How I experimented with pasture raising rabbits in six gazillion not so easy steps

Introduction

I don’t know about you, but some things happen in an unplanned way.  Start with a simple premise, and one thing leads to another and another and another until you are nowhere near where you started.  That’s what happened to me, what is continuously happening to me.  What seemed to be a simple matter of involving myself in a self-sufficient lifestyle, feeding myself and my pack of shelties, turned out to be a little more time-consuming than originally expected. This beginning portion of my blog is about one part of the journey, in the hopes that some of you looking for a better, healthier way to raise rabbits can benefit from my mistakes, perhaps even avoiding a few of those pitfalls to which I seemed constantly drawn. Or better yet, find an even healthier way. 

If you find the information on these pages useful, you can thank my slightly obsessive-compulsive tendencies that do not allow me to let go of a problem as easily as the rest of the population.  Things have to be “just so”, in order for me to be satisfied.  Some of those issues that popped up have to do with my innate laziness.  If I’m going to be caring for multiple rabbits, I damn well want it as easy as possible.  Other issues deal with the welfare of the rabbits.  It’s a balance not easily realized; at least not for me.      

So, my plan (HA!) was to write about the process and allow you to see what I found worked or didn’t for me.  You may find one of the scenarios that I wasn’t happy with, suits you just fine.  The idea is to allow you the second sight of how things worked without the time or expense on your part.  You may find it amusing to see some of my thought processes, as I am not originally from farming background and as I have always told myself and anyone who would listen… I don’t build… What may seem obvious and second nature to you, was totally a mystery to me.  Guess I’m a slow learner.  But, it may spark some ideas of your own.   

And having come from the city and later a suburbia frame of reference, there are some things that just don’t look good to me.  I like things to look neat and at least somewhat esthetically pleasing.  (It’s that obsessive compulsive thing again, I guess).  While some may feel perfectly content with structures consisting of nothing more than blue tarp and duct tape, it kinda makes my teeth curl to see things like that.  I guess some would call it snobbish…. I call it pride in my homestead.  So, if you dare, follow a woman from Queens, New York as she transplants herself to the lush state of Oregon and see how the rabbits are faring. It’s down the rabbit hole after Alice…..