Chores

I was never averse to chores.  They were a part of my life from an early age; we always had to pick up our toys and put our dishes in the sink.  I was taught to do laundry and dishes at an early age so that I could help around the house.  It was a part of our daily lives and I never thought anything different.  I spent a little over an hour in the garage this afternoon doing my farm chores before heading out to my off farm job.  It isn't exciting work but it is calming.  Each cage contains a living breathing creature or several of them; all happy to receive the pellets, oats, hay and water that I am providing.  Once the food dishes are filled, the munching is soothing while I work on treating the various ailments afflicting some of our charges.  Our oldest, most stately buck came to us with ear mites.  He gets treated with drops of mineral oil to drown the mites and clear up the wounds in his ears.

Loose stools are still a problem.  We've lost four of twenty-five adolescent rabbits who came in the same cage together.  We tried neomycin and feeding them only oats and hay, but to no avail.   Today anyone showing symptoms was removed from the general population and placed in quarantine.  Cages were disinfected and hopefully the remaining rabbits will stay healthy.  Everyone who is not scheduled for the processor in the next two weeks received treated water today as a preventative measure.

The blocked scent gland in one of the bucks has cleared up nicely after being treated with hydrogen peroxide.  DH took the nest box out away from the litter that is now three weeks old.  We let them keep it a few days longer than the book advises since the weather was cooler this week.  They are adorable little fur balls who don't travel far from Momma.  Next week we will breed two more does so that our litters will start coming two weeks apart to ensure a steady supply of meat for the processor.  DH keeps reminding me not to get attached to our new charges, but the fuzzy little critters are hard not to snuggle every once in a while. They will remain outside, if they come into the house I know they will never leave.

Days off this week will include modifying the waste catchers between the two levels of cages so the waste will naturally fall to the back of the cages and down to the floor of the garage and disinfecting a few more cages to separate growing rabbits.  DH and I think we have found a less expensive solution for rabbit housing than the original shed we had hoped to build.  Perhaps a trip to the lumber yard will be included in my days-off travels.

April 1st is here and we have not made any progress on the greenhouse - I foresee a couple of late nights coming soon if we are going to stay on track for the summer.