[Tracy]

Rabbits will start fighting once they become mature. Some younger does can be housed together but not always. I would keep them seperate.

I let my chcickens and ducks free range in my barn with the rabbits. The rabbits are all in hung cages off the floor. The chcikens and ducks do a great job cleaning up any spilled feed. I also keep hay on top of my cages. This gives the rabbits something to do as they will pull down hay to eat. It also helps to keep chicken manure from getting on the cages if they decide to roost on them. It is very easy to discard the yucky hay and keep the cages clean.

As far as not breeding till spring. Unless the does are to young you are risking them getting to fat not keeping them on a regular breeding schedule and then when you do try to breed may have problems. I breed my does at 5 months and they are consistently bred back 11 days after kindle. Doing this intensive breed back will give you about 2 years on each doe and then you need to have replacements ready. Good record keeping is a must.

 

[Tracy]

I am in NW PA. It is cold here and very snowy in the winter. Yes, you will lose some kits due to the cold but in my opinion heat will kill a rabbit faster then the cold. My rabbits are housed in an unheated barn but do have shelter from the wind.

Find snake markets for any kits you do loose in the winter months.

Also to keep your rabbits bred during the winter months you MUST supplement them with extra light. I keep my rabbits under lights 16 hours a day. A cheap timer will do the trick but I also have just left the lights on in the barn 24/7. Never had a problem.

Save extra fur from overzelous does that pull a lot of hair at kindling. A brown paper bag is best for storing. You can use that with does that kindle in the winter and dont pull a lot of fur.

As far as lugging water. I have water in the barn but have to deal with the crocks or water bottles freezing. I use a 5 gallon bucket heater. You can find these in the equine section of a farm supply store. You can plug in the heater and in about 10 minutes have steaming hot water. I add this to the frozen crocks and it will thaw them out. For water bottles I take the entire bottle and put it in the bucket of hot water and it will thaw them. Has worked very well for me.

This is my business so not breeding in the winter is not an option. By good record keeping and keeping kits out of the best does will get you a good hardy stock that will produce bven in the worst weather.