amazed at how calm the rabbit was acting despite the crazed dog and gawking humans standing less than 10 feet away. We tried to explain to Rialey that not all rabbits are hers and called her away to go and quickly check on the sheep before heading in.

On the way back from our visit with the sheep, we saw that same rabbit. This time it was hopping around the goat yard. It only took a second for us to realize that that wild rabbit was looking way too fat and fluffy. Right then it hit me. Jane (Jane Doe, ha ha) had been working on a small hole in the back corner of her pen for a while. When I fed her, I assumed she was just hiding in the small crate we keep in the rabbits' pens to make them feel more like they have a den in which to hide.

One quick glance into the pen, and I confirmed that that "cotton tail" we had been oo'ing and ahh'ing over in the neighbor's field was in fact our very own, very pregnant rabbit on the loose. No wonder Rialey had been throwing such an unholy fit! One of "her" bunnies was out of place!

I quickly put Rialey out of sight so that she wouldn't give chase and stress out the poor mother bunny any more than necessary then grabbed the fishing net we keep on hand for just this occasion. Big Onion and I managed to herd the doe into the milk room where she hid under the shelving there. Rabbits have surprisingly poor vision so I placed the net over one opening while Big Onion shooed Jane in my direction. In just a few minutes, she had hopped her way right into the net where I was able to scoop her up and into my arms.

We got her settled with fresh food, water, and hay in an empty pen until we could repair her escape hole then had a hardy laugh at ourselves as we finally headed back up to the house for not being able to tell the difference between a fat rabbit and a wild hare in the early morning light. Next time maybe we'll actually listen to the dog!

Bunnies Lost and Found

  When a rabbit momma kindles (that's rabbit speak for giving birth), we check on those newborn bunnies twice a day for the first few days. We actually pick up each kit and do a quick nose to tail check to make sure everything is ok. No sticky poops on the rear, no wounds, no birth defects. We also keep a count on each litter to make sure none of the little ones have fallen out of the nest box or gotten buried in the hay or stuck in a corner. Since mother rabbits really only feed their young twice a day, a baby bunny can starve to death very quickly by missing just one or two feedings.

  As the bunnies get older we don't need to check on them as frequently. By the time they are fully furred and their eyes start to open, we generally just give them a quick look over at feeding time. Well, Big Onion was feeding Thing 1 this morning when he noticed something small and white crawling on the ground underneath the rabbit cages. It turned out to be one of her bunnies that had somehow come out of the nest box and fallen through a small hole in the side of the cage.

  Thing 1 had in impressive 9 kits in her very first litter was doing a wonderful job of mothering the large group. A couple days after they were born, I did have to put down one bunny who seemed to be paralyzed from the waste down. I noticed the problem on the day they were born, but was hoping it was just a temporary problem. When the little one didn't improve and seemed to be getting thinner and thinner, I decided to do the kind thing and put the little one down before it starved to death. That brought her litter down to 8.

  After recovering the wayward little one off the ground, Big Onion decided to do a head count and came up with just six. Two bunnies were just missing. We assumed that they too had someone made it out this small hole in the cage and starting searching the ground around the poultry house. We looking under things, moved feed bins, and upended buckets. We even called the dogs in to see if they could scent out the missing kits. No luck. We assumed that the little ones had probably crawled too far from home and been eaten by something. Rabbits are basically nature's fast food, being prey to just about anything that eats meat. The dogs had been in and out of that room. There are snake and racoons all around. Heck, even chickens will snatch up a little furry thing crawling by if they get the chance.

  I patched up the hole in the pen and headed back inside with slightly heavier heart that I'd started with that morning.

  We went about out day running errands and cleaning house until it was time to head back out for chores again that evening. We put away birds, called in the goats, and fed all the rabbits. Big Onion headed off to milk the lady goats while I gathered feed for the sheep. These days the sheep are getting a mixture of alfalfa, corn, and sweet feed at night to help keep their weight up, especially with so many nursing mommas out there.

