New Rabbitry Ideas

Question
Hello my family and I have just started our rabbitry (we are breeding mini-rex) Right now the rabbits are being kept in pet cages in our spare bedroom in our house.  We plan on moving them out to our garage sometime this summer.  Our biggest worries are keeping the rabbits cool and warm when they are moved outside.  We live in the middle of Kansas so the winters are fairly cold and the summers are hot and humid.  We had thought about using a very small AC for the summer but are at a loss for winter time.  

Do you have any suggestions on what to use as heat source (we plan on building walls and insulating inside the garage) but think that for a small amount of time we will need extra heat from something.  Also do you have any suggestions on building or buying cages?
Thanks!

Answer
Hello Amy!
Well first off I do not know how big a barn you plan on building but you have to remember rabbits are used to living in the cold winters they have adapted  well to this however the mini rex seem to need more shelter. if you have a 12 x 16 barn you should be able to get a oil filled heater at home depot or walmart for the winters you only need to keep the barn about 35-40 degrees for the rabbits to be comfortable.
also place sitting boards in thier cages .
Tha issue that concerns me is the summers rabbits cannot tolerate heat . they need to be under 80 degrees and if it gets hotter than that you need to put frozen water bottles in thier cages. you aslo need to ues a fan to circulate the air in the barn, you see rabbits cool themselves through thier ears and they need a breeze to help them out.
As far as cages  there are many dealers out there who sell cages.
some real good ones are built and shipped by BASS equipment. ther have a website : bassequipment.com
also if you go to rabbit shows you can usually find a dealer there selling cages already built and ready to take home. these are great cages for the money and should last for many years.
Good luck...
Dan Vallo