Some Bunny to Love

Meet Winkin, Blinkin and Nod are three newest Dutch Bunnies.  They are about a week old, still have their eyes closed and are as sweet as can be!

WINKIN

Blinkin

Nod

We also have two Lion Lops!  We are so excited about these two.  This is are first time having this breed and even though it was a small litter we are very happy.  Lucy (the momma) had three but the first one only lived a couple hours. :(

Our small rabbitry is Bethany's project and her responsibility.   She loves picking out names for the new arrivals. 

She named these two sweeties Cappa and Chino.  Put them together and you have cappuccino! hehe!    

Any one want a cup of Cappa Chino!

Jack and Lucy

Meet Bethany's new bunnies!!!

This is Lucy!  She's a Lionhead.

 This is Jack!  He's a Lion Lop.

They just love, love, love fresh lettuce from the garden!

Dutch Bunnies

A Bright Sunshiny Day

We have so enjoyed the break in rain this week. 

Yesterday we finished planting our raised beds. 

I can almost taste the yummy strawberries and cannot wait to use my herbs for cooking and medicinal purposes!!

 Our ducks - Mac, Quackers, Ginger and Dorothy enjoyed the day too!

I think they were posing for this shot.

 We got all 8 bunnies out and let them hop around.

 Daisy loved playing with the bunnies!

 Doesn't she look like she's having fun!

This is Basil - our only steel out of the bunch.

More Baby Bunnies

We woke up this morning to 9 new baby bunnies.  The sad thing....one didn't make it.  I feel totally responsible. :( 

This morning Dakota went out and checked to see if she had her babies.  Right away he noticed that one baby was out wondering around the nest.  It was freezing cold and he picked it up and put it back with the others.  He came and told me and I waited about a half hour before I went out to check how many babies we had.  That was my first mistake.  I should of went out immediately, got the baby, warmed it under warm water and wrapped it in a towel straight out of the dryer.  Then I should of got the mother and let the baby nurse.

It was still freezing cold when I got out there.  We were in shock that she had 9.  I had read that if your dutch bunny has more than 8 kits you are better off to try and foster the others.   Since the momma only has 8 teats any extras will probably not make it.  So we made a quick decision to bring the cold one inside since it was already off to a bad start.  We tried to warm it with a heat lamp.  I did not know about the water method and the towel until a little later.  I went straight to the internet to see what to do next.  I read that the best chance for it would be to bring the momma in, lay her on her back and let the baby nurse.  If you do this everyday the baby should survive.  So I got the little one....and....it was too late.  It had already stopped breathing.   I read later that when they get cold like this one had,  they use up all their energy trying to get warm and can die really quick.  I should of warmed it immediately and then let it nurse. 

So yes, I'm disappointed.  This was our first time losing a kit, but if we are to continue raising rabbits I'm sure it won't be the last.  Next time I'll be more prepared.   Being a huge animal lover it is hard for me to see any animal die and then to realize that maybe I could of prevented it.  :(   Obviously I still have a lot to learn about raising bunnies.  But, on the upside 8 is a large number and we are very happy with them.  Nine was great, but eight is enough. :)

Meet Rosemary, Basil, Chicory, Chives, Dandy (short for dandelion), Verbena, Licorice and Safflower!

More Bunny Talk

Our bunnies are getting so big. We have sold 2 of the first litter and tomorrow we have someone coming to get 4 or 5. I'm hoping for 5 and that would be all of the first litter. They will be going to their new home at Purina Farms and will be a part of their petting zoo. We were so excited about that. We know they are going to get good care and plenty of attention from lots of sweet little kids!   They are all so tame, thanks to Bethany holding and playing with them so much.  Friday is a little spit fire, but we figure you have to expect a Friday to be little wild. :)

Wednesday

Friday!

 A tisket a tasket, bunnies in a basket!!

Pinny's litter is a little over 3 weeks old.  They get in and out of their nesting box and today I caught one of the babies doing the funniest thing.  It flipped over on its back and tried to shimmy under its mom to nurse.  She wanted nothing of it, but the little bunny was determined.  He kept after her, flipping over and shimming,  until he got spooked by my laughter and climbed into the nest box.  It's very cute how they climb the wire nest box.  There are 3 steel and 3 black.   I love this age!  They are so cute and cuddly! 

Pinny is Dakota's rabbit so he named these Greg, Peter, Bobby, Marsha, Jan and Cindy. :)

It's the BUNNY BUNCH!!!

A Bunny Update

Today we awoke to 6 new baby bunnies! That's 13 in all! WOW! Here's some pics of the new arrivals!

The other litter will be two weeks old tomorrow and they are sooo adorable!  All their eyes are opened and they are moving around and just being cute!

Now don't ya'll just want a bunny!!!

Baby Bunnies - 5 days old

They are getting their fur and are so cute!

Baby Bunnies!!

 I am so excited!!   We FINALLY have baby bunnies.   Our Dutch rabbit Brownie had 7 kits (that's rabbit talk for babies) this evening!!

My family and friends who know my crazy rabbit story can understand why this is such a happy day!   The story is almost  emarassing, but since I don't have a problem laughing at myself I'll share it with you. : )  A little over a year ago I decided I wanted to raise rabbits.   When I was growing up my dad raised rabbits and I loved it.  So I studied it out and decided on Dutch bunnies for reasons that aren't really relavent to this story. Anyways, me and the kids built a hutch (which is a story in itself :) and we invested in 3 bunnies, and imagine if you would, 3 Buccheit workers, 2 kids and a mom standing in a circle in the store trying to decide if the bunnies were male or female.  According to the employees we had 2 girls and 1 boy.  I kept saying "hmmm, I just don't see the difference"  but 2 girls and 1 boy is exactly what I wanted so I went with it.  The time came that they were old enough to breed.  I often found myself looking to see if we indeed had 1 male and 2 females.  I'd say "hmmm,  they look the same to me" but I would breed them anyway.   They did what they were supossed to do, but I was still not sure.  I had read that doe rabbits do "that" as a way of defending their territory.  After MONTHS and I do mean MONTHS of trying to breed with no success,  I decided that they must all be females.   We located a male dutch bunny and the lady assured me that it was indeed a male.  When we picked it up she tried to show me, but you know what...I just didn't see a difference.   At this point we were racing with time.  A female doe is suposed to have her first kit before she is a year old, otherwise she could die while giving birth.   Our male rabbit was not of age so all we could do was wait.   As he got older I checked again, and what a suprise I had....you really CAN tell the difference lol!  There was no doubt!  We now had a buck and I couldn't help but laugh at all my attempts of breeding female rabbits together.  Today all the waiting and false attempts have paid off.  I was litterally jumping up and down in excitement! 

In my inexperience I wasn't even sure if Brownie was pregnant, I was very concerned because she is a little over a year old.  She started pulling her hair out today(she had did that once before with a false pregnancy)  so I put her nesting box in and a good thing I did, about an hour and a half later we had babies!  All went well and from what I read 6 kits for a dutch bunny is a large litter and she had 7!  

Bethany wants to temporarily name them (she knows we can't keep them all)  Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday.  I was hoping for Basil, Nutmeg, Cinnamon, Paprika, Ginger, Clover and Rosemary, but since she takes care of the rabbits more than any of us, I think I'll let her have her choice. :):):)