Huge size difference

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RR MiniSatins

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kit size.jpgHi, I had three litters born on the same day. They are now 17 days old. Two litters are totally normal size, but in the third the babies are significantly smaller. Parents are small, but within size limits for the breed and have had normal litters before. Litter was 4, with two peanuts which were culled. Last two, although small, seem perfectly normal except for size. I just don't know what to think about this, do you think they could both be just runts, or something else. Picture shows a kit from the weird litter and a normal litter, both 17 days.
 
The size difference is quite significant and I wouldn't attribute it to being a dwarf next to a false dwarf.

I really don't know what to make of it but if they seem normal then perhaps the miniaturizing genes just lined up "right" in these 2 :shrug:
 
I had 2 ND litters with same sire born at the same time and when I sent them to a new home at 12 weeks the single kit from one litter was less than 1/3rd the size of the kits from the other doe. I'm not sure if they ever caught up with each other. The doe did have limited milk and dried up early. Possibly from lack of stimulation. It may have been partially nongenetic factors. The background of those rabbits did not have any impressively small ones in there. I do have a line that throws rabbits around 1lb when mature every now and then. There are more genes involved than a simple pair of dwarf genes.
 
It's going to be interesting to see if they start to catch up now that they've finally started eating solid food. They were slower to come out of the nest box and start eating on their own than the other litters.
 

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