Newborn kits and extreme cold?

[TheOtherHorse]

I just had a doe kindle today. Tomorrow night our forecast gets below zero for 36 hours straight (VERY abnormally cold for here!). I have the doe and kits in my garage, which is air tight with no drafts, but not heated. Do I need to do anything extra for the babies? The doe is a good mom and made a good nest. I've never had babies in this extreme cold weather... not sure if they need a heat lamp or anything? Brrr!

 

[SuburbanHomesteader]

If she's pulled a bunch of fur and if there are at least 3 or 4 kits, they should be fine. How big is the garage? Would a space heater be realistic - just enough to keep it 30 - 40 degrees? Basically, if she's made a good nest, just keep them dry and out of the wind and they should be okay.

 

[Galadriel]

We have litters of 6 to 7 out here right now in 20*+ temperatures, and they are fine! Although they are past the open-eyes thing and are very furry... so maybe I'm not a good reference for you and your buns!

Oh, and you have to prove that they even exist! Let's have some pictures!! opcorn:

 

[TheOtherHorse]

It is a 3 car garage, so pretty big. Not sure a space heater would do much, unless I put it right next to her cage and facing the nest box, then I suppose it would blow warm air onto it continuously. Should I do that?

Galadriel, I'll try to get pics today when I get them out to check and count. I haven't looked in there yet, just stuck my hand in there last night to see whether she had kindled yet.

 

[Lastfling]

I've got a nest box with four kits sitting on the kitchen table right now. The doe kindled 1/3 which I discovered prior to leaving for work that day. As the kits felt a little cool, and not a lot of fur was pulled when I found them, I brought the box to the house for the day. Now, I take the box out in the morning before leaving for work, the doe hops in feeds her young, and I bring the box back to the house. It all takes a little less than 15 minutes during which I check water, etc. for the other rabbits. As our weather has been below freezing at night and forcast to be in the low single-digits in the next couple of days, I'll probably continue this routine until the kits have furred out and the weather moderates. Better safe than sorry I say. And to think, there use to be days I could drink a cup of coffee and contemplate the day ahead before leaving for work. Rabbits and winter have put an end to that. LOL.

 

[skysthelimit]

Before I use a heat lamp, I would just bring them in, if I was concerned.
Usually I do this, but I didn't two weeks ago, and first time mom dug out the box and I lost of litter of kits and an entire blood line

 

[TheOtherHorse]

Is it hard on the kits if you bring them in during the night and leave them out during the day? I would worry that they wouldn't be acclimated to the cold then. How do you transition them back to dealing with outdoor temps once the critical time has passed?

 

[ladysown]

with my "less than three" litters I bring them in at night and leave them out during the day. They seem to do just fine. I do this until they are about 8-10 old (depends on the litter). They thrive.

 

[grumpy]

Here's my method:
I raise NZW's and Californians commercially inside a barn that's
been insulated in their portion. It's 'snug' but not air-tight.
My main breeding room is 12X64 feet w/12'ceilings.
My grow out room is 16X32 feet w/7'ceilings.
The rabbitry is on 16 hours of timed lighting.

Other than adding an inch or two of wood chips and
stuffing the nest box full of straw, I-do-nothing.
I add NO auxiliary heat. However, the numbers of
rabbits contained in this building elevate the inside
temp quite a bit. I'm talking 20-25 degrees higher
than the rest of the barn.

Every 60 minutes, I have a large exhaust fan automatically
come on for 15 minutes. It exchanges the air at least twice
in the rabbitry during its cycle. Thus, it does reduce the temp,
for a short while.

Rabbits, are inherently a hardy species quite capable of
of successfully raising youngsters in sub-freezing temperatures.
IF....they are provided with the right conditions.
Drafts, or direct cold winds, make in nearly impossible for them to be successful.

Grumpy.

 

[3mina]

In a garage? With a good nest and more than three kits, they'll be fine.

 

[TheOtherHorse]

So I got them out and checked everyone over today... 10 healthy well fed kits, 5 broken black, 5 black. Pictures as promised:

and I decided to leave them in the garage and see how it goes. I put hay under and on the sides of the nest box. The doe is a good mom, and since there are 10 of them to keep each other warm I am hopeful that they will do okay. Despite lack of heat, the garage is always noticeably warmer than their normal shed, water usually doesn't freeze in there unless it is extreme cold (tonight it will!)

 

[skysthelimit]

Is it hard on the kits if you bring them in during the night and leave them out during the day? I would worry that they wouldn't be acclimated to the cold then. How do you transition them back to dealing with outdoor temps once the critical time has passed?

Inside the nest is pretty warm, I think I would have to change the air temp around them to make significant changes to the nest temperature.
I don't leave them out during the day, I do barn chores and bring them back in after I'm done. I don't really heat my house either, it's a bit warmer than the barn, but not enough to cause a problem. I've had a litter freeze to death in the house. It's really not to keep them warm, it's to keep them from the danger of a doe peeing in the nest, getting pulled out the nest, wandering out or a doe getting spooked and emptying the nest. Once the eyes are open, and they are furred, I expect them to take care of themselves.

Really it's for my piece of mind. If I'm worried enough to ask, I bring them in. As Grumpy said they can do just fine.

 

[Desert Rose Rabbits]

I had a doe kindle in below freezing temps and was concerned about the kits going back and forth. I did it for two days and that's when I noticed that the kits were actually getting too warm in the house. I kept finding them on top of all the nesting material. I ended up just leaving them outside and they stayed under all the nesting material when I did that.

 

[Miss M]

We recently kept a litter inside for about a week, but only because the doe was a clueless first-timer. She kept digging out her nest, so we kept them until she got past her nesting instincts.

Those pretty popples should be just fine! Love the pics!

 

[TheOtherHorse]

Well, for anyone reading who is facing the same problem, most of the kits survived the arctic blast. From the litter of 10, 2 died and 1 more looks thin and might not make it. The rest are fat and active. But I'm happy with a 70-80% success rate in -6 degree weather! Our forecast goes back to our normal 40s avg now. Whew. All the older kits and adult rabbits did fine, no one even seemed to notice the severe cold, except that their water froze instantly so we had to fill fresh crocks 4 times a day... sigh... soooo glad its over!