Another question for the elders

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

Winter nesting boxes. I have 3 metal boxes and 2 wooden boxes. Two does are due to get nesting boxes next week.
I currently have 3 does with 2 week old kits. 2 have wooden boxes, 1 has a metal box.
The metal box doe has lost 2 kits in the last week. Both were in the nest pile. But touching the metal side. Not the runts. So im thinking, the box is the problem. I added more bedding yesterday. Neither came back alive after warming up.
Our cold is 39-40° right now.
Dont know if the breed is a factor. They are Tamuk.

 

[jaxmarblebuns]

I've had rabbits in metal boxes as cold as 20F, as long as they are packed well and the nest are nicely made I have had no issues. Around 40F--45F is actually kinda of ideal temps for breeding, so this really isn't that cold. Definitely important to take other factors into consideration (How did the does past litters go? how many kits were in this litter? did they look well fed? etc.).

Sense they were in the main huddle but still able to reach the side of the box it makes me think there was not enough nesting material, maybe? or the doe dug too much while making the nest and exposed the side of the box?

 

[Alaska Satin]

Winter nesting boxes. I have 3 metal boxes and 2 wooden boxes. Two does are due to get nesting boxes next week.
I currently have 3 does with 2 week old kits. 2 have wooden boxes, 1 has a metal box.
The metal box doe has lost 2 kits in the last week. Both were in the nest pile. But touching the metal side. Not the runts. So im thinking, the box is the problem. I added more bedding yesterday. Neither came back alive after warming up.
Our cold is 39-40° right now.
Dont know if the breed is a factor. They are Tamuk.

Like @jaxmarblebuns I have used metal boxes year-round, in temperatures down into the teens, and as long as the nest is well-built and well-furred, I haven't seen any problems with them. And I agree, 40F is not really cold for rabbits, though of course newborn kits can't withstand much below 80F if they're not covered.

I think there might be something else going on. At 1-2 weeks, kits are usually old enough to know to move toward warmth and away from cold, and are much more able to thermoregulate than newborns. It strikes me as strange that healthy kits would have stayed pressed up against the side of the metal box.

Kits are usually capable of deciding where their nest bowl will be; mine often move it around in the box over the course of the first few weeks. Sometimes they'll even move it to the front of the box if the back gets wet, or there are dead kits buried in the back that they couldn't push out.

I wonder if the kits died and then were shuffled off to the edge of the huddle by the other kits, who didn't want the cold bodies next to them.

In any case, I'd agree that adding more bedding would be a good idea. If you're really nervous, you could move the whole nest into a wooden box, or bring the box inside except for letting the doe feed the kits. But honestly, at 2 weeks they should be pretty close to maintaining themselves. Many of my kits are going in and out of the box by 12-14 days old, and I frequently take the box out completely by 18-21 days.

 

[Lil Acorn Acres Farm]

Like @jaxmarblebuns I have used metal boxes year-round, in temperatures down into the teens, and as long as the nest is well-built and well-furred, I haven't seen any problems with them. And I agree, 40F is not really cold for rabbits, though of course newborn kits can't withstand much below 80F if they're not covered.

I think there might be something else going on. At 1-2 weeks, kits are usually old enough to know to move toward warmth and away from cold, and are much more able to thermoregulate than newborns. It strikes me as strange that healthy kits would have stayed pressed up against the side of the metal box.

Kits are usually capable of deciding where their nest bowl will be; mine often move it around in the box over the course of the first few weeks. Sometimes they'll even move it to the front of the box if the back gets wet, or there are dead kits buried in the back that they couldn't push out.

I wonder if the kits died and then were shuffled off to the edge of the huddle by the other kits, who didn't want the cold bodies next to them.

In any case, I'd agree that adding more bedding would be a good idea. If you're really nervous, you could move the whole nest into a wooden box, or bring the box inside except for letting the doe feed the kits. But honestly, at 2 weeks they should be pretty close to maintaining themselves. Many of my kits are going in and out of the box by 12-14 days old, and I frequently take the box out completely by 18-21 days.

Thank you. She raised 11 last time no problem, so i was looking for a reason this time is not the same.