Coyotes, broken backs and some cool anatomy

[OneAcreFarm]

Sad story....we had a coyote come up by the barn and freak out the rabbits. We had to put down 4 of them due to broken backs. One of them was a doe that was about 2wks along in her pregnancy. To make this loss a learning experience, I took photos and was rather astounded with the result.

Here is what I found when I opened her up:


This is both uterine horns, there were 4 in one horn and 6 in the other.... This was a first time, 6 month old doe:


Close up of the embryonic sac:


Here are the fetuses, after opening the sacs:


Close up of fetus, notice the detail? Amazing....


Hubs shot at the coyote and we have not seen it again, so maybe he got it. It was dark and all he saw was the eyes glowing, so not much of a target to aim at....

 

[Miss M]

I am so sorry for the loss of your rabbits, OAF!!

I'm glad you thought to take these pictures... they are truly amazing!

Poor lil babes...

 

[Rabbitdog]

Excellent and very interesting pics! Good idea. Thanks for doing the dirty work.
Hope you got the nasty critter that did this!!!

 

[Zass]

I'm so sorry you lost the rabbits!
When I lost my pregnant doe, there were also kits in both uterine horns. (14 of them)


The pictures are beautiful. Thank you for posting them.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Sorry for the loss of the does, OAF.

Shall I send Firstpup and his trusty rifle to deal with the 'yote for you, Sistah? :gun:

Great photos, though! You can see why when you palpate the embryos feel like grapes.

This is a good thread to show to people that are nervous that by palpating they will somehow harm the embryos- even at this stage which is a bit further along than the normal palpation window, they are still surrounded by a great deal of amniotic fluid.

 

[MaggieJ]

So sorry you lost those rabbits, OneAcre.
But what amazing photographs! Good for you for having the presence of mind and the guts to open her up and photograph the fetuses so others can learn from them.

 

[dayna]

I am sorry for your loss.

Those photos are amazing! When my daughter comes home from a college break I'm going to show those photos to her, she loves anything having to do with anatomy and insides.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Sorry for the loss of the does, OAF.

Shall I send Firstpup and his trusty rifle to deal with the 'yote for you, Sistah? :gun:

Seems like your BIL must have hit it, since we have not seen hide nor hair of it since then... :gun: :gun: :gun: Otherwise, I would be very temped to take you up on that offer

Great photos, though! You can see why when you palpate the embryos feel like grapes.

Yes, I was surprised how well they turned out. I shot them with my Galaxy Note 3. This doe was in with a litter that I had fostered a younger Rex buck to. He was only 4mos old, but evidently old enough to do the job!

This is a good thread to show to people that are nervous that by palpating they will somehow harm the embryos- even at this stage which is a bit further along than the normal palpation window, they are still surrounded by a great deal of amniotic fluid.

Absolutely! The embryos were only about 1/4 of the size of the embryonic sac itself.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Shall I send Firstpup and his trusty rifle to deal with the 'yote for you, Sistah? :gun:

Seems like your BIL must have hit it, since we have not seen hide nor hair of it since then... :gun: :gun: :gun: Otherwise, I would be very temped to take you up on that offer

Way to go, Bro!

Firstpup was actually lamenting the fact that Queenpup and I will be visiting a "free state" (for Convention) before he will. :lol: I told him we could bring him along and drop him off with you. He plans on making his way to Oklahoma from there...

This is a good thread to show to people that are nervous that by palpating they will somehow harm the embryos- even at this stage which is a bit further along than the normal palpation window, they are still surrounded by a great deal of amniotic fluid.

Absolutely! The embryos were only about 1/4 of the size of the embryonic sac itself.

Wow! This is very good information to have.

You would have to exert enough force to actually burst the sacs to harm them- and that isn't something that you could do accidentally, it would take effort.

Good job furthering our knowledge of fetal development, Sistah!

:judges:

 

[mystang89]

Sorry for the loss especially since there were going to be so many kits but thanks for the pics. That's some really awesome info.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Seems like your BIL must have hit it, since we have not seen hide nor hair of it since then... :gun: :gun: :gun: Otherwise, I would be very temped to take you up on that offer

Way to go, Bro!

Firstpup was actually lamenting the fact that Queenpup and I will be visiting a "free state" (for Convention) before he will. :lol: I told him we could bring him along and drop him off with you. He plans on making his way to Oklahoma from there...

:lol: My nephews and niece are ALWAYS welcome...

Absolutely! The embryos were only about 1/4 of the size of the embryonic sac itself.

Wow! This is very good information to have.

You would have to exert enough force to actually burst the sacs to harm them- and that isn't something that you could do accidentally, it would take effort.

Good job furthering our knowledge of fetal development, Sistah!

:judges:

You are most welcome, Sistah! Cannot wait to see you in Ft. Worth!