12 In her first litter!

[Shea]

So yeah. 12. . . :shock:
This is her first litter so I'm really not expecting to have them all make it, but she has done great so far! What can I do to help her keep up with them? Im sure she will need something extra just to have a chance to keep up milk production.

My Braunwen and Kellar's first litter of Satins

 

[shazza]

BOSS and oats! always a good idea to give to any newly kindled doe, but ESPECIALLY with big litters.

i have a doe that has given me no less than 10 kits every time i've bred her. the first litter she had with me was THIRTEEN, and all of them lived. needless to say, she looked like she needed a tall, stiff drink by the time weaning day came around ;P after that she's usually lost one or two of the runts, but she is a powerhouse and with a little extra supplements she's kept up condition when nursing, and I have no complaints!

 

[Shea]

Boss and oats are part of their regular diet, but I did make sure she got extra of each. I added a sprinkle of dill seed this morning. Has anyone tried brewing up some Mother's Milk Tea for them?

Her sister gave me a litter of at least 10 this morning! Also her first litter! I think I lucked out with this line of Satins.

 

[michaels4gardens]

I have used calf-manna to boost energy levels in does with big litters- It seems to help..

 

[AmberRae]

Calf manna is my go to for nursing does. Also, when I have big litters I find the mom can usually produce enough milk to feed them all. It is just a matter of the smaller kits getting pushed out during feeding time. If you examine the kits every day in the first couple days it will be apparent if there are a couple skinny ones. What I will do is take the 4 or 5 kits with the biggest milk bellies out of the nest box for 24 hours. When I bring them back the skinny kits almost always have big fat bellies. They usually are all good for 2 or 3 days and then you might find you need to repeat the process if they are getting skinny again. It is a lot of extra work and you could always just choose to let nature take its course. Its a personal decision which way works best for you. Congrats on your huge litter

 

[Shea]

I stopped at my local Co-op and found some raspberry and stinging nettle leaf for cheap. Im going to try that first.
Thanks for the tip on pulling the largest AmberRae! I may do that if I have a few starting to fail.

Final count is 12 from Braunwen looks like chestnuts and chinchillas and 9 from her sister Rory same colors. :bunnyhop:

 

[Rainey]

I stopped at my local Co-op and found some raspberry and stinging nettle leaf for cheap. Im going to try that first.

Our rabbits are on natural feed--lots of forage during the growing season. We harvest and dry some stinging nettle and give it to does that kindle before stuff starts to grow. They always eat it right up. They also get BOSS and oats while nursing. Once things begin to grow nursing does get parsley, borage, dandelion, chicory etc. The other rabbits get those things too when there is plenty, but the nursing does get the best/most.

 

[Shea]

Well they are all still alive. Though there is an obvious size difference between the litter of 9 and the 12. I did pull the largest out of the 12 this morning to give the rest a chance to catch up. Hopefully braunwen will increase her milk supply.
And I have two dilutes in each litter. :| I wasn't expecting that. I didn't think my does carried dilute.

 

[Nymphadora]

:shock:
Wow! Good first-timers you've got there!

After our last big litter here, I'm totally on board about pulling out the biggest kits for a while so the little ones get a chance to catch up, too. One of our does doesn't do great with more than 5-6 kits, so we had to help a couple get access to the "milk bar" when she had a litter of 8.

Here's to two fantastic new moms, though, and lots of success with the little satin babies! Please post updates, I love seeing them start to "shine" up!

:in_love:

And I have two dilutes in each litter. :| I wasn't expecting that. I didn't think my does carried dilute.

And our last litter's colors surprised us, too! At least you can add that to your notes to track the color genetics, right?

 

[Shea]

I will definatley post pics as they grow. These are my first purebred Satin kits so I am just as excited to see how that sheen comes in.

I did weigh them this morning and as a whole the 12 have only put on 5oz. Should I consider mixing up some formula and giving them an extra feed at lunch? Or just keep up on the does feed/supplements? The litter of nine put on almost 8oz.




Edit: spelling <br /><br /> -- Thu Apr 05, 2018 11:22 am -- <br /><br /> Still hanging in there! I think her milk started coming in a little better, or it was the 1/4 pumpkin she got for lunch. I did pick up supplies to supplement feed if I have to though.

