Checking in on the rabbits after much needed rain.

Having finally had some rain, things have cooled down a little much to the relief of the rabbits, next week also looks like it will be very nice weather, so it's probably time to do the next breeding of the season. It also happens to coincide with the kits being at a good age to be separated from their mothers soon. As you can see, Dawn has taken over a lot of the care of her daughters kits, though they actually seem to be sharing quite well. I'm sure dawn will be happy with her own kits with this next round of breedings.

One of the things I'm concerned about is Twilights kits.  We're having a problem with this round of them that we've never had with her kits in particular before, and that's a kit that freaks out when looked at sideways. Thanks to that, this is the first time I've seen the kits out of their nest area since they were born. When I try to go in and handle them I get rabbit rodeo, and one of them screaming like I'm killing it. I'm considering doing just that to not poison the entire rest of the litter's behavior the way I've seen in the past. Though at this age it may be too late to change their behaviors. If nothing else I really want to put them in a separate pen from the other growouts just so they don't pass the freak out. I'm not saying that all of the kits are crazy friendly this time due to lack of time investment, but the blues are just over the moon freaking out any time we're around which is problematic for all involved.

Fortunately Splash and Streak's litters are doing well and are getting more and more friendly as they get older. Even Splash and Streak have settled down from the fear level they came to us with to fairly calm levels. They're still not crazy friendly, but adult rabbits often are only friendly on their own terms as is. As you can see, their babies are starting to use the shelf which means no relief for the moms. Starting with their hutch we're also experimenting with a new brand of water bottle to see if that works out well for us. We've been very happy with the brand of water bottle we've been using for a few years now, but it never hurts to try something new and see how it works out. It also allowed us to have more water bottles per hutch which is good as we're into the summer. If they work very well or very badly, I'll talk more about it. Most likely, they'll just act like water bottles and do what they do, provide water. Speaking of water, thank goodness for rain.
Having not hardened off our seedlings properly by doing an hour outside, then two, then three, then four, then a day, then all day and overnight, I was worried most wouldn't make it. Overall, most of them seem to be doing fine. They're not wilting promptly which is what I'd expect to see if they were going to just die off. Some have been killed off by the chickens of course, but otherwise they look good. I'm particularly excited about the peppers as usual because I love my hot foods, and hopefully will get enough peppers this year to do spice mixes, or at least refresh my dwindling stock of Limon peppers to put a reasonable level of kick in the food without the Lady of the House being unable to eat what I cook, which is always a challenging balance.

But, for her, I don't even put Tabasco sauce on her egg in the middle. Last night we both ended up wanting egg in the middles (and had the eggs for it!), but not enough bread. I improvised with some slim bread and actually really liked the triangle shaped egg in the middles, and they hold together fairly well once cooked! I know, kind of weird and not entirely applicable to the blog, but it is with the homesteads eggs, and, well, it's good! Anyhow, to sign off for the day the world has become green and lush again, and it is good to see life growing and thriving around us. It is also much brighter in the morning which has never been anything but good, before the Critter that is. Now, we're having to consider blackout shades so we have the potential of getting more sleep! Probably a fools errand, but we shall see since sleep is a precious commodity right now.