How do you know it’s officially winter? Here at the “tree”, it’s officially winter when I have to bring the water bottles in to defrost at night. I think the buns actually like this, as they get their water in a bowl, which they much prefer. Then the bottles go out in the morning, nice and warm, and the cycle repeats.
Angora rabbit fur is 7 times warmer than sheep’s wool, so they stay pretty warm. The back and sides of the cages are covered with tarps, so they have little caves. In the bitterest of cold, I drape a tarp or quilt across the front of the cages at night, and they stay toasty warm.
Anyone who gets a haircut in the winter gets a little jacket until the fur grows back to about an inch long, or until they chew the jacket off. Not a fancy jacket, it’s the equivalent of a sweatshirt sleeve with holes cut out for their front feet.
So the water bottles didn’t actually freeze solid today, more like slush, but too solid to drink. They are defrosting inside and the buns are joyously slurping warm water from their bowls outside. Brrrrr!
