First litter!

[Ferra]

Well, my grumpy little doe pulled through for me, and delivered her babies right on time. She also pulled a TONNE of fur. Our weather is warmer , but I'm sure the little buns will appreciate all that insulation on the weekend when it gets a little nippier than it has been today.

I have a batch of 5 little rabbits. They have not been fed yet, but they may well be 2 hours old or less. Mom was interested in them, but had yet to climb back into the next box to give them a feeding. I've weighed them, and they range from 49 to 66g, (Weights, 66, 54, 54, 49, and 57, in the same order as the photos below).

As an aside, if anyone haunting the genetics forum wants to help me out with these little guys, I WOULD appreciate it. I'm still learning how to ID some of the colors and am hoping to get a better idea what the color genetics on my breeders are.

Dam: Blue Silver Martin Doe, Mithril (Presumed at _, B _, Cchd _, dd, E _.)

Sire: REW New Zealand, Dolomite (obviously _ _, _ _, c c , _ _, _ _ for now) I am going to try and fill things in as they go.

Here are the five babies. Sorry for the blurry photo on #1...


Little (? black?) kit, with white ears and a light spot on the nape of the neck. Perhaps an otter like mom? Didn't see a "blaze" on this one, the other two pseudo black buns seem to have one, though.


Little white kit. Probably a REW, but a small chance that he/she will grow up to be a Himi if mom carries that as her recessive.


Another little white kit!


A little (?black) kit, but this one has darker ears... I'm wondering if maybe this little one has steel... but he does have the light neck mark of kit 1, as well as a blaze on his forehead. Not sure what to consider it as. Will have to see what it does as it grows!


Fifth kit has the neck patch and blaze, but with lighter ears.

 

[SixGun]

Congratulations!

How wonderful. They're looking more blue than black.... You are going to have some great colors.

 

[SableSteel]

Tan patterns can't hide the steel gene, so it would be E_

I'd wait a bit before trying to determine colors. NZW can have the agouti & steel genes, so the one with light ears might be either a silver marten or a chinchilla (probably chinchilla), while the one with dark ears might either be a self chin or a silver tipped black steel.

 

[Princess3849]

CONGRATS!!!! I'm just having a successful litter with one of my does too. Please keep the pics coming!

 

[bigfoot_158]

Nice and good luck with them.

 

[SarniaTricia]

Beautiful!

I love all the variety!

(I agree... keep the photos coming)

 

[Ferra]

Day five bunnies.

The "big" one appears to be agouti-based, at least to me. The other two dark ones appear to have fur coming in as solid grey for now. And one of them kept the blaze! I think that's super-neat, personally. (Photos should be in the same order. I'm trying to keep tabs on them as individuals, partially because I'm tracking weights and such)











Edit: As an aside, the temperatures are plummeting here again, at least temporarily, back down to -20c. So far, they all seem to be doing okay, but mom is definitely in the box with them most of the time, too. She seems to find it more comfy in there, as opposed to in her cage proper, when it's cold. I enjoy that: She serves as a large bunny-heater. I took them inside for the photos, but figured if I want to rear cold-hardy rabbits, perhaps coddling them by keeping them inside isn't the best plan. <br /><br /> -- Wed Dec 28, 2016 1:29 pm -- <br /><br /> Seven days old - All bunnies appear to be doing fairly well! (Notably, none froze to death during our -25c spell. Which is excellent!)



Bunny #1, nicknamed "fatty" is the biggest bun in the litter, and has always been so. S/he is clocking in today at 133g, and appears to be a chinchilla agouti. Also appears to be a real snuggle-bun: likes to curl up and stay places, rather than "popping".



Bunny #2 doesn't have a nickname. S/he is a bit slower growing, as is the other white bun in the litter, but not the smallest, clocking in at 109g.



Bunny #3 is the runt, and got nicknamed "TBI" (traumatic brain injury) due to it's tendency to always be popping out of bowls, out of grips, etc. One particular pop nearly ended in a 4 foot fall: bunny was caught in midair. Poor little thing is likely to hurt itself! Due to that tendancy, it has a blury photo, but looks pretty much identical to #2. TBI is the lightweight at 102g.



Bunny #4 is nicknamed "blaze" due to the notable head mark. "Blaze" was disinterested in sitting still for the photo. However, it has the same fur color and longer length as #5, but has darker ears/belly etc. I'm still not sure if it's a self or a steel or what. Blaze weighs 120g.



