coffeenutdesigns
Well-known member
Okay, it wasn't the rabbits fault and they probably are saying the same thing about us, but we almost died yesterday. I had found a man selling out his rabbits and cages on craigslist close to where we used to live, but it is now about a 4-5 hour drive. Because we were getting the stackable cage setup, we took the livestock trailer. Well, mostly I wanted the cages, but his 8 bunnies came with, including some Calis. My thought was that I could get the cages, assess the bunnies and sell or butcher any or all of them if I didn't like them.
We got them all strapped in the trailer in their cages, snug and comfy.
Then on the way home, about a half an hour into the trip we had a horrible car accident. We hit some kind of slick spot on a hill AND a curve and were sliding right over into the guardrail of the bridge with our front end and the trailer's back end. We both just knew we were going over and going to plummet to our deaths. At some point the truck and trailer flipped onto their sides (passenger side) and slid and spiraled for an eternity it seemed like. We were wearing our seatbelts, and came out bumped and bruised but for the most part okay. When we managed to climb out the top, driver's side, window 3 other cars had already stopped and were coming to help. DH and the helpers started removing debris from the road so nobody else would come up that hill and around the curve and run into it and have another accident. I walked around to the back of the trailer expecting the worst. There was poop and pee and feed slung everywhere and the cages were hanging sideways, but other than looking dazed and disheveled, the bunnies all looked fine. PTL we were all okay....but now what to do?
Luckily, DH's parents live close enough they could come pick us up. We had to wrestle those cages out of the trailer before the wrecker turned the trailer over, pretty much mangling the frame and shaking up the poor things even more, but we got them out...then we had to figure out how to transport them without a trailer. DH and his dad managed to stack them in the back of the truck with no protection from the wind, but still out in the sun (but we did have some good cloud cover). Most of the water bottles were busted. The bag of feed was totally intact, lol. It was in the middle of the road and about as full as what it started, go figure!?!
Well, one doe was particularly NOT HAPPY with us and peed on DH's arm OVER the urine guard while he was standing the cages up after we got her out of the trailer, lol. Guess she let him know how she really felt about the situation. I like her, already.
Those poor buns had to ride in the back of the truck for quite a way before we got back to a town. We just borrowed my FIL's truck to drive the 4 hours back home. We stopped a few times trying to get them some water, but the way they were stacked made a couple of them inaccessible and they were too stunned to drink. We had to drive another hour or so where there was a walmart and a tractor supply. We ended making some makeshift travel boxes out of rubbermaid tubs with holes cute in them (thank goodness DH had his good knife on him) we bought at walmart and then went over to TSC and bought some pine shavings and timothy hay to line the bottom of the tubs. We put the tubs in the backseat, I kept the top unlatched so I could reach back and lift the lids to make sure they had fresh cool air, because I wasn't convinced they had enough holes for ventilation. They rode fine and settle in.
Getting them home and settled was a whole other round of stuff to deal with because now we had cages with no frames, not enough water bottles or feeders (some of them were still in the trailer now at the wrecking yard) and it was too late to really buy anything. We got them set up as best we could under the circumstances, which were NOT the circumstances we planned for, in our storage building/man cave, but then had to transfer them yet again back into their cages. I am sure I put the buck and one doe back in their own original cage. The others I can't be sure about. One doe was having some issues and she kept shaking her head so I am pretty sure the wind messed with her ears while she had to ride in the back.
In conclusion...I think DH is banning me from craigslist, lol. Our bunnies have now cost us about $15,000 so it probably would have been much cheaper to just buy everything new and get some "more local" rabbits. At least we are alive, but we lost the truck and maybe the trailer in the process.
If the bunnies don't live, that will have been a completely wasted trip.
Three of the older does had been bred about a week or so ago. I am not going to hold my breath for those babies if the does do recover. After all that stress, if they had any lurking illnesses, I'm sure it will be manifesting in the next few day so I can determine how healthy my herd is if I have one at all.
