Natural Instincts Homestead & Rabbitry

We haven't been online on this account much because we've been rearranging things and downsizing. Sold all the rabbits, almost all cages, sold the chickens, and now we're back to just the homestead & plants and crafts. We got back into making soaps and other things again after a many-year hiatus. It feels good to take it down a notch and craft and bake again! (there was no time before) 🤗 💓

Processed 7 growout rabbits this morning and we're finally down to 12 rabbits. I'm hoping to sell 3 Lop babies (or more) to get that number down even more!... I'm doing it in stages so that I just don't wake up one day and it's all gone. I'm giving myself time to decide if I'd like to keep just a few or end the whole thing. 🤗

Not sure if a rat bothered them at night or something else, but we got up several mornings ago and Cocoa's cage was hanging sideways and her 3rd eye area was scratched and bloody. We brought her inside for healing sessions for a few days and she's good now. We decided to start using the 3-tiered stacker cage again because it's sturdier than that little cage with the metal food cage sticking out inside (which is what I believe she cut her forehead on) and I attached it to the ceiling out there.

She seems happier, but Mocha is upset now because I put her in the top, penthouse suite (like she used to be when it was inside). I'm slowly getting all rabbits out of the growout section because it's harder to clean there and it's only supposed to be temporary, but I had to do whatever was necessary when we had too many rabbits before. 😂

Now, I'm almost down to 1.5 bays in the Rabbitry and it's so much more manageable!! Still working on downsizing at least 4-5 more rabbits and upcoming processing day for the growout meat rabbits. I still would like only cages with droppings trays after all because, after a year of doing this, that is the way that works Best for how I maintain the rabbit manure! It's quick and easy, and no mess to have to take time to shovel or make sure it's rolling downhill with a contraption. ;)... just dump on a plant and I'm done unless it's nasty and needs a rinse/wash. 😁

I'm going to sit here for a while after I've downsized 4-5 more rabbits and see how it feels before completely getting out of the rabbitry. Once manageable, I might decide to hang on to some after all; but I don't know until I get there and feel even more relief. 🤗

Be here now you beautiful human. ✌🏼Jojo #mindfulwoman #showupforyourself #womenshealthcoach #nzmum #beherenow #perfectionism #busymind #mumlife

Got a new industrial fan for the rabbits because the little fans are just not pushing enough air for several rabbits in a row in this heat. They all look like they're smiling now and more relaxed! It's so much cooler under their leanto and I was able to move the other smaller fans closer to the individual cages and they look happier me more relaxed now, too! That should hold them over until I either get homes for them all or decide whether to keep a few. I still have a bunch of cleaning to do out there, but I'm tackling as many projects as I can in this heat and catching up.

I actually processed 5 more and I'm down to 24 rabbits... I don't even know how bad my bunny math got anymore. I had to have help for a couple of them that I was not keeping, but they were so sweet and in my heart so I couldn't do it, and had another person process them because I can't just keep them to maintain with no purpose really when there are others I keep as pets. They weren't going to be breeders or anything, and I was hoping someone wanted them as a pet, but it wasn't working out for them.

Now, I have 5 Holland Lop kits to sell as pets, and I have 8 meat rabbit kits to grow a few more weeks for processing (and there's one that's so Beautiful that I might not process), I have the breeding trio of Holland Lops, and I have 1 pet mix bunny (lil man) to go to a good home, and then I have a brother & sister meat rabbit to sell that are of breeding age now I believe. Then, I would be down where I need to be to decide whether I'm completely going out of the rabbit biz or keeping the meat rabbit breeding pair only plus our little Cocoa who we've had for about 2 years... I'm still considering just keeping the mix boy whose Cocoa's son because he's just the sweetest little boy (I call him "Little Man.")

Bagged up (with gibblets) and in the freezer.
A couple of them, I was in a bit of a rush and didn't fully drain them, but the dogs don't mind. ;)

Well, it took many months to reclaim my energy to do it again, but I was able to do it! Harvested 5 rabbits for dog food since we were running low on dog food.

The lops have been crawling out of their nest.