First Litter This Morning

[BakingNana]

We finally had our first litter of kits this morning. My question is...how safe is it to poke around the nest and count/check the kits? Does doing that ever upset the doe (especially a first-time mama) to the point of harming the kits? Not worried about myself. She has always been a calm doe and still does not show any aggression.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

:congratulations:

I always check the nest right after the kits are born, often times just seconds after the doe hops out after kindling. You will want to check for any dead kits, uneaten placentas, and wet bedding. I remove the box and add a handful of pine pellets to the nest hollow and cover with fresh bedding and fur.

First time does are sometimes a bit nervous, so you may want to distract her with a tasty treat. I usually give mine parsley as it helps contract the uterus, and those contractions will help her to let down her milk.

The belief that a doe will kill her kits if your scent is on them is an old wive's tale. She is used to your scent on her cage, food, and the nest itself since you prepared it for her.

 

[BakingNana]

Thank you! That is very reassuring. Going to check now!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

opcorn:

 

[BakingNana]

Four fat and sassy kits in a very clean nest. We left the buck in with her for 30 hours when we bred her. Sort of disappointed at just four. :|

 

[MamaSheepdog]

She may not be finished. Sometimes first timers stop their labor because they get scared by the birthing process itself.

But, if not... four is better than none!

We left the buck in with her for 30 hours when we bred her.

That wasn't a good idea. Sometimes one or the other will get frustrated and attack. Bucks have been castrated by does, and does have been brutalized or even killed by bucks.

I have not noticed an increase in litter size according to how many times a doe is mounted. I have had large litters from one cover, and small litters from multiple covers.

Although they are "induced ovulators", the doe has only a certain amount of follicles that are ready to burst and release eggs at any given time. Having the buck mount over and over will not miraculously change that.