Nesting Boxes

[kjane]

Hello, I wanted to know when you take your nesting boxes out. The babies are hoping on and out, mom doesn't really use it much. Should I take it out before I transfer kits to another grow out cage, and before moms give birth again. Otherwise, it seems the box stays perpetually. Help?

 

[Alaska Satin]

Hello, I wanted to know when you take your nesting boxes out. The babies are hoping on and out, mom doesn't really use it much. Should I take it out before I transfer kits to another grow out cage, and before moms give birth again. Otherwise, it seems the box stays perpetually. Help?

Many breeders find that about 18 days is a good time to take the box away. But you can take your cues from the kits. If they are in and out all the time, it is time! It can be as early as 2 weeks, as late as 3 weeks, sometimes a bit more if it's really cold or the kits are behind or compromised in some way.

Taking the box out is as soon as possible is a good idea because those babies are using it as a potty box, and even if you clean it frequently, it will be pretty unhygienic. And who wants to clean nest boxes every day or two?

Usually the kits will clump together in a huddle to sleep like they did in the nest box, just without the box. I do find that giving them a resting board (the slotted ones stay cleanest but a wooden board will do too, it just needs to be changed pretty often when it gets soiled) is nice because their little paws still poke through the 1/2" x 1" cage wire for a while.

Taking the box out is as soon as possible gives the mom and kits more room to move around; it also allows you time to clean, disinfect and air out the box before its next use.

 

[tambayo]

Unless it is cold at about 3-3.5 weeks usually when i see the kits being able to jump on top of them so mum can no longer use it as a refuge.

 

[kjane]

Many breeders find that about 18 days is a good time to take the box away. But you can take your cues from the kits. If they are in and out all the time, it is time! It can be as early as 2 weeks, as late as 3 weeks, sometimes a bit more if it's really cold or the kits are behind or compromised in some way.

Taking the box out is as soon as possible is a good idea because those babies are using it as a potty box, and even if you clean it frequently, it will be pretty unhygienic. And who wants to clean nest boxes every day or two?

Usually the kits will clump together in a huddle to sleep like they did in the nest box, just without the box. I do find that giving them a resting board (the slotted ones stay cleanest but a wooden board will do too, it just needs to be changed pretty often when it gets soiled) is nice because their little paws still poke through the 1/2" x 1" cage wire for a while.

Taking the box out is as soon as possible gives the mom and kits more room to move around; it also allows you time to clean, disinfect and air out the box before its next use.

Thank you for all your insight!

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

When ever it gets dirty around 2-3 weeks and the Kit(s) is(are) jumping out of it a lot, I switch it out to a box with hay in it that's easier to get into

 

[kjane]

Thank you!

 

[ladysown]

I tip the box at two weeks and remove at three weeks regardless of the weather with the exception in the bitter bitter cold of winter, then I'll leave the tipping another couple of days and the removal another three days.

 

[kjane]

I tip the box at two weeks and remove at three weeks regardless of the weather with the exception in the bitter bitter cold of winter, then I'll leave the tipping another couple of days and the removal another three days.

That's a good idea. I was leaving the box in thinking mom had a place to "get away" but they have little space with it in.

 

[KelleyBee]

Hello, I wanted to know when you take your nesting boxes out. The babies are hoping on and out, mom doesn't really use it much. Should I take it out before I transfer kits to another grow out cage, and before moms give birth again. Otherwise, it seems the box stays perpetually. Help?

1.5 to 2 weeks. My boxes are such that once babies' eyes open, the most curious little ones inevitably end up over the edge and then cannot get back into the nest. So, at 1.5 to two weeks (as soon as I start seeing open eyes) I turn my boxes on their sides so nothing tragic can happen (think frozen baby out of the nest) and then at two weeks I pull the actual box and then build a new nest with clean straw on mom's cage floor. Everyone seems quite happy and healthy with this routine.

 

[kjane]

1.5 to 2 weeks. My boxes are such that once babies' eyes open, the most curious little ones inevitably end up over the edge and then cannot get back into the nest. So, at 1.5 to two weeks (as soon as I start seeing open eyes) I turn my boxes on their sides so nothing tragic can happen (think frozen baby out of the nest) and then at two weeks I pull the actual box and then build a new nest with clean straw on mom's cage floor. Everyone seems quite happy and healthy with this routine.

