Cold weather is coming, and we've had a few nights/mornings below freezing already - so far the water bottles have not froze, but it's just a matter of time. I just got my rabbits the end of January of this year and only had 3 at the time so my cold weather management was relatively minimal. Now I have 10 adults and 18 babies (potentially more to come soon). It's not quite as feasible to haul all the frozen waterbottles in to thaw and refill (not to mention the rabbits are further out back now as well). I was thinking crocks might work OK, but when i did a search I kept seeing a common theme - how awful they were and how much people hated them :x . I have seen some of the metal ones that attach to the cage with a lip that pokes out for easy refilling which would solve a number of the complaints... but I am thinking metal isn't the best option for winter. I saw one person post about getting rubber ones (which I am contemplating for the dogs, cats and chickens already - I am sure my wallet will cry a bit with that purchase), but that makes the dumping, soiling, moving around issue a problem again.
I don't have a barn, just stand alone hutches and a 3 sided shed with a few hanging cages so heating isn't an option. I have coverage on 3 sides of the hutches and am going to set something up to drape over the fronts for some added protection, although the bottom would still be open.
I don't have a barn, just stand alone hutches and a 3 sided shed with a few hanging cages so heating isn't an option. I have coverage on 3 sides of the hutches and am going to set something up to drape over the fronts for some added protection, although the bottom would still be open.