Warmer weather brings with it the onset of spring cleaning within the rabbitry. Over the past two weeks the rabbits have spent their days lounging under the cedar trees in the backyard while I've rolled up my sleeves in an effort to tackle the seemingly impossible.
This is the time of year I'm especially thankful for having a small herd. I can move all the rabbits outside for the day allowing me to power wash every cage and disinfect the rabbitry in one big sweep as opposed to when I kept a larger herd of 50. In the past I would have to clean the rabbitry section by section- BLAH!
The biggest hurdle which accompanies spring cleaning is the unavoidable moult. It's a bittersweet feeling when all is said and done to enjoy the "fruits of your labor" in this case a sparkling clean rabbitry- only to fill up the cages with flying fuzzballs.
Which is why I've enlisted the help of my 7 year old daughter. She earns between $3 and $5 for each carrier of rabbits she brushes out for me. She would like to get more involved in the showing aspect but as anyone who's ever been to a rabbit show knows, patience plays a large part in showing- something that can be difficult for children to understand. People who've seen me at shows know that my kids (and husband) are almost always in tow anyways, but for the most part when they get bored my husband can drag them off in an effort to entertain them while I'm waiting for Holland Lops to be called to the table.