by With the onset of frost, rabbit breeders who keep animals outside need to heat drinking water for their pets. Let’s figure out how to water rabbits in winter, and what to do if the liquid freezes.
daily requirement in winter
How much water a rabbit needs depends on the age, health of the animal, and feeding characteristics.
If the basis of the diet is dry food, then the water requirement increases by approximately 0,5 l.
As for the daily fluid requirement in the winter months, it is as follows:
- young rabbits drink at least 24 liters in 1,5 hours;
- Adults consume from 500 ml to 1 liter per day;
- pregnant rabbits drink from 1,5 to 2 liters;
- Females nursing their offspring drink up to 2 liters of water per day.
Rabbits consume the largest amount of fluid after giving birth.
During the first 3-5 days after kindling, an animal can drink up to 2,5 liters of water per day, which is necessary to replenish moisture loss.
This is why every farmer should monitor the presence of liquid in the drinking bowls of the rabbits that have given birth. A lack of water often leads to the female starting to eat her own offspring.
How to water in winter when kept outdoors?
In southern regions, where the temperature in winter does not drop to critical levels, the pipes in the automatic waterer can be insulated with thermal insulation materials, wrapped along the entire length.
The following types of insulation are available for sale in construction stores:
- polystyrene foam;
- fiberglass;
- heat-insulating paint.
In harsher conditions this may not be enough and electrical heating may be required.
Electric drinking bowl
An electric water supply system can be purchased ready-made in a store.
Many livestock breeders prefer to assemble the structure themselves, choosing the most convenient type: nipple, vacuum or main line.
In addition, a home-made design will cost less.
To make it, in addition to the heating element, you will need hoses, fasteners, plastic or metal containers.
Experienced rabbit breeders are happy to share assembly instructions on the Internet.
Constantly topping up with warm water
This option is acceptable if you can devote attention to the animals almost around the clock.
Considering that the initial freezing temperature is 0°C, in severe frost the liquid freezes almost before your eyes.
Therefore, in addition to adding warm water, you also need to make sure that your pets have had time to drink it before it freezes.
What to drink if the water freezes?
If no heating option is suitable and the liquid freezes, the owner has to decide what to give the rabbits to drink. Milk is considered one of the acceptable options.
However, you need to be careful with this drink. Cow’s milk should not be given to newborn and young rabbits.
Adults can be given it in limited quantities (4-5 spoons 3-4 times a day) and only if indicated (for example, in case of poisoning).
Decorative pets are strictly prohibited from consuming dairy products.
For this reason, it is not recommended to replace drinking with milk in winter. There are other methods that breeders recommend using.
Vodka
Vodka is indeed used to treat gastrointestinal diseases in rabbits. According to a folk method, when pets have bloating, alcohol or vodka is diluted to 30° and given 1 tbsp. to baby rabbits and 2 tbsp. to adults.
However, adding vodka or alcohol to water is highly undesirable. It is strictly forbidden for animals to drink vodka instead of drinking or in large quantities – this can lead to intoxication of the body.
With salt water
Rabbit breeders advise adding a little salt to the water at all times, except in cases where the animal is consuming compound feed that already contains the required amount of salt.
The drink should be prepared based on the proportion of 1 g of salt per 2 liters of liquid. Salt water is not dangerous in winter, but is not a solution when it freezes.
Snow or ice
This is a popular method used by many owners, but it has both pros and cons.
The advantage of this method is that you can put snow in the waterer from early morning until evening; it will turn into water, and the animals will drink it as it melts. In the evening, it is recommended to give rabbits warm water to drink.
However, this method has many disadvantages. The owner cannot accurately determine the quality of the snow and the amount of dirt in it. Snow and ice also have too low a temperature and do not provide the required standard when melting.
Rabbits, consuming too cold liquid, spend energy on warming up the body, which leads to a weakening of the immune system. Pets become susceptible to various diseases.
Excess energy expenditure also increases the animal’s appetite, which increases feed consumption.
Proponents of this method draw an analogy with wild animals that melt snow in winter to drink. However, domestic rabbits are bred using selection and are more vulnerable.
Why is iodine added to drinks?
At the age of about 28 days, the rabbits are separated from their mother. The babies with a weak immune system need prevention from diseases, so the rabbits are given water with iodine added.
Add up to three milliliters of iodine to ten liters of liquid; prevention lasts about two weeks.
DIY Winter Drinker
A farmer can save money by making a winter drinking bowl for rabbits on his own. There are different ways to construct such a structure.
The simplest and easiest option is to make a nipple drinker. This device is convenient and does not get clogged with food residue.
The advantage of the device also lies in the fact that it can be made from improvised means.
To do this you will need:
- a container made of hard plastic or metal;
- heating cable with temperature control system;
- a metal nipple that can be mounted into a hose;
- liquid heater;
- a tube;
- a gasket that is installed between the container and the coupling;
- lock-nut;
- coupling sleeve.
The assembly is carried out according to the following algorithm:
- First, you need to measure the diameter of the coupling and cut a corresponding hole in the prepared container.
- Next, place the gasket on the coupling and secure it to the container using a lock nut.
- Attach a nipple to one end of a short piece of hose and a coupling to the other.
- Then attach the heating cable to the hose and water container.
- Finally, you need to fill the drinking bowl with water and lower the thermostat into it.
The system is now ready for use.
As an alternative, you can build a vacuum drinker:
- You need to take a strong plastic bottle, pour water into it and attach it to the cage upside down.
- Place a container under the lid from which the rabbits will drink. In this case, you need to make sure that the bottle cap is as close as possible to the bottom of the container, but does not touch it.
- Now you need to unscrew the lid a little so that the water fills the bowl. As the rabbits drink the water, it will fill the container again.
- Now you need to fix a lamp above the bottle to heat the structure (it is best to use an infrared lamp). If the lamp is constantly on, it will heat the water, so heated liquid will flow into the container.
When constructing such a structure, the farmer needs to make sure that it is securely attached to the cage, otherwise the animals may simply tip it over, which will cause injury.
The Role of Water in Rabbit Diet
The body of mammals, including rabbits, consists on average of 70% liquid, so it is difficult to overestimate the role of water.
Important! There is an opinion that cannibalism in rabbits is caused by a lack of water. The female, experiencing a shortage, eats the offspring to protect it from a painful death from thirst and hunger.
Without the required amount of fluid, her mammary glands will not be able to produce milk.
A sufficient amount of fluid in the rabbit’s body ensures many vital processes, for example:
- digestion;
- the functioning of the excretory and urinary systems;
- hematopoiesis;
- formation of intracellular fluid;
- transportation of oxygen and nutrients to all corners of the body;
- health of skin and coat;
- nutrition of the brain and central nervous system;
- maintaining optimal body temperature.
