From zero to sixty-plus in one week or less

Yes that's right - more than sixty rabbits now reside in our garage.  The couple from whom we acquired our first batch of rabbits made a difficult decision for them to get out of the rabbit raising business.  DH sent me an email while I was working on Friday and told me that he would be picking up about 30 more rabbits and their cages at 10:00 a.m. Saturday morning.   When I returned home we discussed where they would go and how the new racks would be arranged around the exiting racks so that we would still have access to the chicken coop, the chicken brooder, the lawn equipment, our shovels, etc.  I asked him for the cage measurements so I could estimate how much wood we would need to build some more racks.  Oops - no measurements.  DH ran to the lumber yard and picked up enough lumber to build three more racks the same size that we had built one week earlier then he left to pick up the next batch of bunnies.  When the cages were unloaded, I was relieved to see that they were either the same size or exactly half the size of the cages for which we built racks one week earlier.  Measurements memorized, I was able to whip up two more racks in no time while DH washed and sanitized cages.  New rabbits housed, there was just enough time for me to shower and head off to work while DH finished feeding, watering and giving them hay.

The following morning we found one of the five week old bunnies dead in the cage.  We had not noticed that it had a case of diarrhea.  Indicative of anything from stress to coccidiosis, we carefully looked over the new arrivals and found that at least one rabbit in each of the three five week old rabbit cages was afflicted.  Two of them were worse than the others so they were quarantined.  We removed the cage, disinfected the racks, waterers and food dishes, took away their pellets and replaced their food with oats and hay.  Water was medicated and we would hope for the best.  Later on Sunday we lost the smaller of the separated rabbits.  As of Thursday, the other one is still holding on.

I know that in the meat-rabbit raising business you are supposed to cull at the first sign of illness save it spread through your entire stock, but there is still that part of me - the one that rescues too many cats - that knows with a little TLC this one has a good chance.  There are still one or two rabbits in each of the three cages of almost six-week olds that are exhibiting loose stools, but they look pretty healthy.  We are hoping that the change from temperatures in the seventies down to below freezing in combination with being relocated is the cause of their upset tummies.

We continue to watch them closely and hope that all of this will pass quickly without too much more loss.  The processors will not receive their first shipment for another week to ensure that everything has passed.