How cold is too cold?

[CrimsonRose]

Ok just wanted some opinions here...

I have my rabbits outside in hutches, and typically if I breed them in the cold weather, I will bring the nest box in at night.

But here is the deal... we purchased a few new rabbits along with some hutches that went with them...

The hutches have built in resting boards along with a 4 sided nest boxes that sit on top of these boards... you can just slide them in and out (the bottom is open since it sits on the resting board... makes it easy to clean if they poo in it...) I thought these were great!!! Well we bred our mama's and I got to thinking today... how am I going to get the nest boxes out to bring them in... not to mention we now have 5 pregger bunnies... that's a lot of boxes to be hauling in and out 2 times a day... LOL

I have a few smaller nest boxes that I got with these cages... he said he used those sometimes as well (In the cages that didn't' have the built in resting board) but they seem kinda small too me for the NewZealand sized rabbit but those boxes have the solid bottom that I can put in with a few of the mamas to bring them in at night... I was just concerned that they were small... so what would be the smallest sized nestbox you would use for newzealands?

Anyhow back to the big nestboxes with the open bottom... I asked the guy we bought them all from what he did... and he thought I was crazy for bringing the babies in at night... He leaves them out with mama and said he would breed his girls even in January with no issues...

We are in southern Ohio so winters can get pretty harsh... sometimes dipping below 0 for a while...

So I wanted your opinions... How cold is too cold to breed the bunnies and leave the babies out with mama...

 

[miss_thenorth]

I've bred my rabbits in freezing temps and not had an issue. I wouldn't think to bring the nest boxes in either. Just make sure you prvide mamma with lots of straw/hay for bedding. She will pull enough fur to keep her kits warm.

As usual, though, protect from drafts.

 

[Bossroo]

You do know that mamma always feeds her babies secretively at night , it's their nature... just when the babies need a good meal of milk to keep warm.

 

[CrimsonRose]

yeah I know... been raising Rabbits since a child... but back then we had a nice barn for them... Only been doing the hutch thing for a few years now...

As for bringing them in... I wait till after the evening feeding and then take them back out in the early morn... my mamas never seem to mind (they are such good mamas!) I watch and make sure the babies all get fed and mom is done before I would bring them back in till evening and do it all again... Till the babies got their fur in then I left them with mama... So basically just did this the first week or so... This also gives me a chance to check the babies to make sure they were all healthy and my kids got to handle the babies since birth so I've always had super tame rabbits from a very early age...

All that being said thanks for putting me at ease about the temps... it will also be easier to deal with the newzealand does... they are way NOT as friendly as my flemish giants I have and they were not handled as much so they are harder to work with...

 

[Beekissed]

I never brought ours in and I would think it could actually be bad for them to have those fluctuations of temps. The down in their nest is so incredibly warm that I've never reached in a nest that had cold kits in it...unless one was dead, of course.

Rabbits thrive in the cold, much more so than in the summer.

 

[Bunnylady]

To each their own, of course, but I have lost whole litters when the temps were in the 40's. There's nothing worse than putting a hand into a nestbox to check on a previously thriving litter and finding them all cold and dead. I don't even leave a litter out with my does unless the temperature is at least in the mid-fifties. As they say, it works fine, until it doesn't, so I don't take any chances any more (I've seen a few too many dead babies!).