| Rabbits & Weather |
| Double Dutch Rabbitry |
It is very important to protect your rabbit from different weather conditions.
Winter- is not too big of a threat as rabbits have fur coats to keep them warm.
As long as you protect them from wind and drafts they should be perfectly fine.
One of my buildings is open and has hanging cages. During the winter if I
don't have enough room to move all the rabbits into one of my closed in
buildings, I give these rabbits old nesting boxes or boards to sit on, so drafts
don’t come up under them. I also give everyone a lot of hay, that helps insulate
the cage, and gives them something to munch on.
Remember to give your rabbits a little extra food, as they’ll be burning off extra
energy to keep warm. It’s best to feed your rabbits in the morning or evening,
especially in winter. Make sure it’s at the same time every day. They’ll also be
drinking a lot more also.
You’ll want to make sure to check their water bottles a lot to make sure they
don’t freeze. Especially make sure to check the nozzle where the water comes
out. Sometimes the water won't be frozen, but the little ball where the rabbit
drinks from will be. To reduce freezing, you can try putting socks over your
water bottles. Just make sure the rabbit does not chew on it.
Where I live, it usually only freezes about one week of the year, so I use water
bottles year round. I just bring all of the bottles in at night, if it's to be below
freezing. You can put ice cubes in the cages, as the rabbits will learn to lick
this during the night.
However in colder areas, most people switch to using crocks during the
winter. They take a bucket of hot water out with them, and put the frozen crocks
in it to unfreeze, watering the rabbits a few times during the day.
Summer- now this is what you have to worry about. Heat kills rabbits. They
have fur coats that they can not take off when they get overheated.
The most important thing is to put the cage in a location where they’re not in
the sun as this will kill the rabbit. For my rabbits, I have all my buildings in the
shadiest part of my yard. Thanks to our neighbors’ tall trees, my buildings are
always in the shade.
One thing to watch out for during the summer is heat stroke. Also when a
rabbit is really over heated they will get a bloody nose. Rabbits that you really
have to worry about overheating are pregnant and nursing does as they’re
carrying around more weight on them. In all the years that I have had rabbits I
have only had this happen once. It was to a nursing doe.
A rabbit’s heat is regulated through their ears. When they get hot the veins in
their ears will expand in a effort to cool themselves off.
Some tips for keeping your rabbits cool are:
Fans- it’s good to have fans blowing in your rabbitry as this keeps the air
moving. You can even put a wet sheet in front of it so it will blow a mist at the
rabbits.
Frozen water bottles- rabbits love to play with them, wrap their bodies around
them, etc. It also cools down the area, like a mini air conditioner. If there is any
plastic label around the bottle, make sure to take it off, or the rabbit will take it
off itself and eat it. Another thing to worry about is that rabbits might start
eating the bottle itself. My rabbits have never done this, but I know of someone
else whose rabbits have.
Ice cubes- rabbits love to play with these. They will chew on them, move them
around, etc. What I usually do with them is rub them against the rabbit’s ears
which will put them in a trance. I then place the ice cube in-between their ears.
Most rabbits will shake these off a couple seconds later, but I have had rabbits
sit there 5-10 minutes with the ice cube still in-between their ears.
Wet towels- you can soak a towel and put it in the cage for the rabbit to lie on.
Make sure the rabbit does not chew on it.
Sprinklers- I know that some breeders put sprinklers on the roof of their
rabbitries which makes it cooler inside.
Spray bottles- I do not recommend spraying your rabbits with these to cool
them off. When hot, rabbits try to stay still as much as possible to stay cool.
When you spray them, it causes them to run around their cage to get away
from it, making them use energy. So in the long run I do not find this very
helpful. A better alternative would be to spray your hands then pet the rabbit
that way it is not a sudden shock to the rabbit. Also, you can spray you fingers
then massage the rabbit’s ears.
Dunking- this is for if you have a rabbit suffering from heat stroke and/or has a
bloody nose. You dunk the rabbit in water up to the shoulders, then put the
rabbit back in their cage. You want to make sure the water is not cold, as that
will be a shock to the rabbit’s body and can kill it.
