As the New Year rolls in, the snow melts and the daffodiles push out of the soil I as usual begin to think about the changes and alterations I hope to do this year.
Firstly, I want to bleach all the water systems and feeders and do a good cleaning of the cages after not having running water to the barns for about two months now. I am sooooo glad I am not hauling water by the bucket to fill little jars two to three times a day. I love my rabbits but I couldn't do this for too much longer. My old bones are not so resilent.
I will be filling in under the cages with a good layer of sand. The many, many cleanings since last fall have hollowed out the soil from under the cages making it harder to clean. The truck is tuned up and ready to go for the upcoming farm work! I also want to get a fresh load of pea gravel for all the walkways.
My biggest problem last year was inadequate growing cages for my fryers and newly weaned animals. I am hoping to aquire at least three stackers (12 holes) if not five stackers (20 holes) to use to grow out young stock. To make room for these new cages I will be either eliminating eight adult size cages or putting the three runs of adult cages into hutches and move them to my outside enclosure. I have so many nice seniors it will be hard to thin down the breeders. I have played with the thought of reducing my Californian herd to four or five AND to reduce the number of Mini lop bucks by six. This would help out with making room for my new herd of Silver Martens and keeping some nice replacement animals in all breeds.
My small barn needs a new roof soon. I have all the materials but I need to reconstruct the roof slope and call my roofer guy to torch on the new material. The heavy duty tarp worked well and withstood the winter winds but it was just a temporary fix.
I am also re-wiring the lights and circuits to the barns. One of the barns is becoming a woodshop so it needs a sub-panel and extra circuits. I am also wanting to make sure all the lights are energy efficient. All these alterations will keep me busy this spring and before I plan on any more projects I first want to finish all these..... I also have a large vegetable garden, fruit trees, some new landscaping projects and house renos to keep me out of trouble this year. Hmmmm. Who said retirement was relaxing! Good luck to all my fellow rabbit breeders on all their 2008 projects.
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