Flemish Giant Housing and Winter Care Questions!

[homesteader13]

Hello! I am new to this site, I wanted to share my beautiful Flemish Giant doe Althea with you all and get some generic advise!

Below my rabbit run is pictured. It is 4 x 4 x 15 feet and very solid. 8 ft of it is under a covered roof, where there is a 4x3 ft house on stilts where her food is kept. She has built a large burrow under the house and this is where she sleeps. I would love any feedback on her home!

I have a question: I live at a high elevation where it gets pretty cold on winter nights (lows in the teens) and snows. Well winter is around the corner - does Althea need any heat source or other winter care? I will put a de icer in her water bowl and provide her with extra straw to make a cozy nest in her burrow. Also does she need any sort of wormer like my horses and chickens get every three months?

Another question: She is around six months old, would early next spring be a good time for her to have her first litter? I want to start a really small (one buck two does, two litters a year) rabbitry striving for blue Flemish which she carries.

Thank you so much!

 

[Marinea]

Welcome, Homesteader13!

That is a great looking set up. Althea looks very happy. Rabbits handle colder weather much better than hot weather. As song as she can get out of the wind, and has a nice dry warm place to hang out in, she'll be fine. With your setup, the only thing I could think of doing in the case of a bad winter is to maybe put up some tarps on either side of the covered area to give her some wind protection.

As to the breeding, I have no Flemish experience, but that would put her at about a year old for breeding. That sounds OK to me, but hopefully, someone with experience with the breed will chime in.

Again, welcome to RT!

 

[Northwinds Rabbitry]

I've gotta post this THAT IS A BEAUTIFUL SET UP WOW!!!! That's one spoiled bunny lol.
Welcome to RT

 

[Dood]

Welcome to the forum.

Your rabbits pen looks very spacious. My one concern is keeping the dirt from turning to mud in the spring and her tunnel becoming water logged. I would give her a second house area with straw in the section where her food is. Wet rabbits can get ill very quickly in cold weather.

As for worming, most rabbits are pretty tolerant of internal parasites but they can get coccidia, certain tape worms, and pin worms and if you think she might have a problem you can worm her but not on a regular basis like horses.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

That's one spoiled bunny lol.

:yeahthat: Althea is a lucky bunny.

In addition to the great advice already given, I would suggest giving her a raised shelf area to lounge on to get off of the wet ground this winter. Something as simple as a 12" wide board set onto a couple of cinder blocks would work well.

:welcome: to RabbitTalk, Homesteader13!

 

[homesteader13]

Thank you guys! I'm glad you think she is spoiled! I do want the best for her. Well we will continue the fence plank wall across the whole back length of the covered section (that back left corner is the one the wind and snow drifts come in) and make her a little elevated sitting place (I mean that is the point of her elevated house where her food is but I like the idea of her being able to lay in the sun but off the ground in the winter). This forum is great, thanks again!