Bunny #5 has no nickname. Has longer, silky fur than #1-3, white ears and belly, and no sign so far of agouti-patern fur. I'm thinking #5 is a blue otter like mom. #5 weighs 125g.


I'm looking forward to days 10-14 when I can start to see eye colors, especially for the two white kits.

 

[SixGun]

They are all so beautiful. LOVE their colors coming in!

 

[Princess3849]

Keep those photos coming!!

 

[SarniaTricia]

Thank you for the update

First litters are an amazing experience!
I weighted and kept track of my first litter too.... not so much any more....lol

I agree with Princess... keep those photos coming so we can share this exciting experience with you!

 

[Ferra]

I weighted and kept track of my first litter too.... not so much any more....lol

Heheh... Well PART of it is not my choice.

My husband has a bit of a bee in his bonnet about getting weight numbers through the various life-stages, and developing a growth model... He's hoping my rabbits will remain within 3 standard deviations, and thus, remain in control. My rabbits are being "engineered"

Personally, I just want to get a feel for what the "right" size seems to be at a given age, with this stock in particular. Once I have a baseline idea, I feel like I'll have a better chance of recognizing the really stellar fast growers, and the really underweight runts a little more objectively.

Also, I'm kinda enjoying the excuse to handle them every 3-5 days or so. They're growing so fast! And while I probably shouldn't be forming any serious emotional bonds with these kits given they're not sticking around, I'm totally enjoying tiny-bunny-cuddles as a guilty pleasure. Especially that agouti. S/he's a CHAMPION palm napper.

Though I'm considering making an exception. If I re-do my caging like I want to (to eliminate my issues with ergonomics), then I have 4 holes and 2 grow outs... that's totally space for another doe, right?! (Friggin' rabbitosis seems to have gotten me early.) Although it's possible, and vaguely Murphy's Law-ish, that maybe all five of these are little bucks...

EDIT: Part of this exception is how exceedingly curious I am to investigate that little head blaze... After joking with my spouse about "Blue Eyes White Rabbit" (terrible joke re: an old cartoon), it would be HILLARIOUS to me to find out my starter stock carries Vienna! <br /><br /> -- Sat Dec 31, 2016 2:46 pm -- <br /><br /> Bunny day 10.



Anyhow, I weighted and photographed the buns today. Also tried my hand at sexing them. I am currently guessing that I have 3 bucks and 2 does, with the Agouti and the Blaze-face buns being the two does. That, however, could change. I have no experience with this!

Also, somebody was peeking at me today! First eye open.



The board software is mad at me about the number of attachments, so my usual photo spam probably won't happen today. Winking bunlet was too cute not to include, though. I have 10 photos - one of the top of each bunny, and one documenting the clues I used to wildly guess their sexes. That is too many photos, it would seem.

 

[SixGun]

I'm not usually more than 90% sure on sexes until they're about 4 weeks. Before that it's educated guesses at best..

 

[Ferra]

Yeah, 10 days is a little early for this, but I figured there wasn't too much harm in practicing.

I'm probably showing a fair bit of bias, too. I really WANT the blaze-marked bunny to be a doe! That probably influences my guesses a fair bit, too.

 

[SixGun]

I usually start about 2 weeks. Gives me a lot of time to think what I'd really like them to be. LOL. My current litter is killing me... 7 bucks out of 9. Ugh....

 

[Ferra]

Went out today on Day 12 to check the litter.

Excellent news: All eyes are open, and there are no signs of any looming infections. The box is still fairly clean, though the bedding I put at the bottom is finally starting to seem a bit damp. I may want to swap that in a bit, methinks.

The biggest bun has been re-nicknamed to "Chill-chilla". Still a champion at nestling into hands. I got a good petting session in with the little ?girl today, who mostly seemed happy to snuggle up with something warm. (it dropped down to -22c again, today. *sigh*) So we did a five minute pet-the-bunny session until the little ?girl started chirping. (Was kinda surprised: Did not know tiny rabbits COULD chirp... learned something new. Don't yet know what that sound means, but assumed it was something like, "I'm hungry, where is my mom?")



The other ones were not so interested in sitting still. They got about two minutes of handling, before being put back into the comparative safety of the nest. Everyone's looking really healthy though, and even TBI, though still the smallest, is filling out well.

