Coal, Fog, Cream, and Drambuie (Buie) Now Reside at Cold Comfort Farm

Yesterday, Cold Comfort Farm became an animal farm!  Yes, we've always had our two cats, Cleo and Tea, but they don't count as live stock.  We decided to attend a live stock swap in the nearby tiny hamlet of Trout Creek and came home with four live stock - Bunnies.  Before you start laughing too hard - rabbits are very important to gardeners.  They are little lawn mowers and pooping machines, creating instant fertilizer, that doesn't have to be composted.  For the scoop on using rabbit poop "berries"as fertilizer, click on this link: Information on using rabbit poop fertilizer

Our plan was to just look and...you all know how that goes!  We drove to Trout Creek, MI - the town used to be a large logging community in the 1910s and 20s (near Bruces Crossing) and now has more closed buildings than open ones.  They do have a post office, library, and a little quaint museum on the town's history. Next to the museum is the park which hosted the stock swap.  They had ducks, chickens, rabbits, and other crafts - thank goodness they didn't have sheep or horse - or we might have bigger live stock today.  Mark was lucky!

Fog, left and Drambuie (Buie),right

As I wandered, I saw the most beautifully soft Rex Rabbit kits.  OMG!  They look and feel like cashmere!  Rex rabbits are a French breed, very docile, and intelligent. They are not a meat breed; more often raised for pets or for their pelts.  They actually make very good house bunnies, yes, I said house bunnies - they can easily be litter box trained and behave similarly to a cat and are very clean.  Here is a link if you're interested in learning more about them Rex Rabbit Information .  We purchased the two male rabbits (brothers) as they were laid back bunnies.

I then met a women with meat breed rabbits - Flemish Giants (they average about 15-20 lbs). Many of you know that we (The Bondie's) raised rabbits and even had an A-frame rabbit hutch in our back yard - we even bred and raised babies.  I have wonderful memories of our rabbits and maybe that is what took over my mind; however, I do know that these rabbits would be a benefit as little fertilizer factories.  We could also sell the offspring of the rabbits...so we purchased a breeding buck and a pregnant doe, who is due in about 32 days.  She will have between 6 to 10 babies and, since she has had litter's before, she will be a great mother rabbit.

During the drive home, I took photos of the bunnies and texted Keva and Lauren asking what the grandkids would name them.  Liam gave, "Carson, Cole, Case or Chloe," he is all about "C" names at the moment.  The little girls gave, "Fog, Moonlight, Orange Juice, and Ice Cream."  I thought some of these are very cute and appropriate.  SO...here are the photos and names we chosen:

Cream

Coal

The Flemish Giant's name are Coal (instead of Cole as Liam suggested) and Cream (instead of Ice Cream as Roo suggested)...the kids won't know the difference.  We are now looking forward to the birth of some little bunnies.

About a week before the due date, I'll put a nesting box in Cream's cage so she can build a nest, pull the hair out of the fur ruff under her chin and get ready for their arrival.  When they arrive, they will be named by number, as they will not be kept, so I don't want to get attached to them. Those kits will be about three weeks old when Keva's family arrives for a visit. 

Mark built a 6-foot diameter chicken-wire ring that we will move around the yard and put the bunnies in everyday and let them run around and mow the grass! What I'm really looking forward to is the Bunny Berries and Bunny Tea for my garden plants and trees!