The Great Pyrs have always had issues with the bunnies. It’s tempting to blame it on the power of names, but who really knows? Perhaps Lisa should not have named them after vengeance demons after all.
Anyway, last week, Buffy, who was already being naughty by being in front, took off after Anya, and managed to hurt her (Anya’s) left hind leg before we could catch her (Buffy). We popped her into the dog crate, and added Halle for company. Unfortunately, we were only aware of the puncture wound and not the hurt leg. She now can walk, but not really hop. We’re hoping she’ll get better, but we’re not optimistic. Sheep and pigs would do that from time to time, and heal, but who knows.
We didn’t want to keep them in the crate, but letting Anya loose in that state in the winter seems like a really bad idea, and why did Buffy go after her after a whole summer of not doing that? So, we’ve repurposed, hopefully temporarily, the brooder room in the barn loft. We filled it up with shavings for bedding, added a full spectrum light on a timer, and put the bunnies there for the winter. The interweb says that as long as they can bury themselves in shavings, they’ll be ok. We can also quit worrying about them so much when they free-range, and we can make sure they do have food and water.
Another advantage is that they can now have a gentleman caller up there even in winter, which will get us kits much sooner than waiting until spring. We’ll give Anya some more time to recuperate and try to get them bred early in the new year. The guy we got them from says that females may not be receptive if they don’t have enough light, and hopefully the full-spectrum light we are giving them will help with that, plus make their space more pleasant for them. At least it’s not bunnies in those little cages.