A Good Nest

Since it's summer time, we've been sleeping with the bedroom window open. I've got two does due to kindle in about ten days. They have gained weight and and I've been hearing them being restless and rattling and digging on everything in their pens. Pretty good signs they are indeed pregnant. Breeding stock I've had in the past usually don't start nest building until within two days or the day before giving birth. This line starts two weeks before.

Since we feed a lot of tree branches, I accumulate a rather large pile quickly and some are pretty thorny. We do use some for grilling or smoking meat but most I run through an electric chipper. I save the chips in a feed bag after they have dried. Instead of buying pine shavings I've been using these wood chips in the nest boxes.

My nest boxes are permanently attached to my hutches and are large, about 24x16x12 inches. I worried about the size being too big but they have been working well, I believe due to using a few inches of wood chips or shavings in the bottom. The solid bottom, I do not like because the babies end up using the box as a toilet and they become a mess to clean. I'll eventually put a wire bottom and use a cardboard liner. The rabbits love these attached boxes as a place to hang out or if they ever feel threatened, the box is a refuge, like a burrow would be in the wild. In the very distant past, I did on occasion let a doe dig a burrow for her litter, with generally good success but I have much less loss with these attached boxes.

Traditional nest boxes that you put inside the cage work fine. The main concern on a nest box is that after it's filled with bedding, you want a couple inches of lip on the entrance so babies do not get dragged out after their mother feeds them. Some latch on to a teat too hard as their mother leaves.

One thing that has really impressed me with using hutches with permanently attached nest boxes, even for bucks, is that if you ever sell the rabbits with the hutch, just load the hutch on a trailer, rabbits and all. The rabbits will go inside their refuge and feel perfectly safe speeding down the interstate at 75 mph.

The key to a good nest for extreme cold or hot weather is to have a few inches of wood chips in the bottom. Then dry grass, straw, shredded paper or similar on top and filling the corners. The doe will dig away some of the chips to form an indentation big enough to put her babies, about the size of a cereal bowl. The other materials get pushed around and fill out the corners where otherwise a kit could get stuck and potentially chilled. In the winter I fill the box with dry grass or shredded paper, just very lightly so it's not packed. She'll push them around and they tend to form almost a tunnel from the entrance to the hollowed spot in the back corner.

Before giving birth or even during, the doe will pull hair and use it as lining in the depression. Sometimes I'll also add some dryer lint if I'm concerned there is not enough pulled fur or it's especially cold. You can have too much fur too. I've seen babies get wrapped in a thick wad of fur and get isolated or smothered. If too much, I'll remove the extra and put it in a bag in case more is needed later or another doe doesn't pull enough. There should be just enough fur that they can fluff it up and stay cozy underneath. It's not uncommon for the young kits to push the fur down and spread out more during the heat of the day and then gather together close at night and fluff back up the fur that is matted at the bottom. The babies do this themselves with their movement, not the mother.

Doe rabbits are not like mother cats, who will return lost babies or move them to a safer place. If a hairless baby gets tangled in bedding, dragged out of the nest or just stuck in a corner, she'll do nothing to save it or put it back with the others. The mother only gives them attention to feed them. She will just hover over her kits and let them feed and may lick them clean. This only happens once or twice a day so you may never see it. Just look for fat baby tummies. I try to check the nest daily. I remove any that may have died, and make sure it's not easy for the kits to leave the nest by making sure corners are filled and that there is just one depression with everything sloped slightly toward the depression.

During extreme heat, usually if it gets over 95F, I will take any babies under ten days old inside to stay cool. After noon, we put them in a box with some of their mother's fur and the same bedding that was in the nest. Once the sun goes down we take them back to the nest with their mother. I've never had a problem with the mother rejecting them. If a doe were to reject her babies, I would not keep her. Older kits handle the heat better, I believe because their digestive system has become more stabilized with good bacteria. By that age the babies will already have been chewing on nest bedding and any manure pellets their mother left in the nest. If you see a few of the does' dropping in the nest, leave them, they are important for digestive inoculation of probiotic bacteria, so the kits can eat the same food as their mother without getting diarrhoea.

If you have plenty of wood chips and plenty of other bedding and the doe has been able to make a nice tunnel to her babies through it, cold winter weather is easy. After they get more fur and can handle the weather, you may need to remove some bedding as they grow and take up space. Sometimes I'll expand the depression so the pile is not so deep causing those on the bottom to smother. Little things can make a big difference in the survival rate.

When a doe has babies on the wire and doesn't build a nest. Try building one for her and put the babies in it. There is a good chance she'll still care for them.

I've never had an issue with a mother abandoning her babies because I touched them. If I did, I'd cull the doe. While the kits are young, it's easy to give some extras from a doe with a huge litter to one that has a small litter. I've never had a problem with the mother killing them except in a couple of situations where an older kit, over three weeks old got put back in the wrong cage and most of my does will even tolerate that. I do limit the handling sessions to at the most twice a day and only for a few minutes.

