Time for a rest.... and fans in the barn

With the heat of summer coming on , we are slowing down our breeding schedule and allowing the does more time between litters. They need this time to gain condition, as when the heat rises they don't eat as much as in cooler weather.

Besides this. we are taking the nessessary steps to try to keep them unstressed from the heat.

We have cleaned all the fans and made sure they are in good running condition. That meant taking off the grill covers , air hosing all the accumulated hair, scrubbing them. air hosing the motor parts and washing the blades and entire casing., and putting them back together. There are 4 fans (24" square box) hung from the ceiling, all blowing the same direction to cause air flow through out the barn. We also use a 42" barn fan on the floor to move damp air out of the barn. This one needs cleaned of the hair accumulation every week.

These fans, plus the insulation put up last winter to block the heat from the metal roof, should keep it much cooler. We are hoping for at least 10* cooler than the outside temp.

You can see the temp gauge on the pole at the right of the last picture. The goals are, keep a lesser number of fryers per cage, keep the air moving , but not blowing on the rabbits, check nest boxes often for expired bunnies and for dampness, feed often but not let feed sit in feeders more than 12 hrs, make sure all water nipples stay in good working order, and allowing more time between breedings.