it's been ten months...

i got my first rabbits in march, and through the longest, most exhausting and discouraging chain of events i never got a litter, despite several successful breedings. i was honestly about to sell all of my rabbits and give up. but then a week ago i walked outside and saw my two new does haystaching..


i wasn't expecting her to start nesting so soon, and she was trying to nest with these tiny straws and a chewed up coke box i had given her!


the ultimate haystache


the brown doe was fit and trim up until last night when she kindled. she never lost her appetite either. the black doe looks like she ate a basketball.

i'm expecting there to be about three kits in there, with all that bulge ;P


anyway, you guys didn't come to look at photos of the moms! this morning i went out to the rabbitry and found the brown doe looking very proud of herself and a nest of five little wigglers

she's not a first-time mom, and knew exactly how to do it. no blood or anything in the nest, perfectly plucked fur, nice fat babies. i can't wait to see what colours they turn out to be in a couple days! these rabbits are a&m composites and carry every major colour gene, so they could be literally anything!


still waiting on the big ol black doe. she didn't eat anything yesterday and has been looking very uncomfortable recently, so i'm not expecting it to take much longer. i'm not sure if she's "late" or not because i never saw a fall-off on her and was totally convinced she wasn't bred until she started furiously nesting one day! i never wrote down the date i bred her, and i can't remember, oops. but obviously more babies are nigh~

Awww......CONGRATS!!!!

well! i went outside to check on the rabbits before i left the house to run some errands, and caught the black doe as she was finishing kindling! i quickly did a count, cleaned out some bloody hay, and let her be to finish cleaning the kits and herself. i am very surprised that she kindled during the day, but she was SO big.



TWELVE! not sure who the dad is yet - the possibilities are the composite buck or a harlequin. i didn't really inspect the kits closely since i was trying to count them fast and get them back in the nest, and the photo i took is kinda dark/they're still all red, so we'll see i guess if any have harley kits in there.

i hope she has herself a much-deserved nap.

Congratulations!!
:congratulations:

:grouphug2:

I love baby bunnies.... keep the weekly photos coming... can't wait to see your colours!

:yeahthat:

Congratulations on all those beautiful bunnies!

:mbounce: CONGRATULATIONS!!!! Nice freezer camp candidates

As for handling the babies, go for it ... the does will get used to it and they are NOT territorial/aggressive about the babies. Myself, I built wooden nestboxes and simply lift them out of the cage and actually carry them into the house overnight. That way, I can take my time with health checks (I have had kits with cleft pallet) counting, sexing, and color determination.

In the morning, I take the nestboxes back to mom for the day and repeat.

I also have several nice baskets that I line with old towels and place each litter in its own basket with an index card with moms name on it so I know which litter goes into which nestboxes

The reason I do this is to be sure that the babies are totally socialized ... and, yes, even the best laid back moms can throw a scaredy cat kit that spazzes out for no reason whatsoever :x

oh yeah i totally plan on handling them often and getting them good and tame (it's hard to resist, honestly,) but the twelve were soooo fresh and the mom was growling at me so i figured i should let her be for a bit ;p i plan on taking them out for a closer examination tomorrow, especially the second litter (and of course take better photos). im dying to know if there's any magpies in there but i know i probably won't get to tell til the fur comes in...sigh.

they're gonna be sooo cute for christmas. i may or may not have to put a little hat/scarf on a couple >>


update:
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well i went do headcount this morning and it looks like the brown doe was holding out on me and there was a sixth kit in the nest! he's a little runty so i'll be keeping an eye on him - but all the siblings were fat and fed so i think he'll be fine.

black doe still only have 12, and just with the slight increase in colour overnight it looks like they aren't the harlequin's kits. course they could still surprise me, but it looks like the composite buck is the dad of both litters.

shazza":33yexu4r said:

oh yeah i totally plan on handling them often and getting them good and tame (it's hard to resist, honestly,) but the twelve were soooo fresh and the mom was growling at me so i figured i should let her be for a bit ;p i plan on taking them out for a closer examination tomorrow, especially the second litter (and of course take better photos). im dying to know if there's any magpies in there but i know i probably won't get to tell til the fur comes in...sigh.

they're gonna be sooo cute for christmas. i may or may not have to put a little hat/scarf on a couple >>


update:
-------

well i went do headcount this morning and it looks like the brown doe was holding out on me and there was a sixth kit in the nest! he's a little runty so i'll be keeping an eye on him - but all the siblings were fat and fed so i think he'll be fine.

black doe still only have 12, and just with the slight increase in colour overnight it looks like they aren't the harlequin's kits. course they could still surprise me, but it looks like the composite buck is the dad of both litters.

Click to expand...

