Do we have the right to eat our own food?

I'm going to look into this a bit more, but here's what someone posted on a local group.
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Wisconsin Judge Denies Basic Property Rights and Food Choice
October 4, 2011 by biodynamicsbda

In a striking setback for property rights and consumer choice, a
Wisconsin judge issued an order on September 9 that owners of
cows do not have a fundamental right to consume milk from their
own cows. The order was issued by Dane County Circuit Court
Judge Patrick J. Fielder in response to a motion to clarify an
August 12 ruling denying a motion by the Zinniker Family Farm,
Nourished by Nature LLC (NbN), NbN members Robert Karp and
Gayle Loiselle, and the Farm-to-Consumer Legal Defense Fund
<http://www.farmtoconsumer.org/> for a judgment that the
boarding agreement was in compliance with Wisconsin law.

Under the agreement between the Zinnikers and NbN, dairy cows
owned by NbN as an LLC were boarded at the Zinniker Farm. The
cows were owned by the LLC rather than by the Zinnikers, who
simply executed a services contract to board, care for, and milk
the cows for their owners.

Clarifying his original ruling that the plaintiffs did not have a
fundamental right to possess, use, and enjoy their property,
Judge Fielder explained clearly that there are no fundamental
rights to own and use a dairy cow or dairy herd, to consume the
milk from one’s own cows, to board one’s cow at a
farm, or to consume the food of one’s choice. In
addition, Judge Fielder stated that the private contract between
the Zinnikers and NbN falls within the scope of the
State’s police power, that the government has the power
to regulate the private conduct of growing and consuming food.

Bunny Condo Design

In designing our bunny condos, we decided to make a list of considerations. Maybe these will help you, too, if you decide to build your own.

1. Shelter from wind and rain: New Zealand and Californian breeds- the two kinds we have- are cold-tolerant creatures, and are fine with temps down to 20 below zero. They can't stand wind or getting wet, though- they will get sick and die. Colorado is a windy place. Since we've lived in our current home for a couple of years, we were familiar enough with the storm patterns and wind gusts to know they needed solid walls on the north and west sides of them.

2. Exposure to sun in the summertime: These same rabbits that can tolerate the cold cannot tolerate the heat above 90 degrees F. It goes above 90 frequently in the summer, so we needed to figure out how to shade and cool them. We placed the condos at a spot in the back that maximizes their shade from the tree foliage in the summer, and I am building a raised garden bed in front of them where I'll plant thick, tall-growing edibles to further shade them. By tilting the roof, the heat can escape, and we have vents at the top. The burrows provide a stable temperature underground as well, which they take advantage of sometimes.

 Compare this shot of early construction this past spring to the last shot here of mid summer. Big change!

We were thrilled beyond words when we completed the first bunny condo. There was such a sense of accomplishment. Using the space for living things made our yard feel healthy, purposeful.

My first construction project!

Thank goodness we don't have a rooster

This is nothing short of awful. This rooster wouldn't last one week at our house- he'd end up in a cooking pot! I had to watch it twice to believe it really crowed like this.


Cock-a-DOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOOO

Oh my.

Foundational design

We decided to try to give our rabbits something closer to a natural life. This meant providing ground-level dwellings, so they could dig, hide, and be more... rabbity. My father-in-law felt we should provide the burrows for the rabbits, rather than making them dig. Kris thought they could do their own digging. In the end, we decided to try one side with a burrow, one without, and see what the rabbits were inclined to do.

To let a rabbit live outside, on the ground, one must accept that the rabbit will dig. And one must assume that raccoons and other predators will also dig. So we decided to beat them to it. We dug down two feet and laid a reinforced wire the whole way around, and placed cement tubes in the corners to hold the posts for the building.  In the process, we dug out one side enough for me to construct a burrow using cement roofing tiles and rocks. Then we back-filled.

In these pictures, we've already back-filled quite a bit to hold the cement tubes in place. The wire drops down much further than you can see. The burrow tiles are also all buried already, except for the one over the earthen ramp/entry.

The dimensions of the individual dwellings were dictated in part by the size of the fencing we scavenged to use as our roof, and in part by reading what housing sizes are considered standard:  rabbits in cages about 6 square feet, 18 inches high. That's only 2'x3'. We decided that was way too small, and ours have about 16 square feet, plus whatever they've carved out underground (which is impressive- they ended up personalizing the burrows, adding second rooms on!). So far, none have collapsed, but one has an involuntary skylight (you'll see later).