Sometimes, it's Rough

Lest you think it's all sunshine and cute baby bunnies around here (although we do have plenty of these too!), I have one of my "keeping it real" posts for you. There is always a silver lining though - such is a life with hope in Jesus! These particular cases have caused us to learn more and hone our skills in animal husbandry.

Sometimes, a tiny rabbit will fall out of the nesting box. On cold days this can end in tragedy. One time it happened and the mama rabbit pulled fur from the nesting box and made a mini nest for the fallen kit. We were able to rescue that one in time. Sadly this week my children discovered 6 kits had fallen out of the nest of one of our rabbits. This particular mama rabbit did not figure out how to save them with some fur. We lost 4 of the 6 since it was cold through the night. Our best guess is that the doe had been startled while feeding her kits and had jumped out of the nesting box while several of them were still attached. There is not much we could have done to prevent this. Thankfully, the doe still has 5 kits remaining.

Another disappointing situation involves the honey bees. I did lose one of my hives - the smallest hive which had been a swarm I captured last spring. They had food stores, but it seems they were too small of a cluster to deal with the cold weather a few weeks back. Another "thankful" is that I still have 3 hives that seem to be managing ok. I try to feed them as needed.

These experiences drive us back to the drawing board, as it were, to learn more and adjust our care accordingly. Our kids are right there with us learning these tough lessons too, and I hope this makes them even more conscientious in their care of living things.

Thank you for reading, and I hope we can always find ways to encourage each other - even in sharing our struggles!