Copyright © 2001-2010 Double Dutch Rabbitry. All rights reserved.
http://doubledutchrabbitry.com
Winter- is not too big of a threat as rabbits have fur coats to keep them warm.
As long as you protect them from wind and drafts they should be perfectly fine.
One of my buildings is open and has hanging cages. During the winter if I
don't have enough room to move all the rabbits into one of my closed in
buildings, I give these rabbits old nesting boxes or boards to sit on, so drafts
don’t come up under them. I also give everyone a lot of hay, that helps insulate
the cage, and gives them something to munch on.
Remember to give your rabbits a little extra food, as they’ll be burning off extra
energy to keep warm. It’s best to feed your rabbits in the morning or evening,
especially in winter. Make sure it’s at the same time every day. They’ll also be
drinking a lot more also.
You’ll want to make sure to check their water bottles a lot to make sure they
don’t freeze. Especially make sure to check the nozzle where the water comes
out. Sometimes the water won't be frozen, but the little ball where the rabbit
drinks from will be. To reduce freezing, you can try putting socks over your
water bottles. Just make sure the rabbit does not chew on it.
Where I live, it usually only freezes about one week of the year, so I use water
bottles year round. I just bring all of the bottles in at night, if it's to be below
freezing. You can put ice cubes in the cages, as the rabbits will learn to lick
this during the night.
However in colder areas, most people switch to using crocks during the
winter. They take a bucket of hot water out with them, and put the frozen crocks
in it to unfreeze, watering the rabbits a few times during the day.
Summer- now this is what you have to worry about. Heat kills rabbits. They
have fur coats that they can not take off when they get overheated.
The most important thing is to put the cage in a location where they’re not in
the sun as this will kill the rabbit. For my rabbits, I have all my buildings in the
shadiest part of my yard. Thanks to our neighbors’ tall trees, my buildings are
always in the shade.
One thing to watch out for during the summer is heat stroke. Also when a
rabbit is really over heated they will get a bloody nose. Rabbits that you really
have to worry about overheating are pregnant and nursing does as they’re
carrying around more weight on them. In all the years that I have had rabbits I
have only had this happen once. It was to a nursing doe.
A rabbit’s heat is regulated through their ears. When they get hot the veins in
their ears will expand in a effort to cool themselves off.
Some tips for keeping your rabbits cool are:
Fans- it’s good to have fans blowing in your rabbitry as this keeps the air
moving. You can even put a wet sheet in front of it so it will blow a mist at the
rabbits.
Frozen water bottles- rabbits love to play with them, wrap their bodies around
them, etc. It also cools down the area, like a mini air conditioner. If there is any
plastic label around the bottle, make sure to take it off, or the rabbit will take it
off itself and eat it. Another thing to worry about is that rabbits might start
eating the bottle itself. My rabbits have never done this, but I know of someone
else whose rabbits have.
Ice cubes- rabbits love to play with these. They will chew on them, move them
around, etc. What I usually do with them is rub them against the rabbit’s ears
which will put them in a trance. I then place the ice cube in-between their ears.
Most rabbits will shake these off a couple seconds later, but I have had rabbits
sit there 5-10 minutes with the ice cube still in-between their ears.
Wet towels- you can soak a towel and put it in the cage for the rabbit to lie on.
Make sure the rabbit does not chew on it.
Sprinklers- I know that some breeders put sprinklers on the roof of their
rabbitries which makes it cooler inside.
Spray bottles- I do not recommend spraying your rabbits with these to cool
them off. When hot, rabbits try to stay still as much as possible to stay cool.
When you spray them, it causes them to run around their cage to get away
from it, making them use energy. So in the long run I do not find this very
helpful. A better alternative would be to spray your hands then pet the rabbit
that way it is not a sudden shock to the rabbit. Also, you can spray you fingers
then massage the rabbit’s ears.
Dunking- this is for if you have a rabbit suffering from heat stroke and/or has a
bloody nose. You dunk the rabbit in water up to the shoulders, then put the
rabbit back in their cage. You want to make sure the water is not cold, as that
will be a shock to the rabbit’s body and can kill it.
Copyright © 2001-2010 Double Dutch Rabbitry. All rights reserved.
http://doubledutchrabbitry.com
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