There are many lessons to learn in life and so many of them are learned on the farm. Here are three lessons that I have recently learned.
1. A rabbit can have a false pregnancy.
There are rabbits that will wait until hours before delivery to remove fur and prepare a warm bed for her soon-to-be-delivered offspring. You will believe that the deed was not completed for a successful breeding until you see six beautiful baby bunnies.
There are other rabbits that will spend a week pulling out fur, rearranging the nesting box and acting skittish. They will fool you into expecting a batch of babies only to discover that none arrive. I will give this rabbit mama a few more days just to be sure, but I think she may have fooled both of us into believing she was pregnant.
2. Injured chickens can recover and escape.
We had a young chicken that got caught in the wire of the hoop house. This resulted in an injury. We were unsure if she would recover but we wanted to help the situation by bringing her to the house for closer inspection and care.
Good news is that she recovered. Bad news is, in her improved state, she decided to escape her new shelter. The bolting hen resulted in a poultry chase throughout our human domicile. She was eventually caught and returned to her friends in the hoop house.
3. Cats will tolerate (and even enjoy) a lot of human shenanigans.
Our cats really love living on the farm. In addition to the adventures of capturing outdoor critters, they enjoy occasional time indoors. The cats will curl up on your lap during school lessons or eat the scraps thrown from a highchair. Some of our cats will even tolerate bear hugs from toddlers and stroller rides throughout the house.
However, the cats will draw the line at jumping on the trampoline and bathtime. Ask me how I know!
They say that you should learn something new every day. Well, it is mid-morning on a Monday, and I can already claim that I have learned three new things.
What have you learned today?