Indoor barn and cage setup

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REDMIST

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I have 10 cages in a barn. The front of the barn is mostly screen. The back and once side is plywood. The other side is partial plastic/ plywood for light. The roof is metal. I put 1/2” insulation board under the metal to keep the heat out. I thought the front being mostly screen would be enough air circulation. Yesterday it got up to 80 F outside. The rabbits were really hot and I noticed there was not much air movement. I put two fans blowing air up to the roof and down on them. I did not want to blow the air directly on them or at the floor (dirt floor). Do you blow air on them or out of the barn in your set ups or some other way to cool them? Again these are cages inside a barn.
 
We have our meat mutts in wire cages inside a barn we built last summer. Before that they were in a wooden shed and we kept the door open during the day and had two windows on opposite walls covered with hardware cloth that were otherwise open except in very cold weather. But we also had openings under the eaves on both the shed and the barn, covered with hardware cloth to keep out critters but they let the air move. Same in our chicken coop. If you have some sort of air inlet down low and have some venting at the top the warm air should rise and go out and cooler air along the ground comes in. So I would start with good venting and then if the air flow seemed insufficient I'd try using a fan to blow the warm stale air out and the fresh air will come in.
I don't think I explained that very well--it's so much easier to show some things than to tell them in words :?
 
Understood.
I put the insulation board under the roof rafters so there's a 2x4 gap between the metal roof and top of insulation. The ends are open do that air blows out. We used a 16x10 extension that was on our main barn for the rabbits. One wall is part of the main barn. Can't put anything on that. The back faces the north. Right now no windows.the other side has plastic and is a liitle open. Front is 90% open with screen. There is dead air area between North and East walls. If I understand blow the air out from this area. I'm thinking hang a fan up in the ceiling to blow out air. Make sense?
 
As long as the main air stream is moving past the cages and not into, you should be good. A little direct air flow when the rabbits are dry won't affect them much.

We use a 22 x 11 insulated lean-to shed for our barn and the west end hosts a 10" vent fan with intakes on the floor and east wall. At peak temperatures in summer we will also run an oscillating fan that blows through the central corridor of the rabbitry. Last summer we hit 33 C (91 F) at ceiling height in the rabbitry, and the rabbits weren't stressed at all.

Proper air flow can be the difference between comfort and destruction.
 
OK sounds like I need to make some changes to the setup. As it stands now there is really no air flow past the cages if I dont set up a fan.
Its great for winter but not so much from what I am seeing in the summer.

-- Thu May 05, 2016 12:20 pm --

I attached a hand sketch of the barn and would love suggestions.
DOC010_zpsqdrwqhpw.jpg


-- Thu May 05, 2016 12:25 pm --

I cut a hole in the middle wall next to the cages. I blow a fan up to the ceiling in the lower section and a fan out towards the outer wall on the upper portion. The upper section of the barn behind the wall is a dead air spot. I was thinking to put the fan on isolating and have some air blow through the open in the wall. Can I put the isolating fan on them directly so each pass on low would go past their cages? Also using ice bottles. suggestions?
 

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