How wonderful for you!
I had a doe that would full out attack every time I pulled the nest box.... I just did it anyway... You will get to know your does mama personalities quickly....lol
Your pictures were just fine...
Yes 2 weeks is the totally adorable stage... photos please!!

today the fur is starting to come in, and it looks like most of them will be....brown. of some sort. a couple black ones in there though. though with composites they could be anything from chinchilla to chestnut from black to black steel so i'm still eagerly waiting. a couple of the brown kits look different than the rest, so i'm particularly interested in them.

kinda having some problems though. the brown doe that kindled 6 is being a great mom, nice big fat babies, but the black doe, while she is very protective of them and seems to be caring for them well, is not producing milk. i turned her over (she was very unhappy,) and checked, and couldn't get a single drop out of multiple teats. they don't feel swollen or full or anything. i put a kit on her and it sucked and sucked and detached and seemed frustrated. they all are still much smaller than the other doe's kits and don't really look like they've eaten much if anything. they're still wiggly but i can tell they're starting to slow down and i'm not sure they can wait much longer.

i swapped litters with the brown do so she can give the starving ones a good couple meals tonight, but what do i do if the black doe never gets milk? i don't have another doe i can split the litter to, and i am pretty sure 18 is too much for one rabbit.

i am not sure if the black doe has had a litter before - i kept meaning to ask the guy at tamuk for their records but never did. she did everything else right, just never seemed to get milk. ive been loading her up with BOSS and oats and giving her some parsley to help boost milk but with my luck it won't work. i'm just hoping it's a fluke - she's a gorgeous rabbit and obviously throws big litters...but there's no point in litters of twelve if she can't feed them.


update
-----------------------------

almost all the kits from the litter of 12 have nice fat bellies this morning thanks to supermom the brown doe. there were a couple (the runts) that look like they hadn't eaten much, but they weren't dehydrated at all, so hopefully they're eating a little at least. when i came out the black doe was out of the nest but the babies were rolling around on top of the hay, so i think she may have been trying to feed them. i flipped her and checked and i couldn't tell if she had any more milk, but there definitely were little wet rings around her nipples and the babies seemed like they'd eaten. she seems much more capable of feeding the smaller litter for sure. maybe the routine just might have to be they raise each others' litters...or when i breed the black doe i need to make sure i have two other moms at the same time just in case.

I've had this issue before as well.... Keep up on the BOS and oats... if you can find some calf mana and/or cheeks... add that too...
Start top dressing both mamas!

Maybe try rotating the litters between mamas... or evening out the numbers?
She might be doing ok, but there are just too many babies for her?

I did have a mama doe take care of two litters once... in the morning one litter... in the afternoon the other litter went in .....
Just make sure you are keeping an eye on both mamas condition.... keep top dressing both mamas.

Hope that helps.

it seems like the litter swap has worked the 12 are nice and fat (save one little runt, but he's active and not dehydrated so we'll see,) and the 6 are also good and fat. black doe's milk has definitely come in - just maybe she doesn't have capacity for a huge litter. i've been loading them up with as many pellets as they can eat with a huge handful of boss and oats each since they kindled. pretty confident the babies will survive now after swapping litters... of course i couldn't have just had litters that went off without a hitch after all the stress i've been through just trying to get these rabbits bred ;P

everyone's gettin fuzzy now!


and not wanting to stay still :T this is the litter of 12 - looks like a couple will be black steel! again, that road trip was so worth it for this rainbow of colours. the taxidermist side of me is shivering in anticipation of offering such a variety in pelts.

the 6 are all chestnut save two, one black and one creamy-coloured one. my husband is very excited because that kit may look like the father, and he thinks that rabbit is the most beautiful rabbit in the world haha. he is very pretty in coat, but he's very lanky and hare-like, and i am kinda waiting for him to fill into his legs a little ;P i wouldn't say he's ugly......just maybe not the most beautiful rabbit i've ever seen haha. <br /><br /> -- Sat Dec 24, 2016 12:54 pm -- <br /><br /> went out to the rabbitry this morning and found this...


looks like the popcorning is beginning! most of the larger kits from the smaller litter have eyes or partial eyes, and a couple from the big litter are starting to get all squinty too. and boy are they cute now. they weren't very cute for a couple days there haha.


one of the twelve looks like it's gonna be a chocolate ; ; i keep having to remind myself that it doesn't matter what colour the rabbit is, really, because they all throw rainbow kits...but man. he's gonna be pretty.


the tiny little runt (named ferdinand by a friend - big name for a tiny guy,) is still alive and seems to be doing pretty well for a runt. i'm thinking of moving most of his siblings to the other nest for a night or two and letting him get a few feedings where he doesn't have to compete and see if it helps boost him a little bit more. it feels pretty lucky that out of 18, every single one has made it so far.

\
obligatory 'pile of beans' photo of the larger litter in my husband's lap.

most of the kits are bgs or chestnut, with four or five reds, a couple chinchillas, two very light cream colour, and the chocolate. i feel like litters from my purebreds will be so boring in comparison to these guys, lol. how can one be satisfied with only a few colours!?