  Once the feed was mixed, I headed out with the full bucket expecting Rialey to be at my heels as usual move and hold the sheep away from me and the feeding area, but she was nowhere to be seen. I called her once, twice, a third time and I finally saw her pop out from between the poultry house and the feed shed. I could tell right away that she excited about something. It took me called her again for her to come over and do her usual job of moving and holding the sheep. As soon as I had dumped the bucket of feed and released her, she jetted back between the buildings.

  I followed and asked her to show me what she'd found. She jumped backwards to reveal a tiny, muddy white fuzz ball toddling around in the mud. I quickly scooped the little one grateful that at least we'd found one of the two missing bunnies. Then Rialey was back between the buildings again clearly indicating that the other bunny was back there. In the dark, I could barely see the little black thing trying to crawl farther away from me and from the dog. Since there was no way I could reach it, I took a deep breath and asked Rialey if she could retrieve that bunny. I knew asking a natural predator and carnivore to take something so little and so full of meat into her mouth could end very badly, but I was trusting that Rialey's nurturing instincts would outweigh her prey drive for just long enough to get that bunny to safety.

  All I could see was Rialey's backside as she followed the bunny farther and farther away from me. I would see her move forward, crouch down, then jump backwards. I could only assume that the bunny was jerking and bouncing away from her as very young bunnies tend to do do when they feel threatened. After what seemed like forever, Rialey backed out without the bunny and looked at me with a clear message that I was going to have to catch that thing myself. Luckily, all Rialey's attentions had driven the little thing far enough that I was able to reach it from the other side.

  Both bunnies safely in hand, I brought them inside to try and clean up some of the mud and dog spit before putting them back with their siblings. The little white one was a bit on the thin side, but neither kit seemed the worse for their adventure. It's truly amazing they survived as long as they did down in mud and dirt, the little things don't even have their eyes fully open yet.

  What's even more amazing is that Rialey not only found those bunnies, but did them no harm whatsoever. She has always had a very strong mothering instinct and a very, very concerned and protective nature when it comes to the rabbits. In this case, those instincts saved the lives of two very lucky little ones.

Like rabbits

   After a bit of a dry spell, I'm happy to say that the rabbits are back to the business of making more rabbits.

 We decided to keep two of Bluebell's daughters since she is a very large rabbit with a wonderful temperament. She also had a very large litter right off the bat with her first breeding and kept every one of the kits alive.

  These two girls just reached breeding age so they had their dates with our two bucks. I like to expose the girls to both bucks a couple of hours apart to make sure that they get bred. I think it also makes for larger litters if both breeding go smoothly.

Unfortunately, one of the two females was just not in the mood to bred when the time came with either guy. Now our problem is these two girls look so much alike that we're not sure which is which! We tried using a little Blue-Kote spray to tell them apart, but that stuff faded way faster than we expected. I guess we'll just have to keep a close eye out for nesting behavior in one of them when the time comes.

 Meanwhile, we had two more litter that were ready to wean. Unfortunately, it was raining so much that they had to stay in with their mothers much longer than normal.

 We are finally seeing some sunshine and that means the bunnies are happily living in the tractors on the pasture. This is where we grow them out until they reach about 12 weeks and are ready for processing.

  Aside from larger size, one of the things we have been selecting for is a calmer temperament. Big Onion and I are both tired of dealing with does who throw fits and threaten us when we try to do anything in their pen. Bluebell is the first breeding age female who not only tolerates handling, but solicits attention and petting when we go into her pen. Hopefully Bluebell's girls will turn out as nice as their mother in size, temperament, and mothering ability.

The Rialey and the Hares

  It was a morning just like any other. I had packed up the milk stuff, grabbed the egg basket, and headed out for chores with our two trusty farm dog gals Luna and Rialey in tow.

  I was in the poultry house getting the goat feed together in preparation for milking when I saw Rialey streak by the screened door in hot pursuit of something. Thinking she had taken up her usual game of "let's chase the barn kitty whether he likes it or not because I think it's funny," I yell through the door, "Rialey, cut it out! Blaze does not think you are playing!" and went back to loading alfalfa pellets into the bucket by the handful.

