The Life of Having a Herd

[dogwoodblossoms]

I come down to feed the rabbits as soon as I wake up in the morning. I feed them their food but they each get something different; the three males get 16%, but I have to scatter two of the males pellets because they inhale it; the nursing mother gets 18%; the pregnant doe a week in gets a mix of 16% and 18% and the last dry doe gets 16% again because her breeding didn’t take.
I start feeding the rabbits starting with the bucks, two of which are eating out of the bowl as I pour the pellets in (Chia and Layke), the other buck is trying to jump out of his crate as I feed him (Forrest), the pregnant doe has fur in her poop again so I need to give her papaya support again (Bluebell), my only dry doe is running and popcorning around her crate (Fern), and I get to the nursing doe (Primrose) last because I need to check the babies and she hops out of the crate every single time.
I remember that I need to clean the nest box and so I pull the box out and take the babies out and place them in a basket. Primrose is running around the room, running past the most hormonal buck (Forrest) in the room, so he’s running around his crate in excitement, the buck above him is wondering what is going on, Chia is standing at the front of his crate curious on what is going on, the two other does don’t care.
So, I’m emptying the nesting box while all of this is going on. The babies are sleeping in the basket. Primrose is now on top of the bins of pellets

I go over to the hay box and find there’s only about three handfuls left, so I steal some from the rack of one of the rabbits I just refilled. I put the babies back in the nesting box but don’t put them back in the crate yet because I need to clean it out because Primrose refuses to be litter trained.
After I clean the cage and get the nest box back in the crate my dad calls me from upstairs saying goodbye so I go give him a hug and come back downstairs to find that Primrose is gone, I panic but grab the jar full of her favorite treats (original Cheerios) and shake it to get her attention. She comes running and hops in her crate, I give her some Cheerios and lock her up.
That’s not all I’ll be doing for rabbit today. I need to cut all the rabbits nails today (except the babies) and also need to clean all the crates.

 

[CrazyChickenGirl]

Everyday is unpredictable with bunnies.

 

[Space Monkey]

I applaud those of you with 2 rabbits. Those of you with more than that or a herd are remarkable. 1 rabbit is a handful for us.

 

[dogwoodblossoms]

I applaud those of you with 2 rabbits. Those of you with more than that or a herd are remarkable. 1 rabbit is a handful for us.

We’ll thank you
Most of my time goes to my rabbits. I love them but their a pain. My weekly clean takes about 3 hours+ depending on how messy they decided to be that week. A nail cutting is a wonder, scratches up and down my arms. But honestly it’s all worth it.

 

[ArtistChibi]

I applaud those of you with 2 rabbits. Those of you with more than that or a herd are remarkable. 1 rabbit is a handful for us.

Considering her being a diva, yeah. I can see why she's a handful for you. XD

We’ll thank you
Most of my time goes to my rabbits. I love them but their a pain. My weekly clean takes about 3 hours+ depending on how messy they decided to be that week. A nail cutting is a wonder, scratches up and down my arms. But honestly it’s all worth it.

Unpredictable bunnies are unpredictable. Even for myself, with just two, it's an adventure. And I had to outright say "No" to my husband because he wanted more bunnies. LOL How many do you have in your fluffle?

 

[dogwoodblossoms]

Considering her being a diva, yeah. I can see why she's a handful for you. XD


Unpredictable bunnies are unpredictable. Even for myself, with just two, it's an adventure. And I had to outright say "No" to my husband because he wanted more bunnies. LOL How many do you have in your fluffle?

Six adults and two 8 day old kits. I’ll probably be adding on though. It’s well worth the work in the end lol.
And now that you mention divas, I realize, Primrose is very much one

 

[Preitler]

Well, they definitly bring some routine into my life.
First thing in the morning is to give my two free roam house bunnies half of their pellets, seperatly because Herr Hase gets his medicine on his, they can go out in the front yard during the day if they like.
Then I go down to the hutches and wait for my young buck to go into his hutch while feeding others. When he is in I let my two senior does, 9 and 7yo, out so they can go into the fenced plot, give them their treat pellets and lock them there, they continue digging their already 3-4 m tunnel there.
Next thing is to let the two young does, Ruth and Chantal with their six 4-5 month old daughters out, they have free roam of the big garden for the day. When I come home from work they go back to their hutch, and the group of 8 bucklings gets out until nightfall, then they go back in.
Next I open the fence so my two seniors can get back to their hutch, after that the buck gets free raom of the hutch area and the fenced plot for the night.

Currently I need to gather about 35kg of forage for the now 22 Rabbits daily, with backback and scythe, luckily I find can enough within a half km radius now. And they gnaw a small tree clean every two days, I cut those from the creek with machete or chainsaw.

 

[dogwoodblossoms]

Well, they definitly bring some routine into my life.
First thing in the morning is to give my two free roam house bunnies half of their pellets, seperatly because Herr Hase gets his medicine on his, they can go out in the front yard during the day if they like.
Then I go down to the hutches and wait for my young buck to go into his hutch while feeding others. When he is in I let my two senior does, 9 and 7yo, out so they can go into the fenced plot, give them their treat pellets and lock them there, they continue digging their already 3-4 m tunnel there.
Next thing is to let the two young does, Ruth and Chantal with their six 4-5 month old daughters out, they have free roam of the big garden for the day. When I come home from work they go back to their hutch, and the group of 8 bucklings gets out until nightfall, then they go back in.
Next I open the fence so my two seniors can get back to their hutch, after that the buck gets free raom of the hutch area and the fenced plot for the night.

