when can rabbits be put outside?

[kylen2007]

Well I guess we know where the saying came from. It rarely gets below 0 around here. I am in southwest Ohio. Last year I think maybe 5 days during the winter was in single digits. Typically we stay in the upper 20s to mid 30s. January and February are the coldest months. Where the coop sits it is in the sun all day. So during the day it is sometimes 20-30 warmer during the day b/c I have the windows shut. I have 6 7 week old chicks in there. Then at night it stays 5-10 degrees warmer than outside. It has great ventilation. My moisture stays between 30-60%. In the summer I can place hte hutch behind the barn. That way it stays shaded all day. Our summers are typically around 80-90 from mid June through August. I will have to make sure I build something that is open so it can stay cool and put frozen water bottles in there.

 

[Bunnylady]

She may decide she wants to get into chickens. Lol, or both! I will assume your babies will be at least six weeks old. I am unfamiliar with the weather in your area, so it is hard for me to advise as to how you keep them during the winter. As a rule, by the time kits are six weeks old, they are ready to be self sufficient; which means, a cage to themselves with a board to sit on. Rabbits have fur coats, so winter weather does not bother them much. As long as they are dry, with no drafts on them, they should be fine. If you are worried about cold, then a nest box of some sort can be added.. Shavings with a nice layer of straw to cuddle in. They also love to eat straw, which is fine. The more fiber, the better. They also gnaw on their sitting boards..that too, is fine. These days, I think they sell plastic sitting boards, which are more sanitary, and easier to clean. Just try to avoid placing sitting boards or nests in the corner they choose to use for their bathroom. Rabbits tend to go back to the same place to do their business when confined. Also, a rabbit is far more likely to die during the heat of summer. They can't take those fur coats off. So shade them well.
Personally, I would not house the babies together. A female Is capable of producing offspring when they are six months old. Sometimes sooner. And that is, really, too young. You should wait until they are closer to a year old. By putting them in seprate cages you are avoiding problems down the road. Bucks also spray when they are mature, so if they are side by side, you will want to put a board between the cages. That way the doe doesn't have to put up with that. I kept my bucks in a seprate aisle in my rabbitry. And I kept boards between my bucks, too. They will fight through the wire otherwise.
If you decide to breed for meat, I would suggest one buck, and two unrelated does. That way, one doe can rest while the other is having a litter. They are fully capable of producing anywhere from 4 to 10 kits every thirty days. The doe is ready to breed again as soon as she kindles. Lol another reason to keep them seprate. They breed like rabbits! In the wild she will kick the kits out of the nest at thirty days, and pop out another litter within a day or two.

For the most part, I agree with the above post, there are just a couple of points on which I differ. Most rabbit does are fertile long before 6 months of age; some as early as 12 weeks. With smaller breeds, it is perfectly OK to breed at 6 months; if you wait until the doe is a year old, she may get so overweight she never will breed! Lots of people will breed meat rabbit does at 6 months, though larger breeds may not be through growing at that age. For show purposes, a lot of the larger breeds aren't considered seniors ("adults") until they are 8 months old. If you wait longer than that to breed, keep a close eye on the doe's weight, and limit her feed so she doesn't get too fat. A very common cause of death in does is being overweight, and the metabolic problems that can cause.

Also, I generally breed my does in groups, so if something goes wrong with one doe, there is at least one more as a back-up. I don't lose does during kindling/lactation very often, but it has happened, and having other mothers available spared me the headache and heartache of trying to bottle feed. Sometimes one doe has a really big litter, and having other does kindle at the same time means that I can farm the extra babies out, and increase the chances that all will thrive. If a doe only has a couple of survivors, I can put them on another doe and re-breed her; most does conceive larger litters when bred back. Litters that are numerically large tend to grow slowly, which for meat rabbits means more time to reach slaughter weight. Litters that are numerically small (1-3) may have a hard time staying warm enough. Kits that come from very small litters grow very fast, sometimes too fast, and may have deformed bones or digestive problems as a result. Putting litters together to get more nearly optimum numbers works for me.

 

[kylen2007]

And I thought hatching my chicks was a complicated process. If I do them for meat it is for my freezer only. I have no intent to sell them. I also would only do a couple litters a year because we do not eat too often. We process over 50 meat birds a year and also hunt deer. Then we purchase half a cow and a hog. We keep a good variety as far as meat goes. I wouldn't mind having our own babies for my daughter to show IF she chooses to show when she is older.

 

[Weehopper]

I totally agree with Bunnylafy.
I really like the idea to breed the does in groups. Good advice.
Lol, you wrote that you don't eat to often. Got a good chuckle out of that. Anyway, rabbits are really not all that complicated. It just sounds that way.
Just be careful of rabbit math and chicken math both. I wanted a couple of New Zealand's for meat. Pretty quick, when I discovered not all rabbits were white and ment to be eaten, I had about 150 rabbits in my rabbitry, and discovered a competitive side to my nature that I never knew was there. It can sneak up on you.
I was out looking at my New Hampshire pullets thinking how pretty they are, and that thought led to hmmm, maybe a few more......

 

[kylen2007]

Ha! Oh I am very aware of chicken math. We have 20 pullets and the 6 chicks. I already intend on another 12 in spring. Then 4 turkeys. 1 for thanksgiving next year and 3 for ground turkey (we use this instead of hamburger). On top of that the 50 meat birds my dad teases me and says I have a petting zoo. I need more layers. When the weatger dropped I went from ten eggs to 2-4. They are still pullets! I also have a long list of people asking to buy eggs. May as well sell enough to pay for everyones feed. Then my meat and eggs are my profit. Its so addicting!

 

[Weehopper]

Sounds like you have a good handle on where to put your hutch during both winter and summer. Your temps are a lot like mine here in Western Washington. Your bunnies shouldn't have problems with cold. I had all of mine in an open sided pole barn. It was shaded by large trees. Your summer temps are warmer than ours, so you will want to be prepared for that. There were a few times when I went out and misted my rabbits when it was hot. I also used frozen milk jugs. But it sounds like you know what to do.

 

[kylen2007]

Thank you! You guys have been a huge help. Really. I love this site. To have a community to come to and get peoples advice and learn from others is wonderful. There is no 1 way to do things and to get so many different ideas is awesome. FYI I am completely jealous you live in Washington. It is one of my husband and I's top states to visit. Crater Lake is our dream destination.