Rabbits on a balcony

[Pengyou]

I have one more year in the sprawling suburb of Beijing and will then return to the US to a piece of land that I purchased last year. I am thinking about buying two rabbits now so that I can learn how to handle them and raise them when I get home - especially to learn about the reproductive needs of bunnies. I also would like some kind of life in my apartment. I have a balcony that is about 12' long and 3' wide. I would like to put a cage at each end with something like this in it: to keep the bunnies sheltered - one bunny per cage - the female will have a slightly larger one for kitting purposes. The cage will be about twice as big as the igloo and will house the water and food. The balcony will have a divider in the middle (about 6') to keep the male and female separated most of the time, so each rabbit will have about 3' by 6' to live in.

The balcony is covered and faces the south. Temps in Beijing easily drop to below freezing, with temp ranges from 30 F to 35 F in the dead of winter for about 6 weeks. I don't know the names of the breeds available, but I have seen some long haired varieties.

Is what I am thinking about doing reasonable and humane? Do you have any suggestions re: temperature control to keep the bunnies happy and healthy? The winds blow mostly from the north. I have considered putting some kind of a heating pad often used for reptiles in the bottom of the igloo and set it for about 55 F.

 

[Preitler]

Hi, welcome

Is keeping rabbits popular around there? Do you have resources and storage space for food, hay, or whatever you feed, and disposing of their waste, those would be some of my primary concerns.
Keeping an own buck just for 2 minutes (if you manage to breed her twice in this year) is kind of luxury, considering your limited space. If you happen to know a breeder you could get your doe pregnant there as an alternative.

That iglu is imho not anything my rabbits would like. Mine don't use hidy houses with just one large opening, if anything at all they would use it as litter box. A wooden crate, or even a sturdy cardboard box on a wooden base with two rabbit sized holes in it would be better. As long as it doesn't get under -10°C I wouldn't worry about the cold (if the rabbits are used to living outdoors already before autumn), just shield them with blankets or tarps from wind and rain. Just around freezing is not cold for rabbits, the heating pad would be fine under the nest box in winter though.
Summer, on the other hand, can be a killer, you'll need to consider that where it can reach about 30°C, they start to feel uncomfortable starting at around 25°C. A south facing balcony can get way hotter than the ambient temperature.

Some long haired breeds require more work, wouldn't be what I would start with, unless you have preferences for that breeds.

About breeding, well, you have a viable plan about what to do with the offspring (and the adult rabbits when you leave, one gets attached pretty easily)?
You'll need to seperate the bucklings at about 10 weeks, if you have them that long ( you can give them away starting at 8 weeks), are you considering them pets, or lifestock?

I'm raising rabbits for about 7 years now, and bought my house with that in mind 5 years ago, I think it would be doable in some way, but turn out different than you expect, a lot more work and mess than one with little experience imagines (at least, that's what it was for me).
If it were me, with what I know today I would reconsider your plan, put it off for now, and start with better resources and more ellbow room.

 

[zuppa]

Hi, summer temperatures in Bejing around +30C starting about end of April +27C to end of September +26C you would need to protect your rabbits from heat and sun as temperatures in southside balcony could be even higher, they won't be comfortable with temperature higher than +24C, so you would need to invest into thermo isolation of the balcony and blackouts and coolers, otherwise with 6 months of heat they won't survive.

Also you will have lots of manure and it will stink, even if you clean every day or twice a day your neighbours can report you, what's your plan for disposing used bedding? Rabbits make a lot of manure, which attracts flies, flies will lay eggs and multiple really fast, also they can lay eggs into your rabbits skin (google flystrike).

In theory, with 12' x 3' your balcony is large enough to keep two rabbits and (4-12) kits under 6-8 weeks, but it would be inhumane to keep them unprotected from heat.

If your question about humanity was if it is humane to breed rabbits in captivity for snake food there are more than one opinion on that, especially if you plan on feeding them live.

There are plenty of forums for commercial growers, it is of course all responsibility of forum's administration and their understanding of ethics and humanity. For me it's a bit of a silly question would that be humane to raise rabbits for food or skins.

 

[Preitler]

Well, it's not a silly question for me, not at all. And I'm positivly sure you can't become a commercial breeder on a balcony in China.

I think the administration does a great job here, respecting that rabbits are kept for different reasons, and me respecting that this is a pet (=just another way to consume animals) centered forum I don't elaborate too far into lifestock territory, you're right there are more suitable places for that.
I know other forums where you get scowled at, and even thrown out for breeding rabbits - those become pretty dumb bubbles fast.

Oh, right, flies. I forgot about those, gotten used to them. Although those have nothing to do with fly strike, that risk is almost the same for every rabbit, normal conditions presumed. Definitly depends on the local fauna.
Rabbits aren't really smelly, when you clean daily. That's what I meant with "lots of work".

 

[Flakes]

Not sure that this is a good idea. I don't care about the breeder thing. But as I read your post I saw that you were only in Beijing for one year before going home. Going the breeder route seems like a lot of work when you are going to have to tear things down in a few months. And can you even bring your rabbits back to this country without oodles of paperwork. Of course if you are planning to raise the rabbits for food ignore what I just wrote.