April- bunnies and building

Winter hung around a lot later this year than it did in 2017, so I'm glad that we had the rabbits to fill the garden gap. Not only are they super cute, but they make a decent lawn mower!

Most of the lot of rabbits had been previously bred and kept for meat, which was our eventual intended use for them given that my partner is a carnivore.  They were 'rescued' from less than favourable living conditions.. even if they were intended to be meat by the previous owner, they certainly deserve a comfortable and decent quality of life.

For the time being, we have a very useful role for them in our tiny farmstead.. they are providing our garden with lots of manure, ready to go! Rabbit poo is one of the few that doesn't have to be composted.

We do have a pet rabbit also, he was kept as a pet before he found us, and is tame. They're all cared for just the same... only our pet comes in the house with us when we're home. The rest live in the 'palace' with plenty of yard time in their 'tractor' pen. A few even like the harness to 'free roam' the yard!

We had finished enclosing our front porch when J found out about the rabbits. They needed a home asap, and although we weren't quite ready for them, our makeshift cages inside the enclosed deck were better than what they had, and a temporary solution until we could get their hutch built.

It was a decent temporary setup, however we had to maintain it for far longer than we intended. Though it was a lot of work cleaning their bedding every second day, it provided us with loads of rabbit fertilized hay to put on top of the sheet mulch in the squash and pumpkin patches.

Finally, the top floor of the rabbit palace is assembled and in use. It took some of the buns a while to get used to the wire, as the younger ones were kept on a bare dirt floor in their previous home, and then moved to our hay lined pens. They've since learned that their hutch is safe, and they are getting used to us handling them. They seem to understand that if we are reaching in, they're either getting fed, or being taken outside to play.

By the way, the rabbit tractor is the best thing ever! Who knew the buns were so pro at lawn care.. They trim the grass back to an inch and a half without eating it down to the dirt. They even fertilize as they go, and their next time around the yard the grass is greener and fuller than before! It's a win-win cycle. They're happy and well fed, and so is the grass!

Now that the rabbits are getting situated, we have time to move on to the next big project.. preparing for goats! More on that in my next post. Our seeds are sprouting and the garden is coming to life, spring is finally here.

Stay tuned for more microfarming fun.. we're just getting started and there's so much going on. Excitement!