Watch the heat guys

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Honorine

Honorine

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 19, 2010
Messages
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Location
NEPA
Well its started already, lost 5 kits to the heat yesterday, very unexpected. I haven't lost kits to heat in eons, but the two that got out of the nestbox were fine, the 5 in it were dead. There must have been a buildup of heat in that one cage, because everyone esle was fine. Cheeses me off, its always the biggest ones, and they were old enough to get out of the box too. So be careful, even if it doesn't seem hot to you it may be hot enough to kill kits. Its been cool here, and then the one day of higher heat, so it must have been too much. If you have stackable cages, move your litters out of the top cages, remove excess fur that make them too warm, or bring the nestboxes inside if it seems like its going to be a hot day. Check your nestboxes every day, a dead kit can rot fast in hot weather and poison the nest. Thats my community service announcement for the month.
 
My sympathies. I lost all but one of a litter of newborns to the heat last Summer. Heartbreaking.
 
So sorry Honorine! May I ask what type of nestbox they were in?

Thank you for the good advice on prevention.
 
I'm so sorry, Honorine! We're expecting heat indices over 100F this week, so I will be watching my buns extra closely. Thankfully, I don't have any kits right now.
 
After losing 8 of 9 in a litter about two weeks ago, I am removing 3/4 of the fur from my nests now and making sure the kits have room to spread out. I am also putting much less hay in the boxes as well. That seems to help.
 
They were in a regular wooden nestbox, must have held the heat in enough to kill them. I'm mad at myself, I should have checked them earlier, but I haven't had heat losses in so long and it just didn't seem that hot. They were supposed to be for my son's meat pen at the fair, and they were fat healthy monsters, real bummer. I do have other litters for his meat pen, but its just stinks to lose them when I could have avoided it. I'll be more vigilant now.
 
I use wire nests primarily- I do have some steel ones as backup. If you prefer to make your own, perhaps wood boxes with a wire bottom and vented sides would help. You could either make cutouts on the sides and rear and screen them with wire, or drill holes in them.
 
I've got litters expected in two days, and I'm going to bring those kits in. I don't have AC in the house, but I will find the coolest place for them to go.
 
Sorry to hear about your losses, Honorine. I know it's a real kick in the gut to lose rabbits that you're counting on to make your operation continue to go on.

It's why some of us stop breeding in early May. This time of year, the seasonal heat cycles can start at any time, go for months, and cost your operation big time. Best to wait until the early to mid fall and start again, at least in most areas of the country.
 
By nov it's too cold here for half the rabbits and before may we might still get snow. I either risk the heat or risk the cold and I've been culling rabbits to breed through both.
 
Not a doubt in my mind that's true, Akane. In other areas of the country, you can easily wipe your operation out by trying to breed during the warmer months of the year. I have a Cal Satin doe with 10 babies on her right now. They'll be 3 weeks old in a couple of days, and I'm keeping my fingers and toes crossed that they'll be ready to wean by the first week of July without any significant issues involved. The heat is the reason why. The temperatures begin hitting 100+ on a daily basis by that time. It crippled the breeding operations of several breeders in this region a year ago, and this year the heat began in early March, way earlier than it normally does. So far, it's shaping up to be a hot summer which exceeds what we saw last year.
 
The average and record highs in Iowa are actually as high as southern states in summer with high humidity and the lows are equal to middle of canada. We get it both. Last year we were in the 100s for 2months and I still bred but I did lose one round of litters because it was so hot the does failed to make milk so I had to put the whole lot down. It was late Oct before my bucks were no longer sterile. Luckily we had a light winter this year but 2 years back it was -30F and I was setting up pens in my kitchen for does having problems. Honestly I have no idea why anyone lives here.
 
As its a shame. Hope the rest of your litters look great. I have one doe, who I keep taking the fur and she keeps pulling more. Shes gonna bake them!!!! I still hope I can possibly get buy some from you, despite your losses :D
 
the sad part for those who show, is that up here the best shows are in Nov/Dec/Feb, I need to have a litter now to have something for show the fall.
 
akane":twrq268o said:
The average and record highs in Iowa are actually as high as southern states in summer with high humidity and the lows are equal to middle of canada. We get it both. Last year we were in the 100s for 2months and I still bred but I did lose one round of litters because it was so hot the does failed to make milk so I had to put the whole lot down. It was late Oct before my bucks were no longer sterile. Luckily we had a light winter this year but 2 years back it was -30F and I was setting up pens in my kitchen for does having problems. Honestly I have no idea why anyone lives here.
Click to expand...

But Akane, that's just it. We never got any winter weather this year. Not a snow storm, ice storm, extended cold spell, nothing of the sort. A couple of days of upper 20's and that was it. The 90-degree spells in March spelled trouble, but I will admit that I'm surprised it hasn't hit the century mark yet. We've been flirting with it, though.

Heck, in mid-January, I took a trip to northern Missouri, less than a half hour from the Iowa line. It was 60 degrees that day. If you had ever told me that it would be that warm at that time of year in that region of the country, I would have laughed, but it's what happened.

What I wouldn't have given to have some cold weather this past winter. When I went to Peoria in February, it was only 25 degrees the morning of the show. Hardly a flake of snow on the ground, but I was definitely digging the "cold" weather. Made me feel like I was alive. :p Oh well, maybe next year, right? ;)
 
I was thrilled with this winter. I just kept waiting for it to change but it never did. We never hit the frostbite risk weather I usually deal with. The water bottles barely froze even in Jan. I've been saying I'm moving south since I was 12. I guess I just had to wait for global warming.
 
Akane, it's the product of having spent 5 years in upstate New York, 2 years in England, a year in Iceland, and 6 years in Alaska. The USAF made a snowman out of me, and I cannot stand the heat of the summers down here. It's nearly 11 p.m., and I am about to head to Wal Mart to get some skeeter spray. They're trying to carry me off inside my own house!!!
 
SatinsRule":2wp3dqej said:
Akane, it's the product of having spent 5 years in upstate New York, 2 years in England, a year in Iceland, and 6 years in Alaska. The USAF made a snowman out of me, and I cannot stand the heat of the summers down here. It's nearly 11 p.m., and I am about to head to Wal Mart to get some skeeter spray. They're trying to carry me off inside my own house!!!
Click to expand...


'em skeeters! my nemesis! I always say I have that old southern blood, and I deserved to be born in the south, but instead up north, and I seem to go further and further north every time I move. I hate snow, hate it, and don't tolerate cold well. I am fine with the heat.

But I hate insects more than that, and would probably have a hard time living somewhere where they don't die/go away for several months a year.
 

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