Cold weather kits

[Typykal]

It's been pretty mild here - and I was happy about that with one of our does expecting.

Just as my luck would have it she kindled last night and the temperature has plunged today below freezing. She had five late last night - everybody looked healthy although two were noticeably smaller than the other three. I checked in on them this morning and we had lost one. Whomever gets pushed to the outer ring of the nest seems to be getting pretty chilled.

Would it be wise to bring the nest box into the house and bring it out to have the doe feed them twice a day?

I'd rather not intervene if it is unnecessary...but I don't want to lose the whole litter to the cold either.
Any help would be much appreciated, thanks in advance!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Do you have any power out there? Ive used a trouble light with a 60 watt bulb to keep chicks warm in severe weather, and they did great.

 

[Typykal]

Sadly no power...it's on my wishlist =(

 

[LilFish_JWQueen(:]

Ive ended up bringing nest boxes at night in the house in the winter and went out once a day to have them nurse..but most the time i have my heater out in my barn.
It is hard to know when they will kindle though. So Id just watch.

 

[akane]

If they can get pushed out of the nest you might need to add more materials to the box to block them in or dig the main nest area a little deeper. Then they will be stuck in the main nest area. That doesn't stop does dragging kits out to the front of the box if they leave before the kits are done feeding though. They should be able to handle temps a bit below freezing without issue but if you've got a nest with lots of trouble you can definitely take them inside and bring it out once or twice a day when you do chores so the doe can feed. You do need to keep an eye on her to see that she does feed them since some more nervous does will have issue feeding on your schedule instead of the middle of the night like they usually prefer.

 

[ladysown]

generally speaking in the winter... three kits and up are needed to keep warm. As long as momma builds a good nest and the kits are dry they do just fine. I find they do better in the winter than in the spring/summer.

Any small litters get fostered over to another doe. Big litters sometimes get split.

If I lose kits it will be small ones or ones dragged out of the box.

I will bring in my polish litters at night only (in at 11p out at 7a) until they are well furred..usually day eight they stay out. I do this simply because they don't have the body mass to keep warm and by day eight they are as big as holland kits are at birth.

 

[Typykal]

Thanks guys....


I guess for now I will keep a close eye on the situation and see how it goes. If I have to bring them inside I will.

Her nest is good and she pulled a lot of fur. She's an experienced doe, though I don't know if she has ever raised babies in the winter before. I just gave them another check and the remaining four seem toasty now and strong. I'm not certain why the one kit died...it was one of the smaller two - but not the smallest of the litter. It was in the nest with the others but was very chilly to the touch - I think that may have been the reason the other kits felt a bit chilly at the time.

 

[akane]

Some runts will have problems when others even of a smaller size do not. They fail to make body heat and may wander off on their own or get abandoned by the others as they move to another part of the nest leading to death. It's usually for the best since they often don't drink well and may risk starvation or falling too far behind the rest of the litter.