Flopsy, Mopsy, Cottontail & Peter

Cottontail's ride home

Sissy has been pining for a bunny for awhile now, and when she woke up Saturday morning, she informed us that she wanted to use her birthday money to purchase one. Since we'd planned on adding bunnies to our "farm" eventually, we were open to the idea. So after her party, we pulled up our trusty online classifieds. We found Cottontail a short drive {in the pouring rain} away. I was very impressed with the family who had raised her. The young girls were very active in 4H, and were saving to buy themselves cars (they also raised swine!). On the way home (much smoother than the ride with Maybelline!), I discussed with Sis the possibilty of turning bunnies into a business. She loved the idea, and quickly informed me that she could turn her birthday money into much more. There is already a possibility that Cottontail is preggers, and we started actively searching for a Mini Rex buck to be her baby daddy.

We picked up that search after lunch on Sunday. Typically, our local feed store carries several bunnies, but for some reason all of the neighborhood was out in the rain searching for rabbits. Though the parking lot was full, the bunny cages were empty (of bunnies, that is--they were filled with roosters!). We set out for a new feed store I had passed earlier, and I pulled up the internets again.

Flopsy

This time I really scored: the night before a man had posted an ad for free bunnies, just a couple miles away from us! He told me he had 4 or 5 left, so we went to search for a buck. The man brought us into his backyard, where we saw dozens of bunnies hopping around! These were lionhead rabbits--not exactly what we were looking for, but the price was right. These bunnies were a little young, so it was difficult to determine gender. We searched around for a buck, but had some trouble finding one. (In fact, we were told Mopsy was a buck, but upon further investigation we are pretty sure he is in fact a she.) So Sissy picked out another bunny (Flopsy), and I chose Mopsy for Bubba.

Our kids are absolutely in love with their new pets, though I have had to give Cottontail a little extra attention, as there has been a lot more of this:

Flopsy

and this:

Mopsy

than this:

Cottontail

Yesterday morning we finally found our buck. Peter was waiting at our local feed store with 4 of his brothers and sisters. He was the only bunny really stood out, and Sis was happy to see that he is a boy. Unfortunately he hasn't been handled much, so it may take awhile before we can hold him like we can the does.

I am excited to build our bunnies a hutch and run, and get them out of this:

While they seem happy, I know they will be much happier in their natural habitat, enjoying plenty of sunshine and fresh air. Not to mention the fact that I am apparantly allergic to this timothy hay...

So far, Sis has spent $85 of her birthday money: $40 on bunnies, $25 towards the cage (mom and dad sprang for the food and hay), and another $20 toward a princess dress. She only has one dollar left, and I am pround of how she is choosing to use her funds. Teaching our children responsibility through the rearing of animals and {some} financial freedom works for me! {Come join the party at my favorite blog!}