A Hard First Lesson with Rabbits

Over the weekend, we decided to get our start in Kunekune pigs and Rex rabbits. We brought home one male and two female pigs, which I will talk about later when I have better pictures and a little more time with them.

The rabbits were a blue, a blue otter, and a broken lilac doe from one very nice lady, plus a harlequin buck from another couple. I put them in a temporary pen made from a hog panel folded into an oval, with 1x2 woven wire fencing underneath, chicken wire wrapped tightly around the outside, and a tarp over the top for shade.

That setup was supposed to last a few hours while I built a rabbit tractor. Then the normal interruptions of a weekend stacked up, and I was not able to finish the project before Monday.

We were in the middle of a heat wave. The boys were doing an excellent job rotating 750 ml bottles of frozen water through the pen to keep the rabbits cool, but in between checks the tarp blew off. The rabbits were left in full sun. Mandy called me at work to tell me they were dying. Only the broken lilac survived.

It was a very disappointing day. The temporary shelter had a single point of failure, and the weather found it. I would rather not publicize my failures, but that is part of being real and honest on the internet.

I am not confident we cooled the animals down quickly enough to be certain the meat was safe for human consumption, so they will become dog treats instead. That is a better option than burying them or tossing the carcasses in the lagoon, and it gives us some practical use from a bad day.

All in, we spent $70 on the rabbits. With one survivor, the direct financial loss is $52.50. Each of the three rabbits gave us five dog treats: two hind legs, two front legs, and one saddle and lower spine portion. That makes 15 treats total, or $3.50 per treat.

The real return value is probably going to come from learning to tan rabbit hides a little sooner than I expected. Even if I do not get it quite right the first time, it is a useful skill to begin.

For now, the surviving doe is doing well. I have been informed that she is now a pet and may be called Fluffernutter, though that moniker is being contested by the boys.