Bad Habit's Litter Tracker[Now With Pictures](Updated 11/10)

Well, things are about to get rather busy around here.

See, I had a really long dry spell over the summer - it's been over 4mths since ANY of my lionhead does have taken(excluding a mixed breed litter from my black doe that I bred to find out if she carried dilute(she does)). So I finally went a little crazy and bred ALL THE DOES, in hopes that at least one hadn't gotten too fat to conceive.

Wait, let me back up a moment to say that the dry spell was 4mths of me constantly breeding all of my does once a month to a buck in the hopes that he would sire a kit, because I really liked him. He's ended up taking the bus to FC.

AANNYYWWAAYY.... Long story short, I recently bred ALL THE DOES again, to different bucks, in hopes of maybe getting a litter or two.

Up and Coming litters are...

Stitch(proven sire) x New Bew Doe(she was bred and missed THREE times before I bought her, of course, I wasn't told that until AFTER I bought her for a higher price than I'd normally pay for a 1yr old doe who's missed 3 times)

Stitch x Alaska(proven combo, I get really nice kits from this pairing)

Ned(unproven) x Elsa(Interesting to see what this produces. Ned wasn't an ideal buck, but Stitch is also not a good match for her)

Theon(unproven) x Meadow(also unproven) **this doe isn't actually mine. I have her here to breed her to Theon, as they are both exceptionally small lionheads. Meadow's owner, a friend of mine, wanted Meadow bred to a tiny buck for her first litter. Since Theon is vienna and my friend is not breeding for BEW, I figured I'd keep the doe here for her, and do all the work(since any kits I don't keep will be sold and I get the money).

Those are all 4 lionheads.

THEN

My NZW doe is also bred, and I'm hoping she took this time(I bred her back right after her last kindle, but she didn't take, I guess I bred her back too soon or something)

And I have to assume that one, or both, of my agouti NZ does were possibly caught when they were running themselves free range.

I'll update this thread as litters are born(or due dates pass with nothing to show for it.)

And I might add photos of the parents, lol.

*waits impatiently for pictures of her favorite...Alaska*

opcorn:

Ask and ye shall receive!!

But to get to Alaska, you need to look at some other pics first, MUAHAHAHAHA

Front View
My little Theon. I took a chance on a teeny tiny 12wk old kit who was fuzzy all over except his head(he looked like a Jersey Wooly). He's got an excellent build, and is starting to look more lion-y. I really really like how he's turning out.


This is Meadow. She's bred to Theon, and is here for a maternity vacation. She doesn't look it, but she's super tiny, very nice and type-y, with teeny little ears and great mane.


And Eddie. I was fooling around with my camera and set it to "overcast" lighting, and finally have a picture that captures how RED he actually is. Usually he looks a washed out orange. (click for "auto" setting pic)


Miss Elsa. I alternate between loving this doe, and hating this doe. I can't wait to breed her to Theon and get a replacement for her. She's messy, she's stubborn, she's cranky and she produces far too many kits in a litter.


2 3

And then Miss Alaska. She's a year and a half old now... Crazy, right? I was brushing her before the picture, and had a sudden feeling of regret. I wish I'd have taken her to a show. Now I'm worried she's too old for it to be fair to her.

So the BEW doe and Alaska got their nestboxes yesterday. I palpated everyone. I'm positive Alaska is pregnant, I'm about 74% positive the BEW is pregnant(but trying not to get too excited, as I'd rather be happily surprised then sadly disappointed), I'm about 90% positive Tofu is pregnant. I'm not sure about Elsa or Meadow.

Actual due dates are
Oct 29th for the BEW
Oct 31st for Alaska
Nov 5th for Elsa, Meadow and Tofu

and sometime between Nov 2nd and Nov 9th for Apple(if she got caught by something while she was out).

and Nov 14th if Pear was caught(she was only out for a little while, and was so scared of being free outside that I was able to walk right up and grab her, so I doubt it).

and Nov 14th-15th if Apple was caught the 2nd time she was out.

Eddie The Red is a handsome guy.

Ahh, Alaska is gorgeous as ever, and Meatloaf (I am going to keep calling him that ) is a VERY handsome guy.

Thanks guys

Eddie's a big brute of a buck. He's SO MEAN to the girls at breeding time... I've seen him grab a doe by the scruff of the neck and pull her front feet off the ground. But he gets the job done and has never actually broken a doe's skin, so... He doesn't bite me, and is finally(after 11 freaking months!!) settling down and accepting me handling him. He just gets this resigned look on his face and plays dead until I put him either in a grazing pen, or back in his cage.

And, of course, Alaska. Everyone loves her

Still no litters, but now I've bumped my expectations for the BEW doe(her name on her pedigree is Twilight, but I dislike that name. However when I've changed the call name of a rabbit, bad things have happened, so I simply call her the BEW doe now) up to about 95%. Was tidying her cage today and had her out, and I'm just about positive that there are babies in there. Either babies or weird tumours with heads and backs that move around on their own. GAH This is more exciting than the first litter I ever had born!!! (The BEW was a $100 Doe + Litter in Utero purchase that ended up being a $100 1yr old Doe who'd missed 3 breedings in a row purchase, so you can see why this litter is VERY important, important enough that I bred Alaska out of schedule for a back up in case I have to foster some kits to replace the doe if she's an idiot).

