Chester. My boy. The one that started it all. I bought Chester as a 6 month old back in November of 2012. He was a Blue-eyed white Netherland Dwarf buck that I got along with a big black doe I called Mystery. This was my first Netherland Dwarf pair that I purchased after I decided I wanted a second breed in my rabbitry (I had Mini Rex) and after doing my research, this is the breed I settled on.
Chester was small and sweet and I loved him to pieces. He was my foundation buck. When he was about 3 years old, my whole barn started sneezing and I panicked thinking they had pastuerella, I took him to the vet for testing. The tests came back negative. I had some very dusty hay that was bothering everyone, and after replacing it, everyone stopped sneezing....everyone but Chester. He lived with this allergy for many years. I tried keeping him in a wire bottom cage. I tried not giving him hay, I tried removing the shavings from his pen. Nothing helped. He spent the last 6 years in a pen with an outdoor run, which he rarely used, but he loved sitting in the doorway with the sun shining on his face.
He used to wait until I gave his new shavings and then would "shovel" them around. For the longest time I couldn't figure why there was always so many shavings on the outside of his pen. He was shovelling them under his door. He loved getting scratches. And he tolerated the barn cat when he chose to sleep in his pen after breaking his leg, and continued to do so after he healed.
I came home from work after a long week, driving slow due to a snow storm. There was a break in the storm about half way home. When I got home, I did my usual by letting the dog out to pee and heading out to the chickens and rabbits to check their water and lock them up for the evening. Once I started to step into the pens to lock up the rabbits I noticed something white in the snow. It was Chester. I grabbed him quickly, he was warm, but his lips were blue. I rushed him into the house because I couldn't tell if he had just passed or if he needed help. Unfortunately he was already gone. Just moments before I got there. If it hadn't been for the storm, I could have been there to say goodbye. But it just wasn't meant to be.
You will be sorely missed, my boy. Rest in Peace, Chester.
May 27, 2012 - January 20, 2023
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