Housing temp. too cold for young ?

[Dreamerz]

I have looked over the other housing temp. threads & they seem mostly about hot temps. I'm thinking more about winter & the cold weather not to long off from now. I live in upstate NY & it is not out of the question for it to go -30 on some winter nights, but not nightly.

I am new to raising rabbits (a lil over a month) although I have always had some as pets. I am planning on moving my rabbits in to a storage room that is attached to my house, but can only be entered from an outside door. This room has unfinnished walls, so no insulation or heat. I know adult rabbits will do fine there with extra hay to snuggle in for warmth, but what about younger buns & new kits ? This room does have electric so I can use a heat base, heat light or space heater if needed ... do you think it will be needed ? The room does have two nice sized double paned insulated windows & vynal siding on the outside, so it is bright & not drafty. So what do you all think ?

In case you were wonding when I only had pet rabbits they would winter over in my house in wire cages, but I never had more then three of them at a time. Currently I have seven Lionhead (a few of wich I think are preggo) & I'm picking up nineteen Jersey Woolys on the 10th (a few of them young with their moms) ... so there is no room to winter them all in the main rooms of the house. oops ... I forgot the pets/old timers three English Angora.

Jane

 

[eco2pia]

well, I am in NW WA, and we never go below about -10 or so. Mine do ok, though I try not to have does kindling in that weather, since I know it will be mid- to late january. I think lots of other people on here raise rabbits in lots harsher conditions with no trouble, maybe they can give you some tips...my rabbits are kind of candy-asses, because we have a perfect rabbit climate almost year round, so the few extremes we do get I worry more than I probably should--poor babies aren't used to it! :lol:

 

[Dreamerz]

:lol:

 

[ottersatin]

Hello Jane,
as long as the rabbits are out of the draft and in an
almost completely closed environment I would not worry
two much about the temps outside. The adults should be fine,
after all they are wearing a Fur-Coat all yearlong.
The kits, if the Dams build a proper nest will be fine.
Rabbits have a tougher time combating the heat than the cold.
We are the ones that suffer most in the winter, with frozen hands etc.
I am located in upstate N.Y. and breed my rabbits year round.
They raise their kits to term though I will on occasion
bring a nestbox full of kits into the house overnight.
Probably an over-caution on my part, because when I
forget to bring them in of a night they are still
fine in the morning. Once the kits are furred they remain
outside with their Dam.
Ottersatin. ldtimer:

 

[akane]

Depend on how good the doe is at modifying her nest to match the weather. Some do great with entirely different styles of nest from winter to summer and some just dump their kits in there with some fur and it's up to the kits to accomplish not freezing or cooking to death by trying to bury themselves or spread out at the front of the box. One of my mini rex is horrible at raising kits in extreme weather. She raises great litters in a temperature controlled house and lets them all die in winter or summer outside because all she does is add some fur to the box or other container and leave them. My creme d'argent will build a huge nest burying the nest box several feet deep in shavings and stuffing the entrance up with straw in winter and then make a light nest with a little fur in an indent in the sand digging container or thinly bedded nestbox in summer. She's raised kits now from -30 to 115F with the only losses being to some rats. Once the kits hit the 2 week mark and are wandering around well you just have to make sure they have somewhere warm to return to. If you remove the nestbox replace it with another container that can hold straw for them to sleep in and keep warm. There is a much increased risk of losing kits that get dragged out of the nest box before they are old enough to get back in easily. They will freeze to death before you find them unlike in summer when they might wander about for a day and still be fine when you find them to put back in the nest.