Hopefully updates soon with BABIES. <br /><br /> __________ Wed Oct 29, 2014 9:37 am __________ <br /><br /> Sigh, whenever I start talking about a litter before it is born, something goes wrong.

The BEW doe was nesting when I went to bed, and kindled 2 kits, but passed away in the night. So now I have 2 orphan kits, and nothing to feed them. I had to remove the umbilical cord and placenta from one, the other is completely chilled. Warming the one, monitoring the other. Trying to decide how to keep these guys alive and fed until Alaska kindles, and beating myself up for not checking more than once last night.

Guess them's the ups and downs of raising rabbits.

(also, the chilled kit is getting more active, so I'm hoping that's a good sign!!)

OH NO! I'm sorry BH!
If we were only a bit closer. I had a MR doe kindle just 4 last night.

Well, after doing some FB inquiring, and reading online, I've found that my best bet is to try and get the kits to nurse off Cat, my lionhead doe that kindled about 3wks ago. I tried to nurse them, they had no interest but laid on her belly for a while getting nice and toasty warm before I put them back in the nest I made.

Oh well, chin up and wait for Alaska to kindle.

(also, I'm pretty sure I just saw you post on a thread on FB, Zass, lol)

Bad Habit":1zwi2ovi said:

Well, after doing some FB inquiring, and reading online, I've found that my best bet is to try and get the kits to nurse off Cat, my lionhead doe that kindled about 3wks ago. I tried to nurse them, they had no interest but laid on her belly for a while getting nice and toasty warm before I put them back in the nest I made.

Oh well, chin up and wait for Alaska to kindle.

(also, I'm pretty sure I just saw you post on a thread on FB, Zass, lol)

Click to expand...

Yeah. I had to join in order to talk to the astrex people about the curly kits. I can't resist answering the occasional "what color is this rabbit" question either.

I still far to wary of it to give them my real name or personal info.

Haha, that's what you posted on. The Opal/Blue Otter thread.

careful with your name, they may make you change it if you tick someone off and they report you.

Are you on the ARBA group?

Bad Habit":3td3wxyq said:

Haha, that's what you posted on. The Opal/Blue Otter thread.

careful with your name, they may make you change it if you tick someone off and they report you.

Are you on the ARBA group?

Click to expand...

Nope, not on the ARBA group. I'm not a member of ARBA. I am on one of the V-lop groups.
Facebook can kick me off if they want. I've pretty much learned all that I can from the astrex group.
I don't really do drama, so I don't think I've attracted too much attention. It's been almost a year with no problems.

Sorry to hear you lost the Doe BH! If you can't get them fostered out you could always try goat milk and honey hand feeding if you have the time. :clover:

haha well that's good.

you don't have to be a member of the ARBA to join the group. It's actually a pretty good place if you need a quick answer.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/americanrabbitbreeders/

Bad Habit":3b0dciao said:

haha well that's good.

you don't have to be a member of the ARBA to join the group. It's actually a pretty good place if you need a quick answer.

https://www.facebook.com/groups/americanrabbitbreeders/

Click to expand...

Ok, I just joined. Thanks BH.

Just... try to avoid the drama, Zass, lol. It can get rather exciting in that group.

Still no nursing from the kits, and nothing from Alaska. Debating giving her more tums in hopes of getting things moving, but I'm afraid of overdosing her on calcium. My mom said I was a horrible person because I told her I'd rather have Alaska kindle early and lose all her kits but save the BEW doe's kits, than have Alaska kindle on time and raise all her babies but lose the BEW doe's kits. She did understand it a bit more when I explained that these 2 kits are the only way I can keep this doe's lines going in my herd, whereas Alaska can be bred again, plus I have her daughter(who is just as sweet tempered and easy going as her momma). <br /><br /> __________ Thu Oct 30, 2014 11:23 pm __________ <br /><br /> OH HAPPY DAY!!!!

Alaska kindled, finally. I'd been checking her every 2hrs, and my dad seems to have been checking her as well, because he told me that she'd had her babies.

Cat also let her milk down, so the orphans got a good feed before I put them in with Alaska's kits.

Alaska had 5, and they were all still very pink, and had just been born. I think there's a few brokens in there, but I didn't do too much with them, just rubbed the orphans in Alaska's pulled hair before dumping them in the nest to wiggle around and end up smelling like her. I watched her for a bit, when I returned the nestbox she went over and checked out the babies then went back to stuffing her face.

I feel like a thousand pounds of weight has been lifted from my shoulders.

Go Alaska!!

So glad it worked out.

Ugh, me too. It's the first time I've ever had complete orphans like that.

I had no doubt in my mind that Alaska would accept the orphans without any drama - I fostered a vlop onto her once, it was about 4 days older than her own kit(a litter of 5 with 4 peanuts ) and she didn't fuss one single iota then. Plus, rabbits can't count.

Now I just have to hope that she can nurse 7 babies without issue. Her largest litter in the past was 6.

OH, I hope it was all in time! Good luck little guys!

I think it was in time. I'm just hoping that they got some of that special first milk, since I'm not sure the BEW doe was able to feed them at all.

Looks like Alaska had a mess of broken kits - no complaint there, as they sell quickly. It's really easy to tell the orphans from the rest of her litter at this point, as her litter's all very pink.

I've already started to think of names for the orphans. Dunno if they're bucks or does or one of each, but I've got a list of about a half dozen names.