… Not. Yesterday was rough, from a caretaker perspective and a migraine perspective. Once the temperature had gotten up to one that I could personally tolerate, I got help carrying 4 gallons of warm water up to the “barnyard.” Only to get up there, and discover a hawk eating a chick who’d gotten out of… Continue reading Lovely…
Everything I can do against the weather is done. Water levels for everyone are good. Food levels are good. The oldest litter is currently eating an entire J-feeder’s worth of food in one day (between them and their mother), so I provided them with a second, larger J-feeder. All the breeze I can reasonably protect… Continue reading Battened down
Last night, I verified the remaining kits of the youngest litter were well-fed, and seemed warm enough. I made the doe nurse them, to be sure. Tonight, they’re all lost. Looks like one had died before I’d checked them last night, but I didn’t find it in the dark. The other three I KNOW were… Continue reading Sigh
Between migraine and finishing up house projects, I got back up to the “barnyard” later than I had wanted. Still, got up there in daylight, for a change. Checked the water system; currently doing okay. Got everyone fed. As I was coming back down, husband came out to see the animals, too. He doesn’t go… Continue reading “Doctor, babies, oh no.”
As anyone who has paid attention to the weather reports for next week knows, next week will be brutally cold, with vicious wind chills. They’re talking -7F actual temperatures, with anywhere from -23F to -40F wind chills. What this means for a Texas-bred hothouse weed like myself, prone to storm-triggered migraines, is spending an hour… Continue reading Polar Vortex Ahoy!
Small Person asked to go up with me in the freezing cold to see “the bunnies, Momma!” So I took her up to see the rabbits, while I worked on feed/water and getting the new rabbits settled in. She went around and looked at all the babies, and then confiscated my flashlight and demanded into… Continue reading Last night was “fun”
Except these ones aren’t babies. 🙂 Meet my new Golden Palomino trio: The buck is a senior, about a year old, and the does are about 4 months old. The breeder is emailing me the pedigrees. I’ll settle on names for them once I have the paperwork (if they’re not already named). They are GORGEOUS… Continue reading More Rabbits!
My automatic water system for the rabbits — powered by a small fountain pump for winter — froze during the brief sub-zero temperatures. Where the freeze started, I’m not sure, but you can see what the end result is. One segment is completely busted. It’s irritating, because I deliberately didn’t glue a bunch of the… Continue reading After-freeze
Another bunch of kits has been born, and among them, the first loss. Given the temperatures reached -1.3F last night, I’m surprised and pleased that it was only one. Yesterday’s litter is also doing well, very cozy and warm. If anything, they’re a bit too warm, as they’re not huddled up at all. It was… Continue reading And more …
The New Zealand doe, a broken brown, had her kits today. I was actually expecting to see them tomorrow. They’re doing well, despite the 15F temperatures. They seem to be plenty warm enough without a heater. Four spots, three blacks. I won’t discount the possibility of more still in-progress. I am concerned about her however.… Continue reading Today’s Batch
