Today's main project was rabbit work. Of course, that's a broad project. Even weeding the garden is a rabbit project now because we feed the weeds to the rabbits. But the rabbitry has needed rearranged since I set it up, and since we're getting into some serious production time, it's time to do that before we have 70 rabbits on our hands.
Before
It was really disorganized before. Hard to maneuver inside there without scraping yourself up on those ply wood roofs. And hard work is a hassle. I consulted farmer Sam, and he said it'd be easiest if the battery cages were in a line parallel to the main fence. Since the daily chore of feeding and watering rabbits is his, I wanted his input on this. He knows pretty well how to manage his chore every morning. Even though I can do it faster, he's good at it. I just have a little more experience managing repetitive chores on account of working in production. He's getting it figured out pretty well now.
During, with rabbit farmer Sam
First, I took down roofs and windblocks. The first Bank of battery cages got moved northwards half a meter to make sure the other bank would fit butted up. So I got that done, then set the second battery bank on the ground so I could scoot it out of the way while I moved the growout cage. It's all a spatial juggling act. After I dragged the growout cage to its place, I set up the second bank, the put the roofs and windblocks back up.
Nearly done
After
It's so much more open now. Cleaner, easier to move around in, easier to work in. I actually really enjoy it, I think I'll put a chair here. Its different hanging out with rabbits than it is hanging out with chickens, but I've actually come to enjoy it a lot.
After that, it was time to set up their waterer. The parts I bought all came in yesterday, and it went together a lot easier than I thought it would. The whole thing took under an hour with two buckets and eight drops.
We're using two buckets so there'll be plenty of water up there. I guess one would be enough, but this wasn't significantly more work, and it'll be more than enough. Now Sam's chore process will be to turn on the water, feed the buns, and turn off the water. Once they're all used to the new system, we'll be able to take out the water dishes and have a more luxurious life all around :)
I put three drops in the grow out cage, and I'll do the same if I end up adding another. The other cages got one drop apiece. Before when I had Mombun and Other Mombun on a bucket waterer, I had the nipples on the back. I had to leave a gap in their windbreak, and it was a bit more of a hassle to get back there and work on it. Now we've increased the observability and serviceability of our system. I'm proud of it, we did good work today.
On top of all that, we got half the floor ripped up in the apartment And got a load from there taken to the dump. Melissa is setting that space up for a consignment shop thing she's doing, and also as a pottery studio for the pottery wheel I got her. I'm excited to see her vision for the space.
Melissa went to her mom's after everything was done, and now I am having a couple hours to write and plan our next moves. With blog payouts getting to significant levels, I'm actually budgeting and prioritizing our projects. It's cool to see things getting so profitable nowadays. I hope I'm using the money wisely, putting it towards things that make us more resilient and sustainable. Towards that end, if anyone is interested, I recommend cross posting on both Hive and Steem. Engagement is far better on Hive, and payouts are far better on Steem. Best of both worlds.
I'm gonna go ahead and call that a wrap for this post. I need to go shower and get ready then get the animals put up before I leave. Hope y'all are having an awesome weekend.
Love from Texas
Nate 💚