Ducks do not seem to mind coming out in the snow like the chickens do. They just stop every so often and tuck their feet into their feathers. See that bit of orange on this drakes left side? They walk along, plop down, shake the snow off of a foot and then tuck it in.
Of course they also like to find places to escape the snow entirely.
The ducks and chickens are both still laying pretty well - about 1 egg/bird every other day. Note: Those colorful ones are the wooden Easter eggs that we use to tell them where to lay.
The cats stay outside all the time. One night it was about 10 degrees and windy and I tried to see if they wanted to come into the basement for the night. They came in to warm up and look around and then they wanted to go back out. I made these warm nest beds for them in the barn. They sleep there every night. The one on the right is just a cardboard box full of straw. The one on the left is their cage, which was also full, but the straw in not staying in as well.
They also like to hang out in the hay on the floor of the rabbit house. Here is Theodore:
And the 8 month old kitten -- Superman.
And Superman's sister -- Strawberry.
I think it is funny that our cats match. The three friendly ones are all black and white. Sapphire is as elusive as ever. We see her just often enough to know that she is still around.
When it is extra cold or windy, I close up the rabbits house on the back side. It's not as good for aeration, but that is the perfect part of hubby's design. If it starts to feel stuffy, I open it back up.
Here is the newest addition to our herd. His name is Jackson - we call him Jack Rabbit. I bought him at the rabbit show. He was in quarantine for a few weeks to make sure that he did not bring any sicknesses home from the show with him. He is the nephew of the 2015 National Champion for his breed.
He has an extremely thick coat and very even coloring. He is only 4 months old and so frisky and curious. I had a hard time getting him to stay still for his photo. He kept hopping around and then coming over to nudge my hand.
This is Dieter D. He is our main buck - the daddy of all the current litters.He is also friendly and curious.
This the runt of our last litter (below). I left him in with Alice so that he could try to bulk up (nurse longer). I will need to cull him unless someone wants him for a pet. Sad.
I like to give the does dry oats as treat and so they have plenty of milk for their kits. Alice (and Scarlett our other doe) were bred again on the same day this time. We should have 2 more litters of kits on Jan 29th.
This is Miss Scarlett (below). She has had trouble learning to make her nest and have her kits in the nest box. She has lost two litters now. We are going to try a different kind of nest box this time and see if she likes it better. She is small for a doe and more bony. I give her a vegetable treat every day to try to help her bulk up.
The hardest part about rabbits in winter is these water bottles. They freeze and I have to bring them all in to thaw and refill. At least they snap in easily and are not too hard to fill.
Here are the other two kits from Alice's litter. They are about 10 weeks old now. I will see how these 2 bucks grow and hope to sell them for breeding -- since the chocolates are still very rare.
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