Removing hair from nestboxes in the heat?

[danasbunnyrunn]

Do any breeders here remove hair from their nestboxes when it's very hot? I have a large litter of babies about 4 days old and it looks like the doe just keeps pulling fur because the nest is full! I was just wondering if it would get hot in there for the little ones...

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Some do, some don't.

I'm on the fence on this one, because fur insulates both against heat and cold.

Additionally, my popples seem to rearrange the fur on their own.

 

[LauraNJ]

My one doe rearranges the fur multiple times a day. If I mess with the kits and move anything, she follows up and rearranges kits in a straight line and then will cover or uncover depending on temps. With her previous breeder/owner she had 1 litter and they were slightly disappointed in her mothering skills. For me, she has been fantastic, this is her 2nd litter with me.

For our other doe, the kits at 2 days old crawl out of the fur if they are hot and burrow down if they are cold. I only uncovered slightly yesterday when it reached almost 90 and I couldn't see kits. She has 9 in there. She seems slightly oblivious to their comfort so I do check many times a day and will spread fur out if needed.

I think it is just a matter of trying to watch and gauge how hot or uncomfortable the kits appear to be and at that point if you need to interfere then interfere and move some fur away.

 

[danasbunnyrunn]

Ok thanks this makes sense because I did notice the fur had been moved in the middle like she was uncovering them so she knows what she's doing

 

[Miss M]

I do remove especially hay from the nest when it is hot. I make it so there is basically a flat layer of hay in the bottom of the nest, rather than stuffed with a hole in the back. If there is an abundance of fur, I'll remove some of that, too, and save it for future needs.<br /><br />__________ Wed Jun 12, 2013 6:50 pm __________<br /><br />It is typically quite humid here, though, which makes getting rid of heat more challenging. That's why I do mess around with it a bit.

 

[SuburbanHomesteader]

Had a litter of 4 born Saturday. Doe pulled lots of fur. I took about half of it out yesterday as it got up to the lower 90's and the kits were all spread out throughout the box. They spread out when they get hot and pile up when they're cold. They did okay yesterday and seem to be doing well today so probably won't worry much more about them. I'll just check on them at feeding times.

Oh yeah - I save the fur just in case I need some in the future....

 

[Frecs]

I find that if I remove fur, the doe will pull more if she thinks it is needed. She (both of them) will also remove fur if she decides it is necessary. The kits spread out if they need to. I have two litters not quite 2 weeks old. They were coming out of the boxes right after their eyes opened (especially one litter) so I removed the box and just gave them hay in the cage to sleep on. The litter that wasn't so fast to exit their box were left alone until they started exploring. It seems leaving the box happened faster in the warmer weather than in the winter. Anyway, I've learned to trust my does to regulate their nest temps without much interference on my part.

(And, yes, my does always go behind my "messing" and make sure I returned all kits and didn't "mess up" anything.)

 

[skysthelimit]

I have wire bottoms, so as the kits spread themselves out, fur is naturally lost. Most times my does will pull more if it gets cooler.

 

[Miss M]

I find that if I remove fur, the doe will pull more if she thinks it is needed. She (both of them) will also remove fur if she decides it is necessary....

(And, yes, my does always go behind my "messing" and make sure I returned all kits and didn't "mess up" anything.)

My does do not do this. They might rarely add fur for the first couple of days, but after that, they don't. They'll usually look into the nestbox when I put it back in, but they rarely "fix" anything.

 

[avdpas77]

I have some does that will pile in a bunch of hair the 2nd and 3rd days. I do pull away some of the hair in this case when it gets hot, and it is a great time to save clean fur for any doe coming up short the next winter. I think much of the fur pulling is instinctual. The natural environment is underground and never much over 60 or 70F. Naked newborns need some insulation at these temps. I would much rather have does that pull lots of fur than does that are stingy with it.

The one thing that I have noticed with many of my does, which is a real problem in winter, is that the will pull clumps or tufts of fur in the winter after the kits are newly born, and wont fluff it up for about 12 hours. Does anyone else have this problem?