My husband and I are getting ready to make hutches for our trio of Jersey Woolys. Once these cages are made they will be staying put as this will be a very heavy unit. We have a completely shaded area in the yard that stays that way all day long. I think this would be the best place for the hutches to go, he thinks the rabbits need to be able to lay in the sun sometime during the day, but my thinking is this will cause discoloration of the coats and that just won\'t do if we do end up showing the rabbits.
What are your suggestions on this?
You are wise in your thinking about it discoloring their fur. The sun can be horrible to a rabbits fur and once it is sun burnt it stays that way until they molt it off. The shade is definitely the best way to go. Also they can die from heat exhaustion fairly quickly if they are in to much sun. Here in Indiana we can not have shade year round so we just keep ours in the barn year round. Good luck with finding the right spot!
Tony Artist, Artist Rabbitry, IN.
http://www.artistrabbitry.com
You are correct. Stick to your guns!
Sunlight will not only cause fading and discoloration of the coats, but in hot weather, puts your rabbits at risk of heat stroke. (It can only take a matter of minutes of direct sunlight on a hot day to have lethal consequences.)
You go girl!
Charlcie Gill
Zodiac Rabbitry
Astoria, OR
http://www.zodiacsatins.com
At the last rabbit show that my children attended, their were several rabbits with faded coats and the judge said that it was from being in the sun and it would stay that way until the rabbit had molted. This judge said that rabbits shouldn\'t be in the sun for that reason and because of possible heat exhaustion. Rabbits cannot tolerate heat at all. So I agree with the earlier posts.
Show rabbits have the best fur if they are kept in a barn- even 3 sided barn with the front a wire gate-