Cooling rabbits in this extreme heat .

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the breeze is lovely today here but deceptive ... it's going to hit a 100 in the shade I think - which I've never seen before ... with the breeze it's bearable but eveybody is HOT HOT HOT
 
Everybunny is hot, hot, hot here too. Thank goodness for the gusty breeze. And you're right, Brody, it IS deceptive. Our matriarch, Alice, is feeling the heat. She is our only black rabbit at the moment and they seem to suffer more even when they are out of the sunlight. We put some ice bottles in the colony and David carried down a box fan to give them a little more air inside the goose house. The bucks are doing well. They lay almost next to each other in their adjacent cages, very companionably.

Poor Marilla is feeling the heat. I stroked down her fur with an ice cube and she seemed to quite like it, which surprised me. Maybe she doesn't realize that ice is frozen water!
 
I just bought an air conditioner, but its sitting here in the house because I can't move it in this heat by myself.. :( Hopefully the rabbits will make it to five or so when my husband comes home I started to get it ready but just couldn't deal...It is defiantly 100 in the shade here too
 
It is just 30 degrees in the deep shade here this afternoon, but so, so humid. What's that in Fahrenheit? About 88 degrees? I guess being surrounded by water helps. We are in the same neck of the woods as Brody, but I think she is further from the Lake.
 
I a not far from Lake Erie-- and am the foot of one of the glacial beach ridges-- but the other smaller ridges and urbanization help prevent any lake breezes from getting this far inland.

I am thinking that tomorrow the rabbits get put in the carrier and placed in Connor's room, real close to the box fan-- That way, Ican consolidate the space that I need to keep air flowing in---
My doctor is writing me a script for an AC unit for some program to provide for my comfort, as well.I can see it now, me, the rabbits, two kitties, and the dog, all camped out in my living room,,enjoying the Ac...
 
well the AC is up and running and it has cooled the rabbitry down significantly.. One question we had to take our only window up for it and now I wonder if its enough air exchange? we have some vents open down low and the roof twirly thing still open but wonder about the times when i don't need it cranked up like that. Well right now they are happy and playing with their toys.. We have one doe on a litter and I thought we were going to lose her but she is up and eating and playing now! The little kits abandoned their nest box though and have started eating hay, they are 2 weeks tomorrow.
 
i also put frozen 2 liter bottles in there cages day and night cause Arizona summer and nights are not forgiving. Plus a mist system, fan and ice cubes in there water bottles. I get frustrated cause I also worry about them but so far so good
 
ya the mist system really seems to help alot. Being in Arizona I'm finding myself having a hard time keeping up with the frozen bottles. Oh well.
 
We just had what I hope is our last 100+ degree day Tuesday. My biggest concern when I started to raise rabbits this spring was the heat. Last year we had a very mild summer, and I was hoping this summer would be the same. Boy was I wrong. Hottest summer on record, our hottest day was 116, and we had well over half of our summer above 100. I used a misting system along with frozen 2 liters. I know summer is basically over, but maybe this will help someone in the future.

I made this video on one of the hottest days that we had.
http://www.youtube.com/user/bt222?featu ... LImtRe4cUI
 
Kevin S.":14706448 said:
We just had what I hope is our last 100+ degree day Tuesday. My biggest concern when I started to raise rabbits this spring was the heat. Last year we had a very mild summer, and I was hoping this summer would be the same. Boy was I wrong. Hottest summer on record, our hottest day was 116, and we had well over half of our summer above 100. I used a misting system along with frozen 2 liters. I know summer is basically over, but maybe this will help someone in the future.

I made this video on one of the hottest days that we had.
http://www.youtube.com/user/bt222?featu ... LImtRe4cUI
Click to expand...


You and me both! We have been ROASTING here in SE TEX. Crossing fingers that we will not have any more 100+ days.... :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover: :clover:
 
Update ...on Aug 8 th .I was not home till around 3 pm and had not put out the bottles when I left that morning .I left at 9 am and usually put the bottles out between 11 am and 1 pm.
It reached around 95 + and heat index higher ,one of the younger bunnies that was about 2-3 months old at the time suffered heat exhaustion and died.The other 4 in the same pen were ok.
Lesson learned for sure . I had not wanted to put the bottles out to soon that morning as they would of been melted by the time the extreme heat came on.
I did feel bad for the little fellow though .Even though I raise them mostly for meat.Itwas sad that he was breathless when I found him and nothing I could do was gonna change that.
 
We hit record high temps (113F) here in July, about a week after we moved the rabbits outside (from a well-insulated garage). In addition to making sure they were constantly shaded, we put misters up that we turned on as soon as the temps hit 85 for the day, and left on until dark. We quit doing the water bottles, because they would be melted and warm in less than an hour after putting them out. We could tell they didn't enjoy the heat, but they made it ok for the most part. They're definitely enjoying the cooler weather we're having now.

We did lose one of our Cal does when the valve in her water bottle got stuck and we didn't know it until it was too late. She went from seemingly fine one minute to convulsions the next, and was gone two minutes after that. I felt horrible and helpless. After that we started checking bottle valves at least twice a day.
 
I feel bad for you people out in the HEAT belt!
We are down-right cool right now in upstate N.Y.
Though we did have a time of it for awhile there.
Kind of Rainy and wet and I don't much look forward
to the Snow an Blizzards which will probably present
themselves to us before too long.
I'm trying to enjoy what we've got right now!
Ottersatin. :eek:ldtimer:
 
I feel that same pain as you Keven and Jim. Living in Arizona is very hard on rabbits in the summer. I've had to bring them in during the hot days when our temps are 112. This is the last week our temps will be in the 100's but for awhile we will be in the 90's and my rabbits will still be in the house until its under 85. I have a mist system as well and that works wonders but i need to tinker with it cause my rabbits end up all wet. Living in a hot area has it major challenges.
 

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