A Bunny Update

Many of you readers know that we have had baby bunnies around here. It has been very exciting and at times a little challenging. But I love these bunnies because of what they represent to me. Maybe you’ll remember that on the day I lost my sweet baby Jude Michael, our bunny Daphne gave birth to her first litter of kits - nine little baby bunnies. It was so amazing to see how tiny they were and to see how naturally Daphne nurtured them. She has been such a good momma! Seeing God bring these nine tiny lives into the world on the day he took my fifth child home to be with Him reminded me that it is He who opens the womb and He who gives life to all creatures. To me it was a sign that He is not finished with my family yet. Just as Daphne gave birth to those nine tiny pink and gray babies, I do believe that one day God will add another child to my own family.

Watching the baby bunnies grow and change was really amazing. They grow and mature so quickly! When they are first born they have no fur and look almost like tiny, bald mice. In about a week they start getting their fur and by about eleven days their eyes open and they look like tiny little rabbits. At about two or three weeks they start eating food and by six weeks they are ready to leave their momma.

A couple of days after Daphne had given birth to these baby bunnies, she escaped from her cage and disappeared. It was scary, but she returned and everything was fine. What I didn’t realize at the time was that rabbits can become pregnant the day they give birth. And since Daphne had been out galavanting with her sweetheart, Duke, that is pretty much what happened. Exactly one month after the first litter had been born, Daphne had nine new babies. We had gone from two bunnies to twenty in one month! I wanted to grab Daphne and rub her fur all over my body in hopes that her fertility would rub off on me. But wait, that’s crazy. So I didn’t do anything like that.

We were able to sell the first litter and the second litter is now 16 days old and so much fun. They are out of their nest, learning to get around on their own, and driving their momma crazy! I’m so thankful for the sweet diversion of tiny, cuddly bunnies. Now that we have found a place to sell them, we may let Daphne have one or two more litters before summer comes. Bunnies to entertain us for five months or so? Why not?

So here are a few photos to make you jealous of how many bunny cuddles we get around here.

Two days old - We let her "hold" all nine.

One week old

One and a half weeks old

Two weeks old

 

Almost three weeks old - They got fluffy!

One month old

Here is a newborn next to a one-month-old. Amazing, isn't it?

And here is my daughter saying goodbye to the almost six-week-old babies. She wasn't too sad because we still had nine babies out in the pen just waiting for her to come back home. :)