Hot weather and kits

Who knew when I bred the rabbits almost a month ago that kindling time would occur in the hottest part of the week!!???!!! It's been 70s and low 80s up until this past Sunday; accuweather shows the temp in the 80s but the Real Feel is almost 100! Everyone is getting iced and I've got a fan pointed at two does who are due in the next few days. Everyone seems to be doing alright, although I don't know if Heaven is getting enough water. She won't drink out of her ball valve bottle so I've put a cup in the cage with her, but in this heat I don't think it's enough. I don't need to lose her and the kits to heat stroke this week.

My black MR buck seems to be having the hardest time of it, although he's got ice and in shade. Gotta keep an eye on Trooper. Wouldn't want to lose him.

Our heat is different because of the humidity there..but I always put large soup type bowls of water in as well as the bottle. Here the bottles get hot pretty quick. If you have a dollar tree you can get them there the ceramic stays cool longer and they are thick. If you have shade cloth or old sheets you can soak and hang it may help. Hosing off the ground helps too...

*fingers crossed*

I've actually yet to ever lose rabbits or kits to heat.

When providing sun protection, the more layers of shade you have, the better.

The underside of a tarp can heat up and the plastic may actually trap more heat underneath.

An air space between shade layers will go a long way towards keeping heat from the sun off, especially if things are angled to allow any heat produced to rise away from the rabbits.

I havent lost a rabbit to heat yet, but I fear I probably could this week. Was 94* here yesterday, 80+% humidity, and not the first bit of wind.
Mine were all getting ice bottles and frozen dinner plates. Several fans blowing, but it was still super hot. I have two litters of mini lops due in the next few days.

Zass":fsee29da said:

*fingers crossed*

I've actually yet to ever lose rabbits or kits to heat.

When providing sun protection, the more layers of shade you have, the better.

The underside of a tarp can heat up and the plastic may actually trap more heat underneath.

An air space between shade layers will go a long way towards keeping heat from the sun off, especially if things are angled to allow any heat produced to rise away from the rabbits.

Click to expand...

It's easy to overlook the fact that not all shade is equal. Our rabbit shed is on the northeast side of a large pine tree so it gets some early morning light but then is in shade all day. And tree shade always feel cooler than just a tarp or roof. The extra growout cages we needed this summer are in a small room near the goat stall and both are under a high pole barn roof. I thought that space might be warmer because while it has 2 windows they are on adjacent walls instead of opposite walls like the windows in the rabbit shed by the tree. but i've noticed that those cages stay cooler--perhaps because the roof of the pole barn is so far above the ceiling of the little room the cages are in. And I've noticed that the youngsters growing out don't seem to mind the heat as much as the adults--their appetites keep up better even when it's hot.

I 've lost two rabbits to heat--one last summer and one about a month ago. I get paranoid about it each summer. Gets in the upper 90's, humjd as a sauna and no breeze. Hop your weather cools down soon!

EnglishSpot":3an6ye07 said:

My black MR buck seems to be having the hardest time of it, although he's got ice and in shade. Gotta keep an eye on Trooper.

Click to expand...

I've found that to be true with my meat mutts, too,and with our hot & humid summers I don't even bother to keep them. Not only does their color hold any sun that chances their way, but they seem to have thicker fur than anybunny else.

Try hosing down their cage area in the morning and mid-afternoon if you get a chance. If you have two sets of water bottles, fill one about 1/4 full & freeze, then top off with cold water before hanging it. It won't stay frozen all day but at least it'll stop the bottle from becoming hot water so soon.

I've noticed over the years that black rabbits (or mostly black) do seem to feel the heat the most. It's lead me to wonder about black fur.

Here in the cool/cold climate of Ontario, I notice that black squirrels outnumber greys (although they are the same species, just different colour phases) and it occurs to me that this may be an advantage when it comes to surviving our winters. In the 60-odd years that I have been seeing squirrels, it seems to me that with passing time the blacks are becoming more prevalent -- not surprising when you consider that our winters are more extreme than our summers.

MaggieJ":12vgg9cu said:

I've noticed over the years that black rabbits (or mostly black) do seem to feel the heat the most. It's lead me to wonder about black fur.

Here in the cool/cold climate of Ontario, I notice that black squirrels outnumber greys (although they are the same species, just different colour phases) and it occurs to me that this may be an advantage when it comes to surviving our winters. In the 60-odd years that I have been seeing squirrels, it seems to me that with passing time the blacks are becoming more prevalent -- not surprising when you consider that our winters are more extreme than our summers.

Click to expand...

In this part of the US, black squirrels have become quite common as well.
Actually, the city of Olean in New York has so many black squirrels, you would think greys didn't exist. :shock: I remember driving through once and counting 10+ blacks, and maybe one grey. :?

Zass":3thdk8ge said:

MaggieJ":3thdk8ge said:

I've noticed over the years that black rabbits (or mostly black) do seem to feel the heat the most. It's lead me to wonder about black fur.

