Taming of the shrew(s)

With our rabbits getting all mature and frisky, we are starting to plan a breeding schedule.  Well, not so much a schedule as when to breed for the first time.  We’ll go to a schedule once we get a feel for the situation most likely.  I have been on one of my Facebook rabbit forums and the talk moved to the socialization of the does (doe, like a singular female deer, and does for the plural).  I have not done great with socializing these rabbits.  The buck is pretty chill, all thing considered.  He comes to the door, lets me pet him, kind of just hangs out looking for treats.  The girls, on the other hand, are more…I don’t know.  I don’t feel comfortable leaving my hand near their heads, I’ll say that.  They have sharp teeth.  They’ve never bitten me, of course, but they are just so skittish.

I’ve been working with them more in the sense that I’m bringing them treats, trying to pet them while they are snacking on them to build a positive association with me, and it seems like it might be paying off.  The forum folks suggest I get some leather gloves, thick, long-sleeved shirt, and hold them a couple times a day with the intent to get the does to build up some trust so when the time comes for me to handle their kits they don’t go batshit crazy.  The problem I have is, I work long hours at my regular job, and when I get home I try to spend time with my husband and also the babe before he goes to bed.  However, we are planning on breeding the rabbits at the end of the month, so I’ll have to figure out how to step up my game somehow.

our buck
our buck, look at those ears!

Our garden is growing at a pretty good pace.  We are going to be swamped with tomatoes before too long.  We really need to get some canning jars, as we plan on making salsa and maybe a plain tomato base of some sort.  I suggested to Jesse that we go to a thrift shop and pick up some used jars and then just buy some lids – thinking this would be a cheaper alternative than buying everything new (this being the first year we have grown enough to can), but he says he likes the uniformity of having the same size of everything.  So who knows what we’ll do about that.  I still want to look through the thrift shop.

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We have harvested a crazy amount of zuchini this year.  A lot of it grew large before we came back from our vacation, so we chopped that up and froze it to give to the animals as treats.  We probably have 50 lbs of zuchini in the freezer right now.  And then we gave some to my sister and her friend, but it just keeps coming!  I’m thinking I will grate the stuff we have now and freeze it to use in bread this fall and winter.  I’m not a fan of zuchini, and though my husband proclaims to like it grilled, he has yet to do so, even with the smaller ones.  I forsee a lot of zuchini bread coming.

Speaking about bread, I tried my hand at ciabatta bread a couple days ago.  I used this recipe as my inspiration, but didn’t follow the part about beating it down and letting it rise again, so my bread was less fluffy that it could have been.  It was way tasty, though.

Ciabatta bread
Ciabatta bread

And now for something completely different, we have another chicken laying eggs!  Today, Jesse found a tan egg along with a brown egg.  He thinks it came from one of the Blue Andalusian hens.  Now if only the remaining 5 would get to business.
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Tan/white egg!
Tan/white egg!

(Side note: I just figured out how to show these images in a larger size!  Go me!)

Speaking of hens, we have been allowing the girls out during the day and then they’ve naturally wandered back into the coop at dusk where we lock them in for the night.  A couple mornings ago, Jesse went to the back of the coop to lift the latch and get an egg, when our black sex link came around the corner to see what he was doing.  To clarify, she came around the corner *outside of the coop*.  Somehow she got lost in the crowd and must have slept the night away in the hedge area next to the coop.

black sex link
black sex link

The other night it was I who went outside to lock the girls up for the night.  Mindful of what had happened a couple nights ago, I opened up the side door to do a head count and came up one short.  It took me forever to figure out who was missing and I had to keep going over which breeds we had and how many of each before I realized it was the black sex link that was out again!  Of course, it was nightfall then and dark, and all I had was a flashlight so I didn’t have high hopes I’d find her.  I thought I had heard a peep when I was passing the rabbit hutch earlier so went to check it out and sure enough, she was roosting on a perch on the rabbit hutch.  I scolded her gently, picked her up, and put her in the hen house where she belonged.  It was kind of cute to see her settling in with the rabbits, but I’m not sure why she isn’t staying with the crowd when they come in at night.

I came home after work tonight to find the girls in the tomato beds.  Perhaps we won’t have such a bumper crop after all.

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Bad chickens!


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