How Cold is too cold??

[jil101ca]

My small herd of 5 live outside in a lean-tolike shed. I've already started to put plastic up to cover theopenings. I plan on givng everyone a box filled with shavings andstraw. On the very cold nights I will cover their cages with some oldblankets and a tarp. I live in Northern Ontarioand somenights can go down to-35 c (don't know what this is in F).How cold is too cold for the rabbits?? If need be I can bring them intothe garage for a day or 2 but there is not enough room for them allwinter in there.What should I watch for to tell if they are too cold?This is our first winter with the rabbitts. Thanks for any replies.

 

[Bunman]

Rabbits & Cold Weather:

http://www.lopsandcavies.com/cold_weather_breeder_tips.htm

(Not that i advocate breeding, but this does give some helpful tips on keepings buns in extreme cold).

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

My rabbits live outside all year round, in thewinter the nights can get to about -10 degrees celcius but it can get abit colder. I've never had to bring my rabbits in yet butifthere was a particularly cold snap I'd move them into the (unused)garage.Rabbits cope pretty well with the cold but the needlots of bedding in a bed area of their hutch or a largeinsulatedbox filled with straw/hay. Insulating hutches alsohelps, you can use radiator/housing insulation, carpet, old blanketsetc and a piece of tarp over the top to stop the heat escaping from thehutch. Also covering over the front mesh area stops any drafts or badweather getting in. Here is a bit on winter care

http://home.btconnect.com/NucleusTCR/bunnyhugger/wintercr.htm

http://www.rabbitrehome.org.uk/care/winter.asp

 

[Pipp]

Well, -40 c is the same as -40 f so that'spretty cold! But you have larger rabbits if I recall, whichshould help.

I'm sure this info is all in that link. The important partsare keeping them dry and out of drafts. If you havewire bottom cages, drafts can come up from the floor,too, somake sure the boxes aresolidand with afloor.

I'd be buying that straw by the bale and cramminga ton of itin there. And maybe newspaper, ragsorpaper towels or something else that's good for shredding and/orburrowing, although that may or may not be recommended, I haven'tlooked at the link.

Keeping them in water will be abig problem, the bottles/crocks will freeze right away.

Feeding them some black oil sunflower seeds will help with a warming layer of body fat.

Personally, I'd move to a warmer climate. (Oh wait! I did!)

sas :biggrin:

 

[Pipp]

Here's a great thread, 'Warming a Rabbit'. I'll even bump it up:

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=1964&forum_id=1

And here's another one...

http://rabbitsonline.net/view_topic.php?id=3617&forum_id=1

(Keep in mind that one or more of the linksinprevious posts are for UK rabbits, which don't have it sorough, seeing as that's their native climate!)


sas

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Hi, I thought I'd leave a postbecauseI have 3 outside bunnies (ranging from 4.5 lbs to 7.5lbs) and I live in Alberta, Canada. It's not uncommon for it to gobelow -40*C at night here.

First off,I would NEVER leave anything under 4 pounds outsidein the winter because I think any smaller lacks the ability to keepthemselves sufficiently warm.

Second, a large change in temperature is dangerous, so if it's a heatedgarage that is more than 10*C warmer than outside, do not bring them inor you risk losing them to heat stroke and stress.

A regular cardboard box is not good enough in my opinion. My hutcheseither have (i) a removable styrofoam insulated wood box or (ii) apermanent styrofoam insulated box. The styrofoam is out of their reachbut it helps keep the warmth in the box. The box should be big enoughto accomodate the rabbit and lots of straw but not so bigthat a rabbit would have a hard time staying warm because it jsut can'tproduce enough heat to warm the whole thing.

A bale of straw is a must. Straw has a wider (hollow) core than haydoes andthat air inside the straw acts as an insulator whichtraps the heat around the rabbit (like the air between the feathers ina feather blanket). One problem I encounted with using 100% straw asbedding is that is is very short strands which is an issue. on coldnights my rabbits will burrow in the straw and even build a strawbaracade at the open door to keep the heat in. However, straw's tooshort to form a dome over the bunny making the top of the box a coldspot. I now provide some hay which has long strands in their boxed tomake that dome. Most rabbits wont burrow until it gets bitterly coldand others wont do it at all for the first winter but I've noticed thatonce they've been through one winter, they start burrowing the nextwinter and will steal hay out of their hay racks as early as Septemberto burrow.

I've noticed that some rabbits tend to use the straw and box as atoilet until it gets really cold, that's just some thing you may haveto contend with. It's normally something that improves the next winter.Anyways, if the rabbit has nicely burrowed in it and it's not dirty,there is no reason to disturb it. I change straw 3 times a winter withmy boys (the doe is still new and this will be her second winter)because I don't want to disturb their burrows unless I have to.

