Doe made two separate nests in one box?

[Rabbits by Accident]

Hi, me again!

Yesterday, my large TAMUK doe had 9 to 11 kits that she has divided into two nests within a large box. Should I consolidate them into one nest or will she feed them both?

One nest has three big fat ones and the other has seven that seem smaller. Maybe she's only feeding the three?

If I don't get an answer early I will just put them all together but I wondered if this was okay.

Just to introduce myself, I raised rabbits for a little while, years ago but don't remember much about it. And we just started again by bringing home 10 rabbits. (If we bought the whole bunch he included some of the cages) We did not know any of them were pregnant, so far two have kindled. So it was rather a rush to get things ready. Ergo a too-large box.

Thanks for suggestions,
Liz

 

[Cosima]

She has probably separated them so that the runt doesn’t have to fight that much for milk. I would keep them separate as long as they all have big round bellies.

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

No this is a different setup, this is a large rabbit with new babies that are all about the same size. There is no runt, it just seems that the ones in the group of four are bigger than the ones in the group of about seven.

Anyway I panicked and moved them all into one nest anyway I figure if she doesn't like it that way she'll put them back into two groups.

Thanks for answering,
Liz

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

She has probably separated them so that the runt doesn’t have to fight that much for milk. I would keep them separate as long as they all have big round bellies.

Interesting that you pointed this out! I had no idea rabbits were so smart about these things. The small black doe with the runt and four normal kids seemed to push the big kits away and nurse only the runt this morning. I thought that was very interesting and I wondered if she was doing it on purpose. Then the runt got pushed back into the rest of them for the day. I have to say these are amazing rabbits. They came from a pretty bad situation and have been moved not only from location to location but from cage to cage before, during, and after having babies! They are such a patient, calm, sweet mothers. Nothing I do including dropping bars of metal on the cage seems to rattle them at all. One is small but her kits were as large or larger than the giant white TAMUK rabbit's were.

No this is a different setup, this is a large rabbit with new babies that are all about the same size. There is no runt, it just seems that the ones in the group of four are bigger than the ones in the group of about seven.

Anyway I panicked and moved them all into one nest anyway I figure if she doesn't like it that way she'll put them back into two groups.

Thanks for answering,
Liz

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

Update: this morning I moved all the babies into one nest and destroyed the second nest. Tonight the babies are again separated into two beautiful nests so I guess I will leave them in two nests LOL. I will check on them but she seems to be a very good Mama.

She is a TAMUK so in my opinion she's pretty large rabbit. She's probably at least 2 ft long when she lays out. So maybe she can feed both nest at the same time just by stretching across them LOL

Thanks for all the suggestions and opinions,

Liz

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

Update: this morning I moved all the babies into one nest and destroyed the second nest. Tonight the babies are again separated into two beautiful nests so I guess I will leave them in two nests LOL. I will check on them but she seems to be a very good Mama.

She is a TAMUK so in my opinion she's pretty large rabbit. She's probably at least 2 ft long when she lays out. So maybe she can feed both nest at the same time just by stretching across them LOL

Thanks for all the suggestions and opinions,

Liz

 

[HTAcres]

Update: this morning I moved all the babies into one nest and destroyed the second nest. Tonight the babies are again separated into two beautiful nests so I guess I will leave them in two nests LOL. I will check on them but she seems to be a very good Mama.

She is a TAMUK so in my opinion she's pretty large rabbit. She's probably at least 2 ft long when she lays out. So maybe she can feed both nest at the same time just by stretching across them LOL

Thanks for all the suggestions and opinions,

Liz

My experience so far with Tamuks (Since Dec 2020) is that the good moms are really good moms. I have only had one bad mom so far. So I agree she must have some reason. As long as the kits are getting fed, I wouldn't worry about it.

 

[Rabbits by Accident]

My experience so far with Tamuks (Since Dec 2020) is that the good moms are really good moms. I have only had one bad mom so far. So I agree she must have some reason. As long as the kits are getting fed, I wouldn't worry about it.

Well this morning I went back out there and they were all in one pile again LOL so I guess either they separate themselves into two groups or she does. After watching them for a while I realized they're quite mobile. When it gets hot they probably try to get a little distance from the big group. I'm below Dallas so it's still pretty warm in the daytime, it was over 80 yesterday.

Both litters kicked all their covers off yesterday because they were warm. It was a fun day - I could go and look at them without actually having to bother the nest LOL