Oh Just Can It

Winter watering for the bunnies - yeah, not my favorite activity.  I can't wear gloves (my fingers need each other to stay warm), mittens are too cumbersome, so I have to bare hand it.  And water bottles freeze.  A heated watering system is out of the question, too expensive to run, plus I have other concerns (if the bunny at the beginning of the line gets sick, do the germs travel the rest of the line, possibly infecting the others?  And how do I tell how much water each bunny is drinking?).  The nozzle on the cap will freeze before the water in the bottle does so even if the water is still water, the bunnies might not be able to drink.  So once the temps are consistently cold, I switch to cans.  Empty and cleaned out cat food cans are pretty handy for this.  If the buns don't drink it fast enough and the water starts to freeze, it does so from the outside in, meaning the center could easily still be liquid.  The smart little buns lick through the ice and get the liquid.  And if the water freezes up in the can, a few sharp raps on a hutch leg breaks it up so I can refill it. The downside: an extra trip outside to refill cans, so extra time spent outside freezing my buns off!  But today, outside temps are warm enough that I thawed the bottles this morning, so the bunnies can have access to water all day and into evening some time.  Thawing the bottles involves bringing two gallons of hot water out to the rabbitry, opening each bottle, pouring the tiniest bit into the nozzle to jog out that clump of ice, then pouring hot water into the big clump of ice in the bottle.  I usually end up with water on my hands and often enough with it spilling down the front of my jacket onto my pants.  Yeah, that feels good.  But look at those little faces!!  So worth it.    And then there is this.  Wet felted mittens with pure angora lining the inside, merino and angora for the outside.   Yummy!  Custom fit.  Want to learn how?  I am available for workshops!

Comments

[enjay]

Hello Ms Wollybuns! It's nice to see you back from break :)
We're contemplating purchasing a few rabbits next fall, so I'm curious as to why you don't bring the water bottles in when you switch to cans?
Thank you!

[Leslie Shelor]

Taking care of rabbits properly is a lot of work. I didn't use cans; instead I found some plastic tubs that when I twisted them the ice popped out. The downside was that some of the rabbits chewed on them, and those rabbits had to have metal cans. Hope things warm up enough to keep the bottles in!

[Cathy]

Always refreshing to read about the bunnies!

[Laurene]

I feel for you. Frozen bottles are a drag but thank God, spring is around the corner. That bunnie looks just like mine... beautiful!