noble
Chirping
- Dec 30, 2015
- 316
- 61
- 83
this is the cages I maid out of scrap metal for the girls. They are larger.
Rabbit thread!!!
- Thread starter chicken farmer
- Start date
this is the cages I maid out of scrap metal for the girls. They are larger.
chicken19
Songster
Nice setup
Noble your place looks nice.
noble
Chirping
- Dec 30, 2015
- 316
- 61
- 83
thank you.Noble your place looks nice.
mckee farms
Chirping
My rabbits have been having babies but not in the nests. Why would they do this? All babies froze to death.
If you think about it, there is nothing natural about a nest box. A wild rabbit would dig a burrow to have her litter in; we try to simulate that environment with a nest box. The enclosed, fairly dark space is intended to imitate the space the doe would provide for herself in the wild. But there are several possible reasons why a doe would not accept the box:
If the box is too large, or too small, the doe may not be comfortable with it
If the box was put in too soon, the doe may have claimed it as a nice resting spot. Since does tend to avoid the nest except for the couple of times per day when they feed their litter, they rest in one place and nest in another. So, the doe may want to sit in the box, and site her nest somewhere else.
The doe may have already chosen a spot for her nest, and the box wasn't put in it. If I see a doe digging in a corner of her cage, I put hay in a nest box and put it in that corner. The doe may start taking hay out of the box and putting it in a different corner, in which case, I move the box to that corner. Sometimes we go from corner to corner like that for days.
The doe may not recognize the box as an imitation burrow. Most boxes require that the doe move upward before she gets into it; the doe's instinct is to go down. Some people use dropped nest boxes that hang below the cage floor; those who do report that they rarely have a doe that doesn't use the box.
The doe may not have great instincts. People who raise rabbits for commercial production don't have time to waste on rabbits that don't know what they are doing, so a doe that messes things up gets culled. People who breed for show/pets aren't that ruthless, so our rabbits may simply not know that's what the box is for. If I have a doe that I think won't use the box, I may put a layer of hay several inches deep in her cage. That way, wherever she kindles, there will hopefully be enough insulation that the kits will survive until I can find them and put them in the box where they belong. Most of the time, once I put the kits in the box, the doe figures things out, and she uses the box for subsequent litters.
My rabbits put up with a lot from me. If I have does due to kindle during cool weather, I often put the doe and her nest box in a large carrier cage at night, and put the carrier in my hall closet. Most of the does that I have done this with do a perfectly good job of kindling, cleaning, and pulling fur, just as if they were still in their cage. If the doe has the babies out of the box, at least they were born in a warm enough environment for them to survive until I can correct the doe's mistake.
Hope something here helps - wishing you better luck with your future litters!
If the box is too large, or too small, the doe may not be comfortable with it
If the box was put in too soon, the doe may have claimed it as a nice resting spot. Since does tend to avoid the nest except for the couple of times per day when they feed their litter, they rest in one place and nest in another. So, the doe may want to sit in the box, and site her nest somewhere else.
The doe may have already chosen a spot for her nest, and the box wasn't put in it. If I see a doe digging in a corner of her cage, I put hay in a nest box and put it in that corner. The doe may start taking hay out of the box and putting it in a different corner, in which case, I move the box to that corner. Sometimes we go from corner to corner like that for days.
The doe may not recognize the box as an imitation burrow. Most boxes require that the doe move upward before she gets into it; the doe's instinct is to go down. Some people use dropped nest boxes that hang below the cage floor; those who do report that they rarely have a doe that doesn't use the box.
The doe may not have great instincts. People who raise rabbits for commercial production don't have time to waste on rabbits that don't know what they are doing, so a doe that messes things up gets culled. People who breed for show/pets aren't that ruthless, so our rabbits may simply not know that's what the box is for. If I have a doe that I think won't use the box, I may put a layer of hay several inches deep in her cage. That way, wherever she kindles, there will hopefully be enough insulation that the kits will survive until I can find them and put them in the box where they belong. Most of the time, once I put the kits in the box, the doe figures things out, and she uses the box for subsequent litters.
My rabbits put up with a lot from me. If I have does due to kindle during cool weather, I often put the doe and her nest box in a large carrier cage at night, and put the carrier in my hall closet. Most of the does that I have done this with do a perfectly good job of kindling, cleaning, and pulling fur, just as if they were still in their cage. If the doe has the babies out of the box, at least they were born in a warm enough environment for them to survive until I can correct the doe's mistake.
Hope something here helps - wishing you better luck with your future litters!
mckee farms
Chirping
If you think about it, there is nothing natural about a nest box. A wild rabbit would dig a burrow to have her litter in; we try to simulate that environment with a nest box. The enclosed, fairly dark space is intended to imitate the space the doe would provide for herself in the wild. But there are several possible reasons why a doe would not accept the box:
If the box is too large, or too small, the doe may not be comfortable with it
If the box was put in too soon, the doe may have claimed it as a nice resting spot. Since does tend to avoid the nest except for the couple of times per day when they feed their litter, they rest in one place and nest in another. So, the doe may want to sit in the box, and site her nest somewhere else.
The doe may have already chosen a spot for her nest, and the box wasn't put in it. If I see a doe digging in a corner of her cage, I put hay in a nest box and put it in that corner. The doe may start taking hay out of the box and putting it in a different corner, in which case, I move the box to that corner. Sometimes we go from corner to corner like that for days.
The doe may not recognize the box as an imitation burrow. Most boxes require that the doe move upward before she gets into it; the doe's instinct is to go down. Some people use dropped nest boxes that hang below the cage floor; those who do report that they rarely have a doe that doesn't use the box.
The doe may not have great instincts. People who raise rabbits for commercial production don't have time to waste on rabbits that don't know what they are doing, so a doe that messes things up gets culled. People who breed for show/pets aren't that ruthless, so our rabbits may simply not know that's what the box is for. If I have a doe that I think won't use the box, I may put a layer of hay several inches deep in her cage. That way, wherever she kindles, there will hopefully be enough insulation that the kits will survive until I can find them and put them in the box where they belong. Most of the time, once I put the kits in the box, the doe figures things out, and she uses the box for subsequent litters.
My rabbits put up with a lot from me. If I have does due to kindle during cool weather, I often put the doe and her nest box in a large carrier cage at night, and put the carrier in my hall closet. Most of the does that I have done this with do a perfectly good job of kindling, cleaning, and pulling fur, just as if they were still in their cage. If the doe has the babies out of the box, at least they were born in a warm enough environment for them to survive until I can correct the doe's mistake.
Hope something here helps - wishing you better luck with your future litters!
[/quote . So if the babies are born out in the open and still alive what should I do
Put them and any nesting material you can salvage into the nest box. If the doe has pulled any fur, put it on top. You may need to put the doe in the box so she can see that the kits are in there, Sometimes, even though the doe knows that the kits are in the box, she doesn't know that she's supposed to nurse them, so you need to keep an eye on things to make sure they are getting fed.
Hi, I'm going to different pages and asking this question because of 2 stupid bears that have destroyed some of my livestock and my angora rabbits. I'm having trouble finding someone who has reg. angora doe giant or reg. german hybrid w/ hopefully some giant in her! I live in Shelburne NH which is 8 miles away from Mt. Washington. and I would really like to be able to find someone close to me. I would like it to be a BEW and of age to breed or very close to that! So far I've found an unreg. one that's 7 hr's away! Please forgive me for posting in you forum. Thank you for taking the time to read this and should any of you's come up with a name I would be so grateful!
Thanks again!
Thanks again!
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