Help SOS Cold Kits

[Her Farmstead Rabbitry]

I have a litter of rabbits under 24 hours old and they are cold. I have them in front of the heater and most are looking good. It is going to get 31 degrees tonight. Should I put them back with the mom? One of the babies has been fed. There are 3 that look dead but I don't know how to tell if blood has pooled in the nails.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

How were they when you found them? (As in were they on top of the nest or outside of it or something)
I've heard people put heated water bottles in the nests

 

[Her Farmstead Rabbitry]

They were in the front of the nestbox seperated from each other

 

[ohiogoatgirl]

They aren't dead until they're warm and dead. If I find cold kits I immediately put them in my bra. Body contact. Warm them but not too fast, just like hypothermia for people.
If they are warm for a while and no signs of life then they are definitely dead.

 

[Alaska Satin]

They were in the front of the nestbox seperated from each other

Sometimes fresh newborns get separated from the rest and can't seem to find their way back, and end up dying of exposure. They usually figure it out within a day or two. Other times it almost seems like the rest of the litter is ejecting them - I often wonder if they know something I don't.

It sounds like you caught them in the nick of time. If blood has pooled in the nails, they'll be distinctly red around the base of the nail; otherwise, they'll be completely pale. Dead kits have a distinctly floppy feeling, and their bellies are saggy and lacking tone (whether or not they've been fed). Either way, like @ohiogoatgirl says, if they have been warm for a while and they don't start moving, they're probably dead. But I've had cold, literally stiff kits come back, so it's always worth a try.

If it was me, I'd bring the whole box in, replace the live kits back in the nest bowl with the others and keep it inside overnight. Then take the box back out to the doe in the morning for feeding, but before you do, see if the same kits have been pushed to the front. If they have, and you want to try to save them, I'd bring the box in any time the doe isn't feeding them (which means all day and night, other than feeding trips in the am and pm). I might even do this for another day or two just to hedge my bets.

 

[ladysown]

once they've gotten cold through and through you need to be mindful it doesn't happen again. Pluck additional fur from mom, make sure they get a good feed, and then bring them back in the house. Shelving them when they aren't actively being fed is an really good idea for kits that have gotten chilled.

 

[Her Farmstead Rabbitry]

All nine of them died.
@Alaska Satin They were born in the front not pushed out and when I found them all dead they were still in the nest. I am not going to breed first time does in the winter only experienced ones. This is my first loss from the cold.

 

[ida1416]

All nine of them died.
@Alaska Satin They were born in the front not pushed out and when I found them all dead they were still in the nest. I am not going to breed first time does in the winter only experienced ones. This is my first loss from the cold.

I'm sorry for your loss. I lost 8 kits recently due to the doe scattering them in birth while I was at work and I was just too late. It's so frustrating. That does definitely going in the stew pot as this is the second time shes done this. I wish you better luck next time.

 

[Alaska Satin]

All nine of them died.
@Alaska Satin They were born in the front not pushed out and when I found them all dead they were still in the nest. I am not going to breed first time does in the winter only experienced ones. This is my first loss from the cold.

So sad!

Honestly, I no longer breed any does for December or January kindling, whether they're experienced or not. Sometimes litters come off without a hitch, but after about 10 years I was looking at my records and found that about 80% of all the litters I lost or had trouble with were born in those two months. Many times there seemed to be absolutely no reason for it - like yours, they'll just all be at the front of the box uncovered, even when the doe has previously made a nest bowl in the back. Other times a doe, even an experienced one, will not have them in the box, and I come out to find bunnysicles all over the wire. It's just so disheartening that I quit taking the chance.

My suspicion is that during those months the does' hormones are at an annual low, and even if you can get them to breed by supplemental lighting, they don't necessarily have all the chemical pistons firing to guide them through nesting, kindling and raising kits. By mid-January, though, we're gaining 4-5 minutes of light a day up here, and even though they're in a barn, the rabbits respond to that and get very anxious to breed (your daily sunlight gain in N.C. will be less than that, so your mileage may vary). Most of my does are raring to go by the second week of January, and according to my records, February litters are some of the most successful of the year for me, in spite of the fact that our temperatures in February and March can be fairly brutal. We usually have below-zero periods in both of those months, but if the doe does her job of nest-building and fur-pulling, the kits do just fine. That includes litters of first-time does, who do just as well - their hormones are usually over the top!

I just got my first-of-the-year breedings done, and the bucks couldn't perform fast enough for a couple of the does, who tried to take matters into their own hands! Yay spring! (OK, not yet, but it's coming!)

 

[ida1416]

So sad!

Honestly, I no longer breed any does for December or January kindling, whether they're experienced or not. Sometimes litters come off without a hitch, but after about 10 years I was looking at my records and found that about 80% of all the litters I lost or had trouble with were born in those two months. Many times there seemed to be absolutely no reason for it - like yours, they'll just all be at the front of the box uncovered, even when the doe has previously made a nest bowl in the back. Other times a doe, even an experienced one, will not have them in the box, and I come out to find bunnysicles all over the wire. It's just so disheartening that I quit taking the chance.

My suspicion is that during those months the does' hormones are at an annual low, and even if you can get them to breed by supplemental lighting, they don't necessarily have all the chemical pistons firing to guide them through nesting, kindling and raising kits. By mid-January, though, we're gaining 4-5 minutes of light a day up here, and even though they're in a barn, the rabbits respond to that and get very anxious to breed (your daily sunlight gain in N.C. will be less than that, so your mileage may vary). Most of my does are raring to go by the second week of January, and according to my records, February litters are some of the most successful of the year for me, in spite of the fact that our temperatures in February and March can be fairly brutal. We usually have below-zero periods in both of those months, but if the doe does her job of nest-building and fur-pulling, the kits do just fine. That includes litters of first-time does, who do just as well - their hormones are usually over the top!

I just got my first-of-the-year breedings done, and the bucks couldn't perform fast enough for a couple of the does, who tried to take matters into their own hands! Yay spring! (OK, not yet, but it's coming!)

This is really helpful information thank you