Our blueberry shrubs get mulched with about 8 inches of shredded maple tree leaves in the fall. I pull the excess away from the base of the shrubs in the early spring, to allow some air to get in there. I have had little success with bare root blueberry over the years. I find that the roots do not develop fast enough to support the demands of the leaves during the sunny summer weather. These days, I regard bare root blueberry stock as suitable for potting and keeping on the back porch, protected from both wind and the noonday sun. I have a potted "Jersey" that I bought bare root in April, and I plan to set this out in mid-September. Its an experiment, I want to see if I can finally get something to take off and grow from bare root stock.

Assuming your plants are still smallish, I would make a cover of chicken wire to keep out rodents and just to be sure, wrap the base with chicken wire or steel wool. Then cover with a spun row cover like Winter gard I also place shredded leaves around the base but never touching as this will encourage disease.