Rabbit Breeders, I Guess!

When we took over the rabbits from Grandpa Golden Acres, I sure wasn't expecting to have ANY little babies come our way before November (when I'm due with the next baby Lahlum!). But .... I guess we'll make do. It shouldn't have been a complete surprise because Dash told me there was fur in the hutch Tuesday night, but I didn't make it out to the pens that day. So, imagine my shock and surprise yesterday when I went out to attach the new feeders!

Needless to say I had a lot of work to do ... find something for a nest box, find bedding for the nest box, determine which was the male, separate the male from mama and her babies, find a way to keep the male from jumping over into the hutch area of the pen ... it took me a good hour to get all that done. At which point I went inside to call Grandpa and Grandma Golden Acres and share the news.

The mama rabbit had a large batch, not all survived because she was in the pen with the male rabbit. Male rabbits are sometimes rough and don't really care about a nest. Furthermore, these two are the least tame of all the rabbits and really get anxious when we open the top to feed or care for them (they are getting better, thanks to the attention of Angelina, Zeke, Graham and Dash). The mama rabbit tried to make a nest with her fur, but it was spread all around the hutch by the time I realized it 'was' an attemp at nest making. Now, she has a little nest box with her surviving babies - there were four tonight.

I figured out which was the male and which was the mama and then devised a way to keep them separate. We don't have any extra pens! So, mama gets to be with her babies in the smaller hutch and we'll put her food and water in that area. The male will be staying outside in the caged, but more open area, for now. Don't worry, he still has a good roof over his head and plenty of food and water.

I don't have any pictures of the mama rabbit. She was too scared to pose when I first posted about the rabbits' arrival. She is a grey and white belted - kind of like an oreo cookie. However, I'm sure there will be an update!