Phoebe’s First Hop-Around

The new bunny has a name. Although there were many, many wonderful suggestions, my son (who Candy loved more than anyone else, and who loved her back) came up with the perfect name – Phoebe. Phoebe is a dark, small and irregular moon orbiting Saturn.

Yesterday, Phoebe had her first hop-around. I put all of the hens into the goat paddock. I picked up Phoebe and placed her on the ground. She looked around.

Phoebe

 

She zipped. She zoomed.

running

 

Buffy clucked a racket. Pip wasn’t sure if she was friend or foe.

Pip and Buffy

 

Friend, he decided.

more running

 

The chickens watched.

chickens watching

 

Phoebe checked out their roost in the compost area. The pullets checked out Phoebe.

compost roost

 

Phoebe took a rest. You can tell by how she sprawled out in the middle of the pen, in full view of the other animals, that she was already quite comfortable in her new home.

rest

 

However, Phoebe is going to have to learn how to get the stray feather off of her whiskers.

feather on whisker

 

Note that I’ll be letting Phoebe out a few more times on her own before I let her mix with the others. Also, for those considering keeping a rabbit in with the hens, read this FAQ. It’s important to know that the fence is 8 inches below ground, which is essential as rabbits burrow, I have hawk netting above, and she is closed up into a safe hutch at night.

Comments:

  1. Your son picked the perfect name again! She is beautiful.

  2. I love her name! She is wonderful and your pictures are terrific. She’s perfect.

  3. Great name. So happy that you have a new bunny.

  4. She is a another “Star” or “Moon” I should say in the HenCam Galaxy! Great name choice from your son.

  5. What a sweet bunny. Now you have another story to write. Thank you for sharing all your animals with us, all the girls at the bank where I work, enjoy the daily happenings on the Hen Cam. thank you for the smiles :)

  6. Love the name Phoebe. She is beautiful!

  7. I had a dwarf, solid black bunny for years. I stopped by a pet store to pick up a special blend of finch seed for my Australian finches and saw a tiny bunny in a carrier, separate from the rest. She was being reserved for a customer….who raised boa constrictors. Yikes. I finally managed to convince the store owner to sell me the bunny instead. While I had no intention of buying a rabbit that day, and I know boas have to eat too, I never regretted owning her. She had a huge play area made of cardboard boxes stacked and clipped together that she both climbed through and shredded. I never, ever got tired of the ‘bunny zoomies’ with the accompanying high kicks. I’ll keep an eye out for Phoebe’s antics!

  8. Ah,Phoebe is “Charm”-ing (can Prue or Piper be far?). Pip and Caper might think this new addition is Candy’s cousin and as for Buffy, she was like protector of the flock sounding off the alarm- Intruder Alert.
    Above all, love that bunny. Eric M.

    • I was wondeirng if Terry’s son was a Charmed fan too. She is a goddess of a rabbit though. Terry does her color count as Siamese Satin ? And does that make her a Dutch/Siamese rabbit mix ?

  9. i was so lucky to tune in yesterday right when you were letting her out. she is adorable and so feisty! she looks VERY comfortable already. you picked a good one. i love her name. i liked how interested the rest of the animals were. loved to read that buffy was clucking away at her. :)

  10. What an appropriate name! She is a beautiful bunny. I hope she lives a very long time and enjoys her new family.

  11. Phoebe IS the perfect name! I did not know it was the name of a moon, but I know it is a very old Biblical name found in the Bible, and was the name of a very special lady that I loved dearly. My Mother-in-law lived to be 89 years old in Nebraska. Her name was Phoebe Ann!

  12. PERFECT!!! I read the title and just said that is the PERFECT name for the bunny. She’s simply adorable.

    Really makes me want to get one for my flock.

  13. Perfect name. Love it! Sadly, I missed her maiden voyage yesterday, but will look forward to another in the coming days. Would loved to have heard Buffy’s warnings. She is such a dear old treasure. The bunny is marked so pretty. I also like the soft gray and charcoal colors. Your son must be very proud. Is he tied down yet? I have this niece…………….:o)

  14. Beautiful, gentle name for a beautiful, gentle little girl. Looking forward to seeing them all out together in the future.

  15. Fell in love with Phoebe! She looks like my kitty Mila.

  16. Terry, off subject question. Do you use an automatic closing chicken coop door?

    • I do not, but I’ve had one installed at the nursing home coop. I’ll be posting about that in the next couple of weeks.

  17. If you look in the archives on FoundMagazine.com for April 16, 2006, you will see a great simple drawing entitled “Bunnee.” It is a bunny with chicken legs and feet. One of my favorites.

  18. Evidently Edwina likes to spend time outside in the rain!

    • Siouxsie too! Her top feathers were wet and spikey.

  19. Terry, she is so cute. Just wondering, how big is she? It’s hard to tell but about how long is she?

  20. Perfect name for perfect bunny, looking forward to all the antics that I know will follow. Little pond is complete again, for now!!

  21. Our best kitty was named Phoebe, so your announcement made me smile! Phoebe the bunny is a very pretty girl! Looking forward to getting to know her :-)

  22. Omygosh! Is she the cutest thing, or what? And Phoebe is the PERFECT name for her. She’s already looks comfy in her surroundings… and spunky, too. I can’t wait until she meets her “minions.” Then the real fun will start!

  23. I like the bunny’s name. It is fitting. She is so adorable. I know I’m going to like her very much. She will take to the other animals in no time.

  24. Looks like everyone approves of their new neighbor. She is a beauty.

  25. Is it possible that Buffy is going to lay an egg? Looks like she wants to get in the nesting box this morning and can’t.

  26. Terry’s class is so lucky. They’re petting Pip and Caper. What I would give to live closer!

  27. Good morning Terry. Our coop is completed and our run is almost completed. We are going to add sand (without silicon) to the coop floor as our litter. Reasons are, good for chickens feet and easy clean-up. Do you have any reservations about sand being used as the “litter” in the coop? When winter arrives, we are going with the pine shavings. because it might keep things a little warmer and cozy.

    • I’ve never used sand. I recently heard from someone that did, but then switched to shavings because in theory sand was easy to care for, but in reality it wasn’t. Anyone else have experience with it and want to tell us about your experience?

      • Thanks, Terry. I should have said, “I heard sand was easy to clean-up after and exfoliates the feet of the chickens.” I don’t not have any experience. I will give it a try. I’m thinking it will be cooler in the coop for the summer. If it’s harder to clean, I will be going to pine shavings. I have that special rake they suggest on pinterest. Hoping that’s the trick.

        • Exfoliate their feet? That’s a new one to me! Maybe for chickens that are indoors all the time, having sand would give them a surface to scratch, but they certainly don’t need exfoliation and pedicures :)

          • Lol, I’m sure your right. I saw some pictures of chicken’s and their feet. Sand was in the coop and in the run. Their feet did look great as far as chicken feet go. She said the sand kept them healthy and exfoliated. Who knows. I guess you’ve figured out by now I am truly gullible.

  28. Sorry, off topic but do you think the spa treatment would work for bare backed hens? The rooster’s favorites are missing feathers for months. I tried chicken saddles but they need some thing more. The skin isn’t bleeding but does look red in spots.

    • Once you get red spots, you need to worry as at that point the hens will start pecking. Darken with blu-kote. The only solution is to remove the cause of the feather loss, and that is the rooster. Hens kept enclosed in pens with roos often have this trouble. Breeders never keep roos in with penned hens for any length of time, as they do tread the hens too much.

  29. Your son picked a good name for your new rabbit. She is a cutie! ;)