babies on the wire new mom

[TwoAcreDream]

Yesterday I bought 5 purebred calis. Guy brought them here, and ended up with
one of my NZ does, a swap. In order to fill my order, he ended up giving me a 8 month old doe.
I put her in with the younger doe that came with her.

Well I went out early this afternoon to take care of everybunny and there
lay the litter on the wire. I scooped up 7 and ran for the house. Hit the thermostat and got the house headed for 80. It was at 75 on this end of the house. Outside wood boiler.
Got 5 of the 7 moving good. Tucked them in a towel in the sink. Basset puppy
wanted to help. Nope. Ran back out to see if any more on the wire. One tiny one, fully formed. Not moving. Back into house on the run. That one was fully formed but no movement. It appears the 5 should make it. Nice and warm and moving good. I used the hair dryer on them.

Got the other cali doe out of the cage and gave the mommy the nest box. She was pulling fur but would not get into the nest box. Switched box to the other side of the cage, and put a second box in with her. She is now in the nest box with hay in her mouth. Not sure if she will pull enough fur or not. I keep checking her.

My other 2 mixed does , first timers, kindled yesterday morning. Lots of fur. I am guessing 5 each. I don't dare disturb them too much. If my cali does not know what to do, I am thinking of giving each of the mixed mommies 2 or 3 each of the calis.

My nz white big girl is due in the morning. She throws 10 to 12 each time. I am hoping she has a small litter this time.

NY here and VERY cold outside. My rabbits are in the garage and the addition on the garage is my bunny room.

Can I leave the newborns in the house overnight ?

Update, I just checked the cali and she is still in nestbox, but stopped pulling fur. I checked the mix brown doe and it looks like she has 4. The mix white doe had 6, now 5. It looks like one managed to hang onto a teat and came out of the box and on the floor and froze. Had to happen in the last few hours as earlier all was well. These 2 litters are black and black/white. Good chance the mini rex broken is the dad. I used several bucks on them.

Update again. I just talked to the guy I bought her from. He had no clue.
She was in a cage all by herself next to some young bucks. So must have got pregnant through the wire.
Only plan I have now is to keep the babies in the house, overnight. Try taking them out to the mom in the morning and see what she will do.

 

[Zass]

I think your other litters sound pretty manageable, so dispersing the kits among the other litters might be the best idea, they are ...one day older?

 

[TwoAcreDream]

Born on the 14th YES. One day.
The big mommy is due tomorrow.

Here's the calis.

Edited to fix the broken picture link.

 

[AmysMacdog]

Good save! Best wishes for them and the other litters coming along. :good-luck:

 

[LilacGal]

Good luck with them! Those Cali's look huge!

 

[TwoAcreDream]

I thought I would update this.
The two mixed does are fostering the 5 calis with their own.
So far everything looks good. I only check to make sure the fur
is in place and everybody is wiggling okay.

Today, Dec 18, the big NZW had her babies. She was bred Nov 16.
Lots of fur in the back part of the nest box. One live baby in
the fur, and 3 others were scattered in the nest box, cold.
I could not get the 3 of them moving, after the hair drying trick.
All very big babies. I kept checking but no more. So on the last
check, she was laying relaxing, in the nest box. Sigh.
I found the baby under her, all nice and warm and a fat belly.
I was concerned that only 1 by itself would not make it.
So I made the decison to give the baby to the brown mixed doe.
I had read somewhere that babies need each other to keep warm.
It is still bitter cold here. Been under 32 degrees F, for quite
some time now. Hopefully in the next few days, we could see above
freezing because the weatherman says so. I SURE hope he is right.

At this point in time, the plan is going to be to keep the 3 mixed
does that I have currently with litters. They're my back up plan.
All 3 are first time mommies and have all done above and beyond what
I expected. So when I breed a purebred doe, one of the mixes will
be bred that day also. In the past, I have always tried to have 2
or 3 bred the same day.

 

[Zass]

So far all my best momma's have been mutts.
and I'm really glad you had some at the right stage for fostering

 

[TwoAcreDream]

Me too

One of my motto's is that .....
THERE IS A REASON WHY THINGS HAPPEN THE WAY THEY DO.
I just try to help things along the best I can.

A good part of my chicken flock is mixed hens from mostly
purebred moms. They lay nice brown eggs, and some green ones too.
I have 7 real broody hens and 2 of them are mixes who would sit
24/7 if I would let them.<br /><br />__________ Fri Jan 03, 2014 6:22 pm __________<br /><br />A little update.

Today is 3 weeks and the 2 litters are doing well. It has been very cold
here. I made sure to keep them covered as much as possible with fur.
And making sure there was plenty of hay in the box.
Now they are sneaking out of the nest box exploring. They see a human
approaching and zoom, right back in the box they go. I had to put a
box in front of the nest box, so they had like a step.
So total is 7 with the white mom, and 8 with the brown mom.
I like having them in the plastic dog crate with that solid floor.
It really helps in the cold weather.
I hope to get some pics soon

 

[skysthelimit]

Glad it's working for you. In 3 years I've had yet to get does to kindle on the same day, even when bred on the same day. I take all my nests inside. better safe than oh nos.

 

[TwoAcreDream]

A little update on this group of babies.
All 15 made it.

Plan is to keep the 5 calis for awhile. I have not checked the sexes
yet but am hoping for a few does to raise up. Any bucks I will sell
as breeding stock. I already have 2 cali bucks for breeders.

4 of the mixed babies are spoke for. I told the guy he can not have
them untill they are old enough.

I have the 2 moms bred back. They earned themselves a home here