Whats Up, Doc?

 This farm thing is getting out of hand. First it's a few garden beds, then it's a mini-orchard, then it's chickens...and now, bunnies. Flemish rabbits, which grow to the side of a small Rottweiler. These are babies, Bugs and Daisy. I didn't name them. Daisy has the wider white fur around her eyes, so she's the one by the food dish at the top. They're in a temporary hutch until we get a proper one built for them. And yes, those black dots scattered about are genuine bunny poop, which they started dropping from the moment they were put in the box.

After our anniversary trip to Orwell Corners Historical Village, my wife and I have some ideas about how we're going to set up the barn for all these critters. The bunnies and chickens will have their own areas, and eventually we'll get some bigger animals (pigs and sheep) to join them. She also wants to get a horse and a couple of cows. Well, I'm fine with that...except I'm not shoveling out the stalls. That's what teenagers are for.

And we found out that our Rhode Island Red chickens, all four of them, are roosters. No hens. The Cemanis are fine; one rooster, two hens. There will be eggs soon enough. But the Reds? Nope. We're going to be buying a couple of laying hens next week, but the problem is going to be keeping the roosters from fighting over them. One rooster can manage six to eight hens; we've got four roosters to two hens. That's not a winning situation.

The best part about adding these animals to our hobby farm is the effect they are having on our youngest, Garrett. His autism is still in full swing, but he absolutely loves to visit with the chickens, and he was very happy when he got to help Mommy and big brother Tanner pick out the two bunnies at the farm to bring home. He kept talking about them all evening, which is great. He's engaging more and more, which is a very encouraging sign for his recovery.

So, it looks like this farm thing is getting serious, faster than we'd anticipated at first. The gardens are doing well, and we're going to have a decent harvest come fall. Not enough to keep the family fed for six months, but enough to encourage us to do more next year. So far, it's been a successful test; we'll see how it turns out in a couple of months.