Baby Bunnies

We decided to let our rabbits breed again, in hopes of ending up with a couple female bunnies we can tame better than the last set.  Since they run free in our backyard, we weren't aware of them having a litter until Andy was working out back and discovered four baby bunnies hopping around on the patio.  The kids are, of course, overjoyed!  We put them in a hutch so we can tame them.  They are getting plenty of love and attention from our kids and the neighbor friends.  Nichole and Leslie are pretty much inseparable lately, and Lucas and Chez are playing a lot, too!

lots o' bunnies

It has been weeks since we posted and asked for your help in naming our rabbits.  As it turns out, if you submitted name ideas, this is actually in your favor.  Instead of 3 names, we ended up needing nine!  Finally, after much discussion, they have all been named.  Our kids are excited to send a little 'prize' in the mail for the winners of the name contest.  (See bottom of this post.) 

Now for the list of bunnies.  These sweeties are looking for new homes!

Our biggest rabbit, who seems to have identity issues, was dubbed el Pollo Loco/Crazy Chicken. 
Update: CC has found a new home with Anna-Lise & Isaac.  He probably misses his lady friends, but he'll get over it (we hope).  Isaac LOVES him, so at least he'll get lots of attention!

Update: Hop (or Hop-Pop) is 'visiting' Kim & Brian.  He may have found a new home.  It sounds like he is Evie's new playmate!  She calls him Buddy. :)
 

Flopsy, busy Mama that she is, will be looking for a new home after she weans her last litter.  (Which is hopefully the newest babies, born just a couple days ago.) 

We'll be keeping two of her babies.

Daisy and Coconut, also known as 'the twins'.  (How weird is that -- I actually caught them doing the exact same thing!)

Carrot is very cuddly and is a favorite around here.

Velvet has very unusual coloring -- fur the same color as Brooklyn's hair! (Plus some random grey markings. I think it's kinda endearing. :)

Sweet little Mocha. AKA Mocha-Lotta-Bunny.

Bun-bun also has really random markings and is a sweetie!

And here are the 7 new babes.  They were born on May 25, exactly one month after the above bunnies (born April 25).  They're a little scrawny, but hopefully they'll do okay. 

If you are on Facebook, you may have noticed that we are having trouble limiting the number of bunnies that keep coming our way.  It's rather embarrassing, actually.  I assure you that we do know how this happens. ;)  When we bought our rabbits, they were supposed to be female.  And we didn't know a Mama could get pregnant just hours after giving birth!  So we may end up with 3 litters in 3 months.  (oops.)

That means we have LOTS of bunnies needing new homes.  Would you like one?  Pretty please?  

If you don't know much about rabbits, check out this site.  Rabbits make wonderful house pets (easily litter-box trained), are quite social, don't bark or meow, and they are just plain fun to have arround.  Ours free-range in the back yard.  We wet down an area of dirt every day, and they dig into it and find a cool spot to lay.  They are pretty tame, and even hop up to us when we go out back. 

Did I mention that we haven't had to mow the backyard grass since last Fall? :)

-----

Congratulations to: Heather & Cooper, Dee, Samuel, Denise, Annie, Daddy/Andy, Sandy & Mark.  Thanks to everyone for all your great name ideas!  

The chicks in the mail.

 

Noodle's first egg

 

"Mom!  Noodle laid an egg!"

(Tap, tap, listen.) 

"Is there a baby chicky inside?"

eggs!

 

What an exciting week!  Zinnia and Sweet, both of Destany's chickens, are laying eggs.  One lays in the morning, and one in the afternoon.  We probably check for eggs at least ten times a day.  I wonder when the novelty will wear off? 

Their nesting box is a large mailbox.

Yes, they do use it. :)

Looks at the beautiful shades of brown!  This is our first dozen, in order from left to right, top then bottom.  Today's egg was huge compared to the first eleven!

first egg!

   

One of several escapees deposited this little surprise in our backyard 'pile-of-things-to-deal-with-and-get-rid-of', and we found it while cleaning up out there this afternoon.  (Please tell me we're not the only ones with such pile! ;)

I suppose it's time to rustle up some nexting boxes.  Any ideas for nesting boxes on a budget?  Looks like we need to act fast unless we want them to think our 'pile' is fair game!

One More

  

We really are going to name the rabbits.  And announce the winners.  And send out little prizes.  Really....it'll be soon.

In the meantime, our farmyard is growing.  We've been busy with a new little one.  A very tiny baby rabbit (who, incidentally, also needs a name).

According to our postage scale, she weighs all of 3.1 ounces.  My brother, Ian, is a landscape architect.  He found her in a client's garden last week.  The client was quite happy to have him take her away.

She has found a home at our house (for now).  We feed her raw cows' milk from a medicine dropper, a little grass from outside, and lots of organic veggies from our local CSA.  (She gets first dibs on the greens that end up in our compost -- usually the tops of purple carrots, beets, parsnips, radishes, etc.)

We were told it's hard to care for a tiny 1.5 - 2 week old bunny, but she is thriving! 

She's very skittish, even after a week of being fed by hand.  She truly is a 'wild' rabbit.  It has been interesting to see the difference between domesticated rabbits and this baby cottontail. 

Bobby Blue

  

We are not the only ones with a confused pet.  Grandma has one, too!  Bobbly Blue likes to go walking in the afternoons with Grandma and her dog, Molly.

Apparently Bobby Blue developed this strange behavior after he was locked in Uncle Jesse's barn for three days.  (Grandma finally heard him meowing.)

Grandma said, "When I walk down our road to the end of the avocados, he goes with us. But if I go up the road, all the way to Stan and Boecky's gate, he waits for us near the top of the driveway and pops out of the bushes when we come by."

