I need some ideas. Husband is in his fifties and starting to have some back problems. When we bought our property several years back, he put his rabbits on the back edge. Nice place he thought at the time. We just didn't think at the time, but the rabbitry is about 50 yards from the house and the land is at a 30 degree slope. He has about 80 cages in a semi- inclosed pole barn structure. He has a really good grad of water hose run down the hill. In the past, when the water froze in the bottles, he just swapped them out with other bottles, and brought the frozen bottles to the house to thaw. We will have several days of this kind of weather here where the bottles will freeze, did I mention we live in North Gerogia. Any ideas on how to get the bottles to the house. It took him several trips using 5 gallon bucks the other day, and he is certainly paying the price now. He uses a back brace, but he is still miserable. Oh, the thoughtlessness of youth, we never thought that he wouldn't be able to continue this way. There is no possiblitiy of moving the rabbits either, we live on a ridge and our property is one big slope except for where the house is.

-- dee (TedandDee@msn.com), January 04, 2002

Answers

sorry, that is 5gallon buckets lol

-- dee (TedandDee@msn.com), January 04, 2002.

dee,

Do you have some type of children's sled that you could set those 5 gallon buckets on to slide it back and forth to the house.

We use our old wooden children's wagon for a bale of hay. It doesn't work in the snow, but the sled would.

Good luck, Charleen

-- Charleen in WNY (harperhill@eznet.net), January 04, 2002.

How about a wheel barrow. Or, could he pay a teenager neighbor to help him get through this spell.

-- Buddy (Buddybud@csranet.com), January 04, 2002.

Hi Dee, Boy can we relate! We have the same problem here (in our 50's - one with bad knees, one with bad back)except EVERYTHING on our homestead is up and down the mountain (30-45 degree slopes) and WAY far from the house. You can tell someone in thier 20's had to have built this place! I also would be interested in suggestions for watering any type of animals easier. Due to the distance,terraine and finances, putting in running water to the barn or chicken coop is not an option for us. Thanks for suggestions!

-- Karen (db0421@yahoo.com), January 04, 2002.

I am not 50 yet, but did throw out my back and I still had to tend to the animals. What I ended up doing was to use the riding mower to move me around the homestead. Took it everywhere. only a few hundred feet from the house to the stable but thats a long way with a sore back. Maybe that will work.

-- Gary (gws@columbus.rr.com), January 04, 2002.

Dee, I just wondered why bring the bottles anywhere? If you have electricity in the pole building, your hubby could use an old water tank, or build an insulated box, and put a heat lamp inside, or safer yet, a heat mat like you use for baby pigs. The bottles would thaw out, maybe faster than in the house.

-- Judy in IN (whileaway3@cs.com), January 04, 2002.

How about emptying the bottles out at night and refill in the morning. That's what I do with the chickens.

-- Ann Markson (tngreenacres@hotmail.com), January 04, 2002.

If you have electric in your barn you could enclose and insulate a small part of it to stick your bottles in, heat it with a cube heater or maybe even a few light bulbs, something like that might work. Good luck, Stoney

-- stoney (rwrong@yahoo.com), January 04, 2002.

Dang it Judy, you beat me to the draw. LOL

-- Stoney (rwrong@yahoo.com), January 04, 2002.

I used to pull my in my son's wagon. This winter I went and bought these black rubber water bowls from Orsheln's. If they freeze they bend and do not break and the ice comes right out!!!!! I love these. I also would load up my 5gallon buckets on the wagon.

-- Micheale from SE Kansas (mbfrye@totelcsi.net), January 04, 2002.

Dee, How about putting a small stock tank in the pole barn, fill it before it gets too cold and put a stock tank heater in it to keep the water from freezing. Then get the fortex rubber bowls(I use them for my rabbits). You can knock the ice out of the bowls and refill from the stock tank. I'm 57 and know how tough it is to keep up with everything. Of course, I haven't cut down on things yet. lol

-- Karen in Kansas (kansasgoats@iwon.com), January 04, 2002.

I too have knee problems and we have very steep hills. We got a Sears Garden tractor put a carry-all they sell on the back and it has been a real treasure. It starts every time and in the winter my husband takes off the mower part. We also have a DR Wagon and for heavy dut hauling it is great. It is hard to start at times. We want to stay here as long as possible so we are taking advantage of power equipment. Best wishes.

-- Rita in TN (felfoot@twlakes.net), January 04, 2002.

They make metal waterpans for rabbits. We use these during the winter. It doesn't matter if the water freezes in them--just bang them on a concrete block and wahlah! the ice is gone and refill. Or you can fit a sled with a cardboard box sitting in it and then put the frozen bottles in it and replace with thawed ones. I guess it all depends on financial situation.

-- (stephanie.wilkerson@experian.com), January 04, 2002.

Hi; How about a 20lb propane tank and camp stove/burner to heat a pot/kettle of water (to put water bottles in to thaw out) ? regards tradesman

-- tradesman (tradesman@noaddr.com), January 04, 2002.

IMHO, aside from hooking up electric heaters etc. you can use two pulleys with a basket to move the water bottles up and down the slope. Could be used with your five gallon buck(et), Fill at the top and ease it down, stroll to the rabbits fill the bottles, move empty bucket back to the house via the pulley system. I have been thinking about this to truck wood down the hillside. Since I can't get a vehicle to these places; pulleys and rope with a basket seems to be a good way to move stuff around. If you could afford one I guess an atv might do the trick. Hope that this works, have a good day.

