Artificial Light

[Br. Fidelis Ebeyer]

Has anyone ever tried using artificial lights with rabbits? We have chickens and we’ve found that using a red light during the winter months helps supplement light and helps with egg production. I’ve heard that rabbits (especially breeding does) can suffer from hormonal issues from the lack of sunlight during winter. Speaking from experience I’ve definitely had issues with lactation and breeding from Nov- Feb. Some just don’t breed all winter but we really could use the meat.

I know they sell those phototherapy lights that mimic sunlight. I use one myself to keep away the winter blues
Any thoughts on how they would work for rabbits?

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

My rabbits are in the basement so they get normal light throughout the day, I don't know if I've had very many problems with breeding in the Winter

 

[tambayo]

LED daylight lamp on 12 hour timer. They are stil happiest to be bred in february, but most will take when bred.

 

[Br. Fidelis Ebeyer]

LED daylight lamp on 12 hour timer. They are stil happiest to be bred in february, but most will take when bred.

So do you have the light on for 12 hours or do you shoot for a combined total or 12 hours between natural daylight and the supplemented artificial light? Do you just use a standard LED light bulb like what you’d use in the house?

 

[Alaska Satin]

Has anyone ever tried using artificial lights with rabbits? We have chickens and we’ve found that using a red light during the winter months helps supplement light and helps with egg production. I’ve heard that rabbits (especially breeding does) can suffer from hormonal issues from the lack of sunlight during winter. Speaking from experience I’ve definitely had issues with lactation and breeding from Nov- Feb. Some just don’t breed all winter but we really could use the meat.

I know they sell those phototherapy lights that mimic sunlight. I use one myself to keep away the winter blues
Any thoughts on how they would work for rabbits?

I used to breed year-round, and supplemental lighting definitely helped with that. So did warming the does up for a bit - I used to bring them into the mudroom, where it was warmer than in the rabbit shed but not as warm as in the house; or I'd take them on a car ride in a carrier for a few hours. It's well-known in the rabbit show world that going to a show will get most does "in the mood."

I've found that, as @tambayo said, with extra lighting, most does that cooperate with being bred will take. BUT... I no longer breed for litters in December or January, because my records showed that most of the litters I lost were born in those months. Even though the does did conceive, many of them just didn't manage to pull off raising their litters successfully. Some wouldn't use the nest box, some wouldn't cover the bunnies, some wouldn't feed them at all or wouldn't feed them consistently, some would get in the box and scatter the litter...it was a litany of loss. To be honest, coming out to find bunnycicles all over the wire, or a pile of stiff kits in the box, was too hard emotionally to make it worthwhile. I did not lose all of the litters born in those months, but the percentage of loss was dramatically higher; if I was hungrier, I'd probably take the chance.

My suspicion is that supplemental lighting isn't necessarily enough to fully inform the rabbits' reproductive hormones. The does can be convinced to breed and actually have babies, but it's like their systems aren't firing on all pistons; it's like they somehow know the 12 hours of light aren't really 12 hours of daylight, and it's not really spring. I know my carrots know about spring... We used to have a crawl space, which had no windows and never varied more than about 3 degrees F, summer or winter. We used it as a root cellar, and carrots stored there would always start sprouting in early February, sending up pathetic yellow shoots, looking desperately for light they never found. It always amazed me, but they knew. I have found that rabbits are at least as perceptive as carrots... I suppose that if you raised them in a garage or inside the house, it might be different, but my rabbits have always been outside, either in a shed or a barn.

So in my barn, breeding stops by or before November, and resumes in January. It might be because we are at a higher latitude and the returning daylight comes back fast when it starts accelerating about a month after the solstice; usually my does are showing all the signs of breeding interest by mid-to-late January. Some of my most successful litters have been born in February, in spite of the fact that temperatures aren't really any different than in December or January...but daylight lasts longer, and is increasing, and even with only two small south-facing windows in the barn, the rabbits seem to know it.

 

[Rabbit Tree Farm]

Yes i use timed lights all winter. But i live where winters are mild and summers are real hot...i have more trouble losing buns to heat. So i actually give my does 2 ton3 months rest in the late hottest part and breed thru winter.

I just have mine come on about 4-5 am and go off so that they experience natural sunset. And i move it with the sunset. I rarely ever have a failed breeding.

Keeps my quail in lay as well.

 

[tambayo]

So do you have the light on for 12 hours or do you shoot for a combined total or 12 hours between natural daylight and the supplemented artificial light? Do you just use a standard LED light bulb like what you’d use in the house?

The LED has daylight spectrum lighting i.e. specialty LED, not the standard ones the supermarket has here. The shed has no window, so light is mandatory and since i don't like messing with settings, 12 hours it is always .

 

[dlynn]

Has anyone ever tried using artificial lights with rabbits? We have chickens and we’ve found that using a red light during the winter months helps supplement light and helps with egg production. I’ve heard that rabbits (especially breeding does) can suffer from hormonal issues from the lack of sunlight during winter. Speaking from experience I’ve definitely had issues with lactation and breeding from Nov- Feb. Some just don’t breed all winter but we really could use the meat.

