Bouncing Baby Bunnies

We have meat rabbits. Well, we have rabbits...of a breed that is conducive to eating. We have 3 Californian does. We had 2 New Zealand bucks till Wilma and Seamus killed them a few weeks ago. We had plans of giving the does away because they were not breeding and we were tired of unsuccessfully trying to breed them.

As a side note, we have a colony set up. So many people tell us that it is a waste of time and it is not the most efficient way of breeding rabbits. To them I say, I am not interested in efficiency. I am interested in HUMANELY raising rabbits. Rabbits need to be able to hop and stretch out fully. We kept a bunny in a cage for almost a year, then introduced her into the colony setting. The change in the rabbit was amazing. When we got the New Zealands and plopped them into the colony they did not even know how to hop...and they were 18 months old. 

Granted the mortality rate of our rabbits is high, due to the dogs (we are working on that) but the lives they have are natural bunny lives. They dig and forage and hop and stretch. So, before you tell me how much more EFFICIENT cages are, live for 18 months in a cage unable to stand up or take a full step. 

Anyway we decided that if we could not do the rabbits in a colony successfully, we will not do rabbits. Then Elliot brought me THIS:

This is a 3 week old baby bunny he rescued from Wilma and Seamus. Unfortunately, there was nothing we could do for it and it died. But this was the first I had seen of ANY babies.

I went outside and crept very quietly up to the pen, and we had babies!!! LOTS!! 2 large ones maybe 4 weeks old, and 4 small ones, about 3 weeks old. 

One of the "little" babies

One of the "big" babies

Yesterday, Thanksgiving, I delayed doing my chores. I regret that now...very much. When I did go outside to feed and water the livestock, I found that the final doe had had her kits. 

First time mother rabbits are not good mothers. Sometimes they eat their babies, sometimes they have them and walk away. And sometimes they have them out in the open on a very cold fall morning. That is what our rabbit did. By they time I went outside, I found 6 dead baby rabbits, only a few hours old. I imagine all but 1 (he was deformed) were born alive but did not live long. I was collecting the bodies and I followed them back to the "nest". It was very poorly made and out in the open. I was pulling bodies out when I felt something move. As I pulled them out I found 2 babies still alive. 

They were freezing. They felt as though I had pulled them out of the refrigerator. I ran them into the house, handed them to Lea and said, "Keep these warm!" She immediately put them under her shirt while I madly Googled how to take care of orphaned baby bunnies. 

We set up a little box for them and braved Wal-Mart to buy Pedialyte and puppy formula.

I am happy to say they bunnies survived the night. 

They only eat 2-3 times a day. I got up and 1 am and fed them. I will probably do that for a few more days, then they can eat 3 times a day. Their eyes should be open in a week, and they are fully weaned by 3 weeks. (They should have hair by this time next week)

If these rabbits survive, we will keep them...and not as food. We will add them to the breeding stock.

We have also decided on a happy medium as far as colony raising goes. A week or so before the rabbits give birth, we will put them in a large cage. They will kindle in there, and as soon as the babies are close to being weaned, we will allow mom and babies back into the colony. So colony raising with a nursery! 

They will still be bad mom's the first few times, but it seems as though this might be the most EFFICIENT way to raise in a colony.

Frittata and Parsley on Hand Washed Dishes

This is not at all what you are thinking. Well, maybe it is, but here goes! 

I was getting tired of sandwiches or pasta for lunches so I decided to think outside the lunch box. A perk of home schooling is that I do not have to prepare a meal 4 hours before they are going to eat it. So why not a hot lunch? Something we are never lacking is eggs, so I decided to make a Firttata. I happened to have sausage and potato. BAM! Lunch! 

Best part about it: EVERYONE LIKED IT!!!

It was as though a light shone down on it and the angels were singing!!!

There was no parsley involved in the recipe. 

This is Parsley:

She is about 11 weeks old. And of course, Elliot loves her. 

She is a wonderful kitty and lets everyone lug her around, even Quinn. As a side note, her name is Parsley because our other cat's name is Sage. Maybe some day we will get two more kitties named Rosemary and Thyme, but for now, I am at my limit.  

My dishwasher broke. There is no way to sugar coat it. It has been on its way out for a while, but this week not only did it stop draining, it began pouring water out of the bottom. 

We have committed to living a debt free life and have been working very hard to reduce our current debt as much as possible. We recently exhausted our savings with some unexpected travel and a stupid car repair (it was necessary but I am still bitter about it) so our choice was to put the new dishwasher on credit or hand wash the dishes. 

After a short discussion Leigh came home with my BRAND NEW...

dish drying rack. Only $5 at the dollar store! 

Well, you know us, we like to do things the old fashioned way. 

There...

...just like the olden days.

On the up side it looks like the budget fairies will allow us to pay cash for a new dishwasher in December. I only have to "Little House on the Prairie" my dishes for a few more weeks! 

Well, That is What You Call a Goat Fornication

So the wind is out of control here. Our feed shed flipped over and while I was in the process of trying to pull it apart, the goat shed rips from the ground and flips over. In these winds I finish pulling apart the shed and go and try to flip over the 8x10 metal goat shed my myself. Julia in the mean time calls Heather and she comes over to help. By the time she gets here I have righted the goat shed, but the chicken shed is about to go. As we are madly trying to secure both sheds we look over and see 2 of the goats...well...fornicating. Yep. That is what this is a big ol' goat--well, you get the picture.

In the process of this whole ridiculousness, I am hit in the ribs with the shed door. 

I am just happy that my ribs did not break.