Roaming day old kits

[Ablebreeze]

Our first litter in 12 years kindled today! (We had rabbits, took a break, and started up again in November. )

Momma (red NZ) was a proven breeder and has had many litters.

She build a great nest in the nesting box. She's in a dumor cage.
I came home from work and found 2 babies on the ground. Weighed the litter of 7 (15 oz), and then found 2 more kits on the ground, a considerable distance away considering they're hours old.

All 9 kits are alive and doing fine. (Luckily we're in Florida and not getting below 60 these days, so they didn't freeze.)

Has anyone had escapee kits from dumor cages before? I didn't think it would be so easy for them to find their way out.

 

[RabbitsOfTheCreek]

Our first litter in 12 years kindled today! (We had rabbits, took a break, and started up again in November. )

Momma (red NZ) was a proven breeder and has had many litters.

She build a great nest in the nesting box. She's in a dumor cage.
I came home from work and found 2 babies on the ground. Weighed the litter of 7 (15 oz), and then found 2 more kits on the ground, a considerable distance away considering they're hours old.

All 9 kits are alive and doing fine. (Luckily we're in Florida and not getting below 60 these days, so they didn't freeze.)

Has anyone had escapee kits from dumor cages before? I didn't think it would be so easy for them to find their way out.

What's a dumor cage?
I had one litter last year (just two kits) who would somehow find their way out of stackers and either in the cage below them or upstairs
Had to move them to a hutch + block the bottom front with clear tape

 

[Ablebreeze]

this is a dumor cage.
They are often stacked on legs.

I was sick and didn't have the energy for legs, so currently. They're literally stacked 2 high, no one in the bottom cage which is sitting on the ground.

 

[Alaska Satin]

Our first litter in 12 years kindled today! (We had rabbits, took a break, and started up again in November. )

Momma (red NZ) was a proven breeder and has had many litters.

She build a great nest in the nesting box. She's in a dumor cage.
I came home from work and found 2 babies on the ground. Weighed the litter of 7 (15 oz), and then found 2 more kits on the ground, a considerable distance away considering they're hours old.

All 9 kits are alive and doing fine. (Luckily we're in Florida and not getting below 60 these days, so they didn't freeze.)

Has anyone had escapee kits from dumor cages before? I didn't think it would be so easy for them to find their way out.

Congratulations on your new litter, and on finding the wayward kits! You're right, you're really lucky you live in a warm place!

It's amazing how small a slot kits can wiggle through and how far they can travel once they're out (and what rugged survivors they are!).

My cages are made of 1" x 2" wire on the sides and top, and newborn kits have gotten through those spaces time and again. The cages are suspended about 4.5 feet above the ground, so the kits fell that distance onto the dirt floor, then sometimes made their way as far as the other end of the barn, which is 26' long! When kits are born outside the nest box, I think they just start moving in hopes of finding a warm place. When they land on the ground, they just keep going. We did find one that was a little older, about 5 days old, that had popped out of the nest box, squeezed through the wire (it was a Polish so a pretty small kit), landed on the floor, crawled the length of the barn, then squeezed through the wire of the only cage on the ground, and snuggled up under the belly of the buck that lived there. (Truth being stranger than fiction, the buck was the kit's father and for some reason didn't object to it being underneath him!)

Now I use babysaver wire that has smaller openings along the bottom 4 inches, or I retrofit older cages with with smaller opening wire or solid wood or metal slats covering the bottom 4" of the cage. This includes the door, because if you leave even two inches of the cage perimeter unprotected, those wandering kits will find their way there! And also under J-feeders, or in between the nest box and the side of the cage, or into the water crock.

"Babysaver" wire image from Baby Saver Rabbit Cage Wire

 

[Ablebreeze]

Wow @Alaska Satin .thank you for your story and suggestion.. Nature is pretty amazing sometimes.

I was planning on wrapping the bottom of the cages with hardwire cloth (it's what I have on hand) today.

The cages we used 12 years ago had 2-4" solid steel bars around the bottom, so it was never an issue then.

Thanks.

 

[user 8990]

Congratulations on your new litter! Wow, 12 years is a long wait! I have the same cages and I have used cardboard around the bottom to prevent them from getting stuck or out of the cage. Had one kit get her head stuck in the opening so I use the cardboard because it is easy to replace.