First kindle

[lopsofun]

I finally had a doe kindle! She is a Jersey Wooly and she just had 3 babies last night. My first impressions are that they are doing well. I have some concerns though.

1. I never see her in the nest box. Does she slip in there from time to time to feed them when I'm not around?

2. I have my rabbits in a garage that is attached to my house. The temperature is supposed to get down to 25F tonight. Should I bring the nest box in? There is a lot of pulled fur in there and last time I looked they were completely covered. I can close the garage early this evening to retain some of the heat. Not sure what to do.

 

[TMTex]

Congrats on your first litter!

The doe will rarely let you see her feeding her kits. She'll normally only feed in the morning and at night, when she feels safe that nobody is watching.

As far as the cold, my main concern would be drafts, which are unlikely in the garage. Others might want to chime in here, but I'd think that 25 is ok as long as there's plenty of hay and fur pulled.

 

[lopsofun]

Thanks. There are no drafts in there and there is a lot of fur. I really don't want to take the nest box out of the cage b/c I want them to feed. I have heard that some folks take the box out at night with no problems. The rabbitry close to me has rabbits in a barn and she has some 2 day old SF kits that she is gonna leave outside. She has been doing this a lot longer than I have so I trust her judgement. She sold me two of the Jersey Woolies I currently have.

 

[PSFAngoras]

Congrats on the litter!

Seeing as how there is plenty of wool in the nest and no drafts, I think your kits should be fine. Rabbit wool is 7 times warmer than sheep's wool, and the kits will create quite a bit of body heat within that insulating nest.

My last two litters of angoras were born in a cold spell we had here where it was snowing. It was -3 the morning I watched my first timer doe kindle. She got it done without a hitch, and the babies lived outside the whole time, as I don't bring my nest boxes in. They are all currently 6 weeks old and fat, happy, fuzzy little boogers.

 

[lopsofun]

Thanks! I'm gonna leave them out.