sleeping

If it dropped down to -20oC then I definately have second thoughts about outdoor bunnies! Yes, providing protection is the key. Although the general outdoor temperature might be -5oC in a warm insulated hutch its much warmer. For example I believe a wild rabbits warren temperature stays around 7oC (don't quote me on that as I haven't checked I remembered right).

Rabbits thick coats are specially adapted for these sort of conditions. If you stick your fingers right into the fur you'll find it toasty warm although the surface feels cold. Thats because the fur is designed to be a good insulator and trap the heat rather than letting it out.

I don't think I've come across a single case of frost bite in UK bunnies so it must be a pretty rare occurance.

It's a bit of a misconception that cold weather causes colds:

"There is no evidence that you can get a cold from exposure to cold weather or from getting chilled or overheated."

http://www.niaid.nih.gov/factsheets/cold.htm

Conditions do influence health but over crowding, unhygenic condition etc. more than indoors/outdoors.

There are certainly positive benefits to being indoors such as being the centre of attention but there are equally ones to being outdoors such as the fresh air & sunshine. The most important thing is your bun has plenty of space and stimulation whether indoors of out

Best wishes,
Tamsin

Amethyst said:

But a bunny in a well-insulated hutch will be like Jane Doe - properly insulated - and will feel fine.

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Ditto. And since you guys are in UK, not too overly insulated since it is only -5 C. If a hutch is insulated w/ "R10", it would be very warm in the winter, more like +10 C, and too hot in the summer. On the other hand, in some of those pic. from the link above, there is no insulation on the wall, and it would be cold in the winter.

I don't think there is anything we can do though. Just like the insulation in your own house, too much R10 would be too warm for the summer, and vice versa.

Caz said:

Not to mention if Jane Doe's office is air conditioned she is more likely to catch the flu than John Doe because the virus is spread through the ducting and quickly passes from one office worker to another but John Doe who breathes fresh clean air everyday is probably more likely to be healthy !

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Not quite. You live in a house, if some other members of your family catch a flu from work, it can easily pass along to you, because as you said, virus spread thru the duct.

But that's human bacteria/virus. Now if you have 2 rabbits living in your house, rabbit doesn't go to work. So if both of them are healthy, then there is no virus that can pass around in the duct for the other one to catch. Human bacteria/virus doesn't affect animals, I understand these human virus/bacteria just pass thru their system.

Of course, there is still a lower chance of some animal virus/bacteria pass thru from the outside to the duct, but there is only so much you can do.

tasmin said:

It's a bit of a misconception that cold weather causes colds

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Oh...I just randomly pick flu/cold as an example. I really meant any kind of bacteria or virus.