Brace yourself

We put up some permanent braces along the back wall of the rabbitry yesterday just to be extra sure that the back wall will remain upright, and we took down the temporary bracing that was there for the backburrying. We should be able to hang the cages back up within the next few days. Also got chickens from a friend to help with table scraps and give us some fresh eggs.

They survived the first night! Four altogether.

Maghda guarding the chickens from atop her mound of straw.

Lots of updates!!

I hadn't realized how long it's been since an update. We've gotten a lot done in the spring. We just got a cistern behind the rabbitry, which is all backburried now, so that will mean (1) no longer hauling water out every other day for the rabbits, and (2) some temperature regulation for hot summers as well as the cold winters.We had to move the rabbits outside while this was all being done. The finishing touches are happening today, and then we will move the rabbits back inside likely tomorrow. Tom also built a doghouse for the pups. Internet is hooked up, and Tom wired the mobile home so we've got power in all the outlets!

Rabbitry Vents

We've installed two 6" vents in the rabbitry. We put a fan in one. We'll see how it goes. If it gets too hot in there during the summer we can put another fan in the other vent. Tom's wired it up to a thermostat, so the fan automatically turns on when it's above 24 degrees C and automatically shuts off when it's below 24 degrees. Neat!

Outhouse

This summer we plan on living on the property the entire time (last year we were doing days and weekends, but during the week it was nice to come back into town to have a hot shower, do laundry, sleep in our own bed, etc). We'll have at least one volunteer living there too, as well as other volunteers popping in for a day here & there.

So, we've needed to think about the bathroom situation. Tom just finished making a humanure toilet and 4ft x 4ft outhouse shed. It's basically an outhouse just instead of digging a hole (which would be a royal pain) for pee/poop to fall into, there's a bucket underneath the toilet seat. You throw a scoop of sawdust into it afterwards to prevent odour, and then once the bucket is full you throw the manure onto the base of trees.

A couple pics of the shed below. Pics of the toilet are in the previous post. 

Ok, not entirely finished. Still need to paint it and add a metal roof. Tom wants to set up rainwater collection into a small sink that we can use to wash our hands.

Ball bearing closure ensures the wind won't blow it open. There's also a lock on the inside, for when it's in use.

Humanure?

Tom built a humanure toilet today. Up until a few weeks ago, I had never heard of such a thing. We wanted to put an outhouse at the acreage so we and volunteers would have somewhere to *ahem* "go". That would involve digging a hole or having a tank that gets emptied every so often. Instead, we're going the humanure route. We'll have essentially an outhouse but instead of poop & pee just dropping down a hole, it's collected into a bucket that you scoop sawdust into every time you use it, so it doesn't stink, and then when the bucket is full you empty it at the base of trees as manure. A good reference website is here.

 Gotta love the toilet seat! Found at the Restore for super cheap!

The orange you see inside is the 5 gallon bucket. You lift the top hinged piece of wood and take the bucket out to empty when needed.

Now, we just need to build a shed to put this thing in!

It's Mellllltiiiiiing.....

The snow is melting!! :) Can't wait for the ground to dry up so we can start pounding tires! (starting in probably May, depending on how fast the ground dries out after the snow melt); anyone wanting to join the ES build is welcome! Camping on site. 

Goat update: It will likely take us a while to get some proper fencing in place for the proposed goats. The new plan is to put up some goat-proof fencing (anyone who own a goat will tell me such a thing does not exist!) and then get a goat first thing next spring.

Spring Acreage Chores

This summer will be spent pounding tires, but there are so many other chores to get through:

1. Install vents in rabbitry (we're using one vent hole for the chimney tubing of the wood stove; we'd like to add two for regular air ventilation). Put controllable fans in them too so we can speed up the ventilation process when necessary.
2. Unhang all rabbit cages, redo insulation, and rehang rabbit cages. We tried to fix the insulation late last fall, but it seems we need to do a better job. Condensation is pooling in a few areas.
3. Possibly move the camper to a different spot on the property. Why? well......
4. Put up some posts and goat fencing. EEEkkk! Super excited about this! Last year we had weeds and all sorts of shrubs and grass growing like crazy. Our little push mower couldn't handle it. Tom had to buy a Scythe to deal with it (well, he didn't have to, but he had fun playing around with it). This year we're toying with the idea of getting two small (e.g. Pygmy) goats to keep everything at bay. The camper would be in the way, depending on how we do the fencing. 
5. Cob the rabbitry exterior. This can be done when we're too exhausted to pound tires.
6. Install a laundry line.
7. Install an internet pole. Right now we just have internet in the camper, and sometimes it's a little sketchy on cloudy days. It's through radio waves since we're "out in the boonies". An internet pole would mean more consistent internet.