Ideas to Keep Meat Rabbits Cool in Hot Weather

Unless you live in a cold region, we all face hot weather and if you are raising rabbits you should know that rabbets do best in 55 degrees to 70 degrees. So, what do you do when temperatures soar? Here are some ideas to keep meat rabbits cool in hot weather. There are probably more ways but these are the things we do for our rabbits.

1. Shade. Place your cage in a place that will have shade during the hottest time of the day. If you cannot do that then give your rabbits some type of shade roof. Our main rabbit house has a nice tree and big bush beside it. This allows them to have sunshine in the morning but then provides them with shade the rest of the day. In our movable cages outside they have a giant plastic flower pot upside down and a hole cut in it for them to go inside.

1. Air movement. If your pens are outside this is not as much of a concern because they will have a natural breeze but if you are in an area that does not get much breeze you might want to consider giving them a fan. We have a fan in the window of our colony group of rabbits and also in the doorway of the enclosed part of the rabbit house. We used a old hay net to hang the fan for the rabbits in the rabbit house. When placing your fan make sure that it is placed so that it is bringing fresh air into the pen and not just moving stale air around.

1. Water. Fresh cool water is vital for healthy rabbits. Refresh water more often during the hot months to encourage them to drink. Nobody likes stale warm water on a hot day so give your rabbits fresh cool water everyday.

2. Ice Bottles. These are not for them to drink but for them to lay next to them. When temperatures climb into the 80s we give the rabbits ice bottles. They love them and lay right next to them. We use old canola oil bottles as they are larger then regular water bottles and will stay cool longer. But if you have smaller pens and a large bottle wont fit just use a smaller one but you might have to change it out more often. Rabbits do like to chew so it is best to use harder plastic bottles or have replacements ready if they chew too much on them.

3. Fresh or frozen fruit or vegetables. If your rabbits are not use to getting fruits or vegetables DO NOT give a lot right away. Start out slow to avoid upsetting their digestive system. Our rabbits are use to fruits and vegetables everyday so by giving them watermelon rinds during really hot days ensures that they say hydrated.

4. Litter of kits in the summer. If your rabbit has a litter of kits when it is really hot make sure the babies do not get too hot. To do this make sure they have a big enough nesting box to spread out (this is more important the older they get). Our one rabbit had a litter in July and was over zealous in how much fur she gave them so after a week or so we took some out and saved it in a zip lock bag with her name on it for if she needs it for a litter this winter.

Rabbits can experience heat stroke or hyperthermia. Thankfully we have not experience this on our farm yet and take precautions to protect our rabbits from experiencing heat stroke. But if they ever do I am providing information here for you and for us to look back on if our rabbits ever get too hot.

Signs your rabbit too hot:

1. Drooling

2. Panting/shallow breathing

3. Weakness and lethargy

4. Hot red ears

5. Wet nose

What to do:

1. Move them to a cooler place.

2. Try giving them water. (hydration is important)

3. Cool their ears with a cool damp cloth.

Tip: Don't cool them down too fast as this will cause them to go into shock.

Leave a comment as to how you keep your rabbits cool during hot weather so we can learn from each other.