Ideas for the New Year

Comfortable temps for bunnies and humans.

Feed scoop made out of a laundry soap container.

Feed bucket and measuring cups from the dollar store.

Rolling oil filled heater.

Sorry, I couldn't get the heater photo to go in the right direction but you get the idea. Winterizing your animals is a much for their comfort as for yours. There is nothing worse then trying to defrost frozen water bottles in 20 degree weather. Many years ago, I was searching for a safe heater that would just take the chill off of the rabbitry and found these oil filled rolling heaters that are temperature controlled. I started using these and they kept the barn just warm enough so most times nothing froze. Now that I have moved the rabbits to a new location, I again was using the heaters in a smaller but less insulated area. They work great as you can see by the thermometer, inside 40* outside 20*. Very comfortable for everyone. They sell these heater everywhere now, Home Depot, Loews and Wal-mart for between $35-60. Well worth the expense in my opinion. I keep mine on low so they use very little power. Just keep them clean of wool and hay, center them in the middle of the rabbits and away from hay bales, spraying bucks or fabric. You never want to use a heater with an open heating element around livestock as there is such a big chance of fire.

If you want to change out frozen bottles, one idea a friend of mine does is to have 2 sets of bottles with the rabbits name written on with sharpy marker. When you replace the frozen ones with fresh ones, run the frozen ones through the empty dishwasher with no detergent. Defrosted bottles every time.

I am a big believer in recycling things and have used these laundry bottles with the tops cut off for feed scoops for many years. They last forever and can even go through the dish washer when dirty. Cut off the top section, but leave on the handle, with a sharp knife and wash out very, very well. The other thing that I found just recently were these small black buckets from the dollar store. They have handles and hold enough feed to fill a whole row of bowls. The measuring cups are also from the dollar store. I use them to measure out food to make sure I can see that everyone is eating well. Just some ideas of mine to start out the new year with.