It's not quite daylight, so I haven't checked them yet....letting them have as much quiet time as thy need at the moment.
I'll go get some pictures and give you an update when I get up and moving. I'm pretty stiff and sore today, so I'm pretty sure they feel beat up even worse.
We got them all strapped in the trailer in their cages, snug and comfy.
Then on the way home, about a half an hour into the trip we had a horrible car accident. We hit some kind of slick spot on a hill AND a curve and were sliding right over into the guardrail of the bridge with our front end and the trailer's back end. We both just knew we were going over and going to plummet to our deaths. At some point the truck and trailer flipped onto their sides (passenger side) and slid and spiraled for an eternity it seemed like. We were wearing our seatbelts, and came out bumped and bruised but for the most part okay. When we managed to climb out the top, driver's side, window 3 other cars had already stopped and were coming to help. DH and the helpers started removing debris from the road so nobody else would come up that hill and around the curve and run into it and have another accident. I walked around to the back of the trailer expecting the worst. There was poop and pee and feed slung everywhere and the cages were hanging sideways, but other than looking dazed and disheveled, the bunnies all looked fine. PTL we were all okay....but now what to do?
Luckily, DH's parents live close enough they could come pick us up. We had to wrestle those cages out of the trailer before the wrecker turned the trailer over, pretty much mangling the frame and shaking up the poor things even more, but we got them out...then we had to figure out how to transport them without a trailer. DH and his dad managed to stack them in the back of the truck with no protection from the wind, but still out in the sun (but we did have some good cloud cover). Most of the water bottles were busted. The bag of feed was totally intact, lol. It was in the middle of the road and about as full as what it started, go figure!?!
Well, one doe was particularly NOT HAPPY with us and peed on DH's arm OVER the urine guard while he was standing the cages up after we got her out of the trailer, lol. Guess she let him know how she really felt about the situation. I like her, already.
Those poor buns had to ride in the back of the truck for quite a way before we got back to a town. We just borrowed my FIL's truck to drive the 4 hours back home. We stopped a few times trying to get them some water, but the way they were stacked made a couple of them inaccessible and they were too stunned to drink. We had to drive another hour or so where there was a walmart and a tractor supply. We ended making some makeshift travel boxes out of rubbermaid tubs with holes cute in them (thank goodness DH had his good knife on him) we bought at walmart and then went over to TSC and bought some pine shavings and timothy hay to line the bottom of the tubs. We put the tubs in the backseat, I kept the top unlatched so I could reach back and lift the lids to make sure they had fresh cool air, because I wasn't convinced they had enough holes for ventilation. They rode fine and settle in.
Getting them home and settled was a whole other round of stuff to deal with because now we had cages with no frames, not enough water bottles or feeders (some of them were still in the trailer now at the wrecking yard) and it was too late to really buy anything. We got them set up as best we could under the circumstances, which were NOT the circumstances we planned for, in our storage building/man cave, but then had to transfer them yet again back into their cages. I am sure I put the buck and one doe back in their own original cage. The others I can't be sure about. One doe was having some issues and she kept shaking her head so I am pretty sure the wind messed with her ears while she had to ride in the back.
In conclusion...I think DH is banning me from craigslist, lol. Our bunnies have now cost us about $15,000 so it probably would have been much cheaper to just buy everything new and get some "more local" rabbits. At least we are alive, but we lost the truck and maybe the trailer in the process.
If the bunnies don't live, that will have been a completely wasted trip. Three of the older does had been bred about a week or so ago. I am not going to hold my breath for those babies if the does do recover. After all that stress, if they had any lurking illnesses, I'm sure it will be manifesting in the next few day so I can determine how healthy my herd is if I have one at all.
It's not quite daylight, so I haven't checked them yet....letting them have as much quiet time as thy need at the moment.
I'll go get some pictures and give you an update when I get up and moving. I'm pretty stiff and sore today, so I'm pretty sure they feel beat up even worse.
