Steel and wood are commonly used, because builders are familiar with these materials and they are fairly easy to work with. Concrete is usually limited to floors and foundations. Existing buildings such as a garage, pole building, barn or trailer home have all been used successfully as rabbit facilities. At lower temperatures, the rabbits will consume more feed in an effort to keep warm, but the rate of gain does not decrease very rapidly until temperatures drop well below freezing. High temperatures result in decreased rate of gain because the rabbits reduce feed intake.
Feed efficiency remains fairly high until heat exhaustion occurs.
It may take four to six weeks for fertility levels to be restored if males are exposed to high temperatures for several days in a row. Relative humidity levels should be between 35 and 50 percent. This results in a dry manure pack. Lower relative humidity levels increase the risk of respiratory infections and higher levels increase ammonia levels in the building. During very cold periods you may elect to let relative humidity levels rise as high as 80 percent by reducing ventilation levels in an effort to reduce heating costs with an increase in odor levels.