Last summer, 4 baby bunnies escaped by slipping through the dog kennel wires. They became yard bunnies. I thought at first that the dogs would kill them, but they had already realized that the bunnies were part of the stock they were taking care of, so they left them alone. So did I. Well, not entirely, I did try to catch them off and on, but had no luck, so finally I just gave up.
They are not terribly wild and certainly not tame. They do not run away from me, but if I get within their comfort zone they will hop away. I am not sure where they spent the winter..perhaps in the straw bales or hay bales? I did see them continuously hop in and out under the chicken coop, but it is not warm there. If they dug into a hay bale, they would have a good warm winter nest. They chew and claw a burrow in there, and line it with the shredded straw or hay. Most of the time they sleep together too, even though they are the same sex. I have males together and they do not fight and females and they do not fight. The only time I separate them is when they are breeding. I am not sure where I will put the females to have their babies this summer. There are 5 breeding does now and 2 bucks. Petey, my original buck from Holland is retired due to always having chronic eye infections. He is not a strong animals and right from the get go, he had problems in the winter. I think it is because he was fed gmo rabbit pellets and he still prefers to eat them over good food.
I went to gather the eggs this morning and saw that there was rabbit fur all over the floor. OH oh! Perhaps a weasel attacked one of the yard bunnies. Wait, no, what is that in the nesting box at the bottom? It is a female rabbit having babies and placing them in the nicely lined nest with the breast fur she plucked out. Oh!
But I cannot leave those babies there. That would be certain death, either from the chickens thinking they were mice and eating them, or freezing because the temperatures are going to drop drastically to minus 24 in the next few days or even one of the Muscovy ducks wanting a midnight snack. Mamma bunny finished kindling, that is what it is called when a doe rabbit gives birth, and fed the babies then left the nest. The mother rabbit only feeds the babies a few times a day, but she stays close. When I went in, so did she, so I closed the hatch and caught her. Luckily there was a little kennel there, in which I placed her. Then I got a box for the babies, lined it with llama fleece and her own rabbit down and placed the babies inside.I was surprised at how strong they were for having just been born. I had to hang on tight or they easily would have jumped out of my hand. They made little sounds too.
Mamma rabbit and the babies were transferred to a super large dog kennel in the porch. She has hay and a litter box, food and water and hay to hide in or eat. She is not happy. Who would be after being free for the winter and now being caged? I hope she feeds her babies. She did go into the box to visit them, so I know she knows they are there. I have decided not to try to feed them if she abandons them. There is a way to do that with a makeup sponge dipped in milk, but there are 5 babies and with working, I don't know if I could manage.
So, my new kindle reader is a Mamma bunny! Ha, fooled you!
They are not terribly wild and certainly not tame. They do not run away from me, but if I get within their comfort zone they will hop away. I am not sure where they spent the winter..perhaps in the straw bales or hay bales? I did see them continuously hop in and out under the chicken coop, but it is not warm there. If they dug into a hay bale, they would have a good warm winter nest. They chew and claw a burrow in there, and line it with the shredded straw or hay. Most of the time they sleep together too, even though they are the same sex. I have males together and they do not fight and females and they do not fight. The only time I separate them is when they are breeding. I am not sure where I will put the females to have their babies this summer. There are 5 breeding does now and 2 bucks. Petey, my original buck from Holland is retired due to always having chronic eye infections. He is not a strong animals and right from the get go, he had problems in the winter. I think it is because he was fed gmo rabbit pellets and he still prefers to eat them over good food.
I went to gather the eggs this morning and saw that there was rabbit fur all over the floor. OH oh! Perhaps a weasel attacked one of the yard bunnies. Wait, no, what is that in the nesting box at the bottom? It is a female rabbit having babies and placing them in the nicely lined nest with the breast fur she plucked out. Oh!
But I cannot leave those babies there. That would be certain death, either from the chickens thinking they were mice and eating them, or freezing because the temperatures are going to drop drastically to minus 24 in the next few days or even one of the Muscovy ducks wanting a midnight snack. Mamma bunny finished kindling, that is what it is called when a doe rabbit gives birth, and fed the babies then left the nest. The mother rabbit only feeds the babies a few times a day, but she stays close. When I went in, so did she, so I closed the hatch and caught her. Luckily there was a little kennel there, in which I placed her. Then I got a box for the babies, lined it with llama fleece and her own rabbit down and placed the babies inside.I was surprised at how strong they were for having just been born. I had to hang on tight or they easily would have jumped out of my hand. They made little sounds too.
Mamma rabbit and the babies were transferred to a super large dog kennel in the porch. She has hay and a litter box, food and water and hay to hide in or eat. She is not happy. Who would be after being free for the winter and now being caged? I hope she feeds her babies. She did go into the box to visit them, so I know she knows they are there. I have decided not to try to feed them if she abandons them. There is a way to do that with a makeup sponge dipped in milk, but there are 5 babies and with working, I don't know if I could manage.
So, my new kindle reader is a Mamma bunny! Ha, fooled you!
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