More air or more shade delimma

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

Ew, what are they doing, mating? I know people like their snakes but I'd shoot it or get the ax. Seriously.

Mating. Those are good snakes. So we leave them be.

 

[FarmerKat]

I'd create a cross-breeze by taking out panels on either end of the cage line-up. I think with the misters and fans going, that should keep them cooler. 103° is no joke!

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

I'd create a cross-breeze by taking out panels on either end of the cage line-up. I think with the misters and fans going, that should keep them cooler. 103° is no joke!

I have a muddy mess under the misters. The cross breeze is a hot wind. I put a swamp cooler in at the other end. And now I run a sprinkler on the roof too. Gonna seal it up before next summer and put an AC in it.

 

[Scooter1A]

when does it start to cool down there? anytime soon?

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

when does it start to cool down there? anytime soon?

September

 

[Scooter1A]

I'm shocked the rabbits can put up with the heat. I guess it's all adaptation.

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

I'm shocked the rabbits can put up with the heat. I guess it's all adaptation.

Yeah. There was 1 time it was over 100 in the barn. Only once so far. They don't start panting til it gets above 80°. Which is every day. But my electric bill is gonna be over 900$ trying to keep the critters and us cool.

 

[Scooter1A]

ya we're being robbed. hang in there. the next battle may be harder, who knows these days but I expect it any day now. God Bless.

 

[Sapphire16]

we have a outdoor patio type swamp cooler with a big fan on one end and on the other a portable air conditioner with a fan. We still run water over the roof several times a day and give the moms with babies frozen bottles when it is really hot to lay against. They all have tiles in their cages and perch or lay on them. We only occassionally get to 100 so you are definitely fighting the good fight!

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

we have a outdoor patio type swamp cooler with a big fan on one end and on the other a portable air conditioner with a fan. We still run water over the roof several times a day and give the moms with babies frozen bottles when it is really hot to lay against. They all have tiles in their cages and perch or lay on them. We only occassionally get to 100 so you are definitely fighting the good fight!

Thank you. Another 4 weeks and we should have better temps

 

[Scooter1A]

we have a outdoor patio type swamp cooler with a big fan on one end and on the other a portable air conditioner with a fan. We still run water over the roof several times a day and give the moms with babies frozen bottles when it is really hot to lay against. They all have tiles in their cages and perch or lay on them. We only occassionally get to 100 so you are definitely fighting the good fight!

i like the tile idea, gonna do that

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

Update:
And now it's getting colder temps. Down to 48 last night.
Took 3 of us about an hour to put the panels back up. They are heavy. Had to drill new holes. I was scolded the entire time. But it's done. So I'm happy now. It can rain. The wind can blow and my sweeties will be fine.

 

[carolsembellishments]

Newbie here. I need some input please. My rabbits are in a metal indoor barn. The front is mostly open, with a shade cloth in the open space. I have misters and a fan going. I put in frozen water bottles for them to lay near. I can take down panels to create more air. Or not. I can take just the upper. Or just the middle. Then put up more shade cloth. But shade cloth still let's in sun. So what's best?

So, metal will heat in the sun and radiate heat. If the barn were mine I would 1st, use rigid insulation on the roof to protect from the heat radiating down (R-Tech 1 1/2" x 48' x 8'). 2nd I would go to the sun-side wall and hang a tarp or shade cloth at an angle to shade that wall but allow air flow. 3rd I would build a greenhouse cooling wall, or a version there of as seen on youtube. I, too, live where it hits triple digits in the summer, this year 109. It has been as hot as 112. By using the tarp awning, the temperature was noticeably cooler. When I put the insulation in on a metal roof, it was incredible as I could feel the difference as I worked, and had to stay under the insulation to tolerate the heat. My husband helped me construct a "cooling wall" using a plastic bin container, pvc pipe, a roll of blue swamp cooler pad and a fountain pump. It is on a thermostat and has performed beautifully. My rabbits have stayed comfortable on the hottest days.

 

[Julie Stade]

So, metal will heat in the sun and radiate heat. If the barn were mine I would 1st, use rigid insulation on the roof to protect from the heat radiating down (R-Tech 1 1/2" x 48' x 8'). 2nd I would go to the sun-side wall and hang a tarp or shade cloth at an angle to shade that wall but allow air flow. 3rd I would build a greenhouse cooling wall, or a version there of as seen on youtube. I, too, live where it hits triple digits in the summer, this year 109. It has been as hot as 112. By using the tarp awning, the temperature was noticeably cooler. When I put the insulation in on a metal roof, it was incredible as I could feel the difference as I worked, and had to stay under the insulation to tolerate the heat.

