Cold weather

Question
My 17 month old Holland lop doe is currently pregnant.  She is due October 1st. I keep her outside in my backyard, that's where she's lived all her life even in the coldest of our Minnesota winters and she's done fine but I haven't ever had baby buns in the cold weather.

Today it's about 50 degrees F and tonight it's supposed to get down to 28 degrees F and I looked at the rest of the week and the high is in the 60's degrees F and the low is in the 30/40 degrees F.

Is this too cold for the babies? What's the lowest temps they can live in? I have a heat pad that I can put in the nest box. I also could put the hutch in the garage, I keep my male rabbit in the garage.

The hutch that I have for my rabbit is this one:
http://www.fleetfarm.com/mff/detail/ware-48-in-premium-hutch/0000000065005

It has an area that is enclosed for her to hide in as you can see. Can I use that as a nest box and just put a board up so they don't fall out? Or should I put a nextbox inside of her hutch?

Also what would be good to use for bedding in the nest box? I was thinking newspaper at the bottom, then carefresh bedding, and hay? Should I put a blanket in cause it's cold? And should I put the hay under the bedding?

I just want the buns to be safe and comfy  Any advice would be great! I'm new at breeding

Thanks!

Answer
Hi Kylie,  We raise rabbits in Michigan, so I understand your concern about the cold weather!  It is most certainly very important to keep the new kits warm and dry, so your best option is to place a wooden nest box in the cage as the larger hutch won't provide as much insulation from the cold.  A heating pad is not necessary as the mother rabbit will pull her own fur to keep them warm, in fact a heating pad can make them too warm and cause them to move away from each other which becomes a problem when the doe gets in the box to nurse.  Put a 2-inch layer of pine shavings in the box, followed by a nice fluffy layer of hay.  The mother rabbit will sometimes eat the hay if she's not ready to nest yet, so keep replacing it as needed.  If it's going to get very cold at night, bring the box right into the house with you and return it to the mother in the morning.  Rabbits only feed their young once to twice a day, so they can actually spend quite a bit of time in the warm house and still get plenty of momma's attention.  We use this method with our winter litters, and often have several nest boxes lined up on the counter in our laundry room lol!  When we bring them out in the morning the momma often jumps in and feeds and checks on them right away, and when she's finished we bring them back inside until dinner time.  Make sure you put the box in several days before she's due to give her plenty of time to prepare, and best wishes for a healthy litter!