Bunnies

We are in full swing with the baby bunnies. Yesterday, Jacob's Mini Rex Charlie (yes, it is a girl with a boys name!) had 5 babies. Early this morning Freezer Burnt, a Californian- white with dark grey/black ears and feet, (long story on how she got her name) had 8. About 10:00am Runt had 2 babies. I'm not sure why her litter was so small. She is a Californian and usually they have bigger litters. I will be keeping watch over her. When Isaac and I went out to check on her, we found 1 alive and 1 dead. Isaac took this very hard. All three boys went out and had a funeral of sorts for the baby. They buried it by the weeds, piled some rocks on top and marked it with a stick. Isaac came in before they were finished and I held him while he cried over the dead bunny. He is so tender hearted. He loves the bunnies so much and while it is a good lesson for him to learn about farm life, it doesn't make it any easier for him. About an hour later we checked on Runt again, we found the live baby very cold. I tucked the little one under my shirt and took her to the house to warm her. I think Runt isn't sure what she needs to do. Plus since it was the only bunny left in the nest there was not really any way for her to keep warm. Around noon Big Mama (a Californian) gave birth to 6- one dead, five warm and squirmy. We decided to use Big Mama as a foster mother for the bunny that Runt had. I marked the bunny's ear with tattoo ink (so that I can tell her apart from the other babies) and stuck her in the nest with Big Mama's babies. We will see if she makes it, she was pretty cold when I found her.

Isaac is playing mother hen! He came in from outside about 45 minutes ago, all concerned because Big Mama had blood on her underside and she was just laying in her cage acting dead. He was positive she was dying. So, I went out with him to check. By the time I got there she was up and eating! I explained to him about the blood being from the birth and told him she was just really tired. I had to get a little firm for the mothers sakes and banned him from going back into the barn.

This, once again, has been an awesome learning experience. So many life lessons can be taught in a barn! So far Isaac has learned about the birthing process, the amniotic sac, the umbilical cord, life and death, caring for the mothers and their babies and the importance of letting a mother who is just given birth, rest!