Alice kindled this morning

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MaggieJ

MaggieJ

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Our bunny population has jumped from 5 to 14. :bouncy:

Alice built a lovely nest - beside the nest box. :roll: I debated whether to just leave them there, but it is too hard to check them, so I transferred them to the box. She hopped in and took a look... so she knows where they are. They're a bit small, but neither parent is a huge rabbit. A few light ones that will likely be fawn or orange and at least one with sort of Dutch markings. Most of the rest are dark.

Nine is the most she has ever had. Hope she takes care of them. She has been a good mom in the past, but lost a litter early this spring to chilling. They were still in the goose house at that point and I don't normally have them kindle there. I think the goose breeding commotion may have been a factor.
 
Wow! Those are great numbers! I hope she does very well with the litter!
 
Brody":174387ed said:
YAY Alice YAY Jasper :)
Click to expand...

:oops: Oops! Jasper is not the proud daddy this time. I bred Alice to her son, Thyme, the pretty fawn (orange) bunny that we saved from last summer's litter. I tried to breed Thyme's sisters, Rosemary and Sage, to Jasper... but they were not having anything to do with him. I'll be trying them again in a few days, once I'm certain they are not pregnant.
 
awwwww gotcha - the older dude got first dibs - makes sense ;)

no oops - silly me presuming when you went through the colours that jas was pappa - I forgot tyhme's litter was pretty too :)
 
Actually, Thyme is a dilute of the same colour as Jasper... although they are not related. Jasper is a very solid brick red... quite striking, as you know. I was curious about the colours and patterns we might get if we bred Alice to her son. We'll know more about that in a few days. :) Do you know, I have never had a white rabbit in all the litters born here. :shrug: I'll never understand bunny genetics.

__________ Sun Aug 01, 2010 6:53 pm __________

Well drat! :grit: Alice managed to step on her kits. Several have scratches or bruising... Straw and fur plastered to them with blood. We cleaned them up and warmed them up, but I don't know how they'll do. I don't think this was malicious... just bad luck/clumsiness. Maybe I should have left them in the nest she made on the wire... she wouldn't have had to jump in then.

More and more, I am leaning towards an indoor colony for the buns. They could arrange things to their liking and I wouldn't be as likely to intervene. I debated this morning whether or not to put them in the box... but went with the accepted wisdom. Might not have been my best choice in this case.
 
drat - hate it when the crystal ball fails us ... drat drat drat

fingers crossed ...
 
:( I made the new nestboxes HUGE just for that reason. I probably should have turned it on it's side for the White Lady wench....I'm terribly afraid she'll jump in and squish someone. but..too late now. She's probably going to kindle tonight or tomorrow.
 
Come to think of it, Polly didn't like nest boxes much either. I'm thinking there must be a better design. I really like the idea of nest tunnels with hinged lids... If I do switch to a colony, that's what I'd like to have.
 
We lost two overnight... Not as bad as I feared. But Alice is not covering them very well after feeding. I may have to bring them up to the house and just take them to her for feeding twice a day until they have some fur.

I don't get it. Last year Alice was a five star mom. :shrug:
 
Time to save a girl out from this batch, maybe?

I would try the nest tunnel for your does. They're easy to make (even a long cardboard box with a hole cut in the side would work..hmm...or a sono-tube...now there's an idea....sono tubes are those things that you use to pour concrete into when you put a post in the ground)

I've left the nest tunnels in the colony. Had planned on taking them out after the kits grew up, but they use them as play spaces, as shelves, and hidey holes. AND they're keeping them clean (mostly...no pee-ing inside, but there is the occasional bunny berry) The ease with which the does used them was astonishing. They knew EXACTLY what to do...run the hay into it, make a nest inside, have the kits, fill up the entrance with more hay. Easy Peasy.
 
I took the kits some goose feathers (the half-down body feathers from our old mean gander... He's saved a few kits along the way.) Alice didn't pull much fur.

I did save two does from Alice's litter last summer. One especially looks very promising, but they have been uncooperative about breeding. If this keeps up, I may be looking for new stock... but I hate bringing in new rabbits because you never know what they may bring with them.<br /><br />__________ Tue Aug 03, 2010 7:14 pm __________<br /><br />Well, the seven kits are hanging in there... but I'm not sure how they are doing. Alice is feeding them -- their tummies are rounded if not huge -- but they seem... puny. :shrug: Maybe I am just impatient for them to show signs of progress. There is one in there that may have markings a lot like our banner bunny, although it will likely be darker in colour.
 
fingers crossed

this has been a tough summer weather wise - maybe the heat and humidiity are getting to her too - she cna't believe they need to be well covered - it's too hot!
 
You may be right, Brody. I think we're going to lose them all. All but one were cool and seemed dead this morning. I'm attempting to rewarm them since they are not dead until they are warm and dead, if you know what I mean. If any survive they're not going back to her. I'll keep them in the house and take them to her for feedings. But I am not optimistic.

__________ Wed Aug 04, 2010 3:27 pm __________

They all died. :( The six did not resuscitate and the seventh died soon after. Pity. I guess it's sage and mint and yarrow for Alice tonight, to head off problems. I'm not rebreeding her right away. She started moulting about two weeks into her pregnancy and I want to give her some time to get back to her usual perky self. She's always an eager breeder anyway.

The other two does - stubborn refusers last time - I will try to breed to Jasper as soon as we get a cool morning. It's August, so I shouldn't have to wait too long.
 
what a shame maggie :(
I'm sorry - you had been waiting very patiently for these popples :(
 

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