We specifically designed a metal maternity building for cooling rather than getting hot for our rabbitry area on the farm. The sides are reflective white, and the roof is reflective silver. There's a thin insulative layer under the roof itself, and the entire 32' ridge cap is vented to release heat. We put double doors on each end and then oriented the building north/south so that we could take advantage of our summertime south winds by opening both ends to create a wind tunnel of sorts. There are three large heavy-duty fans at the south end (since we use no AC for our Rex) which suck in air from the pasture to the south where we run a well-water (probably in the 50s temp-wise) sprinkler to cool the incoming air just outside the door. And with summer foliage on them, there is a fair amount of shade which passes across the roof from the trees to the south. All six windows are generally left open for ventilation, but we do have cardboard barriers hanging about 6" inside them to block any direct sun from hitting the rabbits themselves. Despite some other show breeders in our state (Kansas) losing triple-digit numbers of rabbits this summer in our extreme heat/humidity (which weren't even Rex-coated), we didn't lose a single rabbit out of this building. (The one rabbit we did lose, a big and heavy herd-sire buck, was actually in an open-air lean-to area where most of the show string is kept, so we'll be adding a swamp cooler to that area next summer since I, unfortunately, expect our summers to continue to worsen.) Even with all that, we are planning the planting of additional shade trees and adding a secondary lean-to which will reach almost all the way to the west side of the portable building we designed, so that will stop all sun from hitting the west windows. Rex just can't handle heat indexes in the 120s without a lot of preventative measures.

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

We specifically designed a metal maternity building for cooling rather than getting hot for our rabbitry area on the farm. The sides are reflective white, and the roof is reflective silver. There's a thin insulative layer under the roof itself, and the entire 32' ridge cap is vented to release heat. We put double doors on each end and then oriented the building north/south so that we could take advantage of our summertime south winds by opening both ends to create a wind tunnel of sorts. There are three large heavy-duty fans at the south end (since we use no AC for our Rex) which suck in air from the pasture to the south where we run a well-water (probably in the 50s temp-wise) sprinkler to cool the incoming air just outside the door. And with summer foliage on them, there is a fair amount of shade which passes across the roof from the trees to the south. All six windows are generally left open for ventilation, but we do have cardboard barriers hanging about 6" inside them to block any direct sun from hitting the rabbits themselves. Despite some other show breeders in our state (Kansas) losing triple-digit numbers of rabbits this summer in our extreme heat/humidity (which weren't even Rex-coated), we didn't lose a single rabbit out of this building. (The one rabbit we did lose, a big and heavy herd-sire buck, was actually in an open-air lean-to area where most of the show string is kept, so we'll be adding a swamp cooler to that area next summer since I, unfortunately, expect our summers to continue to worsen.) Even with all that, we are planning the planting of additional shade trees and adding a secondary lean-to which will reach almost all the way to the west side of the portable building we designed, so that will stop all sun from hitting the west windows. Rex just can't handle heat indexes in the 120s without a lot of preventative measures.

Wow! That is beautiful.
I actually planning on growing some sunflowers around the building. Then plant some trees to create more shade. This building is built into the side of a hill.
Other than the heat. We have incredible winds. Every year a semi truck or two will blow over on the freeway. This building blew over once.we installed cement posts to hold it down.
Planning a trip to Texas in Nov to check out a rabbitry that has Tamuk.

 

[Julie Stade]

Wow! That is beautiful.
I actually planning on growing some sunflowers around the building. Then plant some trees to create more shade. This building is built into the side of a hill.
Other than the heat. We have incredible winds. Every year a semi truck or two will blow over on the freeway. This building blew over once.we installed cement posts to hold it down.
Planning a trip to Texas in Nov to check out a rabbitry that has Tamuk.

Thank you, and I actually had volunteer sunflowers growing in front of the maternity building this summer that sprouted from the BOSS in their supplements. LOL And we're right there with you on the wind front; Kansas is the second windiest state in the continental U.S. (one of the Dakotas beat us out).

We're hoping that this very heavy portable building will stay put despite our sometimes violent winds in KS since there's a massive farm equipment shed just to its west, and most of our tornadic storms in warm weather come from the SW or W directions.

Rex are our only breed these days, so unfortunately, we'll likely never have the heat resistance of a tamuk. <sigh>