Nest boxes. When to put them in & what to put in them. Blo

[Hoosier]

What is the danger of putting nest boxes in early (if there are any)? One of our does was bred on 9-2-13. The person we bought them from said to put the nest box in on 9-30-13 and the doe is due on 10-2-13. When I went to check on the rabbits this morning, it looked like this doe had pulled some fur as there were a couple of 'furballs' that looked like small cotton balls. This doe is 2 1/2 yrs. old and has kindled before. This is the doe that I posted about being skinny. She has gained some weight but is still underweight going by how her backbone feels. This doe has also had very, very small amount of blood present on her cardboard in her cage for the past four days. When I examined her, there was a tiny amount of dried blood near her vulva. Should I put the nest box in her cage? The doe in the cage next to her also had a couple of 'furballs' in her cage and this doe was born this past spring and has never kindled before. This doe and our other doe were bred on 9-4-13 and according the previous owner, the nest box should be put in on 10-1-13 and the doe is due on 10-4-13.
Should I line the wood nest boxes with cardboard? Other than shredded paper, what else can we put in the nest boxes and what are the pros and cons of each? I appreciate any help. We are new to rabbits.

 

[Heritage Homestead]

If she is pulling fur I would put a nest box in. I put mine in on day 28, but mine have never pulled fur before that.
I've always used straw/hay to fill my nesting boxes. I don't know the pros/cons for anything else. I just like to catch them making a nest with their haystaches.

This doe has also had very, very small amount of blood present on her cardboard in her cage for the past four days. When I examined her, there was a tiny amount of dried blood near her vulva.

I've never noticed blood that early on my does. Not sure if that is normal or not.

 

[Marinea]

I went through this just two days ago- mine was pulling fur on day 25, so in went a nest box and some straw. She immediately set to building her nest. I would give them both nest boxes, and some hay/straw for them to build with.

As to the blood, I have no idea, but I am sure someone will chime in with some answers.

*fingers crossed for healthy popples soon*

 

[Lastfling]

My nest boxes have wire bottoms. I cut a piece of cardboard to line the bottom, put a layer of wood chips on top of that and then stuff with orchard grass. I like to use orchard grass hay when its available as there are few stems and it's extremely soft. I try and hold some back when I have it just for this purpose. One of my does kindles this past Friday. I put the box in on Wednesday. She was a first timer, but you would have thought she'd done it several times before, as she pulled a ton of fur, made her a real plush nest in the box, and proceeded to deliver 4 healthy kits - 2 blacks and 2 blue.

I meant to add that she had not pulled any fur prior to nestbox installation. If yours is pulling fur, or trying to build a nest on the wire it is time to install the nestbox for her.

 

[grumpy]

Just like people, rabbits have individual personality traits.
Surely, not to the extremes of some 'humans' but definitely they have, 'individuality'.

I've got three full sisters side by side in the rabbitry.
All three will be bred on the same day....by different bucks.
All nest boxes go in on day #28.

Sister 'one'.....ignores the box.

Sister 'two'.....removes all of the nesting material, scattering it all over the place!!

Sister 'three'.....is gentile! :roll: She'll begin gently carrying around
a mouthful of material in her pen. Then she'll 're-deposit' it in her box.
She'll remove small tufts of fur and put it in the box, where she's made
a small nesting hole. She 'piddles' around the box. She's a good housekeeper.

Kindling day: All have made respectable nests and had their young.
But, all three of the sister does, "did-it" their own way.

Your doe may well be carrying a large litter. Possibly that is the reason
for the small amount of blood on the cardboard. I'm assuming you bought her, as a "proven-doe".
Hopefully, you didn't buy someone else's problem child. Only time will tell.

grumpy.

 

[squidpop]

I don't think there could be much harm in putting in a nest box early- I think the only reason people wait until day 28 is so that the doe won't decide to use it as a litter box- so if she's pulling fur safest to just put one in. Bottom of my nest box is a piece of plastic mesh, I put in about 1/2 inch of hay press it down and then my doe adds hay and straw to it. I don't put a lot of hay down on the bottom because my doe adds so much hay herself.

 

[Blackmoriah]

I put nesting box when my does starts to practically scratch the wires on their cage sort of like they are trying to dig out. The box seems to calm them because they will stop clawing there like crazy. I have a doe now is already doing this 2 weeks before she's due. I guess you just have to observe them to know when they start exhibiting nesting behavior or if the doe doesn't show any signs of nesting then I guess the 28th day is a good one to put the nest boxes in.