  I had just picked up the milk bag in one hand and the goat feed bucket in the other when I saw a little streak of movement come through the small chicken door behind me. Thinking the barn cat had found an escape from our crazy puppy, I was just about to apologize to Blaze for Rialey's rudeness when I realized that I was not looking at a large orange tabby. I was staring at a terrified little creature with long ears and bulging eyes. I took me a full second to comprehend that I was looking at one of our rabbits.

  I stupidly looked up at all the bunnies around me in securely locked cages and thought, "Where in the heck did you come from?" before I remembered that the teenage bunnies out in the pasture tractor had just reached "that age." For some reason it's like clockwork: if we don't get the adolescent rabbits processed before they reach the 12 week mark they start digging their way to freedom.

  In the time it took me to figure this all out, Rialey had popped her head into the little doorway and the rabbit jetted out under the door on the other side of the poultry house. I sighed, put down the feed bucket, put down the milking stuff, and went in search of the fishing net we keep handy for just such an occasion.

  In the process of getting the net, I located two more bunnies between the poultry house and the feed shed, and I could hear Rialey in hot pursuit somewhere near the milking room of another wayward bun. I got the net and called Rialey back to me before she actually caught some poor rabbit, or at the very least gave it a heart attack. Our morning chores had just gotten a lot more interesting.

  I was able to catch one of the two rabbits between the two buildings by just moving very slowly then quickly snatching it up by the scruff ninja style. When I emerged with my prize, a little white bunny who was in too much shock to move much, Rialey jumped up and poked it with her nose ("gotcha!") before sprinting over to one of the ducks' kiddy pools and plopping down in the water to cool off.

  I carried the bunny back over to the tractor where I could clearly see the place where the rabbits had made their bid for freedom. After I put the rabbit down, I was able to move the enclosure so that it was secure at least for the time being, then it was back to the hunt!

  Rialey bounced up out of the pool, shook herself off, and dropped her nose to the ground trying to find fresh rabbit tracks. I followed her and Luna and found a bunny heading into the garden area. I ran around the side of the garden and ducked through an area of broken fence as fast as I could while brandishing my net. The herding dogs did their best to herd the bunny in my general direction, but despite all our efforts I missed netting the little sucker by just inches! He wriggled his way through the fence and around the corner of the goat shed. By the time I finished swearing, recovered my composure, and crawled back through the fence, the bunny and both dogs were no where in sight.

  I trudged back toward the poultry house where I saw Rialey and Luna playing a merry game of ring around the feed shed. Ah ha! The bunny had returned to the narrow alley between the two buildings. I tried getting on one side of the alley and sending the dogs around the shed to the other end to try and spook the rabbit my way, but the goofballs just kept running by. After two or three tries, I blocked my entrance with a handy bit of sheet metal and ran around the other side. Once there, I showed both dogs the opening to the alley and told them to stay there! Then I ran back around the other side, set up my net in the opening, and called the dogs to walk up on the bunny. This was enough to spook the rabbit right into my net, and I caught prodigal bunny number two. Whew!

  Walking back, I caught sight of another loose bunny, but my heart sank when I realized it was on the other side of the neighbor's fence. I was sure the minute I got near that rabbit would run for the hill, but amazingly I was able to walk up, very slowly crouch down, put my hand through the fence and grab that bunny without it even moving. Maybe it was tired out from watching me and the dogs run around like headless chickens in the heat all morning.

  After that, we couldn't seem to find any more bunnies on the lamb, so I headed back into the poultry house to grab up the milk stuff again and get to feeding the ever more impatient group of lady goats waiting for their breakfast. Rialey had followed me into the poultry house and instead of plopping down in the cool shade like normal, she started sniffing and circling the old rack brooder that takes up the center of the building. When I heard her little, "something isn't right here" whimper, I knew our rabbit hunt wasn't over.

  I moved the goat chow bin to one side, squatted down in the dirt, and peered under that old brooder and there looking back at me were two more sets of bulging bunny eyes. Sigh.

  Since they were already in an enclosed area, and I had no interest in getting into a foot race with a couple of hares, I set to work securing the poultry house so that those bunnies had nowhere to go but into my net. I blocked up the small chicken door and laid an old cat litter on its side to block the space under the opposite door.

