It MUST be Spring, the calendar says so

[3mina]

Well, the calendar lies...I woke up to 4 inches of snow this morning. When I went to bed the grass (brown) was completely visible, now it's covered in snow the consistency of wet potato flakes :sleighride: I'm very glad it wasn't quite warm enough to have the sunroof open yesterday since I often forget to close it

Of course, the most definitive proof that spring has arrived is in the nestboxes and I'm happy to say I had two litters arrive in the past 24 hours. Both litters are very colourful, one is a tri/tri breeding and the other is a red/opal. The tri litter is bursting with patterns and I have 10 very evenly sized kits in my basement. The red/opal litter is a rainbow with, I think, about half being selfs -black, chocolate, lilac and half(ish) being possibly red, opal, possibly lilac otter. So half and half, self and agouti(ish). I didn't wish to mess with these guys too much since they're in the rabbitry and it was chilly and windy today. I'm extremely pleased with my red doe, she lost her first litter last year just before fall and she built an awesome nest and all eight came through the below freezing temps last night with flying colours.

I have a first timer due tonight, my broken black otter and it looks like my one otter doe didn't take so she'll be heading into the rabbitry this weekend for a date and to free up the quarantine cages in the basement. The tri buck will be outward bound as well.

Hmm, better set up the rest of the cages first maybe :? I only got the small stackers and a half dozen regular cages set up last fall, time to finish the job though. Space just became a premium *sigh*

 

[akane]

Don't say the s word. I am hoping it just rains this weekend but I should go mulch the things that are popping out of the soil this early. Maybe this summer will stay cool. We can dream.

 

[Susie570]

We're actually supposed to have a nice day today and I'm so looking forward to it!!!

Congrats on what sounds like lovely litters

 

[Rainey]

It felt like spring here a couple weeks ago when the sap started to run and the first doe kindled. Then the kits all died (scattered in the nest box) and the sap stopped running and it's snowing again today. Snow was still a foot or more deep anyway. Next week when we get our first chicks and the following week when the next doe is due, I'm hoping the snow will have stopped and we'll be making more syrup and it will feel like spring again.
The longer it waits to start, the more jobs pile up together.

 

[coyotejoe]

We've had a couple of weeks of springtime here in northern Montana. There is snow in the forecast for next week but I'm confident the forecast will change before then. If it does snow it will just add water to the soil and not run off into the river so that is not a bad thing at all.

 

[Miss M]

It's hit the 80s here, and will be fluctuating between the 70s and 80s for a couple of weeks. Then it will probably hit the 90s and never look back until November. :razz2:

 

[MaggieJ]

It's hit the 80s here, and will be fluctuating between the 70s and 80s for a couple of weeks. Then it will probably hit the 90s and never look back until November. :razz2:

Wow, better you than me, Miss M! I could not cope with months of heat like that. Winter here is not a joy :snowing: but I can handle it better than I can the heat. :happysun: I guess it's all what you're used to.

 

[Miss M]

I can handle cold better than heat, but I might change my mind if I had your winter.

 

[wamplercathy]

:happysun: :wr_sun: Give me sun and a beach any day. The best I get in MO is a pound that says beach. :lol: I'm hoping that "s" stuff is done. :lol: :lol:

 

[MaggieJ]

Actually, Miss M., Prince Edward County, Ontario is a bit of a banana belt. Our "cold" is not as cold as a lot of adjoining areas and our snowfall is usually moderate. Just 15-20 minutes north of us, they get both more cold and more snow. PEC is entirely surrounded by water-- Lake Ontario on three sides, plus the Bay of Quinte on the north... so our climate is moderated by all that water both in winter and summer. We are blessed.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Prince_Edw ... y,_Ontario

 

[Miss M]

Sounds awesome... any places for sale that can settle before summer? :lol:

 

[MaggieJ]

Hey, check it out, Miss M!!! I'd love to have you as a neighbour. Lots of real estate for sale, but I have no idea what the job prospects are like up this way... and you'd have to get used to our "socialistic" tendencies.

 

[akane]

I didn't get stuff mulched. I was too tired from trying to get the house and animal cages clean and people needing to show up too early. After 4hrs of sleep and 48hrs of cleaning through my back pain the freaking bulbs that weren't planted by me anyway can fend for themselves. Garlic, I have faith in you to still be alive tomorrow.

 

[Susie570]

Hey, check it out, Miss M!!! I'd love to have you as a neighbour. Lots of real estate for sale, but I have no idea what the job prospects are like up this way... and you'd have to get used to our "socialistic" tendencies.

Sounds like a little piece of heaven to me.

 

[JenerationX]

Snow is a 4 letter word for a reason.

 

[wamplercathy]

I didn't get stuff mulched. I was too tired from trying to get the house and animal cages clean and people needing to show up too early. After 4hrs of sleep and 48hrs of cleaning through my back pain the freaking bulbs that weren't planted by me anyway can fend for themselves. Garlic, I have faith in you to still be alive tomorrow.

I know what you mean. Did 4 loads of laundry yesterday and then my brother just showed up at my place and next thing I know we're having a party. :x Now we have a BBQ for today that sprung out of an idea from a drunken fool. :lol: Brothers, ??? :x So I'm just doing light cleaning and will do the heavy stuff after tonight. Why do super clean when it's just going to get trashed half an hour after everyone gets here. :lol: :lol:

 

[Miss M]

Hey, check it out, Miss M!!! I'd love to have you as a neighbour. Lots of real estate for sale, but I have no idea what the job prospects are like up this way... and you'd have to get used to our "socialistic" tendencies.

:lol: Yeah, the government up there would drive me a bit nuts... though I have to wonder if we've actually passed you up in that department yet. :hmm:

 

[Random Rabbit]

Snow is a 4 letter word for a reason.

Yup...... as is Cold....... started at 12 degrees this morning.....

i looked thru my "Homestead Diaries" this morning... so far we are Way off from previous years especially in the temperature department.

We are starting to believe that "Spring" is only a myth......

 

[3mina]

The surest sign of spring yet, bunny pee in your pockets :x
I was moving the kits into a box with higher sides so I put them in my jacket pocket while I shifted the nest, it took me a minute to figure out why my pocket was so warm when I moved them back into their nest

Well, the 'outdoor' litter is thriving They're nicely furred out and its easy to tell colours today.
It looks like a black, chocolate, a couple of blues, a couple of opals and a couple of lynx.

Interesting litter but nothing helpful in my breeding program. I'd bred the pair to get the season started, the buck I'm planning her next litter with was still in the basement. I won't get tris but I will get ej carriers I can breed back.

The tri doe that gave me the big litter didn't feed them :evil: I lost eight of ten and the only reason I didn't lose them all was my favourite otter doe had a singleton litter and I'd given her five of them but three were too far gone. I have a white and a harle left. I also bred the otter back immediately since three kits isn't going drain her resources. Her breeder mentioned she may carry ej so I bred her to the tri buck just to see what I get. The tri doe is going to have a date with my new castor buck, I want more agouti based tris since both the ones I have now are self based and while I have a use for torted tris I'm not necessarily certain I can tell them from self tris in the beginning.