Today was an incredibly day, a busy weekend really, culminated by a very, very busy Sunday.
Why was it so busy, you ask? Well…let me get started. I woke up and left Summerville around 9 this morning to pick up some free dog food (aka unwanted Craigslist rabbits). I ended up getting two bucks and a doe – some sort of Dutch or Hotot mix, and a Holland lop pair. I was a bit hesitant about dispatching the Holland buck, he was a BEW (blue eyed white), however I have no room in my current breeding program for an un-pedigreed lop, so off with his head. All 3 rabbits were very healthy and will make the dogs super happy. The doe was pregnant, 5 teeny tiny kits were inside her uterus when I butchered her. They’ll become dog treats as well.
After I picked up the rabbits, I picked up my two new rat assassins. HA. I acquired a pair of free Craigslist kittens as well. I am no good at sexing kittens so they’ll remain unsexed until they go and have their parts chopped off at the Neuter Scooter. I’ve named them Pancho & Lefty, after the Willie Nelson & Merle Haggard song 🙂 So far, Pancho is much more adventurous and Lefty is hesitant but playful. They seem to be settling in nicely, truth will tell when they meet the dogs for the first time tomorrow. Elsa is NOT happy about the newcomers, and was giving me an earful about them earlier.
When I checked on Eowyn, it appeared that she had gone off her feed, so I inspected her (she had worms earlier and I had dewormed her about 2 weeks ago). She has a runny-ish butt and her vent is super red. I’m not sure EXACTLY what’s wrong with her, but I’m assuming VD and am treating as such. I’m not sure if she will make it, so for now I’m postponing all sales until I do a VERY thorough cleaning & checkup on every rabbit and confirm that there are no diseases going around. The problem with rabbits when they go off their feed is that not eating shuts down their entire digestive system and messes EVERYTHING up. I’m hoping I can help her, but dispatching her and doing a necropsy are in the back of my mind as well, should the need arise.
After I brought E in and had bathed and treated her and gotten her into quarantine, I went back outside to resume chores and I noticed an intruder. Around a 4-5 foot long black snake with a fresh egg belly was hiding out under the porch. I promptly picked her up and we went for a walk down to the pond a couple hundred yards from my house. I released her near the pond, and she slithered down into the woods. I will NEVER kill a black snake or any other non-venomous snake – they eat the venomous guys! I’m hoping she doesn’t make her way back here but I’m prepared to take her on a longer walk next time if she does return.
After my follies outside, made a grocery run and came back and baked dog treats for the remainder of the day. I got various rabbit bits on the dehydrator with some veggies, and baked 3 different varieties of dog treats to send to friends. It’s been a tiring Sunday.
Oh and I forgot to mention that on Saturday I harvested a HORDE of Goldenrod. Have some honey & a tequila tincture started. Going to make a second tincture when I come across my Everclear and also putting the rest on the dehydrator. We also lost a quail chick to (what I believe to be) cocci yesterday. That was depressing. Got corid in the water for the remaining chicks and adults though, so hopefully no more outbreaks.