  Using my now perfected technique, I crept back over to the brooder. I slowly crouched down again, reached out my arm, made a fast grab at the closest little black body, and missed! Crap! The little guy made a mad dash out from under the brooder and between the legs of a rather startled Rialey. She recovered quickly and started in pursuit of the bunny in the small enclosed space with Luna not far behind! The poor thing was running blindly in circles. He even ran into my boots twice, but I was too busy calling off the dogs to even make a grab for him. After a few seconds, he tried to head for the door and somehow ended up running right into the old litter bucket. I yelled, "Rialey, wait! Watch him! Stay right there!" (for some reason I never thought to teach her a "keep that rabbit in that bucket" command) and to her credit, Rialey plopped down with her big old nose right outside the opening of the bucket and held that bunny in place until I could climb over all the tumbled feed bins and buckets to toss my net over the bucket's opening.

   By comparison the last bunny was easy. When I came back from securing bucket bunny in the pen, I walked into the poultry house and Rialey chased that last bun right into my boots. By now, I was less surprised by this and was able to do my part and scoop the little one up and bring him back to the safety of his pen.

  Whew! With that last catch, I was almost certain we had caught all the escapees. What a workout, and I hadn't even started morning chores yet!

~~~~~~~~

  The pups and I were out that evening putting the birds away and getting ready for the evening milking. I was refilling water containers when I looked up to see Amelia with her head stuck in the fence across the pasture...as usual. I swear that goat will never learn.

  The girls and I headed over and with a bit of twisting and turning, I was able to get Amelia freed. We went back to putting away birds and when we were done, I noticed Rialey running back across the pasture to where Amelia was stuck. I just figured she was checking for more stuck goats and didn't think much of it.

  I fed the rabbits and headed in to milk the goats. Rialey never came into the milk room, but it's not unusual for her to plop down outside the door and only come in if she thinks I need help moving goats so again, no big deal.

  By the time I was done milking it had gotten dark out. I scooped up some sheep feed and headed into the dark pasture to feed to the sheep. Rialey appeared next to Luna at my feet so I put both dogs in a down stay and called the sheep over for a bedtime snack. The minute I released the dogs from their stay Rialey jetted back over to the fence. Something wasn't right.

  I followed her and she led me right to a little black rabbit laying in the grass. Rialey laid down and starting licking and gently mouthing the bunny. It was obvious that something was wrong with thing. It was limp and soggy from head to toe from Rialey's ministration. Shining the light from my phone, I could see that the little thing was still alive but just barely. I picked it up very carefully and carried it back to the light of the poultry house. The bunny was dead before I even got inside.

  I grabbed up the milk stuff and egg basket and brought them and the soggy bundle of bunny back to the house. On closer inspection, it was clear that this rabbit had broken it's neck. In fact, the front teeth were almost completely knocked out. My best guess is Rialey spooked the little one and it ran headlong into a fence post or tree not long before I found it. Rabbits are not known for having good near-sighted vision.

  Not wanting to let this bunny go to waste, I decided to process it for the dog's dinner. What amazed me was that that little bunny did not have a single bruise. Rialey, a month old puppy, had spotted, chased, and eventually caught a small rabbit out in the pasture without any supervision and yet she hadn't laid a single tooth on this bunny. There wasn't a single tear in the skin or bruise to the meat. If that bunny hadn't panicked and run into something, it would probably be alive today.

  Since this incident, Rialey has proved time and time again that she has the remarkable ability to catch small and wayward animals without causing them any harm. I've seen her chase down and stop rabbits in their tracks, corner young turkey poults, and even pounce on a young runaway chicken and pen it down with a foot on its wing!

  The value of a good farm dog cannot be measured in dollars and cents. It's measured in days like this. In times when I wouldn't have even known there was a problem on the farm until Rialey alerted me, then she and Luna helped me catch up all those lost rabbits. There is something to be said for finding a properly bred farm dog and raising her to do her job. Rialey surprises me every day with her ability to help make even the simplest of jobs around here just a little easier. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for this promising pup.

Bunny Rearing: Part 2