Here in the cool/cold climate of Ontario, I notice that black squirrels outnumber greys (although they are the same species, just different colour phases) and it occurs to me that this may be an advantage when it comes to surviving our winters. In the 60-odd years that I have been seeing squirrels, it seems to me that with passing time the blacks are becoming more prevalent -- not surprising when you consider that our winters are more extreme than our summers.

Click to expand...

In this part of the US, black squirrels have become quite common as well.
Actually, the city of Olean in New York has so many black squirrels, you would think greys didn't exist. :shock: I remember driving through once and counting 10+ blacks, and maybe one grey. :?

Click to expand...

I can't say I have ever seen a black squirrel here - interesting!!

__________ Wed Jul 29, 2015 8:51 pm __________

I *almost* lost 4 of my rabbits early in the summer - we had gone to church and I underestimated how hot it would get by the time we got back. We walked outside and I instantly thought "uh-oh!" - got home expecting the worst, and I think a little longer it would have been. I was out in my church clothes pulling out fans, spraying down the hutches, putting out ice bottles, and even setting up a 10x10 tent. The added shade from the tent has helped tremendously, so even though its awkward and in the way, it's staying until we can either get the hutch moved (need some help - it's too heavy for me and DH - essentially we dumped it off of the trailer and were able to move it a couple feet to where it is now) or the heat is gone. The ones I have out back under the trees have handled the heat just fine. They get some late evening sun, but I put some shade cloth up to block most of it which has done well. I really wish we had more trees... someday we hope to build again, and when we do there will be trees!! Lots and lots of trees!!

My Creme d'Argent, the one colored rabbit I have in that row of hutches, definitely doesn't tolerate the heat nearly as well as the 3 NZWs that are there... not sure why.

Black squirrels? :shock:

*goes off to Google* <br /><br /> __________ Thu Jul 30, 2015 12:39 am __________ <br /><br /> Wow!

I have never seen such squirrels!

I've seen quite a few black squirrels when I went to school in NY. If I could, i would have brought some back.

The two does I lost were black, but... they also were nursing, and it's been so cold here most of the season, it was a 20 degree temp difference, and one was one of the ones I saved two years ago from the ME issue. Never, never save kits then expect them to breed without incident, that is my usual motto.

Right now I have three Angora does who just kindled in the past three days, huge litters.

The one split the nest in two and killed half the kits. I assume that was self preservation on her part, that half just got lost in the box. The second doe is ok, but she pulled very little fur, that was her way of helping the kits.
The last doe, with the litter of 12, her kits are huge, unbelievable she could be feeding that large of a litter and have such large kits, but this morning I found half a coat on the cage. She pulled enough for the kits, then it looks like she stripped her own coat and just left it on the wire, maybe cooling herself?

Thankfully the rabbits are on the north side of the house, so once the morning sunshine moves across the house, they're in shade all day long. Trooper is on the back porch. I've constructed shades out of the feed bags, white side outward and green side in towards the rabbits. They blow around in the breeze, and despite looking very redneck in the back yard, they do a good job. Great for keeping rain off too!!! I've got broken blinds I've rescued from people's trash and hang them for shade, several bathroom window curtains we don't use anymore hanging off the end for more shade. There is space between the roof of the Fortress of Rabbitude and the cages.

That's interesting to know that y'all's black rabbits seem to suffer more of the heat too. Despite being pregnant and black, Heaven doesn't seem to suffer as much as her father Trooper does, but I wonder if his rex fur and the singular density of it traps heat more than the normal fur. Our broken black, Lexi, is less distressed by the heat than the blacks are and she's pregnant too.

Heaven hasn't kindled yet, but she did make a nice nest and pulled some fur for it, so maybe tomorrow will be the big day for her. Her mother, Fiona, managed to have Heaven and littermates in less than six hours between me visiting the rabbitry. Perhaps Heaven will do the same.



The black squirrels are really common up in Kelly's Island, Put-In-Bay, and strangely enough in Oberlin. When DH and I married 17 years ago black squirrels were really an uncommon sight here in mainland NE Ohio. Nowadays, Berea is becoming black squirrel central and they're moving southward. They seem to be able to coexist with the Fox Squirrels, which are the size of a medium rabbit, imo. Big suckers. Lots to eat off them!

EnglishSpot":1lv76q8p said:

...There is space between the roof of the Fortress of Rabbitude and the cages.

Click to expand...

Fortress of Rabbitude?!
:rotfl: :rotfl: :rotfl:
That is SO AWESOME. I may need to call my Rabbit Room that.

(Ahem, sorry... What were we talking about?)

So, heat. I don't have my rabbity set up yet, but it's SOOOO hot here, I'm resigned to raising them indoors in a storage area (AC). I've been monitoring temps in that room during the hottest days, for reference, and it has gotten really hot, to the point that I was considering just giving up the idea of keeping rabbits. But today I had the AC guy come by for something else (needed to swap out the capacitor on another unit). I asked him to check on the ductwork, and something in the attic had chewed six (count them SIX!) big holes in my ductwork! (I think it was from a past rat issue, when I stored onions and garlic in there and they found and got into them.) I've been paying to air condition the attic. :x

Good news is that it's all patched up now. If the temps come down while it's still 103F outside, then there's hope for my own little Fortress of Rabbitude...

