33 Day Pregnancy

[BoxerMom]

My doe is on day 33 of her pregnancy. I was getting nervous at the end of day 31, day 32 I was getting worried, and now I am really worried...I don't know what's going on, or if I even should worry about it. The doe doesn't seem distressed at all, is eating and drinking fine. There's no possible way she couldn't be pregnant, she is FAT, and there's no way she could be any earlier in her pregnancy.

Anything I can do, other than sit and wait?

 

[ladysown]

sit and wait and don't worry until after day 35, then you might want to palpate just to make sure she IS for sure preggers...OR stand and watch her while she's resting and if you see her belly move then you know for sure she's preggers.

but as long as she's eating and doing fine, worry not and just wait her out.

 

[mommaebear]

I would say leave here alone and stop hovering and worrying, once you do chances are she's going to the litter especially if you aren't around. Rabbits like to be very private when they delivery.

 

[BoxerMom]

I'm not a hoverer...i work 3am-noon, have a 2yr old and 2 dogs, I don't havetime to hover lol

Anyway, I just received a text from the hubby, 13 brand new popples!

 

[MaggieJ]

Wow! I guess that was worth waiting for! Congratulations!

:mbounce: :mbounce:

You certainly don't have time to hover, BoxerMom, but a lot of people tend to do so once they get worried. And of course, it doesn't do any good... which is why people, including myself, frequently mention it.

 

[cmabb]

Wow congrats!!!!

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Wow! :wbounce: :wbounce: :wbounce:
Congrats on the popple bonanza!

 

[fuzzy9]

Woo Hoo!!! How exciting!! CONGRATS on the big litter of popping popples! :mbounce:

 

[ladysown]

woot woot!!

 

[SterlingSatin]

oh my gosh! 13??? what breed? Congratz!!!

 

[Frosted Rabbits]

LUCKY 13!!! She needed the extra time for cooking!

 

[sjlattimore88]

congrats wowzers 13 is a lot is that to much for one doe?

 

[eco2pia]

It depends on the doe, if there aren't any runts she may do fine...I had a litter of 13, lost the runt in the first week and she raised 12 just fine. They are a little smaller than usual, but healthy as can be, and my doe is only about 9 1/2 lbs.

 

[LilFish_JWQueen(:]

Wow congrats!...I have some does that jus lik to hav their babies at day 32 or a couple days later..so no worries lol but for 13 popples..proly good they baked in the oven a lil longer lol

 

[SatinsRule]

:explode: :explode: :band: :explode: :explode:

:bunnyhop: :bunnyhop: CONGRATS ON THE NEW LITTER :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop:

 

[BoxerMom]

Thanks everyone, I'm pretty excited! I hope I don't lose any but I won't be surprised if I do. This is her second litter, they are so teeny compared to her first litter on 9. The babies are 1/4 New Zealand, 1/4 Giant Chinchilla, and half Checkered Giant.

Early yesterday morning hubby checked on the mama and figured she had to be close to delivering, was in her nestbox breathing real fast. 20 minutes later he went out again and they were all out. 13 babies in 20 minutes! That poor bunny, I can't imagine..

 

[oxrayfarm]

Both my does without fail kindle on day 33, for some reason they just "incubate" longer. LOL!

Congrats on the big litter!!!

 

[BoxerMom]

Well we lost a kit today checked on them this morning and counted them several times, only counting 12. I had DH come out and count too, just in case I was wrong, but he only counted 12, too. The litter had moved towards the front of the nestbox, so I dug around where they were before, and sure enough found a cold, dead kit. Must not have moved with everyone else. It wasn't the runt, looked well fed.

I know it's always a possibilty to lose a kit in such a large litter, maybe even to be expected, but I'm still pretty sad about it. Can't really complain with 12 fat, healthy kits left, though.

 

[MaggieJ]

Yeah, I remember how it felt when I lost the first kit - also from a litter of 13, oddly enough. It got dragged out on the wire on momma's teat. You will lose some along the line, as you know, and it gets easier to accept the occasional loss when you see how well all the others grow.

The doe may have nudged the kits away from the dead one or they may have migrated away from the chill of its body. I'd tidy up now the kit is out of there and put the litter back under the hood of the nest box where they are safer from momma's feet.

An excellent illustration of why I suggest counting and checking the kits regularly. Left unfound, that dead kit would soon have rotted and become a fly magnet that could endanger the whole litter. And especially with a large litter, eye-balling them is not enough.

 

[BoxerMom]

I didn't build my nestboxes with a hood, but it might be something to consider doing. The way my hutches are set-up, is 3' of wire, and then a 2x2 entirely enclosed area, with straw on the bottom, then I put the nestbox on top of that, and put in more straw.

Rotting kits is exactly why I check and count them twice a day, in the morning and at night right before I go to bed. I have read other people's accounts of kits dying and decaying, and I want to avoid that, if I'm going to be losing kits. I'm just surprised it was one of the larger kits, and not the runt.

So what would be the crucial period of survival? Say the kits make it past week one, will there then be a better chance of not losing anymore?