All quiet on the homefront

As winter settles in, the farm settles back into a routine. Not as many urgent issues need to be addressed, shorter days mean less time outside working and most of the animals are on auto-pilot for a while. The pigs are eating, snorting and digging around. The chickens are making nuisances of themselves. The cattle are out there, somewhere, eating grass and drinking water. The rabbits are really the only livestock that keep us hopping (ha!).

Running the log splitter

We now have three litters of Silver Fox rabbits. The more I handle these rabbits, the more I like them. They are very docile and, so far, great mothers to their litters. The first litter has been weaned and we have two more litters in nesting boxes. Maybe I'll hold back a couple does out of the next litter to keep for ourselves. Our New Zealand meat rabbits have started dropping litters too. We now have 15 working does. And when rabbits do what they do and start multiplying, we're going to have a lot of work!

While the days are a bit quieter during winter, there's always work to be done. We recently started making our own J-feeders for the rabbits and we've also started making our own water bottles for them. Huge cost savings! Hunting season is in full swing. We've had several deer to process and even a wild turkey.

Winter is also a good time for us to get ahead catch up on all our paperwork and construction. There's always one more thing for Greg to build and it's usually rabbit related. We're also trying to find time for Spring planning (I've been using a seed catalog for my Christmas wishlist.)

Even though it's a big quieter on the farm, there's still plenty happening and lots of work to be done.