Outdoor year round in tx?

[Mandz87]

Hello, I've kept bunnies outdoors before, but that's when I was living in WI. I am now currently living in TX. My husband won't let them in the "rolling estate" due to space limitations and overall smell. So I was wondering if I could keep them outside year round? I think the hottest month is august with 95 degrees? but prob. could get to 100. and the coldest is 20 degrees in jan? thoughts? suggestions? thank you.

 

[Marinea]

Welcome to RT Mandz87!

We have folks in Texas who keep their rabbits outside year-round. Think shade, breeze, and an option for some sort of cooling- ice bottles, mister systems, fans, etc. The summer heat is much more of an issue than the colder weather.

Hopefully, some of our Texas folks will chime in with pictures of their setups. Good luck!

 

[trinityoaks]

Absolutely! Winters are not an issue AT ALL in Texas, not even in the Panhandle. Summer heat is what you have to watch (even in the Panhandle, which actually gets hotter than SE Texas due to the extremely dry air).

Marinea pretty much covered it. Shade is essential, water is critical. Check their water OFTEN if you use bottles. I don't think crocks hold enough water for Texas heat. An automatic watering system is the best, and not expensive or difficult to set up. Bryant's in Channelview has good prices on everything you need. Either way, check the water nozzles AT LEAST once a day to make sure they don't get stuck. I found that one out the hard way.

I had a misting system last year, but because of the humidity here I'm not sure it did much good. It's really great in drier parts of Texas, though!

Fans will help A LOT, especially if you hang old, wet towels. (Some people use empty burlap sacks, but those dry out too quickly, IMHO.)

A lot of people freeze 2-liter bottles of water, or even small buckets. I don't have the freezer space myself, though. Marble slabs or 12" ceramic tiles are good, too.

One-Acre Farm has the best setup, IMHO. Hopefully she will jump in here soon, as well.

 

[Miss M]

We have other members near you who keep rabbits outdoors year-round. I have nearly identical weather to Houston myself, and keep them outdoors year-round.

Definitely shade. My rabbitry is near three trees. It gets some sun in the early morning and the late afternoon. Other than that, it's in the shade.

I used to do ice bottles, until I read another member's thoughts on breeding for heat tolerance. She doesn't put in ice until it gets to 100*. I decided to try it, and my rabbits have been doing fine. Especially with the addition of a fan blowing end to end. I'm not saying don't do ice bottles. Only that you may want to try not to. That way, if you happen to be away, and the temp spikes before you get back home, you know your rabbits can take it as long as you left them enough water.

Get stock as locally as possible, that has been raised in the conditions you plan to have your rabbits in. This could be the single most important key to your success.

Welcome to RabbitTalk!!! :welcomewagon:

 

[Mandz87]

Thanks for the replies. What about cages? I was on the gallery and noticed a lot of people use wire cages and hang them. Is this to keep out predators? Would it be ok if I build a hutch instead? If yes, how do I keep out predators that way, since it's closer to the ground?

 

[trinityoaks]

What do you mean by a hutch? A wooden structure? VERY hard to keep clean, and the rabbits will chew on the wood. Also more expensive than wire cages and easier for fire ants to access, nest in, etc.

Wire cages are the most sanitary and most easy-to-maintain enclosures for rabbits. You don't have to hang your cages. Mine are in wooden cage racks. Bryant's (which I mentioned in my earlier post) also has very well-made cages in a number of sizes, for less than you could make them yourself (especially factoring in shipping to get good cage wire).

 

[paradox]

New on here so trying for first time to post a picture. We are in Central Texas. We tried deep shade and ice bottles and still lost bucks. Now we have a set up where they can get from their cage into an ice chest that is burried inside a structure like a raised flower bed. The picture is of our first one before it was finished. In the end there was also a hinged slanted roof over the coolers so the sun isn't beating down on them and the rain doesn't turn the dirt into a muddy mess. Also it keeps the lids locked down. In extreme heat we can put frozen 16 oz water bottles in the coolers and since they are super insulated that is much better than doing the two liters in the cage area. Those always melted before lunch here anyway. It is working really well so we just built the second one. Ran out of old broken coolers so had to use heavy plastic tubs for that one but they were not expensive. Wasn't hard to build and we used a lot of reclaimed materials.

 

[trinityoaks]

Now we have a set up where they can get from their cage into an ice chest that is burried inside a structure like a raised flower bed.

Very clever! Wish the photo were larger so I could see it better.

 

[paradox]

I will try to get some better pics of the finished product. That one was the first one we built. We made some improvements on the new one. It was a learning process - LOL. No matter how hard you think it through before you build, there are always things you decide you should have done differently.

 

[Secuono]

Are these the same rabbits that are used to and bred in the colder WI State?
If so, you might have issues with them adjusting and handling the heat.

 

[Mandz87]

Oh, I was referring when I was younger when I lived with my parents and we had rabbits outdoors. I don't have any now. Are there breeds that will do better in the heat? I really like lionheads and mini lops, but see a lot of california and new zealand. Awesome idea too about the coolers, looking forward to more/bigger pix so I can build it too.

