Cold preparation

brittanyf · Oct 11, 2024

Sorry if this has already been answered. I'd like to know at what temp you all start adding straw to burrow in to avoid the cold.

I've been searching and have found round about answers on hay vs straw and much colder temps. This is our first year and we have hanging wire cages partially blocked from wind. We are in the piedmont, NC and so far our concern has been humidity and high heat. It's getting colder faster. The lowest Ive ever seen here was 8°F. But I don't think it usually gets much below freezing.

Thanks in advance for your help.

olhippityhop · Oct 11, 2024

I don't think you have anything to worry about. Keep them dry and out of the wind. My rabbits much prefer the cold over the heat of summer.

Alaska Satin · Oct 11, 2024

brittanyf said:
Sorry if this has already been answered. I'd like to know at what temp you all start adding straw to burrow in to avoid the cold.

I've been searching and have found round about answers on hay vs straw and much colder temps. This is our first year and we have hanging wire cages partially blocked from wind. We are in the piedmont, NC and so far our concern has been humidity and high heat. It's getting colder faster. The lowest Ive ever seen here was 8°F. But I don't think it usually gets much below freezing.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I agree with @olhippityhop that you probably don't have to worry about your temps.

Here, we don't start thinking about adding anything for cold protection till it's well below zero. At -15F to -20F we give the little rabbits (Polish, Mini Rex, Hollands) boxes with hay/straw, and several times when it was -35F for a week at a stretch last year we gave the bigger rabbits, especially the older ones, lots of straw/hay.

I think straw is a better insulator than hay, but it's strangely hard to find up here, costs just as much as hay, and I've had several batches of straw bring in fur mites.

I don't jump to add any material to the cage, because it usually ends up causing more problems than it solves, the major ones being increased waste accumulation, wetness, and humidity, and a lot more difficult clean-up to deal with. If you think your rabbits would use it, you might think about just giving them an upside-down box, where they could huddle and retain a bit more body heat that way. But mine usually just ended up sitting on top of it.

Cindy in SD · Oct 11, 2024

As long as they’re not in the wind and not wet, they should be fine.

brittanyf · Oct 12, 2024

Thank you everyone. This is what I figured. I'll just put the effort into making sure they're more blocked from the wind.

Skai · Oct 12, 2024

brittanyf said:
Sorry if this has already been answered. I'd like to know at what temp you all start adding straw to burrow in to avoid the cold.

I've been searching and have found round about answers on hay vs straw and much colder temps. This is our first year and we have hanging wire cages partially blocked from wind. We are in the piedmont, NC and so far our concern has been humidity and high heat. It's getting colder faster. The lowest Ive ever seen here was 8°F. But I don't think it usually gets much below freezing.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I keep nest boxes in the cages at all times. We made their boxes out of pine with 1/4" hardware cloth bottoms. During good weather we pad the bottoms with a little straw. As the temps start to fall below 50° I start adding more straw and eventually give them enough to create a little tunnel when the we get to our lows, which are generally low twenties but occasionally will dip to around zero or even a little below that. I've read that rabbits are happiest at around 60° so I do what I can to keep them happy. I haven't had a problem with them soiling their boxes as long as I know where their pee/poo area is before giving them a box. I think the Winter wind coming under your cages would be problematic so blocking the wind would be very helpful.

Scooter1A · Oct 13, 2024

I bought canvas tarps this year to hang around the hutches. I line their cage floors with hay.

kusanar314 · Oct 15, 2024

brittanyf said:
Sorry if this has already been answered. I'd like to know at what temp you all start adding straw to burrow in to avoid the cold.

I've been searching and have found round about answers on hay vs straw and much colder temps. This is our first year and we have hanging wire cages partially blocked from wind. We are in the piedmont, NC and so far our concern has been humidity and high heat. It's getting colder faster. The lowest Ive ever seen here was 8°F. But I don't think it usually gets much below freezing.

Thanks in advance for your help.

I see your question has already been answered, but I thought I would let you know since I'm in Virginia... last winter was BRUTAL... we got down to 0 twice (per the historic weather site) in December... that's REALLY rare. So unless this is the weather patterns actually shifting, your last winter should be about as bad as it gets.

Scooter1A · Oct 15, 2024

I put up a couple wind blocks just now in prep for tonite going to 32. Gathered the raspberry leaves, covered the mums, dug up the herbs I want to keep over winter and picked the last of the beans. And so it begins.

brittanyf · Oct 16, 2024

kusanar314 said:
I see your question has already been answered, but I thought I would let you know since I'm in Virginia... last winter was BRUTAL... we got down to 0 twice (per the historic weather site) in December... that's REALLY rare. So unless this is the weather patterns actually shifting, your last winter should be about as bad as it gets.

Wow. The geography must be very different. I just went back and double checked. We never got under 15 last year and that was only a handful of times. It was a very mild winter here.

brittanyf · Oct 16, 2024

Scooter1A said:
I put up a couple wind blocks just now in prep for tonite going to 32. Gathered the raspberry leaves, covered the mums, dug up the herbs I want to keep over winter and picked the last of the beans. And so it begins.

That's our plan since I talked to my huaband. Put up some windblocks at the bottom on the side the winds comes from and some cardboard to lay on the wire to block from under

brittanyf · Oct 16, 2024

Aldo, juat to add cause it's cute. They seem to be loving it right now. They're more active and come to the door at feeding time looking for pets and treats from the garden

kusanar314 · Oct 16, 2024

kusanar314 said:
I see your question has already been answered, but I thought I would let you know since I'm in Virginia... last winter was BRUTAL... we got down to 0 twice (per the historic weather site) in December... that's REALLY rare. So unless this is the weather patterns actually shifting, your last winter should be about as bad as it gets.

Yeah, we will be colder than you in general (mountains here) but normally in winter we get cold, we get frost, we get a tiny bit of snow.. but we aren't usually under freezing at all for more than a few days and then only down to maybe 20. Last winter was ROUGH.

Scooter1A · Oct 16, 2024

Let's hope all our winters go well. I do pretty well until February then I start thinking about Mexico.

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