Outdoor Rabbit

We have three outdoor rabbits, and all but one has been handling the change of seasons well. Our dutch boy, Sam, seems to be getting so hot during the day that he soaks his front legs in the crock of drinking water we have out for him (the others don't do this despite having longer fur? Instead they lay out in the shade). He gets soaked and then gets chilled so bad as it is getting so cold at night. Our hutches have insulated portions, but him being wet is still making him cold. His eyes are now crusty, and he is not quite acting like himself. I have removed the crock (I removed it last night) and brought him inside this morning when I saw how bad he was doing. Some of our other animals like my young goat hasn't been handling the change of seasons well, so I was wondering if that was it or if he caught a cold? His only symptoms are seeming uncomfortable and crusty/gooey eyes. Any ideas? He is inside indefinitely for now.

How hot is it where you are at? Are your rabbits in the shade with good airflow? Do you provide things like cool tiles and frozen bottles for them to lay by or on? It's really important to keep rabbits cool in hot conditions, as a rabbit overheating can lead to heat stroke and even possible brain damage or death.
http://myhouserabbit.com/rabbit-health/recognizing-heat-stroke-in-your-pet-rabbit/

A rabbit putting it's paws or even trying to lay part of it's body in it's water dish, can also be a sign that rabbit is sick. In the very least your rabbit has an eye infection and will need to be seen by a vet for treatment, eye drops at least and possibly oral antibiotics. Since you aren't describing other signs of illness, I'm not sure if there might be something besides the eye infection going on, but you should definitely make sure the vet does a thorough check up, including the lungs, ears, and a dental exam to make sure the eye infection isn't connected to a tooth infection since this is something that can frequently occur with rabbits.
http://www.bio.miami.edu/hare/weepy.pdf

I think it's good you've brought him inside for now, as it sounds like he is definitely having some difficulty, whether from the heat or a possible hidden illness. He may just be one of those rabbits that has an extreme sensitivity to heat and just can't tolerate the hotter temperatures.

JBun,

Thank you for your response. It's maxing out at around 80 degrees F right now with night time lowing out at around 35 degrees F. Most days are more mild than that. That just is the most extreme of the days. I just looked at the past monthly forecast and the past month has averaged around a high of 74 and a low of 41. I did a brief check of him listening to his side and all I can account for his crusty eyes and him seeming "off". He is normally quite spunky. The others are acting normal. I'm keeping a close eye on them to make sure they don't develop any similar symptoms, but so far he is the only one. We are washing our hands in between. One thing I forgot to mention, is he was shivering one morning when his paws were still wet from after soaking them the prior day (that was when I decided to remov the crock and bring him inside). I will be scheduling him for the vet on Monday hopefully as all the vets are closed, unfortunately. Luckily, they do fairly well fitting animals in.

Your high temps aren't all that high. Rabbits putting their front paws in the water bowl is a sign that they're hot and are trying to cool down, but even though 80 isn't that bad, if they aren't used to it...and he does sound like he's more sensitive to warm temps.

As far as I know he was born and raised outside. He was a 4-H bunny and I believe all 4-H raised rabbits are raised in an outdoor environment. So I'm a little bit baffled. His hutch is in shade and has great airflow (besides the one insulated portion for expecially cold days).

Our rabbits are outdoors but we have a few who don't tolerate the hot days as well as the others. By hot, I mean 90's around here. We just watch them closer and bring them in if needed. Other than wetting his front paws did you notice any other signs of being overheated?

I noticed him laying out. Our couple indoor bunnies do the same though. There was no panting or nasal moisture. His fur is also quite a bit shorter than the others. We spoke with someone in the area that maybe it's more the temperature shifts. We had one day go from 80 to 36. The thing is, the temperature stays steady during the daytime then drops drastically when the sun goes behind the mountains. It's been hard on one of our young goats. He's had a cough from it.

If you have any kind of cold wind coming through at night you need to protect the rabbits from that. Do you have a tarp or something you can drop around the sides of the hutch when the sun goes down?

I do have a tarp. Our hutches have an large outdoor portion then an insulated indoor portion with a small entry hole. Is a tarp still recommended over the outdoor portion?

As long as the tarp goes down to just above the ground then that should be fine. You just need some air circulaton underneath.

The hutches are off the ground, so would that change it?

Not sure I understand...you say you have tarps hanging around the hutch, but do they just cover the living area itself or do they hang further down, like to the ground. If the hutch has a wire floor, or partial wire floor, air can come up through the floor. If the tarps are long enough to hang within a few inches from the ground then it minimizes the draft coming from underneath.

I'm sorry, what I meant is that our hutches are off the ground. (They have a solid floor.) So the tarp is kind of doubled over and doesn't go to the bottom of the ground and more reaches toward the bottom of the hutch (not touching to allow airflow and prevent any chewing). So I was asking if it had to reach to the ground or not.