Thank you! I will try this next go a round

 

[Scooter1A]

I have been told that mom will poo a bit in the box and that is to build the kits immunity and that's OK. So far no poo in my box, babies are just over a week.

 

[KelleyBee]

I have been told that mom will poo a bit in the box and that is to build the kits immunity and that's OK. So far no poo in my box, babies are just over a week.

Some moms do and some moms don't. Then an occasional mom will use the box for everything, and it becomes a major problem. I've had a mom once urinate right into the face of a kit, who inhaled it and drowned. It was the saddest thing. I've had another mom who never made such messes all of a sudden make a huge urine mess in the nest. I had the clean the kits and build a new nest, twice, because they were drenched and it was wintertime, so hypothermia was a concern. I ended up pulling her nest between feedings just to put an end to it and to reduce the risk of losing kits.

 

[MnCanary]

I've never understood WHY people take the nest box out.

Is it only so there is more room in the cage?

Or is it because it starts getting used as a litter box?

I have pens, not cages, so room isn't the problem. I do clean the nest box once in a while, but I don't seem to find it being used as a litter box.

My nest boxes are fully enclosed, with a removable lid, with just a hole in the corner for the rabbits to enter. The young rabbits go in there even when they are 4-6 weeks old. Even adults rest in there, sometimes. I just leave the boxes in the pens all the time.

 

[ladysown]

if i left the box in all the time it would become a filthy mess.

 

[KelleyBee]

I've never understood WHY people take the nest box out.

Is it only so there is more room in the cage?

Or is it because it starts getting used as a litter box?

I have pens, not cages, so room isn't the problem. I do clean the nest box once in a while, but I don't seem to find it being used as a litter box.

My nest boxes are fully enclosed, with a removable lid, with just a hole in the corner for the rabbits to enter. The young rabbits go in there even when they are 4-6 weeks old. Even adults rest in there, sometimes. I just leave the boxes in the pens all the time.

I think it depends upon the type or style of the nest box. For kindling, I use a nest box that has four raised sides. If a kit accidentally ends up on the outside of that style box far before it should, it can freeze to death in the winter. Therefore, once the kits are old enough to see and hop out due to irresistible curiosity, I flip the nest box on it's side, giving such kits a chance to go in and out of the nest freely and safely.

On the other hand, I have something similar to what you have described as your next boxes. But I call those "burrow" boxes and they have three solid sides and one open side, a roof and a wire floor. In my rabbitry, these are used for entirely different purposes than a nest (although I have used them once or twice as a nest box when in a pinch). When our temps drop into sustained single digits, I stuff those burrow boxes with straw and put them in the cages for my adult rabbits to crawl into for extra warmth. Some use them and some choose not to. I have smaller versions of burrow boxes for kits who are out of the nests and weaned and no longer with mom.

In conclusion, I think it depends upon the style of nest box and kit accessibility that would dictate when to remove the nest "box", if at all. In either case, cleaning out a nest and replacing it with fresh, clean straw or whatever nesting material, is advisable after babies' eyes have opened simply to avoid possible eye infections from bacterial growth caused by the babies peeing and pooing in the nest, which, of course, they do because they haven't much choice when they are so wee little. In January 2021, I was sick with a fever for 11 days and two nests were not cleaned out until about 3 weeks after birth. One litter ended up with eye infections, the other did not (2 different breeds of rabbits). So, I saw the open-eyes-dirty-nest-risk play out at a rate of 50% chance in my rabbitry. That's not a scientific study, but just what happened in my rabbitry when I did not keep up with best practices for nest sanitation.

 

[Captaincatholic]

I've never understood WHY people take the nest box out.

Is it only so there is more room in the cage?

Or is it because it starts getting used as a litter box?

I have pens, not cages, so room isn't the problem. I do clean the nest box once in a while, but I don't seem to find it being used as a litter box.

My nest boxes are fully enclosed, with a removable lid, with just a hole in the corner for the rabbits to enter. The young rabbits go in there even when they are 4-6 weeks old. Even adults rest in there, sometimes. I just leave the boxes in the pens all the time.

Do you have photos or a link for your mestbox plans? I need to build a few this week.