Champagne d' Argent Rabbits

The past few days I've been on my soapbox, ranting about sustainability and local food. If you want the latest on that issue it is on Bioneers. The rest of my time has been tied up with finishing 4H projects (evaluations for Archery are tomorrow at 9am.) and getting our Champagne babies settled.

Five weeks ago our Champagne doe kindled (I think that's the right term). She had seven beautiful black, silky babies. Six of them made it through the rigours of growing up to weaning time. I must admit I didn't do much other than putting the nest box and materials in and making sure they had plenty of good feed and water. Everyone looks great. The plan was to butcher them in a few more weeks, and have at least one more litter (is that the right term?) before winter. Now half of them are sold. At $35 each (registered) it is hard to justify eating them. We still have three left (two does and a buck) with one other interested person. We will be having another litter in the fall and be keeping one of the does (that means changing bucks soon, genetics in rabbits is a bit strange.) I still hope to have some of them in the freezer in the near future. I'm very pleased with the way they have reproduced and raised their young, even in the heat.

We are exploring ways to make them more sustainable by including some grazing options in their care. More on that later.