My name is Charlotte, sometimes known as Ms Lottie, occasionally as The Slightly Mad Quilt Lady. This is my blog, where you'll find me writing a lot about my quilting and textile arts and a little about my family's life in a small seaside town in New Zealand. Haere mai!

Tuesday, July 31, 2012

Rabbit on a Rampage


Well, not a rampage really, just a jaunt.  But I've had rabbits out on jaunts before, and it only ends one way! More rabbits!  A couple days ago we had howling wind and it was so strong it blew off the roof of the rabbit cage.  Mama bunny saw her chance and there she was the next morning, bouncing round on the lawn.


The ducks weren't quite sure what to make of her.  "She's white but she doesn't quack.  And whoa!  No waddle!  Definitely not one of us."

And looking at the background of that photo makes me realise I haven't pruned my fruit trees yet.....add it to the to do list.


Very shortly we will be getting some more of these wee sweeties.  It's serious calving time around here on all the dairy farms so it's the best time to get some calves that I'll then raise by hand.  A year or two later and they fill our freezer nicely.

I just witnessed the home kill of our last two big cows - which I kinda think is the right thing to do.  I've raised them, cared for them, shifted their paddocks every fortnight, chased them around when they've got out, and I like to see that they have as good an end as they did in life.  And they sure did.  Our home kill guy is great.  One shot and they drop like a stone.  No terror of trucks and abattoir, just contented grazing right to the end.

I used to be a vegetarian - kinda weird now when you think of what we do here: raise rabbits, chickens, sheep and cows for our freezer.  But my main complaint was the way they were raised and then slaughtered. I feel good about how our animals live and then die so I don't have any qualms about eating them.

But I have to be able to keep them in their paddocks/pens/cages first!!  So now I have to dig out the live capture possum trap and try and get that mischievous Mama Bunny back where she belongs.

2 comments:

  1. Remind me to tell you some time the story of Yasha's birthday rabbit lol in fact we have a number of rabbit stories - no rabbits anymore though, maybe if there are baby bunnies in a few weeks we might take some :-)

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  2. Fabulous. That is what I think, but I just don't know if I could. my hubby & I think we would not be very profitable farmers for long as we couldn't put them cute critters on the truck, but I buy the meat from the supermarket don't I ??!!!

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