First really cold day for me as a bun owner!

[sommrluv]

It was a little below 9 last night.

It's the weirdest weather...it will be in the fifties...than bitter cold, and twenty all day today and tonight, than tomorrow it will be in the forties.

It's just around 40 in the barn. Yesterday it was the same temp and it was at least twenty degrees higher. So I'm really thrilled about the temp. We have kits in the nest box right now and I carefully took the nest apart, removed some wet hay, and tucked a burlap feed bag all along the bottom and sides. Probably overkill, but goodness it's chilly! I'm just so thrilled I had no frozen water bottles! We had purchased extra crocks back in Nov. just in case. I checked the balls of each bottle as well, no freezing.

We packed one side of the wall with all haybales and closed off the top of the staircase from the second floor. It's a dirt floor on that side so maybe that helps? It's a concrete block building with a clapboard second story.

How did everyone else fare? I think everyone is in much colder areas than myself.

 

[kotapony]

You must not be too far into PA from here (I'm half hour south of the SW corner). Your weather sounds pretty well like ours. I was whining to hubby yesterday about the cold. My water is freezing up, so this is the first I've had to break ice out of buckets and tote over hot water. My bunnies share my calf barn which is not well sealed. It keeps out drafts, but the calves need the extra ventilation. I'm hard on buckets in the winter. They'll freeze solid overnight, so I take them outside and start whaling with a rubber mallet. It's effective, and you'd be amazed how well the forti flex buckets hold up to such abuse. :lol: I don't have any young kits right now, so the herd seems to be dealing fine. My next litter is due next week, so they'll probably have to fend for themselves for the most part (I'm due next week myself). But last I looked it was supposed to be warmer again next week so I shouldn't have to worry.

 

[LilFish_JWQueen(:]

Its been really cold here lately too. Just make sure they have a lot of hay and check often for babies in case you have to bring them in the house. And make sure to check on water because they freeze...even though it aint fun to have to unfreeze them.

 

[sommrluv]

Kotapony we're actually way over in NE...about 90 minutes from Philly in Bucks County. So REALLY cold for us. I could NOT get the woodstove going at all this morning so I was a grumbler myself.

Congrats are your soon to be new addition! Is this your first?

 

[5dognightfarm]

You're warmer then we are in southern Michigan, but not much. Sounds like you're going about keeping the rabbits warm the right way though! We finally got enough straw to reinsulate the walls, we just drop bales in the walls and clean it out in the spring. It works good, but takes a lot of straw and man(woman)power!

 

[Jana15]

It was about 20oF here last night, with a killer wind! The wind chill was in the low teens. Which is REALLY abnormal for here. Normally its around 35 at night about maybe 55 in the day. I love cold weather, but this is ridiculous! I can't get anything done around here, I just want to snuggle up in the bed with a warm dog beside me. :shrug:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The weather here has been awesome since a few days before Christmas- I'm wearing a tank top and light weight shirt with 1/4 sleeves. :tease: They say we had the driest December on record. I'm beginning to wonder when winter is coming- we had snow at the end of October, and lows in the 20's early December, but that's about it. It'll probably become arctic in a couple of weeks since I have kits due.

Kotapony, you have my blessings on your upcoming birth and delivery! Lucky you! Hubs wont let me have anymore peoplepopples Have you started pulling hair yet? That's one of the first signs, ya know!

 

[sommrluv]

HAAHAHA!

 

[kotapony]

I'm wearing a tank top and light weight shirt with 1/4 sleeves. :tease:

You are just a mean, mean woman. :razz2:

Actually I can't complain too much - this is the mildest winter I can remember. It's only been a few days of this cold. Yesterday's high was 14. I believe it was 12 when I headed for the barn this morning. But it's supposed to get back up into the 40s here by the end of the week. I can live with that.

This is our second child. Our daughter is 17 months and a definite farmer in the making. She lives to feed the critters. Hubby got her a galvanized pail yesterday, and bless her heart she tried to carry a bucket of feed over for the rabbits this morning. She made a good effort, but half way across the lot she slipped and fell. She says it's hard when you're wearing boots two sizes too big (apparently no one makes rubber boots for small feet) and you're bundled up in bibs and a big coat carrying a bucket half as tall as you are. :lol: Officially I'm due the 12th, but have reached the point where he can come any time.

Hubby is convinced we need a dozen more. I keep telling him I'm done. I'm just not tough enough to chase after 2 toddlers and 100 cows while growing a third. For his part, he's at least promised to stop campaigning for number 3 till these two are out of diapers.

I haven't started pulling hair yet - I'd never heard that one. I am starting to spazz about getting everything caught up before baby comes. I'm not looking for perfection, but I would like the house picked up, the laundry caught up, and the bills caught up. I'm making progress - got all the Christmas decorations packed away today.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I haven't started pulling hair yet - I'd never heard that one.

Well, I kind of had the species mixed up... it's rabbits that pull hair before- human Mommies reserve that for after the baby comes!

You are displaying the other typical nesting behavior though- trying to get the house in order and all that. I hope you are able to get a couple weeks rest from chores after the baby comes. My midwife told me "Even if you are up and dressed, put on a bathrobe before answering the door so people wont stay too long!".

You are going to have nice spacing between your two. My eldest are 22 months apart, and they have always been good friends. No one will be able to make baby smile and laugh more than big sissy!

There is closer to 3 and a half years span before Colliepup, and the other two loved having a baby to help with. I wish I'd had one more so he had a close playmate as well- but I have been blessed with 3 beautiful children (not an EvilBunny in the litter!) and I am so thankful for that.

See if you can get Hubs or a friend to post the news and hopefully a pic of your popple when you deliver!

 

[kotapony]

I've posted before I have the subtlety level of a brick wall or I'd have gotten the hair joke. :lol: I'm really not without a sense of humor, just incredibly literal sometimes.

Just about everyone I've talked to with an odd number of kids tells me they wish they'd had one more for just the reason you say. We deliberately let this one come as he would, hoping we'd end up with two close in age. Hubby and his sister are 5 years apart and have never been close (although there's more to that than just age). Our neighbor has 2 kids who are 18 months apart, and they play great together. That's what I was hoping for with our two. With such a gap between these two and a possible third, in my head if I agree to 3 then we need to go for 4. If I was younger, maybe. I know being older and having kids is common anymore and I don't condem it. I'm just aware of my limits. I dunno. I'm 31 now so even with a gap I have some time yet. I'm just bad about over thinking things that aren't worth worrying about yet.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I was 33 with Colliepup- our issue is more that Hubs is 9 years older, and doesn't care for the idea of having kids still home in his sixties! We were going to stop with 2 (not my choice) but my littlest Monkey insisted on joining the family, and he is the most wonderful person you could ask to meet!

One is good, two is great, three is wonderful, four might be better yet, or six, or eight... it just depends on your family I think. And worrying about things that don't matter yet is more responsible than regretting poor decisions when it's too late.

Make sure you take a good sniff of "new baby head" for me, and smother the lil' guy with kisses too, pretty please!

 

[skysthelimit]

How fortunate you ladies are. I have no kids and I'm getting up there in age. I'm not sure though I could manage kids and as may animals as I have now. But maybe I could handle it better, because I'd have kids to help It's frightfully cold in Ohio today, everything is frozen, even my lightbulbs. Stopped on the way home from work and picked up more crocks. I hate bottles now. No kits yet, but thank G-d it's going to warm up this week. I won't be so worried about kits in the 40's.

I'll say a special prayer for the safe delivery.