Winter Breeding Tips
I am fortunate that my rabbitry is heated, though the furnace only kicks on when it goes down to 48 degrees. I can still lose babies if they are born outside their nestbox or get out when holding on after nursing if not found quickly. It is a struggle to get babies in the winter, it's hard to fool mother nature. Even with warmth and lights, the does know that it isn't a productive time of year. They may breed up just fine, conceiving is another story.
When I had the unheated rabbitry we used the clamp on lights (60 watt, without the reflector) under the nestboxes. Some people use them over the boxes. We had cages supported by wooden frames so were able to clamp the lights underneath and turn the lights away from the box as needed as the babies aged. If temps were low, the lights would get turned on the day before the doe was due to warm up the box and encourage her to build her nest over the heat. By turning the light on the day before, the temperature would remain pretty steady after 24 hrs and require less monitoring. Having the heat on the bottom, the babies would burrow towards it and hopefully stay low and covered. You do need to monitor how warm they get to make sure it doesn't get too hot for them, especially after they get fur and create their own combined body heat. Take care to keep hay/shavings/dust away from the light so you don't create a fire hazard.
I've also brought nestboxes into the house and bring them out to the does in the morning, still do sometimes. Most does will jump right in when you give their nestbox back. Leave them with momma and feed the rest of your herd. By the time you are done, the does have finished nursing and ready for their breakfast too. Copypaper boxes with covers make good nestbox containers when in the house and transporting back and forth. Especially when the babies get a bit older, know the routine and act like Mexican Jumping Beans when you take them out in the morning. If you don't keep them contained in a copypaper box, they will spill over the edges with their excitement of seeing momma, momma, momma. If you have more than one nestbox, you can mark the mother's name on the copypaper box. If a baby gets out of the nestbox at night, or while on the way to momma, it is still inside the copypaper box.
If you find cold babies or need to warm up a nestbox, those rice bags work really well. They are cloth bags filled with rice that create a portable heating pad. You can pick them up at craft fairs. I'll heat up a rice bag in the microwave, wrap it up in one or two dish towels and place it in a nestbox to warm it up. I'll put babies on top of cloth but only when it is determined not to be too hot for them. Check on them often to make sure they aren't getting too hot and don't heat them up too quickly. The shock of the latter can kill them as easily as the cold does. As newborns they have no way to regulate their body temperature and can't move away easily. A substitute for a rice bag would be a electric heating pad, or a 2 liter bottle filled with hot water or a real old fashioned water bottle.
When I had the unheated rabbitry we used the clamp on lights (60 watt, without the reflector) under the nestboxes. Some people use them over the boxes. We had cages supported by wooden frames so were able to clamp the lights underneath and turn the lights away from the box as needed as the babies aged. If temps were low, the lights would get turned on the day before the doe was due to warm up the box and encourage her to build her nest over the heat. By turning the light on the day before, the temperature would remain pretty steady after 24 hrs and require less monitoring. Having the heat on the bottom, the babies would burrow towards it and hopefully stay low and covered. You do need to monitor how warm they get to make sure it doesn't get too hot for them, especially after they get fur and create their own combined body heat. Take care to keep hay/shavings/dust away from the light so you don't create a fire hazard.
I've also brought nestboxes into the house and bring them out to the does in the morning, still do sometimes. Most does will jump right in when you give their nestbox back. Leave them with momma and feed the rest of your herd. By the time you are done, the does have finished nursing and ready for their breakfast too. Copypaper boxes with covers make good nestbox containers when in the house and transporting back and forth. Especially when the babies get a bit older, know the routine and act like Mexican Jumping Beans when you take them out in the morning. If you don't keep them contained in a copypaper box, they will spill over the edges with their excitement of seeing momma, momma, momma. If you have more than one nestbox, you can mark the mother's name on the copypaper box. If a baby gets out of the nestbox at night, or while on the way to momma, it is still inside the copypaper box.
If you find cold babies or need to warm up a nestbox, those rice bags work really well. They are cloth bags filled with rice that create a portable heating pad. You can pick them up at craft fairs. I'll heat up a rice bag in the microwave, wrap it up in one or two dish towels and place it in a nestbox to warm it up. I'll put babies on top of cloth but only when it is determined not to be too hot for them. Check on them often to make sure they aren't getting too hot and don't heat them up too quickly. The shock of the latter can kill them as easily as the cold does. As newborns they have no way to regulate their body temperature and can't move away easily. A substitute for a rice bag would be a electric heating pad, or a 2 liter bottle filled with hot water or a real old fashioned water bottle.