Currently I need to gather about 35kg of forage for the now 22 Rabbits daily, with backback and scythe, luckily I find can enough within a half km radius now. And they gnaw a small tree clean every two days.

You are Superman/woman.

 

[Nancy McClelland]

When we moved here 14 years ago, we had 17 rescues--like having a full time job. Now were down to 2 with no plans to take on anymore as we won't be here too much longer--our health is not so great anymore.

 

[dogwoodblossoms]

When we moved here 14 years ago, we had 17 rescues--like having a full time job. Now were down to 2 with no plans to take on anymore as we won't be here too much longer--our health is not so great anymore.

You’ve done good! Keep up the good work!

 

[CrazyChickenGirl]

I have two boys I’m working on neutering and bonding. I would have MANY more if it wasn’t for the fifty other animals we have.

 

[Space Monkey]

Considering her being a diva, yeah. I can see why she's a handful for you. XD


Unpredictable bunnies are unpredictable. Even for myself, with just two, it's an adventure. And I had to outright say "No" to my husband because he wanted more bunnies. LOL How many do you have in your fluffle?

She's freaking ridiculous sometimes. Every night between 10pm and 11pm she gets locked up in her cage for about 8 hours so she doesn't get herself into trouble while we're sleeping (particularly worried about her escaping the pen and chewing wires or ingesting something bad).

And every night that she gets locked up she immediately runs back and forth chewing at the bars with all her might. She tries to dump the water dish. She goes to her litter box and digs hay and Aspen out. She picks up hay and throws it everywhere. She throws hay out of the manger. A full blown tantrum.

 

[Preitler]

You are Superman/woman.

No, I'm not. I'm just alone, and without something to care for I get on a slippery slope into a dark hole pretty quickly. Maybe it got out of hand a little, but better having a lot of reasons to get out of bed than none.
And before winter comes their number will go down to 7 again.

 

[odyssey~]

She's freaking ridiculous sometimes. Every night between 10pm and 11pm she gets locked up in her cage for about 8 hours so she doesn't get herself into trouble while we're sleeping (particularly worried about her escaping the pen and chewing wires or ingesting something bad).

And every night that she gets locked up she immediately runs back and forth chewing at the bars with all her might. She tries to dump the water dish. She goes to her litter box and digs hay and Aspen out. She picks up hay and throws it everywhere. She throws hay out of the manger. A full blown tantrum.

Sounds like Odyssey when we locked her up for the night in a similar sized cage before. She'd throw her toys everywhere, dig out of her litter box, all the works. After a couple months of being locked in during only the night she started bar chewing so we had to agree to make her space more secure for the night....yet she still escapes and is found under my parent's bed in the morning....ahhh the joy of having bunnies.

 

[dogwoodblossoms]

My first litter back in May some how found out a way to get out of the pen which I had barricaded so they couldn’t slip through. I came upstairs a few hours later to find ALL three of the babies on my desk eating my paper.

 

[Roo1234]

I have five adults and three baby bunny’s, they are definitely a handful. I feed them in the morning and then in the afternoon I put them in a shaded spot so they can eat grass and then I go scythe grass for them all get that drying and flip the grass I dried yesterday. Then I generally go back and check on the bunny’s before going inside for the afternoon after dinner I go and put the bunny’s back in there crates for the night and give them some hay. Then I go out around 9-10 at night to turn the lights off for the night. That doesn’t even count cleaning or nail trimming The life of owning bunny’s is daunting but worth it

 

[dogwoodblossoms]

I have five adults and three baby bunny’s, they are definitely a handful. I feed them in the morning and then in the afternoon I put them in a shaded spot so they can eat grass and then I go scythe grass for them all get that drying and flip the grass I dried yesterday. Then I generally go back and check on the bunny’s before going inside for the afternoon after dinner I go and put the bunny’s back in there crates for the night and give them some hay. Then I go out around 9-10 at night to turn the lights off for the night. That doesn’t even count cleaning or nail trimming The life of owning bunny’s is daunting but worth it

Schedule is SO big for bunnies it’s laughable really. My buns get Cheerios every night before lights out (anytime from 7pm-11pm) and they go crazy for them. They all wait at the front of their crates and my one buck (Forrest) spins in circles.

 

[Roo1234]

Indeed

 

[FlopsyBunnies4]

Thought maybe I would share my daily routine:

It starts out by checking on my four Holland lops to make sure everyone is well. Then I do a quick sweep in each pen, clean up any accidents outside of their litter boxes, and refill their hay feeders. After that, I give all the girls a 1/4 cup of Sherwood Premium Adult rabbit food and a Handful of greens as their Breakfast. My buck just gets a handful of greens. He is on a different food (same brand) which is more concentrated so I only feed at night. I check each bunnies' water, turn the fan on, and that's it.

Well, actually that's just the beginning. Once I get home from school I let each bunny out for playtime, clean all their pens, Clean the litter boxes, refill waters and hay feeders, and give everyone their dinner (1/4 cup for each of the girls and a 1/8 cup for my buck, topped with a pinch of oats). I also socialize in the evening with the adults and hold babies (we don't currently have any little ones).

Altogether it takes me about 3hrs a day to clean a hang with my buns. Yes, it's a LOT of work. But honestly, it is totally worth and my bunnies mean the world to me

 

[FlopsyBunnies4]

You guys are all awesome