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Rescues/Sanctuaries- How long does it take you daily to get everything done?

A

Ambience

Warren Veteran
It's taking me about 6-8 hours min per day to get all the bunnies cleaned, fed, watered, medicated, cared for. I don't have that many rabbits compared to some rescues.

How long does it take you to get the days tasks done and what tricks and tips do you have that i could follow to get things done quicker :)

Thanks alot.
 
Takes me half an hour to feed in the morning, then about an hour in the evening to feed and clean the outdoor buns, and about the same to feed and clean the indoor buns, plus about half an hour per day for meds (much more if we have a stasis bun or handrearing babies)...so thats about 3 hours per day divided by 28 buns

Which is only about 7 minutes per rabbit (if my maths are right!)...which is pretty good going :)

I do spend a lot longer on them at weekends though...thorough cleaning, nail trims, grooming, etc.
 
Between Mike and myself it takes about 14 hours to get round all the animals in a day. If Mike is away, doing the minimum I can it takes me about 9 hours.
At the weekend we do shopping and the big jobs like digging out goat beds, trimmimg feet and any building/ reorganising needed.
Over winter, while the water was frozen we were working non stop to make sure the animals were fed and watered.
 
abbymarysmokey said:
Takes me half an hour to feed in the morning, then about an hour in the evening to feed and clean the outdoor buns, and about the same to feed and clean the indoor buns, plus about half an hour per day for meds (much more if we have a stasis bun or handrearing babies)...so thats about 3 hours per day divided by 28 buns

Which is only about 7 minutes per rabbit (if my maths are right!)...which is pretty good going :)
Click to expand...

How do you manage that :) You must have some secret methods! It is taking me 20 mins per hutch/ Cage. It takes me about 20 minutes to empty and refill all the water bottles- i have the litre ones. Then it takes me 20 mins to do the feeds- but half an hour to sort out the veggies. Then about 30 mins to do antibiotics and creams etc and baths if necessarily.That's before any additional grooming , cuddles or sorting out runs.
 
halfpenny said:
Between Mike and myself it takes about 14 hours to get round all the animals in a day. If Mike is away, doing the minimum I can it takes me about 9 hours.
At the weekend we do shopping and the big jobs like digging out goat beds, trimmimg feet and any building/ reorganising needed.
Over winter, while the water was frozen we were working non stop to make sure the animals were fed and watered.
Click to expand...

That sounds more like it :) 9 hours sounds like you have a perfected routine with your animals- since you have 100's. Your other half must be an absolute star contributing all that time to help with them all. My other half helps me for about 10-20 minutes doing the wheelbarrow runs.
 
Ambience said:
How do you manage that :) You must have some secret methods! It is taking me 20 mins per hutch/ Cage. It takes me about 20 minutes to empty and refill all the water bottles- i have the litre ones. Then it takes me 20 mins to do the feeds- but half an hour to sort out the veggies. Then about 30 mins to do antibiotics and creams etc and baths if necessarily.
Click to expand...


About 13 years of experience! :lol:

Seriously though, over time you will refine your routine and learn how to do things more quickly and efficiently...that's why you should start off slowly and increase numbers gradually.

I use bowls rather than bottles...much easier to fill and clean.

Litter trays take a matter of seconds to change.

The indoor rabbits are all on fleeces or vet bed, so that just gets shaken and straight into the washing machine, and the floor swept...literally takes minutes!
 
Mike is as committed to the animals as me, he must be because he pays for them all.:lol:
He does about half an in the morning, feeding and watering the large animals, while I do the rabbits and birds. He goes to work ay 6.30 and I do some hutch cleaning and then walk the dogs, feed the indoor animals and get ready for work at about 8.20.
I do outside cleaning out, like the hen houses, in the afternoon and make sure everybody is well, fed and watered.
In the evening I do indoor animals, cleaning and litter trays whn neededand Mike feeds, waters and put the outdoor animals to bed.
The hous is a MESS though!:oops:
 
abbymarysmokey said:
About 13 years of experience! :lol:

Seriously though, over time you will refine your routine and learn how to do things more quickly and efficiently...that's why you should start off slowly and increase numbers gradually.

I use bowls rather than bottles...much easier to fill and clean.

Litter trays take a matter of seconds to change.

The indoor rabbits are all on fleeces or vet bed, so that just gets shaken and straight into the washing machine, and the floor swept...literally takes minutes!
Click to expand...


Ah yes that would cut down time tremendously- I'm always having to empty the bottles and refill and clean. A bowl would be quicker for sure.

I probably use to much water and make a big mess when i clean out comparatively. I line with newspaper daily, megazorb and hay- it's also factoring in how long it takes me to drag the megazorb from the shed and how long it takes me to get the hay sorted out from the shed etc. I also end up sweeping everything I've thrown all over for quite abit.

