Jasmine has been talked about here often, she is a wild bunny that joined our flock of chickens years ago. She is always in or around the barn, and most of the day, hangs out under a shade tree with our free roam hens. She very often has babies stashed in the holes and tunnels she digs in the barn. She gathers chicken feathers for her nest and quite diligently tends to her young. And then… when they are old enough to meet the outside world, she moves them somewhere during the night. Once in a great while I see her youngsters, but as a rule, she hides them.
Again, this morning Jasmine is looking for the proper place to make a new hole for her soon expecting babies. She never uses the same hole, which for obvious reasons I’m NOT a fan of. Nevertheless, it is what it is, and I just go along with bunny nature.
Yes Jasmine! Under the brooder coop, that’s a great place for you to dig a hole, tunnel, and completely destroy. At least there I won’t likely step in it and further tweak my already tweaked back. Well, Jasmine didn’t think so, and went on to find a better spot. And this is where she picked…
Here? Really Jasmine? She decided the chicken coop is a great place to dig a hole for her baby nursery. Right smack in the middle of a 10×10 chicken coop. Ah yes, now there’s a perfect spot, perfect for me to step in and fall to China everyday.
There’s no discouraging Jasmine from a chosen spot, she’ll tunnel from Timbuktu to get where she wants to be. Like I said, bunny nature, just go with it. After all, a bunny mom knows best.
The heat plays havoc on confined chickens in the desert southwest, heat stroke is real, and it’s deadly. Free roam flocks have a much higher rate of survival, and are quite resourceful in finding shade and cooler ground to burrow in. So this brings me to a dilemma, coop for safety from a predator, or free roam for quality of life and comfort from the extreme heat?
