Thursday, September 06, 2007
Just A Little Idea
This summer, while I was fighting an unknown monster in the barn, we constantly cleaned and sanitized everything we could think of. I wanted to keep the cages sparkling clean and that meant removing any waste that clung to the cages between bleachings. But I didn't want to use a brush and possibly share a pathogen.
I thought of getting two brushes and using a bucket of vanodine. I could use a brush, then put it in the bucket while I did the second cage and continue to leap frog down the rows. That sounded okay, but a bit messy and cumbersome.
One day, I saw just a small amount of droppings on a cage, so I grabbed a piece of hay and knocked it off. Then it hit me - what is a broom anyway? It's straw. I had some stiff hay in the barn, so I grabbed a handful, bent it in half and made a little broom. I used it to brush the underside of the cage and it worked beautifully. Soft hay doesn't work as well, but you'd be amazed at what even that would get off.
So, I tossed away my "broom" and got a fresh one for the nest cage. It became my habit to clean the bottom of my hanging cages daily, each with a fresh clump of hay.
There are drawbacks, of course. The occasional thorn is a wet blanket. And there's no handle on this "broom," so I have to stretch under the cage. This is a little chancy if the rabbit is in the cage, of course. But it satisfied my biggest need - to clean cages using a fresh brush each time.
Laurie
¶ 9:46 AM
I thought of getting two brushes and using a bucket of vanodine. I could use a brush, then put it in the bucket while I did the second cage and continue to leap frog down the rows. That sounded okay, but a bit messy and cumbersome.
One day, I saw just a small amount of droppings on a cage, so I grabbed a piece of hay and knocked it off. Then it hit me - what is a broom anyway? It's straw. I had some stiff hay in the barn, so I grabbed a handful, bent it in half and made a little broom. I used it to brush the underside of the cage and it worked beautifully. Soft hay doesn't work as well, but you'd be amazed at what even that would get off.
So, I tossed away my "broom" and got a fresh one for the nest cage. It became my habit to clean the bottom of my hanging cages daily, each with a fresh clump of hay.
There are drawbacks, of course. The occasional thorn is a wet blanket. And there's no handle on this "broom," so I have to stretch under the cage. This is a little chancy if the rabbit is in the cage, of course. But it satisfied my biggest need - to clean cages using a fresh brush each time.
Laurie
¶ 9:46 AM