That may be because mom is chowing down like a fiend. Yesterday's menu for her was 1.5 cups, (?250g) of pellets, a 190g brick of sprouted wheat fodder, 3 raisins for NOT clawing me to death, and a large handful of hay. She seems to be doing pretty well: Being bred young doesn't seem to have hurt her. In the six weeks since then she's gone from 5.5lbs up to 7.3lbs, and is keeping pace with my buck's growth at that age. (He's about three months older than her, but she's matching his weights at those ages.) I'm pretty pleased with that. He's a NZW, and she's a fluffy mutt with Lionhead in her background, so if she ended up being a bit smaller than him, I wouldn't have thought it unreasonable.

 

[SixGun]

Sounds like you and they are doing good.
Getting weight on the mom, especially over the next few weeks is going to be your nutrition test.
Keep it up. They are so beautiful. I LOVE that Chinchilla!

 

[Ferra]

Today is officially 2 weeks old.



- We have a mean weight of ~250g/kit.

- Almost everyone has had a completely uncomplicated "kithood" so far, except Blaze-kit, who managed to have some gluey nest box eyes today. Those were washed open again. That's why the poor little thing looks so sad in the photo above.

- I changed out the nest box material. I suspect in warmer climates, some people would be nearly ready to remove the next box already, but with the temperatures, I might have to leave it there until maybe 4 weeks or longer to allow a nice insulated place for huddling. So fresh bedding seemed like a good idea. I transferred as much clean fur as I could get my hands on, and topped up the straw insulation (mom, however, will probably snack on it.)

- Chill-chilla might need a new nickname. No longer is that bun chill, instead it is practicing all the hopping. So far, the little critter is up to 1x body length in enthusiastic half-binky length.



- And then, Blaze might not be the color I thought s/he is. The fur tips are lighter, the lower portions of the hairs are growing in dark. I'm thinking blaze is a steel, but I'm kinda confused. Because I'm seeing some gold/light brown in the frosted tips, and that shouldn't be possible with a Cchd/c and c/c cross. I am perplexed.



Then again, it could be the light... Hrm. <br /><br /> -- Wed Jan 25, 2017 7:29 pm -- <br /><br /> It's week five for these guys. They've grown pretty well, I think. The average weight is 819g (1lb, 13oz), with the heavy weight being the Black Silver Martin kit (ACMD5) at 872 (1lb 15oz). My runt, ACMD3, aka TBI is at 758g, (1lb 11oz).

Although my plans for a "holdback" may have hit a screeching halt. An important element in keeping a replacement doe, is that you have to have a doe!

I've tried to guess the sexes on these guys, but don't have much experience yet. But I figured it should be doable around five weeks. So I watched a few YouTube videos to refresh my technique... and I was doing it wrong, apparently. It seems placing my fingers above and below the nethers, and then spreading my fingers in the head-to-tail direction on the rabbit was stretching out the area, making bucks look like does.

The YouTube video in question suggested putting two fingers on either side of the nethers, and then sliding both fingers up towards the head of the rabbit... This was much clearer. Also it helps that I did it inside, in good light.

With the new technique, I have 4 bucks... and my little 'runt' is my doe!

Not only did I count my chickens before they hatched, I started counting my as-yet-unhatched-chickens before I'd learned to tell a chicken egg from a goose egg... *sigh*

 

[SixGun]

You have to have good light... especially at that age. And Yes, I hear ya. Inevitably the ones you want to keep back are the ones that dont conform to the sex plan. LOL! I kept back two does from this litter. At first I didnt think everyone was going to play along with my hopes, dreams and aspirations, but... so far so good.

 

[Ferra]

You have to have good light... especially at that age. And Yes, I hear ya. Inevitably the ones you want to keep back are the ones that dont conform to the sex plan. LOL! I kept back two does from this litter. At first I didnt think everyone was going to play along with my hopes, dreams and aspirations, but... so far so good.

Such a shame... I was starting to get my heart set on my chinchilla-colored replacement doe. Oh well - I'll keep checking as they grow, but at least I got a dose of reality early(ish).

And there's always the next litter to look forward to. Which might arrive in two days from my second doe! I'm waiting on MOAR bun-lets!

 

[SixGun]

That is exactly it, there is always the next litter. oh my ... two days! well, the best of luck to you. How exciting!!! Jealous too. I'm having the most difficult time deciding when to plan the next litter. It'll be sooner than later though. I know that!