Why Tip a Nestbox early?

[ladysown]

This question was asked: why tip a nestbox early?

My reasoning:

I clean nestboxes at day nine. I thoroughly evaluate the kits at that time. How are the eyes, how are they looking, feeling, acting? Doesn't mean I haven't kept an eye on them before that.. cause I have. It's just a more specific look see.

I tip the boxes at two weeks. I change that if there's something odd about the litter (aka born early, weak kits etc). But usually by two weeks I've got wandering kits OR kits that are so lazy they won't move.

I remove the nestbox completely usually by 3 weeks of age. Not always. I base it on weather, the kits, the doe, and so forth.

WHY do I do this?

1. the inspiration of other breeders who find their kits get going better by getting the kits out of the nestbox.

2. a deep dislike of losing kits getting dragged out of the box. I find that 90% of the time it's kits at the 10-16 day mark that get dragged out.

3. practical experience. Tipping the box means my kits eat more hay and are sooner eating the pellets.

4. practical experience. I don't lose as many kits to getting dragged out of the box and getting cold. With a tipped box the kit can easily find the rest of the pack and can huddle in with them.

5. getting out the box means no more lazy kits. Seriously.. I used to have kits that wouldn't MOVE out of the box at all until they were almost five weeks old. They were so content to just stay there. NOW.. I have some kits that are content to just sit in the tipped box and hang out there, but when I dump hay beside the open box..they open their eyes.. they reach just far enough to get some hay and they get going. They can still be lazy, but they are encouraged to get moving.

NOW.. if I lose a doe at three weeks post kindle.. I don't have to worry about the kits surviving.

NOW.. if I CHOOSE TO.. I can breed back my does early and not worry about the kits suffering at all.

NOW.. if I CHOOSE TO.. I can wean kits earlier and have them be healthy vigourous kits.

NOTE: I Don't HAVE to.. but I can CHOOSE to.

Having more options is always a good thing in my book.
AND it keeps me thinking and willing to revamp and push and strive for more and better.

so that's my reasoning and methodology. It's okay if you don't agree with it, and people better at explaining their thinking would probably do a more thorough job.

What I do know....is that since I started doing this.. my kits are most of time... stronger and more interested in me and life sooner rather than later. And I like that sooner. I love having those 2-3 week old kits looking up and going HAY!!! she's giving us HAY! instead of sleepy eyed kits who totally ignore me except when I get in their faces.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I like the wire nests because I can open the front without disturbing the nest ball. The kits have the freedom to get out and run around and they can nurse at will, while also enjoying the other benefits you mentioned. When I remove the nest completely, I replace it with a plastic cat litter jug with bedding inside of it, so they can still huddle together and conserve body heat in an enclosed space. Some does can be rather greedy about the grain feeding, and it gives me a place to supplement them with oats, etc. where the doe doesn't have access to it.

 

[ladysown]

if I could revamp all my nestboxes cheaply and easily I would go with wooden box hutches with a totally removable front.. a circle cut in high just big enough for the doe to get in and out. but a removable front so I could just take it off completely. I'd have holes drilled in lots of places through the bottom for liquid drainage. and i'd have one box for each doe. But I can't, so I used what I have and will revamp as I am able.

 

[akane]

2 weeks doesn't sound early. Mine are trying to get out of the box by the time their eyes open, sometimes before, and I've had to tip boxes at 10 days. 2 weeks is pretty standard. By then 99% of mine are bouncing around. In fact I just fully removed a box from indoor kits not quite 2 weeks because they just kept leaving it and not wanting to return. They would pile anywhere but and I got tired of throwing them back in.

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

last summer, by the time the eyes were open-- Ihad removed the box-- and replaced it with a fleece-- and tat is where the kuts made their own bed-- until they really started to eat-- then they moved themselves inder the J feeder--- yeah, you know the picture-- mom eats at J feeder, kits nurse at the same time..
--

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

Might shoulda tipped my nestbox yesterday when I read this, lost another one on the wire last night :evil:

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I tip mine at two weeks or even remove it. I find I have less incidence of nest box eye that way. I also clean out the nest 2 or 3 times during that two weeks.

 

[PatS]

Okay, complete and utter newbie here...

So you mean that two weeks into their lives, we turn the nest box on its side and leave it there? Makes sense, I guess, but I don't remember reading about it. We're going to be breeding our first doe very soon.

Does anyone have a picture of the nestbox with a removable front? We're about to build our first nestbox and might as well do it right the first time.

 

[ladysown]

So you mean that two weeks into their lives, we turn the nest box on its side and leave it there?

That is what I do. When I remove it completely depends on the time of the year and the weather. You have to watch your kits. You have to learn from your animals as well. Not every herd can be run the same way. That's part of the fun of owning rabbits. Seeing/learning what other folks do and seeing if you can adapt it to your herd.

it's quite surprising sometimes what one can learn.

 

[MaggieJ]

Okay, complete and utter newbie here...

So you mean that two weeks into their lives, we turn the nest box on its side and leave it there? Makes sense, I guess, but I don't remember reading about it. We're going to be breeding our first doe very soon.

Does anyone have a picture of the nestbox with a removable front? We're about to build our first nestbox and might as well do it right the first time.

The problem, PatS, is that at about two weeks, kits get curious and active and some will pop out of the nestbox and then find themselves unable to manage the higher leap back in. Ladysown tips the nest box to prevent this. Some people have nest boxes with the short end designed to be removed at this time, allowing easy exits and entrances to the nest for the exploring kits, but keeping the nest intact. My solution was to place a brick against the low end of the box to provide a step up for the young buns. All these methods work. The main thing to avoid is stranded kits that may become chilled if they cannot get back to the nest.

 

[AnnClaire]

Hi PatS,

I bring my litters inside to a cardboard corral in my living room. That way, I can monitor their feeding and eliminating. In fact, when they develop their fur, they are being brought inside for several hours per day so they are accustomed to people and sounds and being away from mom. When they are 1 week old, I start keeping them in all day and only taking the nest box back to the does' cage overnight. By 2 weeks, they are inside all day and all night, with only a couple of hours in the cage with mom ... I take them out at sundown and the does feed within an hour or so. By 3 weeks, they are completely weaned and the does are usually a week into their next pregnancy. The last few days of nursing, I bring the does in and only let the kits nurse enough to relieve the pressure in the does, but not enough to drain them. They will dry up within 3-5 days and no mastitis (yet).

 

[fuzzy9]

I tip mine at two weeks or even remove it. I find I have less incidence of nest box eye that way. I also clean out the nest 2 or 3 times during that two weeks.

I do the very same thing. Especially after moving into the enclosed rabbitry, I clean the nest boxes more often than I did before.

 

[currituckbun]

I have a snuggle box. It is an old wooden drawer from a desk long gone.the front of the drawer is cut down low for easy exit and entrance of the kits. I stuff it with fresh hay and as much of the old nesting material that is not fouled that I can. I have been using this box as a transition from nest box to cage and it seems to be working well. I had been using shoe boxes but they got really nasty fast.