well the female dutch i got is super pretty but she is quite the grumpy momma. the person i got

her from said that she gets like that about the week before she kindles until about the time

she weans the babies. then she is fine and doesnt have the attitude.

so far she has lunged at my hand once. didnt get me but was plenty close enough. she growls and

sometimes it takes me a few minutes before i can grab the feed bowl because she will sit at the

door and growl when i begin to reach. she will also growl when i put hay in the cage. that i

can kind of understand more because here a good size handful of hay is intruding her space. and

i dont think they were given hay at the previous peoples place.

so i am thinking... breed her a few times and keep a few does. maybe i could sell her as a pet

(of course only if i find that she is only a grump when she has kits, and i would tell the

person about her attitude). i understand that the grumpiness can be passed down but i am

thinking that at least part of the reason she has this attitude was from how she was treated. i

see alot of creepy backroads people but these two people talking about things was even making

me wonder. and i really dont like to judge people, but they didnt appear to be affectionate to

the rabbits at all. and from one of the two people he all but said he wanted to drown that

doe... so i am thinking i could grow them up and if nothing else sell them for 4H or pets.

her kits now are 2 weeks. so she kindled about january 23. so if i bred her on february 20 she

would be due about march 21. take the kits from the current litter about march 5 (age 6 wks) so

she has a bit over 2 wks break between. what do you all think?

Also, she does not know you AT ALL...it will take her some time to get used to you. So you have grumpy mama and stranger-itis going on at once! Be patient and take treats to her when you have to mess with anything in the cage.

Honky, who has turned out to be a great momma btw, is a very grumpy doe. I just wear gloves when I'm in her cage and when I handle her I make sure I'm extra firm and completely covered and keep her close to my body so she feels safe. By firm I don't mean yelling or hitting or anything I just mean that I make extra sure to have a good firm grip and use both hands from the very first moment before even trying to get her out the door. I've also found talking to her the whole time I'm messing around in her cage seems to help. If she lunges, I don't withdrawl all the way I just move my hand a little out of the way and start petting her from the top of her head and down her back until she's still and happy. Make sure you approach from above her head instead of directly into her face, from behind or from underneath. Let her see you and know you're there. We'll still be culling Honky if this litter produced more than 1 doe worth keeping otherwise we'll wait until the next litter. I have to say as bad as she is about comming at me, she's never hurt me and she mostly (it seems) attacks the door as it swings open into her cage. That being said, my kids and husband will handle the other rabbits but no one but me touches Honky. It's just not worth the danger.

ah, well that as well that she is in a new place and not used to me. i have not tried to pet her or anything. just reaching in for the food bowl and putting in the bowl with food, morning and evening. the buck is kinda jumpy and skittish but i have pet him a little. and i have held the kits twice. did it while momma was eating.

so what makes good treats? i have some sunflower seeds. carrots. can they have friuts like mandarin oranges? my sisters get boxes of them and dont eat all of em, i could snag one or two if those are okay for rabbits. i have raisins. those safe? i think they are sunmaid brand. i use them as treats for the goats so i have about 3 pounds left of a 5 pound bag. haha.

Black Oil Sunflower Seeds, not the salted/roasted kind we eat, are great treats. Raisins are ok, even a few blades of grass or leaves from a plant they can eat are a good treat.

Raisins make great treats. Only give a few at a time. My rabbits would do backflips for them if they thought that would get them some raisins.

The one treat my rabbits seem to prefer above all are hard bread crusts from whole wheat bread. Be sure they are dried out. Fresh bread balls up in the rabbits stomach and gives them a belly ache.

A few raisins works wonders!

I had one dutch become a nippper(he didnt bite hard)the whole time i raised Dutch.I gave him too my neice and when she gave him back he nipped everytime you tried too pick him up.His parents were very sweet.Im positive she was too rough with this rabbit.

My psycho doe is back to being the sweet doe. Hasn't tried to nip me since the litter was a week old, comes to the opening to get petted, gives me bunny kisses again.