I have been lackadaisical about updating this page, because, frankly, I’ve been sick. Pregnancy does not agree with me.

Thankfully, I have had support with the minimal activities of caring for the animals, and days where I could actually accomplish anything. (Side note: Pregnancy, plus migraines, plus concussion, plus stomach flu, plus ear infection, plus … Just … Zero/ten, do not recommend.)

After the sudden heat deaths at the end of June among the rabbits, everything was mostly peaceful. However, about a month after those — towards the end of July — something started getting into the run.

I lost at least a dozen birds, and only one of those a cockerel. Whatever it was (I presume raccoon based on circumstances) also raided the nest boxes to the point that the hens aren’t laying in them now. I’m having to systematically remove their alternate laying locations to get them to go back to that. I HAD left one hen to a clutch, hoping to get some chicks. That nest was the last raided, with probably less than a week before hatching. 🙁

In that week of carnage, I also lost the first doe I’d kept, with her having only a few days to go before kindling, apparently from fright. The other two does who were supposed to kindle with week have not. Heat or stress, I don’t know.

The chicks that were raised free-range are also all gone, but I know to blame a non-immediate neighbor’s dogs for that, as I caught the bedamned things INSIDE my fenced back yard one morning. I was too sleep addled to do more than yell at them, but that was too late for the chicks.

I did trade/sell some rabbits, both live and butchered, in the past month. The chocolate Silver Fox buckling I couldn’t decide to keep or cull found a new home, along with his aunt, who also carries the chocolate gene. That helped solve the dilemma — he was a pretty boy, and growing out well in my opinion. I really didn’t want to cull him, but I didn’t need another buck at this point.

The rabbit watering system took damage from whatever was harassing and killing the birds, and as a result, half the run is a mud pit, because I was too weak/sick to do more than try to mitigate the situation. I managed to work on that today, and have replaced one damaged section with pex. I am not sure that’s going to work out well. The larger nipples don’t seem to seat into the fittings well, and are still leaking. I’ll try to tighten those up tomorrow. The pex is also floppier than PVC, without having any give whatsoever.

The garden is doing okay. The tomatoes have started to ripen, so I’m going to have to make a bunch of recipes that call for fresh tomato in the next few days. Here’s to hoping I manage that.