Related to layers of shade and trees - my chicken coop and yard/run is under a huge red oak with a dense, low hanging canopy. It is astonishing how comfortable it is in their run/yard all the time, even it feels like an oven elsewhere. I don't know what I'd do without that tree...

- Ant Farm

Glad you found your duct problem, but it is always painful to realize you've been cooling the garage/attic/crawl space, etc!! Maybe toss more fiberglass insulation up there? When we lived in Houston there was a lot by our development that was tree'd, and we loved to walk the dog back there since it was cool compared to the rest of the property. The only thing that we didn't like was the fire ants!!

I think I have pictures of the Fortress of Rabbitude in the DIY section. I really overbuilt it with 2x4s (should have done 1x2s) but nothing will knock it over. My son said it could be a bunk bed for midgets, LOL. I built two cages to fit specifically in the FoR. Feel free to use the name for your rabbitry!!

EnglishSpot":2dw8m0ia said:

Glad you found your duct problem, but it is always painful to realize you've been cooling the garage/attic/crawl space, etc!! Maybe toss more fiberglass insulation up there? When we lived in Houston there was a lot by our development that was tree'd, and we loved to walk the dog back there since it was cool compared to the rest of the property. The only thing that we didn't like was the fire ants!!

I think I have pictures of the Fortress of Rabbitude in the DIY section. I really overbuilt it with 2x4s (should have done 1x2s) but nothing will knock it over. My son said it could be a bunk bed for midgets, LOL. I built two cages to fit specifically in the FoR. Feel free to use the name for your rabbitry!!

Click to expand...

Awesome! Fortress of Rabbitude it is!!!!

- Ant Farm

Here temps can be 80's then 99 with the rabbitry hitting 100* at it's highest.
I freeze their water bottles, fill 1/2 way and lay them on their side in the freezer. After frozen then top off with cold water, and change out as needed. They seem to love it. On really hot days I spray them down, turn on the fan, soak the dirt floor, and then wet down the outside of the building. It's all metal and gets hot enough to fry an egg. :x

Tried the frozen bottles inside the cages. They looked at me like I was :runaround:
The does went to their shelves and the buck hid in a corner grunting at it. :lol: :lol: silly buns.

My rabbits run to the frozen bottles like long lost lovers!! I've been putting ice cubes in the Lixit water bottle tops. I wanted to try putting McD's Styrofoam cups around the water bottles to insulate them from the heat. I'll let you know how that goes.

I haven't bred since April (last litter born May 17) because of the heat (and the fact that those litters filled me to capacity).

This last week has been the hottest on record since 1998 .... It was 107 on 8-2.

I've lost two grow outs to the heat in the last week despite fans and ice.

My adult rabbits have fared very well thus far ... but they are in a different barn that was specifically designed to combat the heat.

Those are the first rabbits I've lost to due to the heat since my very first week keeping rabbits. I lost my first buck to the heat within a week of getting him. Since then I've made every effort to keep them cool .... this week has been absolutely brutal.

Last year my lone buck went heat sterile and I didn't get a doe to take until late October .... I'm expecting much the same this year tho I have a young buck who may bounce back a bit better.

Kits in May have been my cut off point from my first year breeding because I just cant see stressing my does to kindle in such conditions as we see in South Texas during June thru September , with July & August being a downright inferno , toss in the humidity and its a pressure cooker.

wamplercathy":nmaumqok said:

Here temps can be 80's then 99 with the rabbitry hitting 100* at it's highest.
I freeze their water bottles, fill 1/2 way and lay them on their side in the freezer. After frozen then top off with cold water, and change out as needed. They seem to love it. On really hot days I spray them down, turn on the fan, soak the dirt floor, and then wet down the outside of the building. It's all metal and gets hot enough to fry an egg. :x

Tried the frozen bottles inside the cages. They looked at me like I was :runaround:
The does went to their shelves and the buck hid in a corner grunting at it. :lol: :lol: silly buns.

Click to expand...

Last month where am at it was well in the upper 90's the whole month, and peaked over 100 a few times. :x Brought the bunnies inside at 92 F. (It's cooled off into the mid to lower 90's this month though, thank goodness!) My buns don't take to the frozen bottles at first, but they end up laying by them after a few minutes.

The does went to their shelves and the buck hid in a corner grunting at it.

Click to expand...

:lol: My buck is the exact opposite, he runs and attacks the bottle, biting and digging at it. :lol: It's hilarious to watch though cause he's just a wee squirt. (Practically the size of the bottle! ND size really...)

Easy Ears":2ltv642u said:

My buns don't take to the frozen bottles at first, but they end up laying by them after a few minutes.

Click to expand...

Mine like to sit on top of the bottles , I use gallon sized Gatorade bottles that are wide and flat on two sides , makes a nice perch for them.

Tried to post pictures when I made the post above in this thread but had some complications ....