 

[Hoosier]

We were told that the skinny two year old doe had babies before and the other younger does had not. I hope we didn't get someone else's problems either.
It is about 4:30 am here and I just came in from checking the rabbits. The skinny doe, who I named Sadie, didn't appear to have been in her nest box and I didn't see more pulled fur. The one younger doe was in her nest box and seemed very comfortable. So comfortable that she didn't move. Finally she did and I could see that she didn't have little ones in there yet. When I put her nestbox in, I took some of the fur she had pulled and placed it on top of the shredded paper. By the way, we built the nestboxes ourselves ou of plywood.
Unfortunately, I realized that I didn't put enough shredded paper in there now that the doe has mashed it down. Should I put hay or paper in the cage and allow the doe to put which one and how much she wants into the nestbox or should I put it in the nestbox myself?
I thank everyone for their help and I appreciate your patience with me being new to rabbits.

 

[Lastfling]

You can do either way. Add it to the box yourself or put in the cage and let the does add as she sees fit. I normally put it in the box and the doe proceeds to pull it out and rearrange to her satisfaction.

 

[ladysown]

i put the nestboxes in when the doe asks for them (pulled fur, hay mustache etc). Minimum wait is two days before due date. I leave it in up to 38 days post due date. Prevents sad surprises.

 

[squidpop]

Do you give your doe hay or straw? I don't know if it makes any difference if the doe uses hay or paper but I've seen my babies start nibbling hay in the nest before they get their eyes open - and I'm wondering if you give them paper will they nibble that- in which case it might not be good for them because they use bleach and chemicals to make paper- if its newspaper the ink is chemical based.

 

[skysthelimit]

Most of the ink now is soy based. Rabbits eat bark, leaves chew wood, so without the chemical consideration, paper is relatively safe. I haven't a problem with them consuming the paper in any noticeable quantity, but usually by the time they are nibbling, I've emptied the nestbox and it's just them and fur, and they can come out on there own and eat real food.

 

[ckcs]

I use shredded paper and hay exclusively without problems. I did have an incident recently that could have been a problem if I hadn't found it when I did. One of the kits had a piece of paper wrapped around it's neck. The kit has twisted it on fairly tight. Part of the problem was this doe packed the nestbox very tightly. I've never had a nestbox packed that firm before. Due to the rarity of that problem I have no plans on changing things. If I find a cross cut shredder at a thrift store, yard sale or flea market I might pick one up. My current shredder is a beast though and only cost me $3

 

[hoodat]

I never seem to do anything the normal way. I have permanent wooden boxes at the ends of my breeding does cages with a cutout for the door that lines up with one on the cage. I never see any rabbit droppings in them. My does keep them scrupliously clean between batches. It also give them a place to hide if something spooks them.
I don't put anything in them myself. When I think it's about time I try them a couple of times a day with a handful of hay. When they start making a mustache I pile it in the cage and let them build their nest as they please. They seem more content with the nest if they built it themselves.<br /><br />__________ Mon Sep 30, 2013 6:38 pm __________<br /><br />I never seem to do anything the normal way. I have permanent wooden boxes at the ends of my breeding does cages with a cutout for the door that lines up with one on the cage. I never see any rabbit droppings in them. My does keep them scrupliously clean between batches. It also give them a place to hide if something spooks them.
I don't put anything in them myself. When I think it's about time I try them a couple of times a day with a handful of hay. When they start making a mustache I pile it in the cage and let them build their nest as they please. They seem more content with the nest if they built it themselves.

 

[Hoosier]

The skinny doe, Sadie, started to really pull fur on Wednesday and this morning she had two kits in the nest box and there was one in the cage next to hers. We did put baby saver wire 2 inches high so I was surprised to see the baby next door. It is a possibility that she had piled her hay up and it rolled off of there into the next cage. There was no blood in the neighboring doe's cage or nest box yet there was blood in Sadie's cage on the hay, in the nest box and some on her fur. She was cleaning the blood off of her when I arrived so I think she may have kindled just this morning. I placed the kit in Sadie's nest box after rubbing it with some of her fur.
I added a bit of hay in the nest boxes earlier in the week and put hay in the cages daily and the does put much of it themselves in the nest boxes. One doe, Kari, has not pulled any fur and was due yesterday, the 4th. She has been spending a lot of time in the box though.
Should I take out the paper and hay that has blood on it? If so, how long should I wait? Sadie made a wonderful nest and covered her babies in a nice layer of fur.

 

[skysthelimit]

I usually do.

 

[Hoosier]

Thank you!!!! Went to the barn and Minnie was very busy pulling fur. Went back and 6 kits were in the nest box an hour later today. This doe pulled some fur about a week ago and made a wonderful 'tunnel' in her nest box. I was very glad to find babies today. Sadie is doing very well with her 3 little ones.