Lops of Enchantment

When you raise animals there are certain things that need to be done in order to insure a healthy environment for the animals. There needs to be a fresh supply of food and water every day. Cleanliness of the living conditions must remain a constant priority. In a closed environment such as a barn, fresh air and temperature are concerns that must be managed and controlled. Without a constant focus on these issues, not only does it become unpleasant, the health and well-being of the animals is at risk. The worse the conditions become the more likelihood for sickness, disease, and death.

This week I struggled with the health and well-being of our aquarium. Fish tanks are completely closed systems. Every detail must be managed and kept in balance. Last weekend I purchased some new fish for the aquarium. Apparently, these new fish brought with them a pathogen. This is not an uncommon occurrence with aquariums. In most cases, when the aquarium is healthy and stable, these pathogens are easily managed. Our aquarium, however, was on the edge of unhealthiness. The first sign of a problem came with the death of a cat fish.

Any death of an animal brings that animal’s environment in question. Why did it die? Was it eating? Drinking? Was it to hot? Cold? How are the other animals doing? Are there any signs of stress? Is there anything to be done to fix the problem?

As I mulled over these questions with the aquarium I began discovering signs of stress within the community. I analyzed their water and discovered the root cause. I began to take steps for treatment by attempting to adjust the pH of the water. More fish died. I treated for ick (a disease that is prevalent with fish when under stress). More fish died. I changed water, added chemicals, and picked out more dead bodies. By Friday it appeared I was going to lose the entire population. In five days the aquarium had gone from a community of life to a mausoleum.

What I realized from this example is that Earth, immense in its natural resources and bounty, is a closed system. Just like the aquarium, to remain healthy things have to remain in balance. For forty years, since the environmental movement in the late sixties, we have become slowly aware that our planet is not healthy. We first focused on streams and lakes where we saw the impact of poor management of our wastes and pollutants. We then came aware of our brown clouds over our cities. We passed laws to create clean air and water. In some areas, things improved.

We then became aware of greenhouse gases and global warming. It was alarming and yet, far off. We had faith in the immensity of our closed system. It couldn’t be as bad as it seemed. Someone would fix the problem; someday.

Someday is now… This summer the North Sea will be completely free of ice - the polar ice cap gone. Symptoms of global warming, from a dramatic increase in skin melanomas to excessively strong weather systems, are becoming more frequent and severe. The fish tank we call Earth is sick and, as a result, we continue to see a dramatic increase in the demise of our health and well-being.

The difference between the Earth’s problem and my aquarium’s problem is that there isn’t going to be a large hand reaching into the aquarium we call Earth to fix the problem. We have to fix the problem ourselves - each and every one of us. What can we do in our small, insignificant way that will help? Carbon-monoxide gases are the cause of global warming so the elimination of these gases is the cure. We may want to point the finger to large corporations as the culprit and we may want government to find a solution but the true source of the problem and the only starting place for a cure is us - the individual.

I recently read in a book by Barbara Kingsolver entitled “Animal, Vegetable, Miracle” that most of our current food supplies travel an average of over 1500 miles, “from farm to fork.” It is estimated that if every person in the U.S. simply chose to eat locally grown food for one day per week, over 1 billion barrels of oil would be saved - each week! A billion barrels of oil not burned into carbon-monoxide gas by simply eating from the garden one day a week.

To me, this illustrates the power of one. The decisions we make as individuals can make a difference but, most importantly, is the only true solution to our global problem. As a caretaker of our aquarium, what life-style changes are you willing to make? The Earth is truly depending on you.

It was an exciting time.

Over the past 48 hours our animal family grew by 22 through the amazing miracle called birth. We had 17 Holland Lop babies from four does born and five Americana chicks hatch (see pics under “other animals”). The more I experience birth the more amazed by it I become. Only God could have designed this miraculous process.

Watching a new life come into the world and recognizing the complexity of growth from one cell that has already occurred is mind boggling. However, the aspect of birth that strikes me most is the struggle. Birth isn’t easy. It is a battle between life and death and the odds are not in favor for life. Anything and everything can and will go wrong. Because of the likelihood that something anywhere along the way could go wrong, makes a successive birth all that more of a celebratory event.

22 live births - YEAH!!!! Shout for joy.

But what of the others? Yes, there were others that didn’t make it.

