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Warning: this post discusses rabbit procreation. Reader discretion is advised.
So, both the New Zealand does (Ava and Loretta) were not pregnant after the first attempt to breed them about a month ago. There were several possible reasons it wasn’t successful, but the most likely one is that the bucks didn’t exactly know what they were doing. In fairness, the does may have had a part in that, too.
It snowed today. Everything is wearing a soft, lovely white coat. All the hard edges of the landscape have been softened. The snow muffles most noises, and few cars have been on the road. It’s a good day to watch the snow fall, and the birds mill around the feeders. The cardinals are bright splashes of crimson on the white background. A Northern Flicker, with its signature reddish-orange head, is busily working at the feeder. Continue reading “Can You Identify This Snowprint?”
It’s cold out there today. Cold enough to numb your hands and face. It even snowed a little in the afternoon. It’s supposed to get into the single digits tonight, so we did the “cold weather routine”, including warm water for the chickens in their coop; deep straw in the ducks’ coop; warm water and extra hay for the rabbits outside.
Both of the NZ does are indoors tonight because tomorrow is (according to the calendar) kindling day…if they’re pregnant. There are promising signs, but these two would be first-time mothers, so may not know exactly what to do with the nest boxes we put in their kindling cages. They come from a line that has large litters – their litter had 11, and all survived, so we hope they’ll be as successful in raising their own kits. We’ll check on them tomorrow to see if there are any new arrivals.
It was a cold and blustery morning…as in a biting wind that froze water (and exposed skin) without pity. The bitter wind blew the powdery snow around. We had already planned to move the rabbits indoors for the worst of winter, but the Minnesota-like wind chill sped that timeline up. And as far as the Minnesota reference, we do know of what we speak!
The unexpected depth of the cold merited immediate action. Armed with a really crappy staple gun and the only plastic we had on hand, we set about – before breakfast – closing off part of the rabbit tractors to block the wind. The wind made the job challenging, and it rapidly became painfully cold. We limped along with the substandard staple gun, half frozen, closing off one end of the tractors. That helped a bit, but the water bottles were solidly frozen (the metal “spouts” are really the bottles’ Achilles heel) and even though we brought out heavy porcelain chili bowls and filled them with warm water, the water still froze quickly. We filled up the bins (shelters) in the tractors with straw for warmth, gave them some cabbage and kale for treats, and made a shopping list. It was time to weatherize the tractors.
Temps were in the mid-50s today – too warm for this time of year. On the one hand, it means the rabbits’ water bottles aren’t frozen and they’re not eating “grassicles”. On the other, it means lots and lots of mud. The ground is solid when it’s frozen; once it thaws, it turns into a sloppy, slippery mess. Continue reading “If You Like Mud, These Are Good Times”
Because of the unseasonably warm weather we’ve had up to this point, we’ve been able to keep the rabbits on pasture – something both we and they have enjoyed. The rabbits, four New Zealands and a Silver Fox, enjoy fresh air, sunshine, and all the grass/leaves/weeds they can reach in the three “tractors” (portable shelters similar to a chicken tractor) that we built last year.
Continue reading “This Tractor’s Not A Deere – And It’s For Rabbits”