Anyone else have confused pet stories?

Name that Rabbit (or three)

  

We have a problem.  (No -- not that we have too many pets.  We like that! :)

Apparently we are terrible at naming pets!  Unless we name them after diapers, that is. 

Our biggest rabbit, now about 10 months old, remains nameless. 

Now we have added two baby ones, in hopes of minimizing his confusion about his budding rabbit identity.  They are currently called, Cutie, Baby, Sweetie, Honey, or any other term of endearment that pops into our minds at the moment it's needed. 

Knowing about the big wide internet world out there, and apparently thinking that there are folks out there who enjoy weighing in on our little world here at home, the kids thought you (yes you!) might like to help us. 

So here's the deal.  Suggest your favorite rabbit names.  Leave them in the comments section.  (You can click on Name/URL or 'Anonymous' if you don't have a google or other account.) 

To sweeten the deal, we'll send you a treat in the mail if we choose a name you suggest. 

Destany is suggesting we send you three packages of 'dairy-o cookies'.  (Oreos) 

Hmmmmm.....  We'll get back to you on the giveaway.  This just might be fun! :)

one of these things (is not like the other)

  

We have a confused bunny.  A very confused bunny. 

You see, he thinks he's a chicken. 

He eats with them.  He plays with them. 

He tries to sleep with them.

He also tries to mate with them.

(Pictures not included.  This is a family blog, after all. ;)

Unfortunately, while (ehem) hopping up on their backs, he has badly injured two of them, to the degree where they needed some serious TLC to recuperate.  Inside.  I was thrilled.  (I mean, who wouldn't want a full grown chicken in the house?  That's all just part of the fun, right?)

So now they are in a chicken run, and he is not allowed to socialize with them. 

He is sad.  And a bit lonely.  It's quite upsetting when we feed the chickens but do not share the food with him.  He stands up against the coop and longs for his favorite food and company. 

I think we may need an intervention. 

We are hoping that a girlfriend may help.

----------------------------------------------------------------

For your viewing pleasure....  A blast from the past.

Free to Good Home

 

Yep, you read that right!  One beautiful rooster, needing a new home. 

We bought Cricket when we picked out our little ladies (who, incidentally, will be laying for us in the near future).  He was in the 'assorted roosters' box, and was so cheap cute that Lucas talked us into it.  From the beginning, we agreed that when he found his voice, it would be time for him to move on. 

Now the time has come, and we're a little sad to see him go.  Lucas hopes he will end up somewhere in Phoenix so he can visit him!  (You can read Lucas' blog post about Cricket here.)

Update 2/12 -- Thanks to Craigslist, Cricket has found a new home!  We think he will be very happy with his new digs.  He is free ranging, and has two pretty hens waiting for him when he returns from exploring his HUGE yard.  He has it pretty good.  Happy crowing! 

our own little farm

Some people might think we collect children.  That's ridiculous.  After all, we only have four children.  Let me tell you what we do collect, though.  Pets! 

Currently, we have:

6 fish

1 snake (found in the backyard, surrounded by a circle of chickens)

7 chickens, and 1 rabbit who thinks he's a chicken (more on that later)

One of our chickens lives in the house.  I know.  You are so jealous.  After all, not just anyone gets to have a chicken in their house! 
(She has a broken leg, and will hopefully re-join the flock outdoors in the near future.)

Having your own little farm is educational, right?  And we homeschool.  So....that's my excuse, and I'm sticking to it. 

Funny Friday

Having rebelled against rabbit food, and now running out of grass, our rabbit (who remains unnamed and usually goes by 'Rabbit' or 'Bunny'), has joined in with the chickens. 

What's in a Name?

 

I overheard the kids discussing names for the chickies.  Names like Clementine, Sweet, and Blossom.  Very cute.  And familiar!  Turns out the kiddos named their chicks after our favorite cloth diapers.  BumGenius diapers have great names.  Destany has been wanting to learn the names of all of the colors after hearing me discuss colors with other cloth diapering Mamas.  It was so cute to see her interest, and I guess it later came in handy when she and her brothers were deciding on names!

Moonbeam, Ribbit, Clementine, Zinnia, Grasshopper, Butternut, Twilight, Bubble, Blossom, Sweet, and Noodle.  Cute, huh?  (Good marketing, BumGenius!) 

Here they are with their chicks.  They are growing and changing so much.  (The chicks and the kids!) 

Lucas with Clementine, Cricket (instead of 'Grasshopper'), and Butternut

Destany with Sweet and Zinnia

Keandre with Noodle and Blossom

little chickies

Maybe we're a little bit country.  Or maybe a little crazy.  Either way, we picked up half a dozen baby chicks last weekend.  Plus a baby rooster that Lucas talked us into.  (We insist he is only visiting until he finds his voice!) 

It'll be another 5 months until they start laying, but that is probably a good thing considering they're currently living in a rabbit hutch. Maybe by the time they're outgrowing it, we'll have built them a coop.  We'll see.  If you spot half a dozen hens ruling the roost in our backyard come spring, you'll know that idea didn't work out quite as planned.....

(Coming Soon: the delightful names our chickies have acquired.)

froggy love

We have a frog. 

Somehow, we always seem to have something new, or something in the works.  Currently the kids are advocating for chickens (which we've agreed to), and 10 more rabbits (ha!). 

But I digress....  For now, we've discovered we have a frog.  It's not a complete surprise, considering we put tadpoles in our pond last year.  But we haven't seen those tadpoles or any frogs for a very long time, so this was a fun surprise.

May the frog live a long happy life.  And eat lots of mosquitoes.