Taffy

Last week I lost Taffy my new angora buck. On Monday 21st November he wasn't drinking much and not as perky as usual. I thought it could be a touch of heat stress so dragged his hutch under the willow tree on the front lawn. The next day dawned cold and windy and he brightened up so I thought I'd solved the problem. However on Wednesday although he was still eating he wasn't his usual self and I noticed his droppings were a bit hard. I began him on pineapple juice thinking he had a touch of woolblock but by Thursday he was completely off his food. I rang the vet who drove out and after palpating his stomach diagnosed extreme wool block. David said that the mass was three inches by one inch thick and had been there for months and months. As I only had Taffy five weeks I emailed his previous owner who confirmed he had been off his food a couple of times in the past six months. The vet was concerned his temperature was now dropping so took him back to the clinic to heat him up, rehydrate him and syringe as much pineapple juice into him as he could. Unfortunately Taffy passed away during the night. David said there was a touch of pneumonia in his left lung as well, probably a result of stress from the blockage, and as there was another rabbit nearby he put her on antibiotics just in case. However a week later she is fine.

I was pretty hard hit with this loss. I spoke to his breeder the next day and she said his coat was pretty fine and that she has another doe that also goes off her feed periodically. She has a couple of bunnies she can send up to me later this month so I now I will save up to pay for their airfare from the South Island.

While he was up here on the farm the vet also vaccinated the four last babies against RHD. I then separated them into their new cages. Looks at this stage as if I have two boys and two girls. They seem happy and healthy so that's something.

Also just after the vet left with Taffy I went to put the hens to bed when I heard cheeping. Sure enough there was a little chick with ten eggs in a broken down bin that the hens used to lay in before one of the big hens sat on the top and broke it. I gathered the chick, the eggs and the little bantam mother into a cat carry cage where they stayed for a couple of days inside while we experienced an unseasonably cold and violent rainstorm for a couple of days. Unfortunately the hen abandoned her eggs a couple of days later as there was no sign of any of them hatching. I cleaned out one of the rabbit hutches on the lawn this week and mother and child are now safely ensconced in this much to the frustration of my dog Mishka who wants to lick them (he has a licking fetish!) It's the new life that keeps you going when things get rough.