Sidewalk art courtesy of Harper

Lisa the bunny had her litter. I had the 28-31 day range marked on my calender but I noticed yet again no nesting was occurring on her side. She was definitely pregnant as she was fuller and lumbering, taking frequent breaks. On day 30 I noticed some strange fluid in some of the items in her hutch. I was wondering if bunnies also break water…? Day 31 in the morning I saw the tiniest amount of blood on a leaf below her hutch. There were till no nesting materials (which led to exposure and death for the last kits), I decided to pull some cotton from an old pillow for insulation in case she did not get her act together. Then I left for work. Luckily, my very generous neighbors, Arin and son Harper, agreed to check on Lisa through out the day. Apparently by about 3PM Lisa was in her next box breathing rapidly and moving things around. By 6PM when I arrived to check on them I saw the lovely sight of a next box full of rabbit fur. She did it!

Lo and behold, the fur was moving! I reached in and found a nest full of fresh closed eyed kits. She kindled 10, 8 survived. This is fairly normal as a full healthy litter is 8, one for each teat. After that there is competition for food and its draining on the doe.

Its been a week since and the kits are growing quickly. They are filling out with fur. Their ears are becoming more pronounced and their eyes are open. They are in essence insanely cute. I check on Lisa at least twice a day now. She is very hungry and thirsty these days since she is feeding her young. She has been consuming nearly double her usual amounts. This is important to know for calculating costs of keeping larger meat bunnies. The kits are becoming more mobile but since their dominant motion is hopping, when I move aside nesting materials I am entertained by the site of what looks like big grey Mexican Jumping Beans bouncing straight up. Interestingly, the kits also make squeaky sounds.

Listening to me cooing over the cuteness of the kit, my husband attempted to admonish me for having the intent of eating these rabbits. He asked if the really cute one I’m holding would be the first one I’ll eat. I think his intention was to demonstrate a disconnect between loving an animal, caring for it, thinking it is cute and then killing it for food. This is coming from the man that has eaten meat on and off in his life for decades. The last stint prompted after a month in India at which point he declared he craved raw beef. But this is a blog about urban farming, not contradictions. So lets suffice it to say I don’t see things this way. I see raising my own animals as being intimately aware of what it does in fact mean to eat meat, that is, an animal dies. With that reality, I choose to eat meat but to do so in way that feels honest. Besides, I have no idea if this kit once grown to full size will be “the first” as they all kind of look alike and the probability I guess is 1 out of 8…so a 13% chance. It doesn’t make the little bunbun less cute…are cows not beautiful?

*Kindle means when the doe goes into labor.