Feeding rabbits in winter

 I have noticed the hay is not lasting as long, as the days get shorter the rabbitts prepare for winter and are eating more for some extra weight. I don't add extra pellets but I do try to fill hayfeeder as much as I can.  As the foraging has gotton slim I do give my rabbits some types of lettuce (no head lettuce) and a few vegtable scraps.  When the teps drop I will add a few black oil sunflower seeds to the pellets.  But most of my feeding is generally the same.  I do throw in a few pine branches for variety. 

I hope you have a good winter and your rabbits stay safe and warm!

Raising rabbits in a colony

The babies have decided to join the adult rabbits. They are making their way up and down the ramp pretty quickly. I have only seen them for a few minutes at a time, they still prefer staying in by the nest. They are nibbling on the hay and pellets and seem very active and healthy. Looking forward to watching how they do in the next few days.

Babies are doing well

There are 4 bunnies, they are all very active and healthy. They have stayed in the top of the hutch, but they do go to the opening at ramp and sit. I am expecting them to wander down in the next few days.  With this being the first litter I reached out to some facebook  raising rabbit pages to get advice about them being born in the top of hutch. 

I got some great advice. I suggest the Facebook page Raising Rabbits ..Naturally homestead.  I am still waiting conformation on 2 other pages that require confirmation for request to join.

So the advice I was given is to give feed and water where they are for now, until they integrate into the rest of the colony. I was told that they have babies go up and down ramp at a few weeks old. They are pretty tricky to get pictures of now our weather has been cold and rainy so I don't want to expose them with the hutch open too long.

But when I can I will post a few pictures.

We have Kits

It finally happened I had noticed one of my rabbits had gathered some straw in the corner of the hutch, mind you this has happened before but nothing ever came of it.

So I was cautiously optimistic that she was pregnant.

A few days passed and I opened the hutch door to find a pile of fur......I closed the door and thought I should not disturb the nest.   My curiosity got the best of me and the next day I had to peek under the hair....and there they were!  I did not count them or mess with them, took a quick picture and covered them back up

I will follow up with thier progress, saying a prayer they all survive. 

At 10 days old!

Brr is it too cold for my Rabbits?

  Winter time and outside rabbits can be less challenging than you might think.  Rabbits live out in the wild in all kinds of weather.  If you provide a dry shelter out of the wind they won't need too much to keep them warm.   They will huddle naturally.  I like to put a few cotton blankets in my hutch for extra warmth. You may prefer to add straw. My reason against straw is they tend to potty in the hutch more and it needs cleaned out more often and replaced with dry.  

  I also feed extra hay in the winter and when temps are expected to be very low(below 15°) I will add a few black oil sunflower seeds, shells and all, to their pellets on average 3 or 4 per rabbit this will help to raise the Rabbits body temperature. Do not give this all the time because it can cause them to molt and loose their coat.

  The hardest is keeping water from freezing,  I have no good answers for that so I put fresh water out twice a day, more if I am home.  I hope this information helps you to keep your rabbits healthy and happy in the colder weather.