 

[RebelScumHan]

Congrats!! Hopefully they do well. My Flemish girl had 12 in her first litter and she only lost 2 runts, I was shocked. We use a mixture of oats and Calf Manna to boost milk production, but there are also herbs you can use. You can give flax seed, fennel, and I believe stinging nettle. We also give the nursing girls and extra cup of feed every day, and plenty of hay and water. <br /><br /> -- Sat Apr 07, 2018 8:36 pm -- <br /><br /> Oh, I will add... all of our rabbits hate stinging nettle :lol: :roll:

 

[Shea]

My Rory with the litter of nine I think is developing mastitis in her front right teat. I dont think her kits can reach those easily with how she designed her nest. I noticed 2 days ago it looked a little large and she was being picky about her feed. Then this morning she hadn't fed any of her kits. I did try to do an assisted feeding but she wasnt having any of that nonsense.

I did try a warm compress, but is there anyyhing else I can do? The kits are just over a week old at the moment.

 

[michaels4gardens]

if you can express the cheese out of the teat it may be OK-- but,- being "off feed" suggests a larger problem- you may have to feed the kits, and give antibiotics and benebac to the doe..

 

[Shea]

I'm going to try again tonight with a hot compress and milking. The off-feed I am not too worried about. She is still eating and it may have been because she got half an apple the day before. She tends to be fussy and will "holdout" for the good stuff. <br /><br /> -- Sat Apr 14, 2018 12:31 pm -- <br /><br /> All cleared up!! A few more days of a hotpack a few sparing sprigs of mint and Rory is all clear!

Her 9

Braunwen's 12

Looks like an opal and a squirrel in the 9 and 2 opals out of the 12. :bunnyhop:

Both litters have a few that seem half chestnut half chin color? Im sure it will grow out but it is very intereting to look at.
Back of neck of the same kit.

 

[Nymphadora]

Ooh, they’re all looking so cute! And I’m really glad Rory’s doing better, too!

Since you mentioned feeding her some mint, is there anything you’re going by reference-wise or experience-wise so you don’t give her too much and accidentally dry her up? I’m curious about your “dosage”, is what I guess I’m asking.

Hehe, the kits look like they’d slide off each other rain drops on a window if you tried to pile them. Not like our little rex babies that make a cheerleading pyramid any time DH opens the cage door to say hi (they swarm and smoosh each other like you wouldn’t believe… that man must be feeding them treats when I’m not looking or something)!
:in_love:

 

[Shea]

I was mostly just guestimating and trying not to have all my eggs in one basket. But I had read somewhere, someone using a full 5-6" sprig daily to counteract overproduction. So as my best guess I gave her a 2" top of mint one day, skipped a day then another the next. Amd it worked. Wether it helped or not im not sure but it didn't hurt. I may have to start her back up on it though, she was looking awefully full on that side at dinner time, but she may not have nursed yet.

The kits were all slip sliding that day. I could hardly hang on to them! They have all poofed up though in the last day or so and if it hadn't been freezing rain or out right raining for the last 2 days I would have brought them in for more pics. They have just started peeking heads out of the nest boxes!


. . . I may have had a bannana as a late night snack last night and walked the peel right out to them. . :roll:

 

[Nymphadora]

. . . I may have had a bannana as a late night snack last night and walked the peel right out to them. . :roll:

Bwahaha! They've got you, hook, line, and sinker! :lol:

It must be hard to resist temptation around such little cuties... I don't blame you!

 

[Shea]

All is well! The littles are starting to pop out of the nestbox and they are just soo fluffy at the 3 week mark. :bunnyhop: Their momma is going to go spar trying to corrall all 12 of them.

I have a few questionable colors out of these litters. I can't tell if they are chestnuts or Chins or some other gene factoring in that I don't know about. Any ideas?Same popple

And I couldn't help myself this little ball of cuteness needed to be shared. Cute little squirrel!

 

[Nymphadora]

Personally I'd say that funky-colored kit is a regular chestnut (some of mine have the same pale "racing stripes" along the sides yours has). But the white around the eye has me second-guessing a little.

I can't believe how shiny they look, even though they're obviously little fluff-balls.

 

[Shea]

I should get a better picture of their eye color. They are not brown, but a kinda bluish brown/gray?