snuffles or just hot?

[chickenchaps]

Thanks! Great ideas!

I was thinking of someday expanding and building more cages, which wouldnt be limited on the back by property line as these are. I could build that and move them to that new structure with all these helpful hints in mind.

Yes, you have it correct, the front faces north and NO sun at all comes in from that direction. The tin overlaps to the north well far enough to keep it shaded. This time of year, until winter, the south will not get sun either. The sun is close to straight up (FL), only in winter does it slant in from the south.

The ground underneath is sand, I dont think its reflecting heat at all. These hutches are inside my chicken coop run (completely predator proof) and the chickens hang out underneath the rabbits during the day as its the cool spot.

Ill look into the reflective insulated roof boards, that is a good idea. ANd Ill work on doing somekind of mister fan setup too.

Thank you all for the great ideas and help! Im just glad they werent snuffling. ? is that a word? lol

 

[rockdoveranch]

+1 on frozen water bottles. Stick them in in the morning and put them back in the freezer for the next day. We use 1/2 gallon juice bottles.

 

[chickenchaps]

Ok, I put more tin over the rabbits and removed the shade cloth from the east and west ends. I think I will try removing the shade cloth from the south (back) side as well - as the sun is basically straight up this time of year. I will try it and see if too much sun is coming in or not. Id rather them be in shade, instead of worrying about wind (wind comes from the east most of the time). Having the ends open will surely help I think, and should have sufficient shade with the extra tin roofed. I will also still get some insulation for the roof. There is no way to prop the shade cloth on the south as that is on my property line and I cant overlap into the other property. Come fall, I can put the shade cloth back up on the south, when the sun shifts south.

Forecast shows another HOT week coming. I will watch them closely and do whatever I can to keep them cool.

I appreciate all the help and ideas! I am just very glad they didnt have snuffles.

 

[rockdoveranch]

About the frozen water bottles, as the ice melts the bottles sweat. My rabbits "seem" to enjoy the wet bottles. If you have the freezer room, I would suggest you have two sets of bottles for each rabbit and put one in each cage before going to work and then replacing them with the second set of frozen bottles when you get home. Just a suggestion.

We are about 50 miles from the Texas Gulf Coast and I swear, with our sandy soil, it is hotter here than at the beach and you can get a faster tan or sun burn here than at the beach.

If you do rebuild or add more cages, you might consider making the tops of the cages wire and putting a solid roof over them about 2 to 4 foot higher. And do the same with the side that gets the winter wind.

 

[rockdoveranch]

chickchaps, How are your rabbits doing?

I wanted to tell you that not long after my last post I noticed that my 1 1/2 year old French Lop Buck's neck was totally wet. I checked him out in his cage and his hair was very matted there too. When I tried to look even closer he put his teeth on me but did not break my skin.

Our weather has been in the 90s and up to the 100s for months and months.

I wrapped him up in a beach towel and brought him in the house and lay him on his back on a table. My husband held him down. I wrapped my thumb and index finger around his mouth with my left hand so he could not bite me, and examined his neck.

He had one serious yeast infection with two areas that were very red with two red, red sores. It took about 30 minutes, but I cut away all the wet hair and a little of the dry hair in the adjacent area. I dried his neck off well and then poured Betadine on his bare neck.

I added 1/8th teaspoon of Dacoxine (a drug we have here for our pigeons) to his 16 ounce water bottle and the sores have already cleared up and his skin no longer looks irritated.

I considered putting yeast medication on his neck and giving him a shot of penicillin, but went with the other plan instead. Could be that simply cutting the wet, matted hair away did the trick.

Here is our cage that sits under our 15 foot house awning.

This is a first for me.

 

[chickenchaps]

WOW! What a scare that was! Im glad you knew how and what to do and it worked!

Your hutch is great! Looks like it would have lots of nice air flow and cool. But when its hot out, it just hot everywhere!

My rabbits are good, thank you for asking! I havent seen the wet noses anymore, since I put more tin up and removed the end shade cloths. They are still panting, but at least improved some. Do they ever get aclimated to the heat?

I am saving up bottles now to freeze and put in their cages. I figure its worth a try. I doubt they would still be even cool by time I get off work, but I can put another out there when I get home, so maybe that would reduce the amount of time they are hot.

 

[oneacrefarm]

WOW! What a scare that was! Im glad you knew how and what to do and it worked!

Your hutch is great! Looks like it would have lots of nice air flow and cool. But when its hot out, it just hot everywhere!

My rabbits are good, thank you for asking! I havent seen the wet noses anymore, since I put more tin up and removed the end shade cloths. They are still panting, but at least improved some. Do they ever get aclimated to the heat?

I am saving up bottles now to freeze and put in their cages. I figure its worth a try. I doubt they would still be even cool by time I get off work, but I can put another out there when I get home, so maybe that would reduce the amount of time they are hot.

Yep, that is pretty much what I do. I leave around 7am and I put bottle. When I get home, it is melted...sometimes still cool, sometimes not. If it is still scorching, I put another bottle. Mine love them, they will lay right on top of them! Misting or wetting down their ears is a quick way to cool them off too.

Shannon

 

[dewey]

Glad your rabbits are ok.

The ones I have outside enjoy their bodies being gently and completely soaked down with water (none down in their ears of course). They stretch out waiting for their turn when they see me coming with the water. They adore the massaging and scratching as I backcomb their fur with my hand making sure the water gets to the skin.

I don't recall what type you have, but maybe you could also wet them down before you leave and again after you get home at the hottest part of the day. A gallon jug should do 4-5.

It's was 117 degrees here in the valley this week and it's gonna get hotter.