Rabbit Housing Outdoors in Texas

[hnms06]

Currently my rabbits are in a bedroom in my house which works for now until we need the room however the problem is that the air intake for our A/C is right outside the door so even the slightest smell gets circulated through our entire house! (Which my husband understandably doesn't like!)

I was wanting to build outdoor housing for them. I suppose it would be my rabbitry since I am breeding them.:biggrin2: We are in Texas where it gets pretty hot and it can get pretty cold in the winter. What problems will I run into because of weather? And also What do you reccomend?

I know someone who has a building with 3 sides (1 side open) that she has her rabbits in and another lady has a carport that is closed in 3 sides with a fence on the other. Also I've seen lines of hutches outside in open air. What would be best for Texas weather?
Also I have to mention that we live in a neighborhood in the suburbs and our yard is 50ft x 100 ft so kinda small
Thanks!

 

[snap]

you should build it very open, but very shaded.
I have four buns outside, in Texas, and both pairs have a roof and two more-or-less covered sides- as in, they're next to a wood fence that's about a foot or more away, though the pair in the custom hutch has plastic stapled to the left & right sides. The two in the custom hutch get the privilege of having the carriers in their hutch, for shade/hiding and in the winter it gets stuffed with hay to keep them warm. I also put down another sheet of plastic along the back around the end of November, and keep their front plastic sheets down to keep out the cold/wind. And the two in the corner of my backyard get hay in their dishpans and towels over the cage.

The biggest problem in Texas, obviously, is our heat- and depending on where you live, humidity. I use ceramic tiles that I keep in the fridge and rotate, and 2-liter ice bottles and rotate. I also use fans, but you have to watch the weather very closely so it doesn't rain while the fans are unprotected.