Last week mama goes to an animal farm which houses many rabbits. It was a place where animals were kept and taken care of, and children can pet and feed the animals with the vegetables provided.
Mama was very happy to see many bunnies roam freely. The area was spacious enough for rabbits to run, and they have a hut to shelter themselves from the rain.
Rabbits are not of pedigree, but they all looked cute altogether. Guinea Pigs are housed here together with rabbits too!
However, mama is also sad, because some of the rabbits have infection. They looked sad. It's either the rabbits are sick, or fight amongst themselves.
The rabbits are not spayed too, hence could explain the dominance amongst the animals.
Rabbits are cute, gentle creatures that can bring happiness to children and adults. Bunny and Fluffy hopes that the rabbits there will be taken good care of.
Here are suggestion on how to improve the rabbit's immunity and health:
PROPER DIET
1) Give the rabbits sufficient amount of hay. The horse stable is nearby, and rabbits can eat the same hay as the horse, it wouldn't be too expensive right?
2) Supply rabbits with various kinds of greens. The same type of vegetable everyday (eg: kangkung) is not nourishing enough. There are spaces around the rabbit farm, where they can plant carrot tops. That area can be made into rabbit's vegetable patch as well.
NEUTER
1) Neutering helps in controlling the number of rabbits and guinea pigs in that area. By that, the competition can be reduced and animal stress is also eventually reduced.
2) By neutering, we can avoid multiple in-breedings. In-breedings should be avoided because of the high probability of genetic defects occurance. Rabbits breed about every few months. And each time they breed, it could reach about 6-10 babies. Beside avoidance of being overpopulated, these babies are very vulnerable to diseases, and diseases can spread to other rabbits.
3) Neutering decrease aggressive and dominance. Hence, reduces territorial fights from occurring.
Overall, these are the main problems found in the farm. Nonetheless, mama has mentioned that the farm indeed has done a good job in:
1) Ensuring rabbits are sheltered from rain and cold winds. During mama's last visit, it suddenly rained heavily, the farm workers quickly usher the rabbits back into their hut. And then release them again when the sun shines back.
2) Feeding vegetables instead of carrots. In Langkawi Geopark Rabbit Attraction, the caretaker actually provide the visitors carrots and kangkung for RM1 (per cup). In Farm In The City, the caretaker will provide unlimited of kangkung for the rabbits.
3) No Smell. The space was big enough, and the obnoxious odor of rabbit poop and urine was not noticed.
Mama hope that the next trip she visits, she can see some healthy looking rabbits there.
For those who is interested to drop by and enjoy a day with these animals, here's the
Facebook link.
story by,
Fluffy & Bunny
