This post was going to be entirely different, but it ended up being a very buys - and somewhat crazy - day. At the far end, the new chicken barn has a wooden floor in place (which means the goats think they have a play-platform), our helper for wall-construction cancelled and has been replaced and I have discovered that yes, the brand of cocoa you use when learning to make chocolates does make a difference.
And then there was Charlie.
Charlie is our final doe still not in the rabbit colony. Charlie should, technically, be in the larger space with everyone else or at least have her own breeding run.
But Charlie is mean!
We have bred her before to Gomez who usually has a wonderful way with the ladies. She bit him. Repeatedly.
Eventually she kindled but it was a rough birth and she never developed any milk. We tried to put her outside after that and she bit us. Both of us.
Yet there is a spunk to Charlie that is hard not to admire. She is a domesticated prey animal who chooses to live her life beyond those boundaries and be a Big Bad Bunny.
Maybe she would do well with Wednesday? We put her pen inside Wednesday's colony run and let the two of them meet.
Ummm... No.
Initially it went well. and then Charlie proceeded to try to bust her way out of the cage. I didn't get it on video, but it wasn't long before Wednesday was trying hard to pretend Charlie wasn't there.
We tried to decide what to do. Should we leave her overnight and hope they got to know each other better. It seemed unlikely and Charlie obviously wanted out of the cage.
I also noticed that, despite being fed the same as all the other indoor bunnies, she seemed quite thin. It was time for her to have her own place and be able to relax.
So, Montoya is now residing with Wednesday. She is sterile, so they can be companions without risking an out-of-season pregnancy. He seems to be the first male she has actually liked and they seem happy in each other's company so far.
Charlie, meanwhile, is in the buck-pen. It is smaller than the rest of the does have, but much bigger than her old cage - more than four times bigger. As the sun when down she was running about, sniffing noses with Maverick through the fence and looking happier than I have ever seen her.
Here's hoping! Paws crossed that she is happier in her new home than this:
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