I know N O T H I N G about rabbits! But, I am learning fast! Pick them up by the nape of the neck or you will get clawed badly! They eat and drink constantly!
Never thought I would have to learn to sex a rabbit, but dang if these little fellows are a bit tricky, I started with three of these little balls of fur and lost one - I didn't know what the heck I was doing and had no idea this beauty was pregnant, but I quickly found out you can't keep males and females together. In all honesty, this little lady was pregnant when I bought her and I had no idea! I now know you palpitate the sides of a female to determine pregnancy and never keep the males and females together except during the very short breeding process. It doesn't take long as the sole purpose of male bunnies is to eat and make babies!
I now know I have all males and will continue in this vein for just a while. I need to change my hutch setup to accommodate both sexes and keep from losing anymore due to my stupidity! Things are looking up though and I have learned much in the past 3 weeks about these wonderful little animals. Their main diet consist of hay and fresh veggies - my bunnies favor celery tops and lettuce (they prefer iceberg but will eat Romain). They also like ripe tomatoes, but also enjoy any green stuff from the garden. I fear during the winter I will have to supplement the fresh garden stuff with some veggie pellets, but for now they are happy. They are emptying the water containers regularly as we have had many days of 90+ temperatures which has really taken a toll on their fur covered bodies.
The "half" grown chickens are doing well. Mid morning they all get a misting with the water hose and enjoy playing in the rain as long as the water flow isn't too strong. The mist they enjoy, a washing they don't like! I a having to dig the plastic eggs out again to stop an "egg eater." The oyster shells are suppose to stop that, but I have one that attacks the egg as soon as the hen leaves the nest! I think I have identified the culprit and if the plastic egg doesn't work, she will be separated from the flock for a while. A hungry little bugger, she eats six or seven eggs a day!
The neighbor's rooster is still eating as many of my tomatoes as I am and he has learned to "sneak" into the garden through the woods. He and I fight on a daily basis! The deer found my cantaloupe and have stripped the vines on many plants. I can identify that hoof print and so I can't blame the rabbits or rooster for that one. As some of you know I have rehabbed a couple of deer. I can only hope that one of them has come back for a visit, but I sure wish they wouldn't eat my veggies. They cleared a half a row of green beans before the cantaloupe came up but all the plants seem to have survived.
I have a dozen eggs in the incubator that a mother hen left. I am hoping they all hatch and they weren't left too long. Some great person left a dog that was no longer wanted at my nephew's house and he scared the chickens off the nest. Not vicious, just curious, he had to investigate and the hen ran off. With luck I can call my nephew to come get 12 new biddies in the next few days!
Life in the country is never boring and always filled with something going on! Lot's of work, but so rewarding!
Until next time . . .
Happy reading!
Belle
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