After a mild start to winter, it is really winter! Way too cold for me! They say we'll be lucky to see above freezing for the next week or more. I hate being cold.
There were 6 buns outside in the summer house, and so far they seemed ok with it. Some mornings I had to thaw their water bottles, but they would just be partially frozen when the temps went down in the wee hours. I hauled a bucket of hot water to soak them free.
Yesterday, I took a day trip to Nashville to get canaries, and didn't get back until after dark. It never got to the freezing mark all day and was about 20F when I got home. I worried about those 6 buns all day, and by the time I got home, made the decision to move them into the shed. I had thawed their bottles before I left that morning, but knew they'd only get one drink before they froze again. I can't be thawing bottles several times a day!
So there I was, rushing in the dark and cold evening, setting up holes for them, carrying them in 2 at a time. The bottles were frozen solid so I had to bring them in the house to thaw them thoroughly.
I'm glad I don't have any litters due right now. Have to run both heaters to keep all the water unfrozen when it's this cold. Right now it's about 12F as the sun comes up. Some of those 6 are sold and leaving later this month, but I hoped they'd be ok out there until then. Not when it's to be this cold for this long.
Ugh. Between the house and running both heaters, the electric bill is going to kill me! Just can't count on a mild southern winter!
I did get 1 baby out of the dues last week. 1. Better than none. Sweet Dream x Ford's Ranger had 2 but one was DOA. The survivor is a beautifully broken black and yes... the box is in the house. Dream is a good doe and hops right in to tend to it while I do chores. I take it back in the house when she's done. Even during the day, a singleton could die of exposure. The other 2 does in this round were failures.
I have quite a few due starting around the 8th. Hope the weather gets better then.
There was a show yesterday in Taylorsville, but I passed on it. The weather was too iffy for a morning drive over the mts. That is one of my closest shows, and don't like to do motels if I don't have to. There are 2 more this month and I have to make those so I'm saving motel funds for those.
Oh yeah...about the canaries. I love singers and learned that males sing more as they compete with each other. Canary breeders are very scarce. I have one in the big community finch cage. I came home with 2 males and 1 female. I'm going to try breeding them myself. It doesn't seem to be too hard. If successful, I might try to market them locally, but mostly I want to keep myself in canaries so I don't have to drive so far to find them.
Keep warm.
tnt