I know they sell those phototherapy lights that mimic sunlight. I use one myself to keep away the winter blues
Any thoughts on how they would work for rabbits? View attachment 43912

I don't use lights specifically for rabbits. I do give my quail extra light and their aviary is in the center of the rabbit yards. Don't know if that is enough to make a difference or if I have weird rabbits. (Silver fox) They live in family groups in group housing and control their own breeding. I always seem to have litters in January. Last year 2 on new years day. We are in the north woods zone 3. They love the cold and snow. Think the exercise makes a big difference. They have free access to their yards and do lots of climbing, running.The evergreen brush piles they play in and chew on are rich in vitamin C. If you try lights let us know how it goes

 

[Alaska Satin]

The LED has daylight spectrum lighting i.e. specialty LED, not the standard ones the supermarket has here. The shed has no window, so light is mandatory and since i don't like messing with settings, 12 hours it is always .

So do you have the light on for 12 hours or do you shoot for a combined total or 12 hours between natural daylight and the supplemented artificial light? Do you just use a standard LED light bulb like what you’d use in the house?

In our chicken coop we use a timer with a light sensor that turns the light on just before sunset, and allows you to specify how many hours it runs after that (options from 2-6 hrs). Its maximum setting of six hours keeps the chickens happy even with our seriously short days; while it's not round-the-clock dark like in Fairbanks, it feels like precious few daylight hours on December 20! (It's less than 5-1/2 hours of visible light, where we are.) When the daylight starts to come back, which happens quickly once it starts, I generally shift the timer setting to 2 hours, then just turn it off when we get to mid-spring. It's very low-maintenance and conserves energy.

We use regular LEDs, not super bright. I've never needed a special daylight spectrum bulb for the chickens, nor for the rabbits when we used lights. Since rabbits are naturally crepuscular, I'm not sure they need a lot of bright light. My impression over the years is that it might be at least as much related to a changing light pattern - increasing or decreasing - as the actual amount of light. But we do live where that's a dramatic shift, and it might have less of an impact at lower latitudes.

I also remembered one more thing that helps rabbit feel spring-like, and that is giving them fresh greens. Kale or "spring mix" from the store, or sprouts from my window boxes really make them happy.

 

[Br. Fidelis Ebeyer]

In our chicken coop we use a timer with a light sensor that turns the light on just before sunset, and allows you to specify how many hours it runs after that (options from 2-6 hrs). Its maximum setting of six hours keeps the chickens happy even with our seriously short days; while it's not round-the-clock dark like in Fairbanks, it feels like precious few daylight hours on December 20! (It's less than 5-1/2 hours of visible light, where we are.) When the daylight starts to come back, which happens quickly once it starts, I generally shift the timer setting to 2 hours, then just turn it off when we get to mid-spring. It's very low-maintenance and conserves energy.

We use regular LEDs, not super bright. I've never needed a special daylight spectrum bulb for the chickens, nor for the rabbits when we used lights. Since rabbits are naturally crepuscular, I'm not sure they need a lot of bright light. My impression over the years is that it might be at least as much related to a changing light pattern - increasing or decreasing - as the actual amount of light. But we do live where that's a dramatic shift, and it might have less of an impact at lower latitudes.

I also remembered one more thing that helps rabbit feel spring-like, and that is giving them fresh greens. Kale or "spring mix" from the store, or sprouts from my window boxes really make them happy.

Thanks for the tips. Does it make a difference if the light comes on before sunset or after sundown? A local here on the Western Slope told us to do pre sunrise light so the chickens wake up early and can go to bed at sundown. I’m going to try a light and wheat sprouts to help the does this winter.
I think part of our recent problems is because we had some new religious take care of the rabbitry… they weren’t the most experienced. I’ve kinda taken control of things now so hopefully a little tlc will make them more cooperative.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Thanks for the tips. Does it make a difference if the light comes on before sunset or after sundown? A local here on the Western Slope told us to do pre sunrise light so the chickens wake up early and can go to bed at sundown. I’m going to try a light and wheat sprouts to help the does this winter.
I think part of our recent problems is because we had some new religious take care of the rabbitry… they weren’t the most experienced. I’ve kinda taken control of things now so hopefully a little tlc will make them more cooperative.

I haven't really considered the sunrise versus sunset lighting question. Here, in mid-winter, sunrise is about 10am and sunset is about 3:30pm, so I think it might not make too much difference. I do a lot of the chores in the afternoon (yeah, in the dark), and the chickens would already be roosted by 4pm, which wouldn't make much sense. Also, my timer turns the light on at dusk to extend the day, and I don't know how to make it do the reverse, so I basically take the path of least resistance. It's worked for our chickens that way, and that's how I did it when I lighted the rabbits, but I don't know if it would be more effective for the rabbits if it was switched it around.

I usually appreciate the advice of people who've been doing things in the same conditions as I am, so if it doesn't take a huge amount of effort or expense, trying it the way your local resource suggested seems like a good idea.

TLC might make the does more cooperative, but so will the passing of time, toward Spring!

 

[McNally Family Rabbitry]

LED daylight lamp on 12 hour timer. They are stil happiest to be bred in february, but most will take when bred.

We have 4' led shop lights in the barn that are on from 5:50am-8:30pm on a timer to simulate longer days. Also so the lights are on for morning barn chores and that my kids do not leave the barn lights on all night lol. The timer is controlled by a smart switch that I can control from my phone/ connect with my other barn automation like circulation fans, cameras and exhaust fans.