Lost half the herd today

[NH Homesteader]

Sorry about your rabbits. I believe that is one of the biggest challenges with rabbits. They do NOT do heat well.

@samssimonsays is a rabbit guru and @baymule has a ton of experience raising rabbits in Texas.

 

[Mini Horses]

Sorry for the loss. It's always hard when these things happen.

 

[baymule]

Number one, don't breed in the summer. Fat, pregnant AND wearing a fur coat? Nope. Number two, fill plastic bowls with ice and pop them out, put them in rabbit cages. place fans to blow air around and have your rabbits in the shade. I had does die of heat and they gave out a shrill shriek and died. It makes you feel really really bad. I stopped breeding in the spring and didn't start back until September. In the winter, use an open top nest box and place an automotive light, the clamp on type with the big aluminum shield on it, over the nest box. It will keep the kits nice and cozy.

Sorry about your does. Hope the others do ok, you might even need to bring them into AC if they are pregnant.

 

[Chic Rustler]

Im thinking pregnancy and heat was the culprit. My other doe is bred too, but not as far along. The guys i bought them from didnt have anything fancy. One guy didnt even have a roof over his rabbits. Im gonna try the ice bottles and set up a fan system

 

[sumi]

I am so sorry to hear about your losses The ice bottles as suggested above sounds like a good idea and also fans or something, shade yes. I'm not a rabbit, but having carried a baby through one brutal hot summer in South Africa, I can understand them struggling, poor things. I hope the weather lets up a bit for you all soon!

 

[Farmfresh]

Look at your local tile shop or Habitat for Humanity for cheap marble remnants. A marble slab will pull heat away from the animal as well as give them someplace flat to sit which relieves hock issues on wire cage floors. Marble is also close grained so it won't absorb urine the way a masonry block can. Basically the same properties that makes marble ideal for rolling dough also makes it ideal for rabbits.

 

[Mini Horses]

He set up an awesome air flow for them. It's in his homestead thread. If you raise rabbits you'd like this.