Death, renewal, and a chicken coop

Over the weekend we had a rare but global warming induced snow storm. It usually does not snow here at all. It snowed 8 inches. One of the rabbits, as seen to the left, died. I found her this morning near where the chicken coop is being built. I brought Silas out to show him and talk to him about how the cold can effect animals and boys. He has been interrogating me all day as to why I killed the rabbit. He ran to his friends house and slapped on the door till they answered and yelled, "The rabbits is dead!" and ran away. The confused grandma looked at him and closed the door. He ran back to where I was, but I had buried the rabbit in a shallow grave. Shallow so the plants can better benefit from the rabbit flesh. I thought about showing Silas how to bury a creature but decided ought because he would likely dig it up, he being a wolf boy.


That evening, we went to pick up some concrete and sand paper and on the way home I decided to stop by the rabbit man. He is a retired Marine who has about 100 rabbits in cages. He raises them for meat, sells them to restaurants, to beagle trainers, to pet stores. He has been at it for about 2 years now and he finally has it to where he can turn a profit. He built a bass pond, has chickens, and literally is self-sufficient. I applaude him there. While we were there, Silas renewed his interrogation of all us adults (using his knife hand) as to why the rabbit got killed. I think I earned some credibility when the old man told him that sometimes rabbits don't survive the cold. That seemed to settle it for him.


Anyhow, I did not intend to get another rabbit tonight, I just wanted to find out more about breeding them and if he would sell my his darker colored breeds. He gave us one for free because he is an old champ and I, he says, am a repeat customer.
This is a big one. It is a giant breed, due to get about 15 to 20 pounds. Silas and atlas fought the whole way home about who gets to hold her. Silas won out and also won the scratches that go with it.

We will see how she fares the night or if the night fares her.

This sets us back a bit because the rabbit that died was our pregnant rabbit. Oh well... try again, I suppose.

As for my chicken coop, I finally lay the foundations in concrete. At this time, it will be 8x10x7 feet tall. As it is now, the chicken coop will be in a compound of about 55x35 feet where the rabbits and chickens will hang out. The chickens, being woodland birds anyway, will do well in the trees. The rabbits will just be rabbits in their compound. The boys lost my level, so I improvised with an empty nail jar with water in it. I was able to tell the level by how the water matched up with the label. Pretty smart if you ask me. Go ahead. Ask.
Silas and I lay the foundation by tamping down asphault chunks and then pouring concrete in. It holds. Really, the foundation will be the solid structure itself, but the beginning can't be ignored.

I haven't decided the colors I will paint it. It behooves me to set up with modern homestead with a sense of fashion and flare. Chickens and rabbits ought to live in a happening environment. I have got to figure out how to run a wire, underground, the 200 feet back required to power what I need powered back there by the coop. I do not feel like digging a 200 by 3' by 6" trench through roots and rock. I would loose it. I wonder how much a ditch witch would cost...