  As I mentioned in my last post, sometimes our young bunnies flip and flop their way right out of their nest box. Usually this isn't a problem, but last week I was in Blackberry's pen checking on her litter. I lifted up the nest box and discovered that one little charcoal colored bunny had somehow ended up under the large wooden nest box. My best guess is he flipped his way out of the box at some point and since he was so dark, we didn't see him and put the nest box back on top of the poor little thing. 

   He was just laying there all squashed and flat and cold. He wasn't even a week old,. His eyes weren't even open yet, and his fur was barely grown in. I was sure the bunny would be dead or close to it, but as I stood there recovering from the shock of finding a bunny where no bunny should be, the pathetic little thing started moving. I scooped him up and could feel that he was cold and weak so taking a page from one of my favorite blogger friends, I tucked that little creature into a place where he would warm up quick!

  I wasn't kidding when I said the little guy was smooshed flat. He'd be stuck between a heavy wooden nest box and wire flooring for probably around 12 hours. His head was all squished, and he'd missed a couple meals from mom so he was looking thin. Once he'd warmed up, I fished him out and flipped Blackberry over to let the little guy try and nurse. He showed surprising enthusiasm, but didn't seem to be getting much in the way of nutrition. I guess his newly remodeled head shape was keeping him from getting a good latch onto his mother's nipples.

  Luckily, I had just milked the goat so had a more than ample supply of fresh, warm goat's milk. I grabbed a small syringe and somehow managed to get about 4cc's of milk into the little guy.

  Since that day, we have been syringe feeding him twice a day. He is getting a mixture of goat milk, kitten milk replacer, and heavy cream. After that first day, I attached a bit of rubber tubing to the end of the syringe to make something a little softer on his mouth.

  Since we were going to be feeding him twice a day, I decided the little guy needed a name. I've taken to calling him Jack. Short for Flapjack...because Pancake is just a terrible name for a rabbit. If he turns out to be female (I am terrible at sexing young bunnies), I guess we can call her Flap-jackie.

  I pulled one of Jack's littermates to show the size diffrence between him and his siblings. Little did I know that I had grabbed the one behemoth of a bunny in the litter.

This is a more accurate picture of the size difference.

  The little guy seems to have some damaged tissue on both sides of his face which is slowly healing, but other than that and his small stature, he seems to be doing pretty well. He is up and walking around. The last couple days he has started nibbling at the rabbit food and greens in his pen. Hopefully we will be able to wean him off the twice daily feeding very soon.

  I'm not sure what the future holds for little FlapJack/Jackie. With his small size I doubt he'll be any good for meat. He will probably end up being a pretty tame rabbit after all this special treatment . He always totters his way to the front of the pen to get his twice daily feeding. I think he would make a pretty darn good pet for the right family. Hopefully, if all goes well, we will be looking for a home for little Jack in a few weeks.

Bunny Rearing: Part 1

 The rabbits are doing what rabbits do best: making more rabbits. We've been breeding our girls in sets of two or three at a time so that they all kindle at the same time. This makes it easier to move the babies around if one doe has too many to care for herself. It also means we can wean and then join the litters together for easier rearing in the pasture pens. Right now we have three litters out in the big tractor just about ready for processing, three more in the poultry house waiting for the tractor to become free, and another set of two litters that were just born a week or two ago.

 This is Ash's litter just a couple days after they were born. She and Blackberry kindled at the same time. I love the variety of colors we are getting from these girls. In these litters we have blacks, dark charcoals, light greys, and whites.

 Ash is a beautiful silver color, but she is one aggressive bunny. Before she had her babies, she was tough to deal with. Now even walking by her pen will cause her to rush to the front grunting and stomping, "GET AWAY FROM MA BABIES!!"

 Blackberry is much more timid and calm. Both girls had nice big litter of 8-9 bunnies. This is just about the perfect size litter. Any more than that and the doe will have trouble keeping everyone fed.

 These are Blackberry's kits. When baby rabbits or "kits" are first born, they are blind and hairless. We have started pulling the nest boxes out of the pens and checking on the litters twice a day, even doing a head count, for the first week to make sure no one is getting stuck in a corner or tangled in the hay of the nest box. This has drastically reduced our early losses.