Do you have a dryer- can you put vet beds in a dryer?
 
abbymarysmokey said:
About 13 years of experience! :lol:

Seriously though, over time you will refine your routine and learn how to do things more quickly and efficiently...that's why you should start off slowly and increase numbers gradually.

I use bowls rather than bottles...much easier to fill and clean.

Litter trays take a matter of seconds to change.

The indoor rabbits are all on fleeces or vet bed, so that just gets shaken and straight into the washing machine, and the floor swept...literally takes minutes!
Click to expand...

Bowls seems like a more hygienic measure and also can be reused for other rescues where as i have to keep buying bottles.
 
halfpenny said:
Mike is as committed to the animals as me, he must be because he pays for them all.:lol:
He does about half an in the morning, feeding and watering the large animals, while I do the rabbits and birds. He goes to work ay 6.30 and I do some hutch cleaning and then walk the dogs, feed the indoor animals and get ready for work at about 8.20.
I do outside cleaning out, like the hen houses, in the afternoon and make sure everybody is well, fed and watered.
In the evening I do indoor animals, cleaning and litter trays whn neededand Mike feeds, waters and put the outdoor animals to bed.
The hous is a MESS though!:oops:
Click to expand...

That's Great- i wish my other half were so commited, but he is total computer programmer- likes to have his head in a pc 24/7 :) I think it's amazing you manage so many animals.

Housework is a full time job too. You work part time don't you. How many hours do you end up doing ontop of caring for the animals? I was thinking about picking up my other business part time, but I'm definately finding dealing with the animals a full time job. I think abby does well with the 40 hour job then 28 bunnies on top :)
 
Ambience said:
Do you have a dryer- can you put vet beds in a dryer?
Click to expand...

I don't have a dryer, but I think vet bed would be fine in a dryer. I dry all my stuff on a normal clothes airer.

Fleeces and vet bed dry really quickly. Towels take longer, but I've been donated enough old towels now that I have plenty spare whilst the dirty ones are being washed or dried.
 
Seriously though, over time you will refine your routine and learn how to do things more quickly and efficiently...that's why you should start off slowly and increase numbers gradually.
Click to expand...

Definitely. I don't have a rescue/sanctuary but I have a lot of pets and you find ways to get things done quicker over time. I use bowls as well and I use a small tray to carry all the bowls of a certain animal. That way I don't have to go back and forth several times. My button quail usually have 2 water bowls each (1 small bowl and 1 small lid for bathing/playing in) and I can wipe out, wash, refill and put them back in their tanks, 10 bowls in 5 minutes.

I also have cups and containers of food handy on a shelf so I can quickly feed and a bottle of fresh water is always in my room so when I bring bowls back in I can refill in there instead of having to carry several bowls of water in and risk spilling. I can feed and water all my pets in about 30 minutes. my ducks being the ones that up take most of that time because their dishes/pans are larger and take longer to clean.
 
abbymarysmokey said:
I don't have a dryer, but I think vet bed would be fine in a dryer. I dry all my stuff on a normal clothes airer.

Fleeces and vet bed dry really quickly. Towels take longer, but I've been donated enough old towels now that I have plenty spare whilst the dirty ones are being washed or dried.
Click to expand...

My other half keeps going mad at me for giving the bunnies his £10 Egyptian cotton ones :) Everytime he gets a new towel- one of the animals needs it- sometimes it's the puppy, others the bunnies :)
 
William said:
Definitely. I don't have a rescue/sanctuary but I have a lot of pets and you find ways to get things done quicker over time. I use bowls as well and I use a small tray to carry all the bowls of a certain animal. That way I don't have to go back and forth several times. My button quail usually have 2 water bowls each (1 small bowl and 1 small lid for bathing/playing in) and I can wipe out, wash, refill and put them back in their tanks, 10 bowls in 5 minutes.

I also have cups and containers of food handy on a shelf so I can quickly feed and a bottle of fresh water is always in my room so when I bring bowls back in I can refill in there instead of having to carry several bowls of water in and risk spilling. I can feed and water all my pets in about 30 minutes. my ducks being the ones that up take most of that time because their dishes/pans are larger and take longer to clean.
Click to expand...

That's good- so you organize stuff so it's really accessible. I maybe could do with getting some storage closer to the bunnies. It makes sense having a tray. Thanks for the tips. I will have to get myself some more bowls sorted out.
 
Ambience said:
My other half keeps going mad at me for giving the bunnies his £10 Egyptian cotton ones :) Everytime he gets a new towel- one of the animals needs it- sometimes it's the puppy, others the bunnies :)
Click to expand...

If you spend £10 per towel, you'll use your funds up v. quickly. Try asking for donations of old towels on here or on Freecycle. I've had good success doing this.
 
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