katievictoria
Active member
OK. I'm convinced that my rabbits are all from Mars or somewhere. I keep having all these color issues that don't make sense to me. I wrote a while back about some of my NZ kits being born REW, but later developing dark noses, tail spots, and dark trim around their ears. We figured out that my black buck probably had some Californian in him. OK. Got that one solved. Now this issue is even stranger.
Last week, on the 30th, one of my REW does kindled. This is now her second litter, and bred to the same buck......a REW NZ which I paid good money for, and have no doubt is from a good pure bred show line. Can't say as much for the doe, but she produced some good kits last time, one of which just took 1st place in its class at our county fair today . All of the last litter were of course REW, and the only oddity of the whole thing was that she had a very difficult labor...the first 3 being born in the box, and the 4th stressed her out so much she jumped from the box and dropped it on the wire, then collapsed in the corner of the cage as if she died or at least went into shock or fainted. I went to her, put the kit in the box, and tried to see what I could do for her. She just laid there not moving, but breathing. After about 3 minutes she jumped up and seemed to look around to figure out what had happened. I stayed with her for about an hour and she had gotten in the box and I "thought" had cleaned the baby. After I left she had another sometime during the night and the nextday I found the last two both dead and uncleaned. But she proceeded to raise the remaining 3 wonderfully, and even produced winners, like I said before.
Now, back to this current litter. On the 30th of June, my doe had 2 kits. I noticed that one was somewhat smaller, and the color looked weird. It was pink, but a dark pink....almost purple. I figured it was about ready to die from its color. It was warm, just smaller and darker.....not black skin....just sort of "different." The other was the normal pink color for a REW. So I just figured I'd wait and see what happened. I had checked the nest well and there were no other kits. But the next day there was another baby. I know at least 10 - 15 hours had passed since the first 2 were born. I figured she'd had trouble having it, and was amazed it was alive. But still one of the first kits looked darker than the other two, and much smaller. I felt the doe's belly and couldn't feel any more inside, but the next day I went out and noticed a blob of something in her cage on her hay. It looked like afterbirth at first glance, but she'd had all the kits in the box, none out on the cage floor! Upon closer inspection I found it to be the head of yet another kit that had been mostly eaten.
Now I know that this doe is obviously going to have difficult deliveries. That part I understand. But the strange colored kit has me stumped! Could it be some sort of birth defect? It's now got its "fuzz" and it's NOT white. It's SILVER! I took some pics yesterday, when it would have been 4 days old. I'm going to try to attach the pics, but I tried to do that a half hour ago and lost half my post. So I may have to post them as "replies". Can anyone tell me what I've got going on here? There's no chance she bred with anything but my good buck.....unless one of the other bucks knows how to send his sperm more than 15 feet or so. How can 2 REW's have anything but a REW unless there is perhaps some type of deformity going on here? Any help will be appreciated! Thanks.
__________ Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:30 pm __________
Note: In these pics the darker kit "seems" to have black skin, but it definitely is not. The ears show some pink because they are not as "haired" yet. The hair is definitely SILVER and not white. Also, of the two lighter ones you can tell that the "whiter one" is a day or so older because it has mor hair.
__________ Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:39 pm __________
Also note: The "spots" on the kits are not color spots. They are dirty because mama didn't cleans them very well, and they have some scratches on them, either because of difficult births where she "pulled" them out, or she's jumping around on them. She seems to be caring for them, though, and the all seem healthy, full and warm.
__________ Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:49 am __________
The first pic is of the doe and her previous litter, (the 3 survivors).
Last week, on the 30th, one of my REW does kindled. This is now her second litter, and bred to the same buck......a REW NZ which I paid good money for, and have no doubt is from a good pure bred show line. Can't say as much for the doe, but she produced some good kits last time, one of which just took 1st place in its class at our county fair today . All of the last litter were of course REW, and the only oddity of the whole thing was that she had a very difficult labor...the first 3 being born in the box, and the 4th stressed her out so much she jumped from the box and dropped it on the wire, then collapsed in the corner of the cage as if she died or at least went into shock or fainted. I went to her, put the kit in the box, and tried to see what I could do for her. She just laid there not moving, but breathing. After about 3 minutes she jumped up and seemed to look around to figure out what had happened. I stayed with her for about an hour and she had gotten in the box and I "thought" had cleaned the baby. After I left she had another sometime during the night and the nextday I found the last two both dead and uncleaned. But she proceeded to raise the remaining 3 wonderfully, and even produced winners, like I said before.
Now, back to this current litter. On the 30th of June, my doe had 2 kits. I noticed that one was somewhat smaller, and the color looked weird. It was pink, but a dark pink....almost purple. I figured it was about ready to die from its color. It was warm, just smaller and darker.....not black skin....just sort of "different." The other was the normal pink color for a REW. So I just figured I'd wait and see what happened. I had checked the nest well and there were no other kits. But the next day there was another baby. I know at least 10 - 15 hours had passed since the first 2 were born. I figured she'd had trouble having it, and was amazed it was alive. But still one of the first kits looked darker than the other two, and much smaller. I felt the doe's belly and couldn't feel any more inside, but the next day I went out and noticed a blob of something in her cage on her hay. It looked like afterbirth at first glance, but she'd had all the kits in the box, none out on the cage floor! Upon closer inspection I found it to be the head of yet another kit that had been mostly eaten.
Now I know that this doe is obviously going to have difficult deliveries. That part I understand. But the strange colored kit has me stumped! Could it be some sort of birth defect? It's now got its "fuzz" and it's NOT white. It's SILVER! I took some pics yesterday, when it would have been 4 days old. I'm going to try to attach the pics, but I tried to do that a half hour ago and lost half my post. So I may have to post them as "replies". Can anyone tell me what I've got going on here? There's no chance she bred with anything but my good buck.....unless one of the other bucks knows how to send his sperm more than 15 feet or so. How can 2 REW's have anything but a REW unless there is perhaps some type of deformity going on here? Any help will be appreciated! Thanks.
__________ Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:30 pm __________
Note: In these pics the darker kit "seems" to have black skin, but it definitely is not. The ears show some pink because they are not as "haired" yet. The hair is definitely SILVER and not white. Also, of the two lighter ones you can tell that the "whiter one" is a day or so older because it has mor hair.
__________ Tue Aug 04, 2015 11:39 pm __________
Also note: The "spots" on the kits are not color spots. They are dirty because mama didn't cleans them very well, and they have some scratches on them, either because of difficult births where she "pulled" them out, or she's jumping around on them. She seems to be caring for them, though, and the all seem healthy, full and warm.
__________ Wed Aug 05, 2015 12:49 am __________
The first pic is of the doe and her previous litter, (the 3 survivors).
