Drstratton - My Backyard Journey Journal

drstratton

True BYH Addict
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
520
Reaction score
2,090
Points
243
Location
Eastern WA - USA
We took a little trip to celebrate our retirement, so I've been offline and will be slowly trying to catch up with everyone's threads...:) We went to Mt Rainier and the weather was absolutely perfect...it was so beautiful and relaxing...except for one small detail! My husband mentions to me that Daphne our NZ doe was acting strange just before we left...digging in her enclosed pen area and carrying hay in her mouth and placing it in that area and pulling fur...I just looked at him and asked why he didn't tell me that before we left! I told him she must be pregnant...it's our fault...we took to long to get the other hutch ready for the buck and other doe! I called my son and asked him to please place a box into her cage...that was on Tuesday...still no baby bunnies today...I'm hoping that she is having a false pregnancy...but I will give her a few more days! We built an actual nesting box when we got home from our trip yesterday and I moved all of the nesting material into it. I placed my hand on her stomach, but didn't feel anything different...but I am very inexperienced at this...anyway, I'm hoping she's not pregnant yet...she's still so young, I was planning on waiting until she was about 5 months before breeding her to give her more time to grow...we read that it can affect her growth if she has kits to early. Some people say to breed at 4 months and others say to wait until 6 months...I decided to split the difference and chose 5 months. I'm a little excited to have baby bunnies, but for her sake...I hope it's a false pregnancy.

The new nesting box...the fur and hay is still pretty much how I placed it, hopefully we will know for sure in a few more days!
Daphne & New Nesting Box 6.26.2020.jpg

She decided to jump in and check it out while I was watching her!
Daphne in New Nesting Box 6.26.2020.jpg


A beautiful view of Mt Rainier...the weather was perfect! We hiked several trails and my body is still sore...I really need to get out more...lol!
Mt Rainier 6.23.2020.jpg
 

drstratton

True BYH Addict
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
520
Reaction score
2,090
Points
243
Location
Eastern WA - USA
Retirement is good. Why didn't we do this first? LOL LOL

Sounds like a nice get away trip, a good way to celebrate retirement. Congrats to your husband and you, this will be a new chapter in your lives.
Thank you!💞 I agree...that kind of goes along with eat dessert first...why don't we do it...life is to short not to! 😂
 

drstratton

True BYH Addict
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
520
Reaction score
2,090
Points
243
Location
Eastern WA - USA
If you do have Bunnies ? Please post pictures once they are out of the nest. They will be so darn adorable. :love:bunny
I will definitely post pictures when we finally get some baby bunnies...I don't think it's going to happen right now though! I really think she is experiencing a false pregnancy, I'm relieved because I feel like I didn't mess up and my instincts were good. I was so surprised when Dale told me about the hay and fur pulling! I will leave the box in for a few more days and then remove it. She doesn't look or feel pregnant to me, but she has definitely shown several signs of being pregnant. I think she was just stressed, first we moved Buck out and then noticed that she and Chloe were fighting, so we finished up Chloe's cage and moved her...stress is the best I can figure! I want her to be a little older before we breed her...she's getting close, just not yet! :)
 

drstratton

True BYH Addict
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
520
Reaction score
2,090
Points
243
Location
Eastern WA - USA
Still no baby bunnies!

Today's project was to finally install the auto water system! Our friend that gave the Silkies to us, gave me a water barrel. He used it for his chickens, but the nipples he put in leaked, so he just quit using it. Anyway it's what we are using for our system. It will supply water to the chickens and rabbits both, I'm so excited to have fresh water for all of them, chicken waterers are nasty...lol. Dale is going to tie it into the water lines for the treeline, so that when it's running it will top off the barrel. We didn't get that part done yet as we had a huge rainstorm come through. We were completely soaked, by the time we got from the animal pens to the house! Here are some pictures!

Platform!
Water Platform 6.28.2020.jpg


Platform in place! We screwed it to the chicken pen then added the support posts!
Water Platform Supports 6.28.2020.jpg


As I shared above the barrel had water nipples in it, so we used two of the holes - One for the Rabbits and one for the chickens. That left two holes that needed to be plugged. Our son 3D printed the plugs for us! He's pretty talented!
Auto Water 3D Printed Plugs 6.28.2020.jpg


First plug in! We also need to buy a shut off valve for the rabbits water, nothing was open today!
Auto Water Plugs & Plumbing 6.28.2020.jpg


Plumbing finished except for the shutoff valve to the rabbits water nipples! The small tubing runs to the rabbit hutches and we used an old washing machine hose to connect to the chickens water bar! The second 3D plug top twisted off, so my son made a stronger one to replace it. We will put it in when it quits raining! :) The valve on the bottom left is for completely draining the barrel if needed!
Auto Water Plugs & Plumbing Finished 6.28.2020.jpg


Water Bar in Place! Now, I just have to make sure that they figure out how to use it! You can actually see my doe Daphne using her water nipple in the background!
Auto Water Pipe with Nipples 6.28.2020.jpg
 

drstratton

True BYH Addict
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
520
Reaction score
2,090
Points
243
Location
Eastern WA - USA
Happy 4th of July!!!🇺🇸🎆🎇🎆🇺🇸

We built the rest of our pipe feeders yesterday and got them put in place, I think all of them together will hold a full bag of feed or close to it anyway! These sit up off of the ground a bit, so I might have to add some blocks for the chickens to use them easier, the roosters are so big they don't have any issues, but I think it will be harder for some of the smaller hens. We are leaving the first one we built inside of the pen at ground level for the Silkies, for the most part they are at the bottom of the pecking order, so with the new feeders farther away, this should ensure that they will be able to eat without being chased away...in theory anyway! :)

Pipe Feeders 7.3.2020.jpg
 

drstratton

True BYH Addict
Joined
Mar 31, 2020
Messages
520
Reaction score
2,090
Points
243
Location
Eastern WA - USA
Looks really nice!
Thank you! I'm so glad to finally have the feeders & watering system in place, it makes it a lot easier when we go on a trip. All my son has to do is check on the animals to make sure everyone's healthy! We're actually at my youngest son's house for a couple of days. His wife had to go back to work on the first & I get to watch our grandson today. The guys went fishing! It's fun being grandma! 💞
 
Top