Hopefully this will give you some ideas that will help you wean more kits.

Tamarix, Who needs salt blocks?

Saltcedar (Tamarix) is an extremely invasive species prevalent in riparian areas throughout the South Western US. It is native to arid regions of Asia and Eastern Europe. It sends it's roots down deep sucking up scarce ground water and concentrates the salts in it's leaves. The leaves are shed in the winter and accumulate on the ground and drastically increase the salt content of the surrounding soil, destroying any chance of survival for other plants and trees. There are vast riparian areas choked with saltcedar with all the natives now gone. The diversity needed by wildlife gone.

I took my boys on a hike in a wash near our home, pointing out various plants and their uses. They've been enjoying our chokecherry syrup and jelly and we found a tree loaded with ripe fruit. It was sweet but still left a hairy after taste on the tongue. Scrub oak, chinese elm, russian olive, cottonwood, poplars and wild rye, all have their uses and can be fed to rabbits. Tamarix is also gaining a foothold and from everything I've read it's assumed to be useless. While the boys were throwing sticks, I picked a few tamarix leaves and stuck my tongue against them. Salty! Each of the boys tried it and spit, yea, it's called saltcedar for a reason.

Last week I stopped by Steve Regan Company for some feed. Since I'm feeding lots of natural forage, I've been a bit concerned that maybe my rabbits needed a bit more salt in their diet. However, the feed store was out of mineral block salt spools. With that in mind, I grabbed a few small branches and we brought them home.

Surprisingly the rabbits seemed to enjoy it in small quantity. A beneficial use for a hated environmental pest. Maybe I don't need those salt spools after all.

Free Feed Everywhere

Our semi-arid environment limits the crops that can be grown without irrigation. Human populations in semi-arid areas have been historically limited due to crops needing to be grown near rivers or other bodies of water. Most indigenous people were pastoral; raising their own cattle or were hunter gatherers. They relied on animals digesting plant material that is mostly inedible to humans and turning it into meat.

Most of us now grow up relying on the grocery store for all our food. Whatever doomsday scenario that were to come to fruition would render the general population desperate. We are dependent and at the mercy of the technology that drives our society. What would you do if there was no food in the grocery store?

I'd be trimming trees, gathering weeds and make sure I had a good water supply. I'd just keep growing meat from plant materials most people consider worthless or even despise as being foreign invasive species.

We get a bonus with rabbits. The amount of meat you produce is about double what you'd get feeding a calf on the same feed and they reproduce 50 times faster and take up a fraction of the space, especially if you have stackable cages.

Here's some ideas on where to find free feed:

• Industrial areas
• Vacant lots
• Canal banks
• Transportation right of ways
• Lawn & Garden
• Cracks in the sidewalk
• Fence lines
• Roadside
• Frontage road
• Abandoned Property
• Public Buildings
• Your neighbor's garbage

Surviving Heat

Rabbits prefer cold to hot weather. I've lived in Arizona where temperatures got over 120F and was able to avoid losing rabbits to the heat but you have to make accommodations to help them stay cool.

Heat is especially hard on newborn babies up to about two weeks when they can finally leave the nest. The fattest fastest growing babies in the litter will look fine then be dead and hour later. Some get stuck under the bedding under a pile of siblings and become over heated. Heat also can make a buck, especially older ones, temporarily sterile. All rabbits look miserable in the heat of the day and appetite drops off. When a doe isn't taking in as much feed, she can't produce as much milk or maintain her weight. So, she can't raise as many in a litter or they'll grow slower and you'll have to wait longer to rebreed. If rabbits get too hot they die, whereas adult rabbits can handle extreme cold as long as they are kept dry.

Keeping rabbits cool

Provide shade

I keep my rabbits under my apple trees. Anywhere sun can shine I have attached white feed bags to reflect the sun and keep them shaded.

Evaporative cooling

Works well in dry climates. This will not work well in humid conditions. In Arizona I used a mist system surrounding my rabbit hutches. I'd also hang heavy cloth or burlap drapes around the exterior and spray them with water. Spraying water around and under the pens also helps create an evaporative cooling effect. Ears function for your rabbit like the radiator in a car. My rabbits enjoy me wipping water over their ears and fur.

Conduction

A ceramic tile to lay on will help draw away body heat from the rabbit. Ice bottles to lay next to can help them get through an especially hot day.

Take kits inside

Bring the nestbox inside during the hottest part of the day, then return after the sun goes down. This method has virtually eliminated losses due to kits getting overheated. My mothers don't mind their babies being handled. I've only needed to do this until they start leaving the nest at about 2 weeks.

Keep indoors

Some rabbit breeders will have a climate controlled shed. In dry climates a swamp cooler makes a big difference. Air conditioning is expensive. Rabbits can be kept in stackable cages in a basement. You'll just need to have that room well ventilated and clean daily.

