It was supposed to rain today, so I told him I had to go fill up the hay cart before it started to rain, I'd be right back, and he could pick out breakfast or turn on the TV if he wanted. He mumbled agreement, and I put my shoes on and went out to the bunny barn to get the hay cart.
As soon as I grabbed the cart my eye caught the still form in one of the cages. A bunny had died sometime between last check last night (after dark when I put the birds away for the night and check everyone has food and water for the night) and this morning. I reached in and pulled him out. That's when I noticed another in the next cage. I reached in to grab her, and she started thrashing and flailing while laying on her side. I pulled her out and noticed a second in the same cage also on her side and moving her legs. What on Earth is going on here? I've never seen this before, and I took a moment to jump onto a Facebook group for rabbits and posted photos and a description, hoping someone might know what's going on. Early consensus was to cull the two suffering and do a necropsy. Well, that would take more time, so I went back into the house to check in with #5.
As soon as I stepped into the entryway to take my shoes off, I heard him crying, but then he abruptly stopped. I ran up the stairs to his room, but he wasn't there. I checked in my room, not there either. I ran down the stairs calling his name, but no response. Not in the living room, not in the kitchen, so I raced into the bathroom. Here was my poor three year old, completely naked, clinging to the toilet bowl, vomiting. He was covered in puke, the underwear he'd just peeled himself out of was covered in puke, the toilet was covered in puke, the floor was covered in puke... I asked if he was OK, he said no, and proceeded to puke some more.
By the time I got him cleaned up and re-dressed (at his request) and got back outside, the two flailing bunnies had already died. I feel absolutely terrible that they suffered in the end and that I didn't dispatch them humanely to end their suffering, but my kids come before my animals. Sometimes that leads to situations like this that really upset me, but are not really foreseeable.
I proceeded to do three necropsies, posted photos in the rabbit forum, got some advice, and came to realize it was my fault entirely. I've been feeding them hay from the big bale out in the Northeast field. The north half of the bale doesn't dry after rain as fast as the south side (which gets direct sunlight all day). As a result, the hay on the south side is dusty and smells musty. But I figured if it wasn't good to eat, they'd just use it for bedding to pee on right? WRONG! Aparently rabbits don't know or care about the difference and will eat bad hay either way. The musty smell, the dust, and the dry white patches I found upon closer inspection today... That would be mold. Toxic mold. I lost three rabbits today because I fed them bad hay. I am heartbroken.
While I was doing this, #5 (who hates to be alone) came out to the yard, only to throw up yet again, and then head back into the house. When I was done and had cleaned up, I found him, asleep on the floor in his bedroom. I asked him if he would like to go cuddle (his absolute favorite thing when he's not feeling well). By then I was literally dripping with sweat, the house was nearly 80-degrees, and I had every available fan in the house turned on high. He came to my room and we laid down on the bed sideways, neither one of us touching the other, because honestly it was just too hot. He fell asleep again until Tony called on his break. #5 woke up, said he felt better, but then threw up all over himself and his sleeping bag (which was beside my bed). Guess we needed to wash laundry anyway.
Once the kids got home from school and could watch #5 (who was feeling better by about 3:30), I went out to start pulling all of the hay out of all of the cages, and doing routine maintenance (scooping poop from under cages, checking water dishes for leaks, etc.). I must have doubled the compost heap. I did eventually get out to the hay bale to pull fresh hay from the clean south side of the bale. I still have more cleaning to do tomorrow, but again I was dripping in sweat and my back started to ache. I had to call it a night.
So tonight we have bunny feet in the dehydrator to become cat and dog treats, and tails soaking in alcohol to preserve them. I'm certain they didn't die from any kind of illness, so there's no sense in completely wasting their lives due to my mistake. A lesson learned the hard way. Please don't trust hay that smells "off" and certainly don't give it to your rabbit if it has white mold spots - even if the hay is dry now! It's not worth losing your rabbit!
The clover growing in the north fields have attracted several of these little orange butterflies. I believe they are Painted Lady butterflies. Perhaps they're moving through on migration. I didn't notice them in such profusion earlier in the summer. They are pretty little things. Oddly enough, while the ducks love to catch bugs and things in the grass, they don't seem to bother these butterflies (at least not that I've seen). They're welcome in our space. Their favorite food is thistle, and we do have that in the fields. They're welcome to it. Eat up butterflies and caterpillars!