Boy has things been busy around here. We are getting ready for winter. I'm glad we're still having some really nice days. Good working days. We've been cutting wood, making sure the cars are ready for the snow and ice, and we've been getting the animals ready for the cold.
Today I started feeding the rabbits hay. I start out with a little at a time so that it doesn't mess with their stomachs. At first, the hay scared them. Only one of my rabbits have ever had hay before. Then slowly, they started to nibble on a little. Then, it was like someone had given them candy. They loved it! Giving the rabbits good hay will cut our feed bill more than half. Plus come winter, I use hay to line their cages so that they can make little holes to get in to protect themselves from the wind. The rabbits are outside, up against the old house. This helps with some wind but not all of it. The hay will help them with the rest. Their cages have roofs on them so I don't have to worry about the rain and snow.
After a few days, I'll clean out any hay that's left. There is usually poop on it and it needs cleaned out. But as soon as I clean it out, I put a bunch back in. The rabbits love this set up. It's more like their natural habitat. We have thought about doing cages on the ground, but with our predator problem around here, not to mention all of the cats, our rabbits wouldn't last any time at all. So I figured this was as close as we can get. It seems to work for them.
We have finally started chopping wood for winter. I know, I know, we are REALLY late. We have some trees down on our fences and we are going to use them before we go looking somewhere else. We are friends with a few loggers, hopefully we can use some of the tops and butt cuts from the trees they down. The wood may be green, but it's better than no wood. The green wood will be mixed in with good seasoned wood that we have. It should be fine to burn. I think we will be okay this winter. Everyone talks about a bad winter. I'll believe it when I see it. I don't put much faith in the prediction. I just get ready for a bad winter and if it happens it happens.
I'm still kicking around what to do with the farm. Still thinking about getting sheep. I probably will, but it won't be until next year. I want to make sure we have a place made for them. Good fencing and good shelter. I don't want to just jump into them. I want to make sure I'm getting the right breed for what I'm wanting, plus I want to make sure I'm set up for it. I have a habit of just deciding that I want something then jumping right into it. Then after that, I regret not being prepared.
I have some other things that may be going on here on the farm. I want to make sure everything is going to work out before I tell you all. Only a few people know, but a lot of people could be involved. More to come on the later.
So until next time,
Small Farm Girl, Making the farm better
6 comments:
What a busy time you're having - hard work but it sounds you've achieved a lot. Are you looking to farm sheep or are they for your own self suffiency?
Freerangegirl, I'm wanting the wool so that I can spin it. Maybe later I'll start to sell some, but right now it's mostly for me to spin and make things out of it.
Lovely - you should definitely do it x
Here I thought we were the only ones not prepared for this winter. We just started firewood last week, glad to see we are not alone!
Somehow, after the busy harvest and preservation season, I think autumn will slow down a bit. Not so! It seems just as busy as ever. I used to have rabbits and would stuff their cages for winter. They loved it!
Wise planning about getting sheep too. So often folks jump in too quickly and end up over their heads. Winter is a good time to research and prepare for new critters, isn't it?
I would love to see a pic of the rabbits. I think I will put rabbits on my "next year" list. They are hard to take care of in the winter though.
Post a Comment