Predators Strike Again

Not a post I wanted to write. But I figure it's only fair to share the good and the bad. Last night something got most of my baby bunnies. I never even saw for sure how many there were because I didn't want to disturb mommy and babies too much. But as far as I could tell, there were 3. Two are now gone and the third is missing a leg so is probably not going to make it anyway. But whatever it was pulled the other two right through the holes in the cage wire.

To make matters worse, something also got to some of my chickens in the second tractor. It didn't get inside the tractor. But it was able to reach under it enough to pull my hen's leg through and eat it completely off and injure two others hens. I put the one hen out of her misery and I may have to do another one.

Honestly, right now I just feel like selling all of my animals and just completely giving up on the whole homesteading thing. I am so disgusted at all the losses lately. I just can't justify right now why it would be worth it to even bother anymore.

But I'm also a very stubborn person. I'm also very loyal. These animals don't deserve for me to just give up on them. So to protect them, I need to come up with better systems to keep the predators out.

For the chickens it's obvious. The second tractor needs a skirt too. For the rabbits, I need cages that can't be reached into. This means wood and smaller wire. Specifically, I want to make cages with wood sides and roof and hardware cloth floor and front. I also need to finish closing in the rabbit pen as a whole.