-- jonathan (jonathan_sz@yahoo.com), January 04, 2002.

At a petting farm where I used to work we used a golf cart to haul water. The back of the golf cart was used as a dump cart also. Since the whole back of the golf cart is lifted to get to the motor for repairs, we would simply fill the back with anything we wanted to haul away, then when we arrived at the dumping ground would back the golf cart to the pile then open the back, effectively dumping the load. It was the smallest dump truck in existence! You may be able to get an old golf cart fairly inexpensively from a golf course or country club that is replacing their older models. Quite often, a golf cart can drive into places that a lawn tractor can't since there is no cutting blade sticking out. A word of warning, however, if you are going to move rocks or sand, be sure to mount a person or two on the front as counter weights...golf carts don't flip gently!!!

-- Sheryl in ME (radams@sacoriver.net), January 04, 2002.

I also use and swear by the rubber bowls. I know it would be an investment to get 80 bowls but they don't chew them and they last for a long time.

My property is also down a steep hill which I am making several levels to make walking up and down easier in the winter. Hopefully, we will be moving to someplace warmer before I get too old and bothered.

-- Dee (gdgtur@goes.com), January 04, 2002.

Two ideas: 1) Someone earlier on here spoke of cutting the top off the rabbit waterers so water could just be poured in without removing them. (Actually they sell them made with flaps on top.) This way your husband could just dump the ice and fill with the hose. (See idea 2.) 2) I also live on a slope and make use of it to drain my hoses each day in freezing weather. An empty hose will run water in my climate and when I have finished watering the horses I turn off the water and open a valve at the bottom of the hill and all the water in the hose runs out and it is ready for the next day. Having a predrained hose stored up in case the weather gets so cold the water starts freezing in the hose before you are finished can be good. Hoses can also be thawed in the bathtub in the warm house in times of greater desperation. Good Luck! :) Leslie

-- Leslie in MW OR (leslie@webolium.com), January 06, 2002.

Ack! I missed this post. I raise rabbits an have um, maybe a hundred or so right now, most alwayss above 50. Heres my two cents. Bottles are AWFUL. You always get your hands wet, they are heavy and freeze fast andd wont let any ice through nozzle when frozen, just an all around pain. I use heavy earthware crocks- the rabbits can lick the ice, i just run hose down the line to fill them (position them near the front of each cage). OR since you are in a slightly warmer climate than I (NC here) you can puchase/ make a good self atering system using automotive type vacume hoses and nipples- just install a 40 or so gallon drum at the end of the line and youll never haave to water again. Black line will thaw most mornings and provide water all day long duringg cold weather. Contact Klubertanz Equipment Company, INC at 1 800 237-3899 for rabbit watering systems (and free catalog filled with rabbit equipment), buy crocks at yard sales/ dollar general, buy, for g*ds sakess, dont buy them at pet shops or petsmart- they are WAY too expensive. I got rid of the bottled waterers after 1 year of owning rabbits- too much labor! Also, what kind of rabbits do you raise?

-- Kevin in NC (Vantravlrs@aol.com), January 06, 2002.

PS crocks are easy to get ice out of- no banging involved, it just falls out when the crock is flipped. But, as I stated, as long as they have acess to ice, you dont even need to dump the ice- they lick it as wild rabbits would. I still generally dump my rabbits water (ice) daily to be nice. White crocks seem to alge up easier than darker ones? Also, you found a deal if you get them for .50 cents each- even one dollar each is reasonable. Mine are a bit bigger at the top than a big coffee cup and about 2 and a half inches deep. Dont get dinky ones or ones that are light weight, the rabbits flip them too easy. I have also used, in emergencies (too many rabbits and not enough crocks), heavy glass ashtrays to some degree of sucess. Crocks also make good feeders, but baby buns like to sit in the feeders, leaving presents behind, so you have to dump them daily. I generally use the feeders that hook to side of cage- the ones with a lid are good for outdoors- makes feeding a breeze- just walk down the line and fill each feeder from the outside!

-- Me again (Vantravlrs@aol.com), January 06, 2002.

I have used the rubber water bowls, the crockery waterers and the plastic bottles with the drop tubes. The rubber bowls are easier to clean, harder to break and hold more water than the others. In icy weather I often find that the rabbits chew thru the ice to the water below before I get out to change the water for them. They cannot do this with the plastic bottles, and the crockery bowls freeze solid.

The electric line to the rabbitry with either a heated room or a heated box like an old freezer is an excellent idea. Since it is only 50 yards, a buried (or not buried) 12 guage line would carry all the power needed and would cost very little.

I am 70 years old; I do most of my walking now with a Kawasaki ATV. On a small place a riding lawn mower with the mower removed would be great; tow the little red wagon behind it to haul feed, cage material, hay, lumber, etc. Also, I believe the DR powerwagon can be had with a riding sulky. Depends on how much you want to spend.

Cheapest solution for Ted, overall, is an old freezer with a small light bulb in it, coupled with the use of rubber waterers. A 40-watt bulb in a freezer will keep things toasty. When not needed for warming waterers or water, the freezer can be used for rat-proof storage. Mac

-- Jimmy Slavic (Macrocarpus@gbronline.com), February 09, 2002.