Keeping rabbits outdoors in winter

If a decision is made to keep animals on the street, it is worth figuring out how rabbits winter in order to provide them with the necessary conditions and not to destroy the livestock. In winter, you need to make a special diet, insulate cages and aviaries. What are the features of breeding in winter and how to protect pets from diseases can be found in this article.

Benefits of keeping herbivores outdoors in winter

Experienced breeders are not afraid to keep herbivores outdoors in winter. At what temperature can rabbits live outside? Do not worry that animals will be cold in winter - their warm fur allows them to tolerate low temperatures well down to -30 ° C. Almost all breeds are well adapted to frost.

Keeping rabbits outdoors all year round has several advantages:

• frosty air hardens the animal and increases its immunity;
• saves money for the breeder - building and maintaining street cages will be cheaper than building a special shed;
• protects pets from infectious diseases - low temperatures exclude the possibility of ammonia fumes.

How to prepare a cage for cold weather

Before you take the cells out into the cold, you need to properly insulate them. Usually, blanks for insulation are collected in summer or autumn.

Materials suitable for insulating rabbit cages:

• dry leaves,
• straw,
• small branches,
• moss,
• Styrofoam,
• felt,
• polycarbonate.

The outer walls are upholstered with materials and the free space between the cells is filled. Wooden pallets are placed at the bottom, and a bed of straw is laid on top. In extreme cold, the cells are additionally insulated outside with cotton blankets. To prevent moisture ingress, the cells are covered with an overlap of iron sheets. Experts recommend raising the cage 80 centimeters from the surface of the ground to avoid getting wet and hypothermia.

More affluent farmers can afford special thermal films, self-regulating cables, and auto-heated drinkers. To protect your pet from disease, you need to place the cage away from drafts.

Decorative breeds are more delicate, therefore they are not allowed to be kept outdoors. The pet can get sick even when the owner opens the window to ventilate the room. Bathing in winter is prohibited, in rare cases, you can partially wash your pet, but then you must dry it thoroughly.

Arrangement of the aviary

Some villages keep rabbits in a greenhouse in winter. This option is considered the most economical, since it does not require the construction of an additional room for pets. Most often, ordinary greenhouses are used, they protect from drafts and are suitable for rabbits due to the special microclimate. Before the herbivores are allowed into the room to overwinter, the greenhouse is prepared as follows - the top and walls are reinforced with a net so that the eared ones do not break or gnaw through the walls. It is also rational to extend the walls of the room downward, since animals can begin to dig holes.

How to keep rabbits outdoors at home? For these purposes, you can build an aviary. For its construction, wood, sheets of metal and slate are used. One wall should be made of mesh to ensure constant access of fresh air; in extreme cold weather it is covered with warm things. The floor is insulated with layers of sawdust or straw.

Rabbit winter diet

The diet in cold weather should take into account the needs of herbivores for nutrients. Pets spend energy on heating the body, so you need to use high-quality and nutritious feed to feed them. Experts recommend warming food before serving the animals, it is also necessary to follow the feeding schedule, prevent freezing of feed residues, and regularly clean the contents of the feeder.

How to feed rabbits in winter? During this period, animals need to increase the content of hay and roughage in the diet. In cold weather, food must contain special additives. The food should be varied, animals can be fed with carrots, beets, Jerusalem artichoke, branches. These products are closest to natural feed. It is best to prepare a mash for animals, consisting of several types of feed. For a quick increase in body weight of the herbivore, you can give him boiled potatoes.

In winter, herbivores are fed 6 times a day, since the animals need to replenish the spent resources for heating. It is also necessary to observe the drinking regime - warm, fresh water is supplied to the animals 2 times a day. In ecologically clean areas, the use of melted snow is allowed. Lack of clean water leads pets to drink their urine, which can harm them.

Particular attention is paid to the nutrition of pregnant rabbits. To bear healthy offspring, females should receive vitamin feed and mineral supplements. For these purposes, pelleted feed is often used. Rabbits' diet should contain boiled potatoes, carrots, sprouted oat grains. The same requirements for the nutrition of lactating females, since good nutrition helps to increase lactation.

Breeding features in winter

Low temperatures affect the lifestyle of rabbits. In severe cold, the number of mating decreases, the breeding rate falls. During this period, pets are intensively gaining mass to protect themselves from frostbite.

Mating in winter occurs according to the regimen, females need to be planted with rabbits in the daytime. When choosing a future female rabbit, the key factor is the level of her milk production. It is possible to increase the sexual activity of animals thanks to artificial lighting. In winter, individuals are not so active, so mating is best done in autumn. Youngsters born in winter acquire a beautiful thick coat, strong immunity and are distinguished by increased endurance.

Preparation of winter mother liquor

Breeding of females in winter can also occur at -25 ° C, so the mother house should be properly insulated to prevent the death of rabbits. The walls of the cage are upholstered on the outside with polystyrene or garden canvas, and all the cracks are also closed. Several layers of cardboard or oranite are placed on the floor, and a warm mat is laid on top.

Keeping the mother liquor in winter requires particularly careful observance of sanitary and hygienic standards. Lack of fresh air and indoor pollution can affect young growth. For heating, some farmers turn on a red light or put a warm heating pad.

Rabbit breeders know that it is better to prevent a disease than to try to cure it later. The best prevention for rabbits is good nutrition.To increase immunity, pets are given various herbs: plantain, dandelion, wheatgrass, clover, thistle, sweet clover, burdock, tansy. In the winter, fees can be purchased at veterinary pharmacies. Also, the herbivore can feed on the branches of shrubs and trees.

Common diseases in winter: