It’s Day Three of Phoebe Week at HenCam! The Eastern Phoebes nesting on the porch aren’t the only Phoebes here. There is, of course, the rabbit.
It’s only a coincidence her coloring is so similar to the birds of the same appellation. However, her muted greyish-brown tones did give this Phoebe her name. Our rabbit was named after one of Saturn’s moons. She was given that name by one of my sons. He’s a rabbit guy. Some folks are dog people, others crazy about cats. He likes rabbits. He also likes science and space. When I brought Phoebe home from the animal shelter in 2012, he took note of her dusky coloring and told me that she had a low albedo, like one of Saturn’s moons. (Albedo is a term for how much radiation a heavenly body reflects back. Yes, we are so geeky here that the names of our animals often have a basis in serious science.)
Unlike the other animals, Phoebe has not been trained to come, and so she doesn’t get to roam around the yard – too dangerous! But, life in the chicken pen was getting boring, so my son rabbit-proofed the goats’ paddock. Now Phoebe can have hop-arounds.
Although I give Phoebe carrots, and often pull up clover and green growing things to give to her in her pen, she says that grass tastes much better when it’s still attached to the ground.
When she gets tired of the eating and exploring, there’s a shady place to rest,
where inquisitive and pesky goats can’t bother her. (Look closely, Phoebe is under there!)
Tomorrow Phoebe Week returns to the birds!
(For more about keeping a rabbit with your flock, read this FAQ.)
aww. i love that she has a place to hop around that’s not her normal everyday living space. i can just picture her munching the green grass. :)
Such a cute bunny!
My chickens say the same thing as Phoebe does about grass and such outside their run: much tastier when it’s still growing.
Just curious – what needs to be done to rabbit-proofing a goat’s paddock?
No places to squeeze out! I also make sure that there’s always a human around to guard against hawks.
Hurray for more running and snacking room! Enjoy, Phoebe!
Wonderful to see resident Phoebe out and enjoying herself with green under her feet….Eagerly waiting the rest of Phoebe’s week….:)
Do the chickens and goats just leave her alone? I know you wrote that the goats sometimes annoy her, but is it a lot? (I love the photo of Phoebe and Pip too. Really cute!)
I just read your FAQs, and looks like it answered my question…;)
The answer is – it depends on the rabbit :) As always, giving everyone enough space and escape routes keeps peace in the group.
Wow, the snow really did a number on your goat perches, didn’t it?! The boys don’t seem to care, though.
That’s getting taken down soon!
An indelicate but honest question: do you have any concerns about the urine and goat feces contaminating the grass in the goat pen?
Goat “berries” are everywhere. I rake them up. They’re an interesting manure – one of the few that can be put directly onto a garden. No composting needed. The chickens and rabbit ignore them – they come out dry and pelleted and don’t stick. Chicken poo is yucky, and the rabbit wisely avoids grass that has any on it. The same with goat pee. The boys tend to pee in the same place – on the patios – so that’s not such an issue.
I can’t tell if Pip is terrorizing Phoebe or they are just playing hide and seek. Hope they all get to be good friends.