will they stay warm enough?

[DarayTala]

One of my does had kits today much to my surprise, I had bred her but I hadn't felt anything when palpatating and she didn't nest this time. Luckily I did put straw in the box myself and she had six healthy babies in the box. So yay for surprise kits!
Now what I'm worried about is she didnt pull very much fur at all, just a tuft here or there. How much do they need to stay warm in this weather? Its been up to 90 during the day and probably 70 at the lowest at night. Last time she pulled a lot more, but then it was also a lot colder.

 

[Lowell]

I would think they would be fine.

I had a doe kindle mid March when it was 10 degrees and there were only 4 of them and they did fine!!

 

[Ivory]

I would think they'd be fine too, if the doe thinks they're cold maybe she'll pull some hair for them.

 

[ladysown]

some does will pull fur late. Otherwise you can always pull fur from their dewlap and belly.

 

[LauraNJ]

I think you are at about the same temps as I am and here it is still 85F at 11 pm. Ridiculously hot! Hopefully we cool down a little bit. I bet the doe thinks they don't need the extra fur, that they will cook if she puts it in. Tomorrow we are supposed to be back up to 95F.

When I brought newborns inside this winter because it was so cold, they were comfy with fur around them but not on top of them, they moved out from it. My house is kept at 68F-69F. So, at the current temps, if there are a few kits they are probably comfy.

 

[DarayTala]

Well, she pulled more fur a few hours later. She was a great mother the first time arpund so i will trust her to do right, though I'll also check when it gets hot tomorrow. How do I tell if they are too warm?

 

[Jack]

we have kits in the winter, it's freezing in the rabbitry (well we try to keep it just above, but in a -25 snap,
(consider that's 57 degrees BELOW freezing, equidistant would be +89)
that can be hard, but when they are well insulated (or more usually taken inside if we can't keep the temp at least 33-40)

my point, if they can survive that....

 

[MamaSheepdog]

How do I tell if they are too warm?

Instead of being a solid mass of kits, they will spread out so there is little or no body contact between them.

 

[LauraNJ]

we have kits in the winter, it's freezing in the rabbitry (well we try to keep it just above, but in a -25 snap,
(consider that's 57 degrees BELOW freezing, equidistant would be +89)
that can be hard, but when they are well insulated (or more usually taken inside if we can't keep the temp at least 33-40)

my point, if they can survive that....

When it is consistently cold or gradually cools down or warms up I think the rabbits handle it great. Here in the NE were were at highs of 45F last week, then it went into the 90s this week with high humidity. It is very extreme temperature changes right now. I am so hoping we cool down below 90 tomorrow.

 

[Jack]

It's not the heat that wipes them, ask breeders in AZ, it's the humidity, they can't shed heat fast enough
and when they are used to staying warm at 45, and 2 days later...

remember, 2 weekends ago it was SNOWING, last week we had highs in the 80s....
I was kinda happy I kept the insulation in the bunny barn late, it slowed the temp swings between day and night

 

[LauraNJ]

I didn't realize Alaska had swings like that in temps too. I learned something new. I thought it was cold and then not as cold.

Had a friend who lived there for a few years then moved to Hawaii. I only remember her talking about it being light at night during the summer and then dark during the day in winter. And she said it was cold, even in the summer it was ok temps but not warm like here. Maybe she was in a different area or she was just being whiny.

 

[DarayTala]

Well one of them seemed weaker today, could it be the heat? What do I do to save it and make sure the others don't have problems? Or could it have been something other then the heat?