Summer breedings

[LindseysWoolies]

Do you guys breed during the summer months or do you wait for fall? My does are not going to be 6 months yet until July and August.

 

[ottersatin]

Hello Lindsey,
I breed my Rabbits year-round and have very few problems.
My rabbitry has shade trees overhead. Fans are used if needed but the need is rare.
I don't breed my Does [Satins] until they reach senior weight or eight months
of age, whichever comes sooner. I feel that breeding at six months is
too soon for a standard Satin. This however is my opinion, your mileage may vary.
One must do whatever thay feel is in the best interest of the animals/Rabbits
in their charge.
Ottersatin. ldtimer: ancake:

 

[Secuono]

Depends on your area, if they are indoors with AC and such. I'm in va, more north than you, but I won't be breeding in July and August, way too hot for me and not going to risk my rabbits.

 

[grumpy]

It's a personal call. I hesitate to breed in the heat of the year, even with the small air-conditioner and insulated building. Heat is so darned hard on pregnant does.

By the same token, holding off on breeding takes a doe "out-of-the-loop" with their breeding cycle. Making them much harder to get back into the groove of things. You really have to keep a very close eye on their weight to make sure they don't get too fat.

Older does seem to be impacted more by the heat than young does. I've got several junior does that will be "ready" for breeding in the middle of the summer. I may try with these. But, this crazy weather were having right now, makes it hard to form any kind of plan.

Grumpy.

 

[SatinsRule]

Depends totally upon where you're at.

Here, I generally don't breed past about mid May. Summer litters rarely have survived for me in the past, and those losses are compounded if/when the heat is such that the doe dies as well.

Let your conscience and better judgment be your guide. If the mercury is above 80 degrees at breeding time, I wouldn't personally do it or recommend it.

 

[skysthelimit]

I do worry about it. I am home in the summer, the best time for me to manage my rabbits. Not breeding in the summer months would sure cut down on my meat supply, the main reason for raising rabbits. It will probably be the time when I am most likely to get sales from raw feeders. Of course I don't want to put my rabbits in jeopardy either.

 

[Peach]

I'm in Ga with you and the I am planning to go with summer breedings. I'll be around full time and will be installing fans for my rabbits,misting them down, they are already in the shade,and such. I can be there most of the time and monitor them and my grandpa lends a hand when I'm not. I'm not sure how it goes with angora breeds though. I feel that the extra fluff might be hard on them. (Unless of course you've pulled/clipped most of that coat) Maybe try waiting until the end of August? It will probably start cooling off in GA then. Then again....GA has been have crazy weather changes this year. Pain in the butt!

 

[LindseysWoolies]

Thanks! Even though it will make me a little sad the Angoras will be shaved down soon. I just dont want to risk the heat with them.<br /><br />__________ Sun May 06, 2012 9:00 pm __________<br /><br />Thanks! Even though it will make me a little sad the Angoras will be shaved down soon. I just dont want to risk the heat with them.

 

[curlysue]

I dont breed when its very hot.i dont want babies when im on vacation and it affects the ear size some.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

when its very hot it affects the ear size some.

Really? I'm assuming the ears are larger for better cooling. Makes sense!

 

[ollitos]

I'm watching this thread with great interest. We need to be able to breed year round. We had a mild winter this year but it still got down in the low 20's at night. Summers will easily hit the upper 90's most days in July and August. I'm already thinking about how to provide enough ventilation in the hutches so the babies don't overheat and die. I'm really interested in hearing all experiences with summer breeding.

 

[skysthelimit]

If it's just a matter of babies or uncomfortable does, they can always move to the basement or I can put the air on in my bedroom. The barn is usually the coolest place anyway.

 

[Cindi Davis]

Im in Eastern Oregon but Im a tad on the careful side when breeding in the summer here Its gotten to 100 on a few occasions,

 

[SatinsRule]

The problem with moving them to the basement around here is that most homes in the area aren't built with one. Heck, for that matter, you're lucky to even have a crawl space.

 

[Legacy]

If we got to the mid 90's, I would definitely breed all year. Mid 90's is spring for us. My rabbits can handle those temps no problem. It's the over 100 temps that I have to deal with.

 

[grumpy]

I'm watching this thread with great interest. We need to be able to breed year round. We had a mild winter this year but it still got down in the low 20's at night. Summers will easily hit the upper 90's most days in July and August. I'm already thinking about how to provide enough ventilation in the hutches so the babies don't overheat and die. I'm really interested in hearing all experiences with summer breeding.

I've insulated the ceiling and side-walls in my rabbitry. On the one side that attaches to the barn, the ceilings are 12' tall. The outside wall is 9' tall. To allow warm air to escape, I've cut 5 vents about 18" x 24" square in the 12' wall near the ceiling spaced equidistantly along the 64 foot length of the room.

When the temps start bumping 80 degrees, I've got a 7500 BTU Air conditioner mounted in the north wall about 5.5 foot above the ground. I turn this on and turn-off the window fan above it so warmer air won't be pulled into the room. I keep the lower fans on the floor going to keep the air circulating. Surprisingly enough, when the temps outside hit 90 degrees and above, the room temps in the rabbitry never get above 85. It's gotten to 100 degrees a few times and the room still remained very comfortable. The 5 vents allow the hotter air to escape from the room.

The A/C doesn't keep the room "cold". But, it does knock down the heat to the point that the rabbits are comfortable. I beat the sterility problems with older bucks during this time of the year by keeping several "January" bucks to use during this hot part of the season. Once the season cools off, I make the decision to keep one or two of the younger bucks for replacements or sell them as breeders.

Grumpy.

 

[ollitos]

We have pasture pens which creates a unique situation when dealing with the weather extremes. We're not quite a colony but we're also not a bank of indoor cages.