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Bekah-n-Tennessee said:
😭 NOOooooo!

I am NOT ready for this at all. The last two nights/mornings went down to 32 and one of my does even pulled additional fur for her few day old babies.

My little rabbitry is indoors in an insulated building that I have AC in for the summers and was looking at options for a safe heater (worried about fire hazzard) for a very small barn just to keep it above freezing and I thought I still had some time...apparently not. Ugh.
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The adult rabbits will be fine well below freezing. Just add more hay for insulation for the mothers to use as they need. If it's inside a building you don't have to worry about wind or rain which is more problematic. That's what can affect their health or kill them. Not the cold. For the babies if the moms are pulling more fur, they are making thicker blankets which is great! As long as the kits stay under the blankets they are fine. I do all my breeding across fall, winter and spring because summers are so hot. When I stick my hand over the fur blanket I feel tremendous heat radiating off the kits underneath. They are all piled up and toasty and warm. The thing you do have to watch out for is any babies that are still latched to a teat when the mother hops out. If they are too young to get back into the nest box they will die. I was having problems with finding young kits outside the nest box last year, and I took the advice here and I made a little set of steps with half bricks at the end that they were able to hop up to get back in, and that solved that problem!
 
TKT said:
The adult rabbits will be fine well below freezing. Just add more hay for insulation for the mothers to use as they need. If it's inside a building you don't have to worry about wind or rain which is more problematic. That's what can affect their health or kill them. Not the cold. For the babies if the moms are pulling more fur, they are making thicker blankets which is great! As long as the kits stay under the blankets they are fine. I do all my breeding across fall, winter and spring because summers are so hot. When I stick my hand over the fur blanket I feel tremendous heat radiating off the kits underneath. They are all piled up and toasty and warm. The thing you do have to watch out for is any babies that are still latched to a teat when the mother hops out. If they are too young to get back into the nest box they will die. I was having problems with finding young kits outside the nest box last year, and I took the advice here and I made a little set of steps with half bricks at the end that they were able to hop up to get back in, and that solved that problem!
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Admittedly the desire to soften the cold in the rabbitry is more for my benefit than the buns, lol. There are many pros to having an indoor rabbitry but some of the cons are dumping/cleaning of trays every 3 days and I use triple stacked cages due to limited square footage so I spend quite a bit of time in there regularly between chores, breeding, getting weights and the like and I like to be able to still feel my fingers and toes while doingit all. Plus, I use bowls for water and want to keep them from freezing.

I have baby scrapers on all my nest boxes and right around the 2 week mark (or if I see one out and about earlier), my better half made me nice wooden steps that butt up against the front of the nest boxes so the littles can get back in. I definitely still check regularly for renegades though!
 
Secuono said:
It's already freezing at night. 🥶
I'm not ready. 😭 Autumn just started, cmon!
Anyone else not ready??
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I live in eastern Washington where it rains way too much! Last night, I came inside and I was completely soaked. I was wearing a raincoat, but it soaked through to my sweatshirt and then to my shirt! The gutter near where I keep my rabbits overflowed and started spilling into their area. On the other side of the barn, the same thing happened, but that's where we keep our pigs, and our three girls are pregnant and due any day! Right now it's more of a sprinkle, but it's windy, and the clouds are blocking the sun! The whole time I was outside, I kept telling myself, "You won't have to deal with this next year, you won't have to deal with this next year" (we're moving to eastern Washington)🥳. it's more the rain and the cold for me lol.
 
Cruella had 6! Tiny count, but it could of been worse. Interesting color on two, rews??
She's a nest sitter, but since she didn't toilet in there, I left her be until after she had them. Now has a box of hay to nap in.
Bred to Goliath and Rivian as backup.
Cruella, carries chocolate, non extension & dilute.
Goliath, has blue, REW and himi in his pedigree.
So, those two may be my first rews!
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12wk
Steel little dude.
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Hmm, I should list/cull Tealy, too....
Supposed to kit soon, but using nest as toilet this time. Not feeling like dealing with that crap.
 
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And Tealy had her second litter. 10! 2-3 are runty, so we'll see if they can make it. Didn't pull anywhere enough fur, but hot this morning, so all are warm and I added saved fur.
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Ordered a 12×20t carport and side walls for it. I'll have to make wooden short ends with wide doors for it, though.
1ft on either end is roof overhang, so 12×18ft, roughly, of usable space for the stackers.
They'll be in a new location and permanently placed. No more flip flopping them all over the place.
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Eight new bottles with drippers.
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Both first timers, mom & dad and now proven producers.
Malty×Digit
10 kits, 8 alive & fed. Great nest and fur amount, she tried to nest in the cage the day I added it, but decided to use the nest once I relocated the hay back into it.
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Also got the 8 drippers on bottles and then hung them up. Using the old lines as a hose to refill when needed. Lol.

Ordered 16 more drippers, as I'll need them for the rest of the buns and for kit water later on.
Winter is coming, though. So I need to get more pans and paint.
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Puff is on day 34. Idk if she'll have any or not. Couple of days left to find out, then rebreed.
 
Cruella kits
2 rews, a black, 2 broken castors and a solid castor?
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10th Malty kit passed. Other two runts are fed, but tiny. We'll see if they're able to keep up and eat. Cruella's kits are already huge, so can't put them in her nest.
Nothing from Puff, don't feel kits, but expressed a bit of milk. Hmm.
 
Secuono said:
Ordered a 12×20t carport and side walls for it. I'll have to make wooden short ends with wide doors for it, though.
1ft on either end is roof overhang, so 12×18ft, roughly, of usable space for the stackers.
They'll be in a new location and permanently placed. No more flip flopping them all over the place.
View attachment 43439View attachment 43440

Eight new bottles with drippers.
View attachment 43441
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Good idea. Please keep us updated with your progress. I'd like to see how you do it.
 
Cruella's kits looking big.
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Tealy kits, lost a 2nd runt. Down to 8.
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Malty kits, also looking good.
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Puff was rebred. Will cull if she fails to produce yet again.
 
Covid made the price jump, but luckily, it dropped back to the precovid price now for their "sale", and I was able to get two for 1088(tax included) per each, and each is 2ft wider and 5ft longer!! What a deal!
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Gathered some parts from previous carports.
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Frame is up! Started to level it. Gotta buy cinderblocks...
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You can see the low side is still too low. It's also going down longways, but that may be okay to help water run off it.
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I'm thinking either short walls, just cage depth, 2-3ft...Or none and two giant 6ft doors. The huge doors would be far easier to do. Can use chains to keep them upright and act as hinges.
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Edit.
As I'm thinking over the math, two 4×6ft doors would be easier. Since plywood is sold as 4×8ft. I'd just cut off 2ft from the tops. Still tons of airflow.
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Definitely need to not forget the string n level. Got the blocks. Have an extra 1-2 already laying around if needed. Supposed to be warmer today. Should be able to finish leveling it today.
Then, if no wind, I'll start on the roof.
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