Keeping Colony Rabbits Cool in Summer?

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RedRex

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Feb 23, 2015
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Location
Texas, USA
We'll be getting some rabbits soon, and we're going to colony-raise them. We're considering heavily - HEAVILY - reinforcing an old corral and using that as their shelter. In the summer, would frozen gallon bottles be enough to keep them cool?

Thanks.
 
Welcome to RabbitTalk, RedRex! :hi:

Before we try to answer your question, we would need more information about your location and climate. Also, would the rabbits have shade in the corral? So many rabbit care questions are dependent on local conditions, so please add your state or province to your profile so that we can give you helpful information.
 
Thanks for your reply, MaggieJ. We live in Texas, so it can get HOT.

Yes, there is a roofed area of the corral that provides shade.
 
:welcome: RedRex..I live in Arizona so I know what you mean..June through September can be brutal. I don't do colony but I have large breed meat mutts in large Hutch style cages. It can work but you are going to need fans that still hot air can be killer.A misting system also..I put one in the second summer with bunns mostly because the shade cloth would dry out to quickly. The shelter I built is similar to a horse shade, surrounded with shade cloth. and a tarp on the sunny side, the shade from the house covers the bun area from about two pm. Shade on the shade works to keep the temps down and all summer we use gallon juice bottles frozen, the fan and misters...Good luck keep a close eye on them and learn the symptoms of heat exhaustion.If they look overheated cool them off quickly.
 
Constant shade and lots of water. Many freeze containers of water for them to lay against but make sure the floor doesn't stay too wet or coccidiosis organisms can become too numerous. Not as much of a problem there and outdoors but with our higher humidity and indoor colonies we ended up losing all young rabbits for a summer from infection with cocci. We had around 8 gallon containers of water being refilled from the 40F underground well or completely frozen in a chest freezer. It all sweated too much water all day long and made a constantly damp floor. Stone tile is often used as a cool place to lay for chinchillas and sometimes rabbits.
 

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