  Here is a fine example of why it is important to check on the bunnies so frequently when they are young. This little guy has gotten himself out of the cozy, fur lined nest where the rest of his siblings are sleeping and into the front corner of the nest box all alone. At this age and without their fur it is easy for the babies to die from getting chilled.

  As they get older, it gets a little more difficult to check on and count the young bunnies. For some reason, they turn into crazy jumping beans when disturbed. This is not a problem when they are tiny, but as they get older they can flop around enough to toss themselves right over the side of the nest box.

  This can lead to big trouble for a little bunny out of his box and away from his brothers and sisters.....
(to be continued)

             

Bunny Birth Announcement!

 I've very happy to report that after a long and somewhat baffling hiatus, we are back in the rabbit rearing business. These are the first litters we have had in at least 6 months. Not that we were trying very hard to make more rabbits during that time. We were slightly distracted rearing baby goats and planning a wedding.

  Primrose and T chose some of the coldest nights of the year to kindle (give birth), but thankfully, both are experienced moms who delivered all their babies in the nest box (not on the bar of the cage which sometimes happens) and both lined their nests with lots of their own fur for warmth.

Our T is raising a litter of 7 all white, fat, healthy bunnies.

Primrose has 8 babies, and all are white....

except this grey behemoth who is roughly twice the size of his litter mates and full of spit and vinegar!

Our Holly had her first litter of 5 one very cold night about a week after the other two girls. Her litter was a bit of a surprise as we figured her breeding didn't take, and she wasn't show any signs of pregnancy.

Unfortunately, one of her kits died just a day or two after birth. This bunny was tiny from the start. It seems with just about every litter you are likely to lose one or two at the start, especially with a first time mom.

As you can see, Holly is a very good and protective mom. She padded her nest with lots of fur and is in her nest box nursing those babies regularly.

I can't wait for these bunnies to get big enough for the outdoor pens. That's when the real fun starts!

Thanksgiving

Here are a few more of the pictures that Big Onion took on Thanksgiving morning. Many of the animals got special treats in honor of the holiday. The turkeys just felt like showing off. 

We have so much to be thankful for, but today I'd like especially thank everyone who takes the time to read this blog. Even though I don't always find time to post regularly, I love being able to share our incredibly fortunate lives with everyone. Thanks!!

Rabbit Update

 Last weekend, I finally got around to adding an extra layer of fencing around the big rabbit tractor so that we could get rid of the xpens we had surrounding the whole thing. Having to unlatch and move the extra layer of fencing every time we wanted to move the tractor was getting old. Hopefully the added layer of protection will keep the rabbits in and the predators and nosey goats out.

That same day I discovered that the rabbits had taken it upon themselves to start building their own housing. This is always a possibility when housing adult females on the ground. That hole was deep enough for me to sink my arm all the way to the elbow!

  Right now we have four does and a buck living together colony style on the pasture. So far everyone is getting along just fine. As long as we move the tractor on a regular basis, we don't have too much trouble with the bunnies digging. The only problem we have is that since they are housed with a male, we aren't sure when these girls are going to kindle (give birth) for the first time. We plan on putting them in the raised cages in poultry house when the time comes. Best we can do right now is just a keep a close eye out for any of the girls plucking out chest and stomach fur and trying to build a nest.

This is one of the pretty chinchilla colored bunnies from our last group. We have a male and a female in this color, and I am really looking forward to seeing what colors these guys produce. Following our philosophy of letting nothing go to waste, Big Onion has been dabbling in hide tanning. We are hoping that these rabbits' offspring should produce some really beautiful furs.

New Does

  Our last rabbit breeding produced some really insterestigly colored bunnies. They are also from much bigger stock than we have currently, so we have decided to switch out some of our breeding does. These four are from two different mothers (Nyreem and Haystack). We are pretty sure all are female, and they are completely unrelated to our current stock.

  They are also very friendly. Our last does all seem to have an evil streak that compels them to attack us when we go near their food bowl and makes them very difficult to handle. We are hoping by handling these girls from an early age, we can get some calmer bunnies to deal with.

Plus, don't you just love those ears?!

Rabbits on pasture

