Day 28Update:One litter born and almost lost due to stupidty

Today is day 28 for one of my does and day 27 for two others. These will be the first kits by my standard rex buck. They will be crosses but I'm still looking forward to seeing what he produces. He's lilac so he will also ferret out chocolate and dilute if any of the does carry them.

opcorn:

Waiting is the hardest part.

I understand. I'm on Day 30 of is she or isn't she?

opcorn:

*fingers crossed for healthy kits for all who are waiting*

Well, Mitka has pulled hair but not babies yet. She was out of the nest box. This is day 30 for her and she kindled last time on day 30. Snow has built a nest but no hair pulled. This is day 30 for her. She kindled on day 31 last time.

Little Blackie was in the nest box when I checked just a few minutes ago so I didn't bother her. This is day 31 for her so she may be kindling now. She is my first timer this go round. <br /><br /> -- Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:23 am -- <br /><br /> Just checked again, Little Blackie is pulling fur and there was a pile of fur in the nest but as she was still in the box I didn't disturb her. :cheer1: :cheer1:

alforddm":12udfv5a said:

Well, Mitka has pulled hair but not babies yet. She was out of the nest box. This is day 30 for her and she kindled last time on day 30. Snow has built a nest but no hair pulled. This is day 30 for her. She kindled on day 31 last time.

Little Blackie was in the nest box when I checked just a few minutes ago so I didn't bother her. This is day 31 for her so she may be kindling now. She is my first timer this go round.

-- Fri Apr 24, 2015 10:23 am --

Just checked again, Little Blackie is pulling fur and there was a pile of fur in the nest but as she was still in the box I didn't disturb her. :cheer1: :cheer1:

Click to expand...

Popples on the way!!

Little blackie has kindled. There are 10 or 11 in the nest and she ate one. I actually saw her eat it so I know it was her. I've got my fingers crossed that the rest will be ok. I put some bacon in her cage just incase and I did see her nibble on it. She didn't eat much though.

The most exciting thing is that there are black eyed whites in the litter. So my buck carries something he's not supposed to have. He's lilac standard rex from a line of lilacs and chocolate. The doe is "black" but I knew there was a chance she was steel and it does appear there are chestnuts and steels in the litter as well. She is possibly homozygous for chin so the black eyed whites may be frosties!!!!!

Dood, can anything else be born white with black eyes?

This is her first litter so fingers crossed!! Still waiting for her dam Mitka and the evil doe Snow to kindle. If little blackie raises this litter I'm probably going to cull snow. She is evil and it's just not worth it even if Mitka's clan are quite a bit smaller.

-- Fri Apr 24, 2015 7:00 pm --

Well, we had a storm and after I checked on the kits I guess I didn't get the top of their box on good. During some strong winds the top blew off. We are supposed to get more storms tonight and I have two more does due to kindle so I was making sure they were well protected. I almost didn't check but decided to at the last minute. Poor little boogers were wet but thankfully they were still moving around a bit. I've got them in the dryer right now. I had a load running so it was already warm. There are 12 of them! I'll get more pics in a bit. One is really light colored as well as the black eyed whites. <br /><br /> -- Fri Apr 24, 2015 7:16 pm -- <br /><br /> I think (hope) they are all going to be ok. I've got them in a clean nest box with lots of hay and dryer lint. I'll take them out to mamma in the morning. Hopefully all the storms will be over by then.

They look great!

Any chance the one she ate was stillborn? That would be pretty common.

I'm pretty sure the one she ate was alive. I was watching hoping she was eating afterbirth when I saw it move. I didn't try to intervene although I was a bit traumatized. It was past the point of saving and may have had something wrong with it anyway.

I kept the babies in the house all night and they were still all alive this morning so hopefully getting wet didn't hurt them to bad. I took them back out to her this morning. I checked a bit ago and it looks like she fed them. So fingers crossed they all make it. <br /><br /> -- Sat Apr 25, 2015 2:07 pm -- <br /><br /> Snow had her babies. 10. So out of 3 does I got 32 kits this time. Now I just have to figure out for sure what colors I have.

Wow... well, good luck with them all! I hope she doesn't make a habit of eating kits.

I did feed her a couple of pieces of bacon after the fact. She did eat a whole piece and no more kits. Not sure if it made a difference or not but made me feel better.