 

[trinityoaks]

The wool breeds will probably have trouble in the SE TX heat and humidity. I wouldn't try to raise those outdoors. Other than that, it's not the breed so much as the individual lines, and what they are bred for or have become accustomed to.

If you're looking for Cals, NZs, or Rex, One-Acre-Farm breeds some very nice ones, and she's not far from you.

 

[Jessykah]

http://repository.tamu.edu/bitstream/ha ... df_645.pdf Raising rabbits in Texas. Hope this helps.

 

[Miss M]

Paradox, that is an awesome setup there! It is very similar to setups that have been developed for tropical climates (cages with clay tunnels leading to buried clay pots with lids... that sort of thing).

When you get a set of good pics, please do start a new thread and explain your process thoroughly. Pics of the building of it, if you have them, would be ideal, but if you didn't take pictures when you built it, then please lots of nice-sized pictures from all different angles. If you need help getting the pictures up, any of us Mods would be happy to help!

Image limits: 2 megabytes maximum file size per image, maximum width 1920 pixels, maximum height 1200 pixels.

Sorry to give you an assignment already! You happen to have something there that, as far as I know, no one else on this forum has done. It could be extremely helpful to the many, many members who raise rabbits in the heat!

(Hope I don't scare you off...)

Oh, I was referring when I was younger when I lived with my parents and we had rabbits outdoors. I don't have any now. Are there breeds that will do better in the heat? I really like lionheads and mini lops, but see a lot of california and new zealand. Awesome idea too about the coolers, looking forward to more/bigger pix so I can build it too.

Trinity's right, it's possibly just the wool breeds, though I've read that some Rex can have trouble in high heat/humidity places. That's why it's so important to buy from local lines if you can, for rabbits you're going to raise outside. OneAcreFarm is able to keep Rex in this climate, so it can be done.

Minilops will be fine, and even Lionheads should be, if they don't have too much wool on them. You can always give them a clip when it's getting hot, though.

 

[avdpas77]

Rabbits have to get used to their environment, so if you get "Texas" stock, they are already adapted somewhat.
If you are bring rabbits in from a cold weather area, then you will have to be extra careful that first year.

As Trinity may remember, a couple of us up around Missouri got some rabbits down from Arizona where it was as hot or hotter than our summers here. We still lost a few, because apparently they couldn't take both the heat and the humidity that we have. The ones that made it did OK during the next summer, but it was a real shock to lose rabbits to the heat that were from a location hotter than ours, when our own rabbits were doing fine.

 

[TMTex]

That's a nice setup, paradox! I'm in Central Texas too, but use misters and ice blocks to cool my herd. We have several large coolers in the garage. I might have to borrow your idea.

 

[zee]

Paradox, that set up is AWESOME!! I agree with MissM that you should start a new thread to explain the whole process with pictures as well. INGENIOUS!!

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Ok, here I am ! Sorry I have been absent lately, very busy around her. So, yes, I do keep mine outdoors all year round. We tried several setups and what works best for us is this:













We have shade in the hottest part of the day, and fans to help circulate the air. The barn is situated to take advantage of the prevailing winds. I don't do frozen bottles, as I don't have time or freezer space to do so. Plus I feel the flip flopping of extreme temps is not good for the rabbits, but that is just my personal opinion. I also put a sprinkler on the roof of the barn and it turns on every so often to cool off the roof. My rabbits do very well in the heat. With the exception of a couple of Rex from WI, they are all locally born and bred in barns similar to mine. Although, actually, most of my rabbits now were born and bred right here in my barn.

I am more than happy to help you out in any way that I can. You can email me at: [email protected] and I will give you my cell #, etc. Welcome to Texas!

 

[trinityoaks]

As Trinity may remember, a couple of us up around Missouri got some rabbits down from Arizona where it was as hot or hotter than our summers here.

Interestingly enough, I still have three of the four rabbits I got from Arizona, now in the heat and humidity of SE Texas, and they're all doing fine. (As you may remember, our buck died quite some time ago due to health issues unrelated to the weather.) Maybe the survivors just were already adapted better, and this is something that can be bred for.

 

[paradox]

Thank you everyone for the kind comments. I think it is kind of unique because when we started thinking through the idea I searched many websites and boards looking for info on a similar set up. I thought for sure someone had tried it and had pointers we could use but I didn't find anything other than the clay pots thing. I even asked on some boards if anyone had tried something like it and got nothing. We decided we were afraid to take them actually underground because of fire ants and snakes. That was how the raised bed idea formed. Still have the insulation of dirt (and old ice chests if you can find them) but up off the ground where it is easier to check on them and keeps snakes and ants out (so far). I will try to take pics and do a new thread like Miss M asked soon. It is an easy build really.

Oneacre that is a beautiful set up too. It looks so nice and clean and love all the green you can see all around. We once had a structure similar just for a carport but the wind took it - LOL. We are on a hill and we have almost constant wind and sometimes things just take flight. But it is a small price to pay to have a breeze when it is 118 degrees outside!