  Things are hopping along with the rabbits. The heat is hard on these furry creatures so we have set up a fan inside the poultry house. We had a little trouble getting Bigwig, our buck, to do the deed on his last go-round with the ladies. They say the heat can even turn the boys sterile. Poor thing.

   I had put Zinny, one of our older does, in with him to breed and came back to find her humping him! I had to removed her from the pen before the poor guy lost all his dignity. He was finally able to get the job done when we put the two together first thing in the morning after a somewhat cool night. If the breeding took, those buns should be due this coming weekend.

  Meanwhile both the smaller pasture pens are full of mommies and babies. Crazy T is out there with her brood of 8 (above), and Haystack has her two little black bunnies in the A-frame style pen. The turkeys have decided that pen makes a great perch for an afternoon nap.

  The big bunny tractor is back out in the pasture since the little so and so's were digging holes in our backyard. They are loving all the tall grass out there and are growing like weeds. Of this batch, we will probably be keep one of the chinchilla colored does. We will also probably keep one of Haystack's black babies if one is female.

 We are going to phase out some of our adult does. We like having the colored rabbits around. Plus some of the girls just aren't performing up to par. To that end, we are looking for a pet home for our sweet Clover. She was one of the first two does that we started with over a year ago. She's the smallest of our does, and her pregnancies were always hard on her. So, if you know of anyone in the area looking for a sweet pet bunny girl, please let us know!

Breeding like Rabbits

  I can finally say that our rabbits are breeding like rabbits! With the addition of two new (and huge!) does, we are up to six breeding females. This feels like a good number for us. The grow out pen in the backyard is full of Clover and T's last litter. Zinny and Primrose are each nursing litters of their own.

  Hopefully we can finally start to meet the demand of rabbit meat for pet food, and maybe save a few for us to eat as well! Pictured above is one of the newest does. We are calling her Haystack. All our rabbits are named after Watership Down characters, and honestly, there are only so many decent female names in that book.

This is Nyreem, the other new female. She is very, very protective of her new litter. She actually rushes the front of the cage when I just walk by. Not the most desirable of traits in a doe.

  The lady I got her from was kind enough to breed Nyreem to her big black buck before sending her off with us. The litter is an interesting combination of black and white bunnies. There is even one with a grey back, white belly, and white on this inside of his/her ears. I think our eventual plan will be to phase out some of our smaller white does in favor of a couple of larger, colored females. We may end up waiting for Haystack's litter since Nyreem's temperament is such a nightmare, and it has been our experience that this sort of thing is inherited.

 This is Primrose's litter just before their eyes started opening.

I swear this little guy is still alive, just very, very relaxed.

We are getting into a really good cycle of breeding our does in pairs, letting them kindle (give birth) in cages inside the poultry house. When the babies eyes are all open and they are starting to hop around the cage, we move momma and babies to one of the outside tractors. When it comes time to wean, the babies are then moved to the big backyard pen where they have tons of space and all the grass they care to nibble. Not only does this cut back on feed cost, but I think we are raising healthier and happier bunnies!

Hopping mad

 Today Gwen learned that getting caught jumping the net fence around the chick pen is a bad idea. She knows better than to go over that fence so when she got caught she tried to book it back on the other side only to get tangled up in the netting and face plant in the mud. I snapped this picture after I stopped laughing at her. If goat looks could kill.

Meanwhile, the latest batch of bunnies are doing well. They are about a week old so they are covered in a short coat of soft white fuzz, and their eyes should be opening pretty soon.

 Clover had 9 bunnies. T had 7. Both very respectable litter numbers. Clover had two more that she gave birth to outside the nest box. They got too cold and died before we found them. Since then we have had no more bunny losses. Always a good thing. The giant bun in the picture above is one of T's. This is her second litter and both times she had huge, monster babies.

 The older bunnies are living large in the giant rabbit tractor that Big Onion built for them. It has an extra layer of x-pens around it because certain canine miscreants decided they needed to get up close and personal with the bunnies.

The bunnies are doing a great job of mowing the backyard for us. Plus having them on the ground cuts way back on feed. Now we just need about four more tractors like this and we'll never need to mow the backyard again!