Question about heat sterility would this solve the problem?

[ckcs]

Right now all my rabbits are housed inside my house so I can breed them year round. I've read about bucks having issues in the hot summer. Do does have this same problem? I'm planning on getting into a larger breed of rabbits (e or v Lops, currently lionheads) and housing them indoors is not practical. However I would like to breed year round and was curious to know if you could keep the buck indoors and the does outdoors to solve the summer breeding issue.

 

[Secuono]

They have a deadly problem, the last week of pregnancy in hot weather may kill them or stress them so much that they can die up to about a week later.

 

[TMTex]

They have a deadly problem, the last week of pregnancy in hot weather may kill them or stress them so much that they can die up to about a week later.

Can the does be kept outside and then be brought in before it becomes a problem? I kept bringing my heat stressed lactating doe in during the hottest part of the day until she got better. I'd take her back out at night to feed her kits. Would this work before kindling though?

 

[Miss M]

You can bring them in like that... I've read of a few members doing it.

I've bred year-round, and not had issues except with heat sterility in the buck a couple of times. It just depends on your rabbits.

 

[JessiL]

I think heat tolerance is something you can select for, hence all of the people who raise rabbits in un-air conditioned barns in places like Texas. But unless you are lucky and buy the right foundation stock, you will have losses until you develop your own resistant strain. So far, I've had good luck keeping my Americans and Champagne d'Argents going throughout this unusually hot summer. Then again, we have very little humidity, and I do try to help them a little bit by turning on a mister set-up when it's over about 96 or 98 or so. Still, 2 weeks ago my American Blue doe kindled 12 after she and the buck had been exposed to several bouts of 100+ degree heat. But we have lost one 6 week old rabbit to what we thought was heat stroke and not enteritis...

- Jessi