We have a REW Netherland Dwarf doe, “CU” who has only produced some blood in her nest box. Something is obviously wrong. It is possible she has a giant that will not pass her narrow birth canal.  It is possible she has aborted in late term. It is possible…  anything is possible including her own death. There is not much we can do but watch her struggle. We do not believe in the use of oxytosin as many rabbit breeders do simply because we’ve never been able to gain access to it. There are times, such as this, where a shot of oxytosin would help, but generally, the birthing process works fine on its own. There are also natural foods, such as raspberry leaves that help stimulate birth but we do not have any and she isn’t in the eating mood… so we wait and see.

We also have 19 eggs that didn’t hatch. When I open the unhatched eggs I am likely to find fully developed fetuses that simply could not fight their way out of the shell. We are currently learning our way through the “egg hatching” process. Apparently we are struggling with humidity issues in our incubator. (Imagine that, humidity issues in New Mexico). Even though they say never to do this, I helped two chicks out of their egg casing. They had worked for 24 hours to escape and were not making progress. I could see that they were tiring and would end up dieing. So I helped. One seems to be okay, scrambling around the wire trying to establish its footing, etc. The other one probably won’t make it. It is on its back, unable to gain its feet.

There will also be those that die. In dwarf breed rabbits such as Holland Lops and Netherland Dwarfs, the dwarfing gene can be a killer. Some rabbits are born with a pair of dwarf genes. These are called peanuts. They will not live more than a day or two. Out of the 17 live births, we probably have three peanuts struggling to survive but without hope.

There are many more hurdles to overcome in these new lives. Some will not make it but, amazingly, many will. What a process!! It is a miracle each and every time and it is always deserving of a party. When the fireworks fly into the air this weekend we will celebrate many things and new life will be one of them.

People are aghast.

When we start talking about the number of animals we raise, people look at us and shake their heads.  “Why would anyone want so many animals?”

I really do not know how to answer that question.  It just seems to be the natural way of things.  We’ve never questioned if there is such a thing as too many animals.  Simply put: we are “animal people.”  I guess it’s in our genes.

The odd thing that occurs in the rabbit raising world is, as you walk the floor at a rabbit show and talk to the many different people who have gathered, it is a very rare occurrence when you find someone who raises only rabbits.  I don’t think that is the case with dog breeders.  Dog breeders generally raise dogs only.  However, rabbit breeders frequently will have many other kinds of animals that they are either raising, tending, or simply have as part of the family.

When you look at the pictures of our “other animals” consider this list of animals I discovered at two recent rabbit shows that are being raised by rabbit breeders:  Goats, turtles, parrots, snakes, peacocks, geese, ducks, chickens, turkeys, pigs (pot-bellied to hogs) cows, horses, dogs, guinea pigs, chinchilla, and pigeons… and this was from only a handful of people.  If we were to conduct a scientific survey among people attending rabbit shows it is my guess that we’d find hundreds of species being raised by rabbit people.

Yes, we love rabbits but our affections are not limited there.  If it is an animal, we love it.  What animals do you love and why?

I had a lot of different things in mind for my first post on the “rabbit” blog but a discussion on turkeys wasn’t one of them. However, tonight we experienced the loss of one of our baby turkeys. It is our first pair of turkeys we’ve raised and they are only about 8 weeks old. (see picture under “Other Animals) In the short couple of weeks we had the turkeys we grew very fond of them. They are very unique in the way they explore the yard in search of food and places to roost. They came running to greet and follow us every time we entered the yard and they have a wonderful chirping or whistling sound of contentment.

Now our flock of turkeys is down to one. All I did was leave a gate open by mistake which the turkey took immediate advantage of only to find the “loving” jaws of one of our dogs. It is now dead.

My heart sank when I saw the carcass neatly laid at our back door by the dog. It hurts to lose an animal needlessly. My first reaction was anger at the dogs until I saw the gate ajar and then the realization that it was my fault came to roost. Ouch! If I hadn’t been so careless this tragic death would not have occurred. It is an awesome responsibility we have to our animals to provide them a safe haven in which to grow and thrive. A careless moment can result in tragic consequences.

No matter how many animals you raise, losing one to an untimely and premature death is always painful.

Welcome to the Lops of Enchantment Rabbit Blog. With this site we hope to share in the experiences of raising rabbits we face , the victories and the challenges, as they occur. (We may also insert some tidbits on chickens, goats, and turkeys when we cannot resist the temptation.) Feel free to raise questions, provide feedback, and debate the issues you are facing as a rabbit breeder or owner. Through this dialogue we hope to share with you the knowledge and expertise we’ve obtained through 15+ years of rabbit raising along with the vast pool of expertise available in the rabbit raising world. The overall goal is to share in the joy and wonder that is available from the companionship domestic rabbits provide.