Our rabbits have not mated. I was looking so forward to having the baby buns around. I am not sure to whom the failure belongs, the bucks or the does, but we are kitless right now. I am considering buying two new rabbits, one of each and trying it out with them. I suspect the problem is my does, but either way, they are not earning their keep, so to speak. We have been the recipients of a lot of manure, so I guess it works out in the end. It will be wonderful for the garden. The Good Little Husband has been dumping the cleanout in the garden bed all winter. The ground should be nice and rich. Looking forward to the yield.
As for the garden. We are not 100% sure when we should start planting. It is still very early and we have had so much rain. Our back yard is flooded, again. It does this when there is a lot of rain. The county is supposed to be fixing it, but who knows how long that will take. I told my husband we should dig a small well to pull some of the ground water out to the garden. I still need to do more research on it. My husband says the soil looks great, even though there is so much water hanging out back there. My responsibility will be with the herb garden. I am looking forward to that. I am planning many different herbs. I have mixes I want to make and may even sell the abundance. Herbs can be so beneficial to your body, mind and spirit.
The Good Little Husband's friend is raising goats (my main reason for wanting baby rabbits). I want some of the milk as I intended to make soap. I still need to get my soap making supplies, but he did give me a quart of milk. I have it waiting in the freezer. Currently, he has four kids. We took our kids out to see his kids. Sadly, they couldn't get too close. He has an electric fence around the area in which the goats live, so I didn't want my children to accidentally touch the fence. The kids (not mine, the goats') were having so much fun frolicking and trying to climb on their mothers. I hope my husband's friend continues to have milk on hand. As soon as this little rabbitry gets off of the ground, I am going to be in need.
We have also made a major shift in our home. We pulled the kids out of public school back in January to homeschool them. I didn't feel they were getting the education they needed. I won't get into a big political tirade, but we all know how our school systems are right now. Some are better than others, but even the best are needing revamped. We had the kids in a good school, but they just weren't getting what I thought they needed, so we bought ourselves a great prepackaged curriculum (because I need that for myself) and will be starting with it in April. We have been using web resources since we withdrew them, but it isn't enough for me. I feel like I am leaving too much out of the mix. So far, though, the kids are thriving.
Today was a fun adventure. Many farm stores are getting their small livestock for spring. We went to Orscheln's and Tractor Supply today to see what they had. I had to resist buying two very cute baby rabbits. I love the baby bunnies, in case you couldn't tell by a former paragraph. I did manage to beat the temptation.
Instead, we bought another spring cutie. We picked up six baby chicks. They are adorable. They were of a mixed bag, so I am not sure of the breed, but we did get three reds and three blacks. I think the blacks are Barred Rocks. We are hoping the reds are of the Rhode Island variety. Fresh eggs here we come!!!
Here they are in their brooder. My daughter is absolutely in love with them. Naturally, they have had a big day being moved from the farm supply store to our home. They were trying to fall asleep so my daughter decided to tell them a bedtime story. I wonder how much she'll like them when they get bigger.
We have decided to make ourselves a chicken tractor. Between the feral cats my next door neighbor keeps around and my dogs, I am afraid for their safety being completely free range. My kids have a trampoline that isn't good for much right now. The padding dry rotted and the enclosure blew apart, so I don't feel it's safe to jump on anymore. We are going to enclose the underside with chicken wire leaving one side open for the coop. They will have a lot of room to forage and we can move it as needed. I thought I would put a canopy over top so the kids and I can take our reading and some of our assignments outside and have a comfortable place to hang out. I know we can sell it for scrap, but why when I can repurpose it? The chickens will be safe from over head predators as well as having shade. Win, win!!!
So, this is the goings on in my life right now. Hopefully, I will have more to post as time goes on and our little mini farm starts showing what it's capable of.
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