Alice's Second Kindling in the Colony

Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Advertise with us
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
MaggieJ

MaggieJ

Administrator
Staff member
Admin
Moderator
Rabbit Talk Supporter
Joined
Dec 16, 2009
Messages
17,366
Reaction score
689
Location
South Eastern Ontario
Alice has kindled again. She didn't come out of the nest tunnel last evening when David fed them, so we suspected then that she was kindling. And sure enough, there are new kits in the nest tunnel this morning. She is still allowing the older kits to hang out in there. Hope this works out okay. Thank goodness she didn't kindle a day earlier during our extreme cold snap!

For those who are concerned about back to back pregnancies, Alice has never looked better. She is sleek and sassy and lively. We will be keeping a close eye on the does' condition and will give them a rest if needed.

Timeline:
Sunday, Nov. 14 - Does were put into the colony with the buck.

Thursday, Dec. 16 - Alice kindled five kits.

Tuesday, Jan. 11 - Sage (grey doe) kindled four kits in second nest tunnel, but the kits were scattered and the nest dug out, so we lost them all. We don't know exactly what happened.

Tuesday, Jan. 18 - Alice kindled for the second time in the first nest tunnel. No kit count yet.
 
Cool.

I think you'll find that the does will control when they accept the buck, eventually. Those I've talked to who have permanent colonies with the buck left inside, say that the first couple of months the does will accept the buck right after kindling...and then they start to fight him off. Nothing NASTY, but it's quite obvious "it ain't happening, buddy, so GO AWAY". :lol:

The colony here is likely going to continue to be my controlling when the buck gets access. I'd love to leave the buck inside, but with the schedule here, it's not going to happen for the near future.

totally awesome. Looking forward to more updates!
 
Yes, I'm pleased. It was a pity to lose Sage's litter, but we intend to add more nest tunnels. Jasper seems to think that second tunnel is his private retreat. :roll: I'm not saying he was responsible for the scattering, but it is certainly possible that he took exception to the nest-building in his digs and dug it all out. So I think extra tunnels will make a difference.
 
:rotfl: It's his Bunny Cave! Every male has to have a place to retreat to when the ladies and the offspring get to be too much for him! I wonder how one would furnish a male bunny cave? pinups of big fluffy butts? Maybe a comfy pile of hay, with a siphon of water nearby? Perhaps a bowls of bunny nibbles...:lol:

Seriously...I bet it will help your colony to give them another tunnel. When Peter is in with the girls, they each had a tunnel, and he tried to go into each one, only to be driven forth with vigor! I gave him a regular nest BOX, and he was a happy camper.
 
I have Bertha and Thumper living together, and she'll be having her next litter 45 days from her last, and I think she looks in pretty good condition. Her attitude problems are completely gone, and even any issues with Thumper are over. He tries to mount her once a day, but when she brushes him off and says no, he goes into the nest box to clean his kits (who seem to all have his lionhead look- stumpy faces all around!), he's such a good little daddy. :)
Her milk is good, only one runty looking guy (but he looks round like his dad- a 4 pound lionhead- while the rest are longer like Bertha- a FG) in the nest of 10, and no accidental deaths so far (my other doe squished a few of her own). No fighting yet, either. I had been nervous about putting Thumper in with the kits 2 when they were 2 weeks old, but he's been such a doll, I'm glad I did.
 
Yes, it is amazing how much the bucks like the kits. :) If Jasper was the one that dug out the nest tunnel with Sage's kits in it, it would have been incidental ("Who put all this STUFF in my cave?") rather than intentional. He is fine with Alice's kits, very patient and gentle.

Glad your communal pen is working out so well, Iggysbabysitter. It is so nice to see rabbits having room to romp and "playmates" to romp with, instead of them sitting in individual cages. And it certainly doesn't hurt production!
 
yep more nest tunnels please lol, or you could put some solid hay bales in there side by side nice and tight and they could dig into that, am glad to hear your colony is doing well Maggie, you will have kits everywhere before too long, Mine always took a bit of a noticable break in the late summer months but nothing too big, keeping them fed well is more important than the actual break,
 
great idea :)

I will certianly keep that thought in my brain for when the rabbits finally have their outdoor pens permanently!!
 
hay bales work great out doors too, put some in the middle of your out side pens, leave gaps between them and put something on top, they will hide between and dig their burrows under them, and if you give them several bales worth of space most all the tunnels will stay focused under them, their tunnels often seem to curve back around on them self, its a cheep easy way of giveing them a structure to hide and burrow under and keeping their digging away from the fence line, no dig outs that way,
 
I don't know if you have to be a member of colonyraising to see the albums, but I'll post a link to a "straw bale" build that some folks did back a few years. If you can see these, you might be able to see the other setups in the gallery.

http://groups.yahoo.com/group/colon...=medium&mode=tn&order=ordinal&start=1&dir=asc
ETA: ah. okay. you can't see it if not a member. I'll describe it :)

Picture a large area with straw bales surrounding it, opening on each end, then bales across the center every couple of feet...like a comb with teeth coming in from both sides. They use a combo of bales and 2' high plywood to create a labyrinth. Over the top of that is a layer of plywood. Over that is a layer of tarps. Then they use ladders to keep the tarps down (as well as tying them down)

From the posts they've done, the rabbits go into the maze to claim a tunnel/spot. that's where they hang out, where they kindle.

It's out in the middle of a large open area, fenced perimeter. The rabbits don't tunnel out under the fence, because their "home" setup is right in the middle.

Another colony is build by using tupperware tubs, with a hole cut out, as supports for a shade roof. There is a tub on each end of an 8' panel. the does claim a tub as a house, feed is put out in trough feeders under the shade/roof. The rabbits hang out there during the heat of the day. They also have those 12" diameter black plastic culverts here and there as play tunnels. This person appears to take the kits out fairly regularly so there is never any crowding.
 
I wanted to thank you for the link!! Although the link doesn't work for the pictures I didn't know there was a Yahoogroup just for colony rabbits!! I just joined so I can learn more. :)
 
Cool :) they're not terribly active, so you won't be spammed to death. The galleries are a good place to get ideas. MOST of the people on the group are civil, and MOST of them remember that what works in one place might not work in another, but they'll sure give you advice! As I recall, it was KSALguy that turned me on to the group in the first place.
 
Little update.

Alice's new kits are a week old today. She just had two (or more likely that was all that survived and she disposed of the rest) but they are thriving. I worried they might not make it through two nights of -27 Celsius weather over the weekend, but they are looking good, furring out nicely and very plump. Alice pulled tons for fur and also blocks the nest tunnel entrance with hay.

The older five are also doing well. David caught one of the red ones crawling under Alice for an illicit snack while she was busy eating yesterday, but she did not seem perturbed. She may have milk to spare with only two in the nestbox.
 
an extra snacker may help her keep her milk supply going full steam :)
glad all are doing well and staying warm enouogh :)
 
Oh, don't worry... Alice sees to it she gets the best and most of anything going. Oddly enough, baked potatoes are a favourite with my crew right now. I figure they can use the extra carbs and they sure do love them. Let me stress that this is a treat, not their main food.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top