All I did when it got below freezing was to have 3 sets of water bottles for each cage. When I went out, I'd take fresh bottles with tepid water, and switch out the bottles. Take the frozen ones inside to thaw. How cold it got determined how many times I'd have to switch the bottles. If it wasn't much below freezing, just switch once in the morning because the bottles wouldn't freeze during the day (my rabbits had shelter) If it got down to 50 below, every couple of hours. It wouldn't take the bottles long to freeze, but if the rabbits got all they wanted to drink at least every other hour, they were getting enough. You an also put heat lamps near the hutch and if they are close to the water bottles, the water won't freeze.

I've had rabbits. We had the best lop in the world!! Snoopy was 13 lb of fun & love. DD took her to jr. hi. & she sat on her desk. She never messed in the house when she came in each night to beg soda crackers from DH & of course he petted her while she laid in his lap. 1st thing you need is a shade tree or place that is not in sun. They get heatstroke. Extremely clean & disease free except for occassionally get tumors on back (our's did get 1 when she was about 1 old) Once you have a place in complete shade make a hutch off the ground(I made it myself) of 2x4x6 or 8 ft. I divided it with smaller area enclosed & with a blanket. It was wood 4in by 3 ft boards spaced about 1/2 in apart. covering enclosed area floor. There was opening into larger part which was 1/2x1 in heavy mesh wire & it should have no cut out areas for food or water- fatal mistake!!!! The wood door was in this part. I had 2 steps up to it. Everything was great for several years. Rabbits like to be acknowledged when you go out- ours ran free in blockwall enclosed yard. She did dig occasionally but otherwise was only concerned when you were gardening so would come & check every so often & of course come to be petted. If you brought someone into back yard she would run around our feet until we introduced her & person petted her, then she was fine. She made friends with most birds except mockingbirds 1 yr. gave her bad time, I put up screen cloth all along her area where her hutch was so she could go there & be safe. They can get angry. They stomp their back feet. A large cat came in yard once & she really let it know who was boss, the cat left in a hurry. They eat rabbit pellets which is just alfalfa & poop is really great fertilizer! The urine is kind of strong. Snoopy always went in far corner of her cage away from where she slept. She never liked being put in for night but she finally did. OK not all are as great as the 1 we had. We had moved the cage & it was in shade but then tree lost it's leaves so DD was to take it out before school each morning, 1 day I remembered not seeing DD go out, I went out & she flipped out of the cage like a board. Stiff & eyes looking funny. DS was out as he heard me scream- it was sunstroke, wrapped her in DS wet Tshirt & raced up to vet, he didn't think there was a chance, I told him he had to try 3 days of care & us taking her favorite food & a huge parade of kids crying & coming to see her he pulled her through. Cage moved back to proper spot & DD room covered with plastic & sheets & bed. Bed was waste, DD had her arms around her at night in her bed. DH came home & we were talking, I had put a 1 ft high board so she couldn't come out in hall, figured she would mess or wet. We heard a noise & she had drug herself over the board & was dragging herself down the hall. That is when we knew if she was to get normal we would have to "make" her work to get to us. We rewarded her with petting& grape leaves & spagetti which she ate off a fork. It took couple of months but she stood up on hind legs & begged for food at last. The opening for her pellet container proved to be a fatal mistake that night. I heard a thump & thought she had another stroke but it was a dog killing her & eating her & we found only the pelt that looked like a cult had come in & did it not a single drop of blood & head gone. We had animal control out, my dad came over to, they found 1 German shepard hair caught in that opening where he had ripped into the cage. If she had stayed in wooden part dog couldn't have gotten her. Anyway no opening when you make a cage except the door & we had a lock on it so we thought we were doing it right. I had 2 other lops but they were not as smart as this 1. I think she was 8 yrs old. We had it put in newspaper as this dog had been threatening people & even came at me in the garage & I managed to grab a trashcan lid& bang it & he ran away. We were afraid a child would be attacked & found several people had run-ins with the dog. We never saw it after that! Sorry this is long, anyone making 1 needs to know!! Jan

I've been out of town for a while, so I haven't been able to follow the discussion here. Thanks for the encouragement and ideas. We're starting with some red wrigglers that should be arriving next week, and a "Worm Factory" my Jacquie asked for for her birthday. (Not exactly diamond earrings, but hey, she wants it, she gets it.) We've just got our preliminary aquaponics system up and running this past couple of weeks and while we were gone, the only thing we had to do was have a son stop by on his way to work every morning and feed the fish. The "sacrificial" gold fish in the tanks were pooping, the bacteria were converting ammonia into nitrites and nitrates, and the plant grew unbelievably well: tomatoes went from three inches tall to over seven in six days under plain ol' florescent light (and some sun through the window); stevia from under one inch to nearly three; lettuce nearly ready to harvest; spinach getting major leaves from just a few green shoots. We're happy with it. It cost $500, and we already have something approaching $100 worth of food growing and that's without food fish in the tanks. (That's for early April: tilapia.) No worms or Black Soldier Flies yet, but it's only a trial/experiment and we're learning a lot. (My own design: we have five grow beds and two fish tanks.) Learning a lot and getting lettuce, basil, tomatoes, peppers and stevia up and growing. Jacquie figures that we'll be able to feed ourselves all the greens and half the tomatoes we eat beginning three to six weeks from now (two months to four total). And we're still expecting two major frosts/freezes before real Spring gets here, so our standard garden will not be producing anything at all while we'll be eating home-grown veggies and fruit. The greenhouse is sitting in the back yard: we put it up last year, before winter set in. The "basement" is waiting for us to do the concrete and block work. (We have to have warm temps for a while so the underground utilities can go in, and so the concrete and mortar can set well.) As things progress, I'll be sure to let you all know what's happening. If they go as hoped and planned, we will be able to feed ourselves and many of our 27 grandchildren rabbits, fish, veggies, and fruit from our two aquaponics systems and backyard. No grain, takes too much space, but coupled with the literal kitchen garden (sprouts), we could eat healthy for years without ever going to the store for anything (and there are people out there who believe that there won't be anything in the stores anyway--no trucks and nothing for them to haul). All the best, Le Sellers

I raise rabbits in 2x6 ft rabbit hutches. They are made with 2x4s and hardware cloth. They have plywood roofs covered with roll roofing. Make sure to cover your wood frame on the inside with hardware cloth because they can chew through the wood. I also leave hardware cloth on the bottom for the poop to fall through. It keeps the cages cleaner and wood bottoms will just rot here in FL. The bunnies develop callused feet and I haven't seen any injury from the hardware cloth on their feet. Some people just hang cages but I need something really sturdy here due to raccoons, possum, neighbor dogs, fox, etc. Plus the hutches are about a half acre back from the house. The hutches are underneath a carport overhang and a huge oak provides further shade over the carport area. There are vermicompost bins underneath the hutches. The bins are made from treated wood but you could use redwood instead. The shade is really important for rabbits because they can really overheat here in FL during the summer. They love cold weather. I provide them with 2 liter bottles filled with frozen water in the summers for them to lie next to in order to cool off when the temps get really hot (upper 90's F). I don't raise mine for meat so I have cute semi dwarf rabbits that are part lionhead and/or pure lionhead. Dwarfs seem to make just as much manure as the big ones lol. My plants really love the manure. You can put straight rabbit manure on the plants or wait and vermicompost. I do both. It won't burn your plants at all. I really get good blooming on my plants here. Here is a link to vermicomposting under rabbit hutches. http://riseandshinerabbitry.com/2013/11/17/rabbits-and-redworms-sustainability-above-and-below/