GOOD JOB! First Time Mom

[lostcreekrabbits]

Well, our 6 mo. old NZW doe Kate Gosselin was due today, I had left the barn for about 15 minutes when my wife, who had been on a walk came into the house and said that Kate had kits! so we quietly went out there and she was nursing 9 squirmy, healthy looking kits all born in the nestbox. We were a little alarmed that she had pulled no fur but after going to check on another doe who was due we came back to see that she was hauling out lots and lots of fur and placing it in the nest

We're pretty proud of our new first time mom

most definately pics to come in a little while

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Good going, Gosselin!

Congrats on the new litter- looking forward to seeing the little guys!

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

UPDATE: we went out to give KAte a juicy slice of apple and the other NZW doe (Crystal Gale) is pulling fur like crazy, gonna be a popple heavy night, off to get pics

Kate having a drink after all that hard work

POPPLES

Crystal Gale pulling fur

 

[skysthelimit]

Way to go!

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

Bummerino!
came home from work and Crystal only had 4 kits, 2 stillborn, she is an older doe but 4 kits still seems way low

not sure whether I should foster her kits over and cull her or foster her kits over to another NZW doe that's due tomorrow and rebreed her right away

what say ye?

 

[ollitos]

Congrats on the litters. I love your names for the does!

 

[fuzzy9]

Congrats on the popples! Great names! :lol:

 

[Miss M]

Bummerino!
came home from work and Crystal only had 4 kits, 2 stillborn, she is an older doe but 4 kits still seems way low

not sure whether I should foster her kits over and cull her or foster her kits over to another NZW doe that's due tomorrow and rebreed her right away

what say ye?

How old is Crystal?
How many litters has she had?

I'd tend to go with option #2, myself.

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

Bummerino!
came home from work and Crystal only had 4 kits, 2 stillborn, she is an older doe but 4 kits still seems way low

not sure whether I should foster her kits over and cull her or foster her kits over to another NZW doe that's due tomorrow and rebreed her right away

what say ye?

How old is Crystal?
How many litters has she had?

I'd tend to go with option #2, myself.

Crystal's pedigree/perf. record says she's 3 1/2 years old and that she's had 7 litters, I realized she was kindof old when I bought her but I was still hoping to maybe get a good doe kit out of her

 

[Miss M]

If it's been a while since she had a litter before this one, she may rebreed well. I think it's worth a shot.

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

Actually her litter before this one was born on Jan. 21st but like you said I might give her another shot because she's from good lines and I really want to get a nice doe kit from her

Thanks, Jake

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I would give her another chance too. If you have the space available you may as well try for a nice doe out of her.

Nice job on the nestbox, by the way- the edges look very smooth!

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

Thanks MSD, I love making stuff out of wood so I actually have about 7-8 spare nestboxes in the barn LOL, if one gets a little too gnarly I just swap it out and slap some fresh pine shavings and the old fur in there, Crystal Gale pulled enough fur to cover about half a dozen litters so I'm fur sure gonna squirrel some away in baggies for future use

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I say foster those two over to Kate G. and rebreed her now. I have my first litters of NZW due in a day or two...so excited!

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

I say foster those two over to Kate G. and rebreed her now. I have my first litters of NZW due in a day or two...so excited!

I was thinking of that but I was kindof worried about Kate being a first time mom and trying to feed 11 babies, congrats! hopefully you have a nice big batch of healthy popples<br /><br />__________ Sun May 06, 2012 12:01 am __________<br /><br />uggggh, Crystal's 2 other kits died tonight, both had full bellies but were on opposite ends of the nestbox so must've just not had enough warmth

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Crystal's 2 other kits died tonight, both had full bellies but were on opposite ends of the nestbox so must've just not had enough warmth

Oh, that's too bad! We should have suggested that you pull some kits from Kate's litter to even things out and keep the two warm.

Well, you can rebreed her now, or foster some of Kate's kits to her if they are not gaining weight as fast as you would like.

 

[lostcreekrabbits]

Thanks MSD, I rebred her today and she took 2 covers so we're gonna go for 2 more here in about an hour, Kate lost a kit this morning it was maybe 2/3 the size of the others but the remaining 8 are little footbals and squirmy as can be so hopefully they stay that way