Adam and Max

I rarely get visitors out here and days pass quite quietly albeit busily. That was why I assumed that Sunday would be as uneventful as it usually is and was sitting at the computer replying to emails at 8.30 am. However that was tempting fate and a brown station wagon pulled into my driveway while I was trying to shut the back door so my small fat Sheltie Mishka didn't run out to bark at whoever was arriving. It turned out to be my friends Marg and John who had driven out to drop off Max and Adam, two angora rabbits they had been caring for on my behalf while I waited to come out of quarantine after the RCD hit here. These two boys had been bought aged six weeks from a pet shop by a lady who was obviously an animal lover. Unfortunately the shop had not bothered to tell the woman how much care these animals needed and as they grew, and so did their coats, she discovered they didn't like being brushed and would scratch her. As she is a diabetic these scratches became infected and she ended up having frequent trips to the doctor to get antibiotics. So it was as they reached six months she put an advert in the paper to ask for someone to take them on. John rang me and I went along to see them and realised the woman was terribly upset at having to give up her pets but that she couldn't manage. She was even prepared to put them to sleep rather than leave them in a bad way.

The rabbits are quite small with broken brown markings on their faces and bodies. They both have brown eyes and one has floppy ears. This means there has been some cross-breeding in the background so I have a very good idea which breeder was responsible for them. I had taken on several of her rabbits in the past when people couldn't manage them and she had promised that she wouldn't sell her rabbits to pet shops (especially at such a young age) after she saw one come in to be clipped at the only rabbit show we held here in Hawkes Bay. Obviously she broke her word and was continuing with her outcrossing. Fortunately she's moved out of the district now so others will have to cope with the copius litters she produces for the "pet market". One thing I know- angoras do not make good pets except for spinners and those prepared to clip or pluck them.

So Max and Adam are currently in a quarantine hutch on the front lawn for a month before moving into the rabbitry. I don't know which one is Max and which one is Adam but as I am tempted to change their names to something more "rabbity" it makes no odds. Unfortunately they've discovered hormones much to the horror of my cats who seem severely traumatized at such uninhibited behaviour!

Four Seasons in One Day

I have a friend who loves the rain. She says that listening to it on her corrugated iron roof is comforting. I don't like rain. Or perhaps I should say I don't like heavy rain. When I hear it battering down on my roof it means it's going to leak and that in the morning I'll find the hen house and rabbitry have been flooded out where the water has run underneath the sheds.

Weather is the major concern to people living in the country. A pleasant sunny summer day can't be appreciated as it could mean there is a drought on the way and everything will begin to brown off and die and the animals will suffer. Wind means the elctricity can cut out and trees may block off the road. In October 2000 my hen house uprooted itself in the middle of the night and I discovered it next morning perched on the clothes line. The hens were running around as chickens do (soaked to the skin) while one gallant broody bantam (who had refused to desert her post) was sitting out in the open in a nestbox half full of water. This is why the hen house is now wired to warratahs (metal posts) dug into the ground so it looks like it's not going to do another Wizard of Oz in a hurry.

Then there is the winter. This is my least favourite season. Not only do you have wind and rain but you have frosts. These kill your garden and make your life a misery as you try to go out in the early hours to feed the animals bundled up in as many jerseys as possible wearing two pairs of gloves to try and prevent chilblains. The grass isn't growing so you have to make sure that grazing animals have enough hay to get them through the day. You also hope that you've done enough cleaning and essential chores in the Autumn so you don't have to spend hours out in the cold.

However now the seasons are changing. Summer begins later and lasts longer. August no longer seems to have warm balmy days reminding you that Spring is on its way but is a chilly wintry month. How to cope with all this seasonal dysfunction? I take each day as it comes. If it's a lovely sunny day I do chores (washing is a major concern) and catch up with extra work. I plan so I can catch up with inside work when it's raining. I'm always behind and there is always something crying out to be done but at least it's never boring.

Calicivirus

It is now three months since the outbreak of Calicivirus which killed five of my rabbits here so I am officially out of quarantine. I have disinfected all the outside hutches and left them in the sun and want to begin on the rabbitry cages before the cold weather hits. I am still pretty nervous whenever I go out there in the morning- those ten days watching the virus go through was pretty tough as an animal would look fine one minute and a couple of hours later would be found dead. The virus swept right up the country from the deep South towards Auckland killing vaccinated and unvaccinated animals alike. Of the five I lost three were old, one had been having antibiotic treatment and the last was sharing a hutch with his sister who was unaffected.

RCD is a nasty disease illegally introduced to New Zealand by a few red neck farmers who mixed it up in kitchen blenders after the Ministry of Agriculture and Fisheries had declined it's introduction. Now the Regional Councils are applying to import a "pure" form of the virus for release in July 2005. The Hawkes Bay Regional Council is not part of this move. The Pest Control officer informed me that they don't want to interfere with the strain currently here which they feel is doing a good job. The worst thing the government ever did was disbanding the Rabbit Board as it left farmers at the mercy of the rabbits and faced with huge bills for poisoning etc. I can understand why they celebrate the virus but it did finish rabbit farming in New Zealand. Unfortunately the vaccine costs $30 per animal as it must be administered by a vet unlike Australia where the owner can vaccinate for $3! I am pretty anti vaccinations usually (as it must depress the natural immune system) but in some cases you have no choice. In the meantime I give all my animals a teaspoon of apple cider vinegar once weekly to build up their systems. I am trying to find a garlic crusher now so I can add this to their drinking water as well. Anything to keep them healthy naturally as I feel this is the only way to go.