Underground burrow

Rabbits like to dig. Going underground is the natural way a rabbit would keep comfortable and keep their young safe from the elements. The downside is they can dig under fencing and escape or a burrow can collapse or fill with water. I have successfully raised many litters underground in both extreme heat and cold.

Heat can be a great filter for deciding which rabbits to keep or determine those that need to be replaced. I keep an eye out for my does that do best in the heat. If they can raise large litters during the summer and maintain their weight, I target their young for replacement stock.

Field Bindweed

Convolvulus arvensis L.

Bindweed aka morning glory is one of the most invasive and hard to control weeds in the world. Most of the literature indicates that it is mildly toxic to livestock but then others list that sheep and hogs have been used to control it. Most of the feed lists for rabbits list it as toxic. However, studies have shown that deer and other wildlife use bindweed as a significant part of their diet. So, I smell bias.

My rabbits enjoy bindweed and I've been feeding it for years with no problems. Bindweed has deep roots that store protein and carbs which allow it to regrow quickly. I feed it fresh or dried.

Be warned that if it's in flower, you most likely will be spreading seed as the dry ones drop under the rabbit pen and mix with the manure or the seed goes right through your rabbit and stays viable. Unless you can get your compost very hot, there is a good chance some will survive to grow more rabbit feed when you spread it in your garden. That's true of many of the invasive plants I feed my rabbits. I've started using wood chips, leaves and grass clippings to heavily mulch my garden, so the problem is minimal. 

When I was a boy we called it morning glory. What a lovely name for a plant most gardeners loathe. I see a patch, smile then fill my bucket. More free greens to turn into meat that feeds my family.

References:
http://www.fs.fed.us/database/feis/plants/vine/conarv/all.html

Winter Squash & Pumpkins

Winter squash and pumpkins are a great source of high energy carbohydrates to help keep weight on your rabbits through the winter. In a cool dry place, they store well into Spring when other feeds start to grow

The first part of last October I put a bunch of spaghetti squash and pumpkins on shelves in my basement. We ended up only eating a few ourselves. It's almost June and these winter squash are in great condition. I just throw a few in the oven whole and cook them until they are soft. Some of my rabbits snub them but others love cooked squash and pumpkin. I've given fresh squash and they eat a bit but my rabbits definitely prefer cooked. As always don't just feed one thing for a meal, give variety. 

Winter squash still good in May

To help all your rabbits develop a taste for squash, give it to them when they are still with their mother. At four weeks my does are already weaning their babies and they are ravenous. That's a good time to give variety so you have rabbits that enjoy a great variety of forage.

Some claim giving cooked squash or pumpkin and seeds are a good rabbit wormer or at least prevents infestations. I've never seen worms in my rabbits so I can't verify that from experience.

After Halloween pumpkins are cheap. I plant them in my garden between rows of corn to save space. The corn stalks themselves get fed either when I thin the corn or after I harvest the ears.

I've noticed rabbits are a lot like people. Most only want to eat what they ate growing up. We've been doing foster care for a few years now and some of the pickiest eaters I've seen were teenage refugees from totalitarian dictatorships who grew up often not having enough food to eat. You would think if someone were hungry they'd learn to eat anything, not true. I'm convinced many have died throughout history because they snubbed food that was strange that would have helped keep them alive. 

Part of the reason I raise rabbits is to accustom my family to eating a large variety of food. It's a skill that must be learned, it doesn't come naturally unless started when the child first starts eating solid food. I've seen older children raised in homes where from weening they were only given processed junk food. When they were given real food cooked from scratch with fresh ingredients, they have a difficult time eating it. They get a gag reflex that makes it physically difficult to swallow. This condition can take years to overcome.

Mallow - Malva parviflora

When I was a boy my friends and I would often pick the immature fruit off the cheeseweed and eat them raw. We'd collect hand fulls of them, peel off the outer covering and pop them into our mouth. The flavor was a bit sweet like carrot but no after taste.  Some cultures make a green sauce out of the mallow leaves and they can be boiled like spinach. I'll have to do more experimenting.

Mallow grows in soil that has been disturbed. It has a deep tap root and in our area over winters and is one of the first greens that emerge in the spring. If you pull them from the top, the branches typically break off and it keeps coming back. That's fine if you want a steady supply of greens for your rabbits but I use a grub hoe to dig deep and get the root. Rabbits can eat all parts of the plant. Most of my rabbits will eat at least some mallow but some of them obviously like it better than others. I never only feed mallow, as always, give variety.

I've read that mallow is poisonous for some livestock such as sheep and horses but sounds like it depends on the nitrogen levels. I've never had any problem feeding mallow to rabbits but if I feed more than they can eat, it gets left in the cage. I just throw any left over in the compost.

You can dry the entire plant and store it for winter hay. Fresh or dry be sure to mix with several other plants. When feeding without pellets, I always offer at least five different plants at one time to my rabbits. Keeps them healthy and happy.

Malva parviflora

Has large tap root