Hands Off

This won't be a normal journal, I think. It'll start off as a memoir and we'll see where it ends up.

I guess Laissez Fair - "hands off" - wasn't such a great name. First of all, he was anything but a hands-off bunny. He was handled since day one, and given special attention every day since he hopped out of the nest box. Of course, the little bugger still went through his "rebellious teenager" phase where he didn't want any part of Abbi or me, but that's to be expected. He pulled himself out of it completely around the beginning of the month. He went from a snuggly, wiggly, friendly baby boy to a sweet, gentle, and perfectly behaved buck. I could rub his face all over and scratch his cheeks and he'd love me. He didn't have a problem with other rabbits and never displayed aggressive behaviors.

Lassiez was son to SS Isis and HB's Mistah J. I sold J not a week earlier. J was the only one I kept from Wolfsong's Dozer, my first lynx rabbit, and AJ's Gru, whom I had to put down to to incurable wounds. Laissez and his line was supposed to be their memory.

I didn't get a bunny out of him. He wouldn't do anything more than share his hutch and bowls with the doe. He didn't even try to do what bucks do best.

My beginning is put completely to rest. I still have more rabbits to work with - Black River Blade, Wolfsong's Pixistix, SS Isis, Roundabout Lilly, and the chocolate buck not yet in my possession - and I wasn't even planning on using Laissez for a while, but I wanted his line. I wanted him for show.

Laissez was my rabbit out of my home bred buck. He was special to me. I can't imagine how Abbi will feel when she finds out. She practically hand-raised the little boy. She fell absolutely in love with him.

I texted her this morning when I was stuck in traffic on my way to class. I begged her to not go in or around the rabbit pen.

I checked on Blade, since he's my new $75 Grand Champion brood buck straight out of Pam's sheltered barn, and he looked a little distressed, but otherwise fine. I messed with his fur and talked to him. But my heart wasn't with him.

As soon as I saw Blade was okay, I saw Laissez's form sprawled across his hutch floor. I picked him up, and even though I knew he was dead, his body was still warm and completely limp. So he didn't die from the cold. I snuggled him up to my chest, cradling his form close to me, stroking his fur, and cried and begged. Why Laissez? Why did my baby boy die? Why did he have to die? He died only minutes before I got to him.

I went around and fed everyone, setting Laissez down on the white hutch roof where I put bodies before burying them, and by the time I finished and got back to him, he was already stiffening. Fast. I had arranged his body in the most comfortable position I could before feeding everyone, and that's how he'll stay.

I'm kind of afraid now. I didn't know why he died. I'm already so afraid I'll lose Blade on Pam. What if Blade could catch Laissez's ailment and dies too? What if Blades little bit of chilly this morning takes over and he dies of the cold while I'm at class? What if Isis or Lilly or Pixi caught what killed Laissez and one of them dies? He had a full tummy, and no marks on his body, so did he die of dehydration? Did he not get enough water? His water bowl was empty, but even if it wasn't, it would have been frozen over completely.

My rabbits have always been fine through the winter, but I think I'll go out there and water them all at least two or three times a winter day. Before I go to school, but not a morning work shift. After I get home from class. Or before an afternoon work shift. And then after an afternoon work shift or before dinner, depending. Yet it's Blade I'm most worried about. Okay, I did drop $75 on this one rabbit, and Pam didn't really want to sell him.

I'll be keeping Blade and Isis until they die of old age. They're both born in June 2010, so I have quite a few more years with both of them. Lilly is a part of my lilac otter project, and so will the chocolate buck once I pick him up at MSU, so I'll only keep them so long as I don't have good lilac otters. I'll figure out the best pathways I can take with my giant "lilac otter project" biology lab paper when the litters are born. I'll keep rabbits that I have space for that do well in show, but I'd like to keep all the blacks (self especially) out of our rabbitry. I'll be getting a lot of genetically black rabbits. I'll allot five holes total to the project for now, but I'll keep my best buck and doe in lilac otter in the end. I want at least one broken lynx at all times. By the looks of it, that will be a doe (so no Party in my Pants buck) until we can expand. It'd also be nice to keep one more brood doe in lynx. But if I do, she must have a leg. So we're looking at Isis's and Blade's kit. Pixi will probably get replaced with her daughter.

I will be keeping the ten or so best Mini Rex (lynx comes first) for showing next year. Mini Lops aren't my focus right now, though I'll keep no more than a trio after showing early summer. Dutch are Abbi's business. She unarguable gets at least five holes to do with as she pleases. Oh, and I'm neutering Emmett once we're done showing him.

I don't see myself buying another rabbit after this chocolate buck in a long. I have a lot of rabbits to work with now.

Unless I see a frosty Mini Lop with a decent body. I want that gene. Just because.

Short-term plan: the MSU show in Lansing. I have ten (eleven if I must) holes. Abbi's going to want to bring Typh and Soony. I'm bringing Whopper, Amelia, Dalilah, Pixi, and Lilly for both shows. If I still have Bee, I'll only enter him in the first show. Emmett is only going in the first show because he still has his baby fur. If Blade hasn't blown his coat, I'll enter him in the second show. I gotta figure out how to bring Em to the show, though. he's too big for my carriers. Um.