The most important thing is definitely keeping them dry and out of anydrafts or blowing snow. Keep in mind that they also need ventilation soblocking off the whole cage is not recommended. The strong ammoniasmell from their urine is not good for them. I normally keep a fewsmall sections open for ventilation.

Water is another big thing, I used to change water 10 times a day tokeep it from freezing solid. It wont be so easy this year but I'llstill change water a lot. Providing room temperature water encouragesmore drinking and I provide veggies whenI will be unable toprovide water for long periods of time so they get moisture that way.

You can also add oats and black oil sunflower seeds (a 'hot' food thatshould be fed in moderation because it is high in fat). But be carefulnot to add to many, rabbits may go off their pellets if they get toomany.

I think I said everything... sorry for the long post but this is my 3rd winter so I'm getting good at this now!

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

Bunnys_rule63 wrote:

My rabbits live outside all year round, in the winter thenights can get to about -10 degrees celcius but it can get a bitcolder. I've never had to bring my rabbits in yet butif therewas a particularly cold snap I'd move them into the (unused) garage.

Here we're dealing with a wholedifferent ball game -- thepossibilty of frost bite to the point that rabbits lose ears (happensto cows all the time), etc. The tarp is a good idea to keep drafts out,but in this area it does little more than that. When it's -30 the tarpwont make a diffence on the temperature inside and outside the hutch(minus windchill). Anyways, I realise for people that are removed fromclimates like ours that it's hard to grasp the fact and it's hard toapply your suggestions to people in colder climates. I meanto me, -10 is NICE but to you it's probably freezing. The averageJanuary day doesn't get warmer than -20. I'll trade youclimates.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

MyBabyBunnies wrote:

Bunnys_rule63 wrote:

Myrabbits live outside all year round, in the winter the nights can getto about -10 degrees celcius but it can get a bit colder. I've neverhad to bring my rabbits in yet butif there was a particularlycold snap I'd move them into the (unused) garage.

Here we're dealing with a wholedifferent ball game -- thepossibilty of frost bite to the point that rabbits lose ears (happensto cows all the time), etc. The tarp is a good idea to keep drafts out,but in this area it does little more than that. When it's -30 the tarpwont make a diffence on the temperature inside and outside the hutch(minus windchill). Anyways, I realise for people that are removed fromclimates like ours that it's hard to grasp the fact and it's hard toapply your suggestions to people in colder climates. I meanto me, -10 is NICE but to you it's probably freezing. The averageJanuary day doesn't get warmer than -20. I'll trade youclimates.

Wow, that's cold!:faint:The thing is, yourrabbits, or any other rabbits in particularly cold areas will haveadapted to those temperatures so will cope quite well with them. Mypoor English bunnies would probably freeze!:shock:

 

[MyBabyBunnies]

That is true, but we still see a huge change intemperature during summer and winter. This summer we got a few daysthat were above 35*C/95*F so for it to get to -30*C orcolderis a huge temperature change. Luckily it normallydoesn't happen very fast. That being said, any rabbit (providedthehave the ability to keep themselves warm)couldadapt to the temperature change no matter what they are used to(provided they has sufficient time in similar temperatures to adjust).Your rabbits are rex's right? I'd never leave a rex outside herebecause of the drastic temperature changes. I do not believe that theirfur is suffient to keep them warm during the winter. Zoey's hair isprobably the shortest and it's an inch long.

Oh and I forgot one tip. An outside bunny is allowed to be chubby inthe winter. You do not want an overly chubby bunny but one that isslightly chunkier than it's ideal weight is fine because that helps itcope with the cold. I've started putting weight on my bunnies alreadyby adding seeds in moderation.

 

[Bunnys_rule63]

Yep, my girls are rexes.They copewell with the cold, their rexy coats get surprisingly thick and woollyand I too put a bit of weight on them to help them with the cold. Theynever seem bothered by the cold weather unless it's a particularly coldsnap and love to play in the snow!They don't have anyproblems with these temperatures but I agreeyou said, Iwouldn't leave rexes outside in anything colder than typical uk wintertemperatures because they'd get too cold.

 

[jil101ca]

Thanks for the replies, some fantastic infothere. I've already bought 2 bales of straw, picked it up when i boughtmy hay. $3 a bale,no rain, you can't beat that.My husband ismaking me some wood boxes out of plywood. I didn't know about the blackoil sunflower seeds, thats great info. most of my heard is large breedexcept for 1 doe who is middle size. They will be draft free when I'mdone. I'm thinking about heated water dishes but if I don't get themthen my son is going to help with keeping their water un-frozen whileI'm at work. What signs should I watch for if they are too cold orgetting frost bite?? they should be ok, last year we used the shed theyare in for storage and it seems to be kinda of shelter from the treesand such, no snow blew in there at all.