hello, New to meat rabbits

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Congrats on the kits!!! First time does can be a little...dense. Hence why they may have been using the box as a latrine.

Pictures of the new additions?

 

[bigmike77]

will have them up after work! Was fun to see the different sizes, WOW some were huge! and now i understand what a runt looks like. very cool! I gave the mamma's extra hay and carrots. Topped off there water and food and was late for work. 1st day in two weeks I sleep in and miss the birth of the kits. Some were still warm on the ground, I just missed it. All were squealing when I picked them up. I rubbed my hands in baby powder and rubbed some on the mamma's noses. My wife's grandparents raise rabbits in the U.P. of Michigan, they said that's what they use. what ever I was in a huge hurry!

 

[luvmybunnys]

Whats the baby powder for?

 

[bigmike77]

I guess to help hide my sent.

 

[AmysMacdog]

Yep thats what people used to do but I don't think anybody uses it anymore. I've heard of it but never used it on mine. Momma rabbits don't mind your scent in their box or on the bunnies most of the time. <br /><br />__________ Sat Aug 10, 2013 10:03 am __________<br /><br />Oh and congrats on the new babies!!!

 

[3mina]

Congrats on the kits

 

[bigmike77]

Sorry all about not getting up any shots of the kits, Damn I cant find my cable that hooks my camera to the computer!!

Update: the kits are almost a week old, we lost 2. But the mamma's are doing good with the kits. the mamma with the bad but is nursing well but using the front of the nesting box as a litter box. I change the hay daily. She may have to b dispatched after the kits are weened.

I hope to get a few new mamma's out of this litter.

The mamma that got pregnant from immaculate conception is a great mamma, Glad to have her. She should be a good producer.

The last mamma I got, this is the 2nd attempt to breed her is a little old and a little fat. She may b too old and good for dinner as well.

My rabbits are consuming a 50 lb bag of manna pro in about 5 to 6 weeks. I'm 1/4 way into my 2nd bag. Not bad IMO.

will keep you all updated, Just got my hunter safety cert and looking to start hunting around in michigan. I love venison, and small game like rabbit and such. This has taken up some time.

thanks again all!

 

[Flemishstar]

Hey Mike, Glad the rest of your Kits are doing well, Loosing 2 isnt bad considering how it all went down lol...Feed the doe with the dirty butt some back berry leaves, and white bread....My 94 yr old Gma always swore by bread for all types of issues with rabbits, And it has always worked for me ...In fact my uncle owns a bakery and I readily have bread available, I feed it to them all almost daily and I swear It makes my does yield TONS of milk...ALSO Ive heard they mention the use of stale bread for ailments in MANY rabbit care books from the 50s , so give it a try Mike..I wish I could find manna pro up here man, all I got is blue seal 18% which is still good, But My fiend who got out of rabbits gave me their left over outrageously overpriced top of the line Oxbow feed, I dont know what the big fuss is, but iI do like that the pellets are more slender than other pellets ive seen, which maybe it makes then easier to eat IDK, But ive been reserving it for my nursing/pregnant does, I dont know if youve seen my thread but I also have NZW, and A Meat mutt FG NZ mutt.
I wish you continued luck!
Aldo

 

[bigmike77]

ok, ok,ok......gosh what a curve.

i will try giving her some bread. :up: I am at a point now with her she might get dispatched 2night. :angry: She stomped 2 kits overnight. The 4 remaining had been left with no fur covering them. They are also smaller then the other group. I took them inside and washed them with warm water, the mamma with bad butt is not nursing them anymore and is using the nesting box as a litter box. :x . I dried them off and redid the nesting box with 1' of pine bedding and a nice layer of timothy hay. then let the 8 kits roll around and put the remaining fun on top of them. I did the baby powder on the mamma's nose again and fostered the remaining kits all together now.

found the cord for the camera and will have pic's of all up in a few days. opcorn: 2 of the kits with the good mamma are HUGE! inkbunny: this is fun!

I will be working on the layout of the carrage house this weekend. I hope to get some bin's for my :canofworms: and start the build on my rocket mass heater, this damn global warming has got our planet in a tizzy, it dropped to so frigid cold temps here in Michigan last night!

 

[Kyle@theWintertime]

Sorry your doe doesn't seem to have a clue. Rotten luck that!!!!

It WAS cold last night!!! I was fully intending on leaving my youngest kits outside...but then it got SO cold, so I brought them in. :roll: It was like...low 50's!!!!

 

[bigmike77]

good sleeping weather!

 

[Flemishstar]

VERRRY GOOD sleeping weather,....It got down to 55....My kits did ok? although I do have them in hutches with hay....Im thionking it feels cold to us,but if it were winter and it was suddenly 55 , we'd be HOT lol....Sorry about your other Kits Mike, OIm sure theyll do better next time, try finding some Meat Mutt moms, Ive had good lick with those, My NZW are really crazy...Shy, grunt, hard to handle etc, I finallyu tamed one, the other is still cukoo...I might "dispatch" her as well...Since shes SO FAT, im surte she wouldnt take, again..,Let me know About the bread...RJ was the one that told me it was mentioned in them old time books.

Al

 

[GBov]

I usually give a doe three tries before eating her. Maybe its just me but I only keep sweet does so its a bit harder to dispatch a sweet doe than a spastic one.

Good save with the kits on the ground!

 

[Flemishstar]

Any progress?!?

 

[bigmike77]

Well I dispatched the bad mamma. Cleaned the bunny cages and redid the layout. The fostered kits took to the mamma, or should i say the mamma took to the kits. The Aggressive male is enjoying his new larger home. I am uploading pic right now. should take a few min's!<br /><br />__________ Mon Aug 19, 2013 8:00 am __________<br /><br />

 

[Flemishstar]

Aww good luck they all look happy !!! I need to dispatch soon..My HUGE NZ is taking up space..shes gotta be around 15 lbs now UGH ...and SOO hand shy its pathetic..I have no use for that!!I wish you continued GOOD LUCK !!

 

[bigmike77]

Thanks Flemishstar!

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Looks good!

I see you have some kits in the nest that got chilled. Were they born on the wire?

If not, I would stuff additional hay into the nestboxes for the does to give them a head start in case they do not gather enough themselves.

 

[bigmike77]

hey mamma, all were born on the wire of the cages, and some on the floor. 3 or the 4 smaller kits were with the bad butt mamma, so they didn't revive as much milk from there mamma. Now they are getting full bellies and enjoying life after being fostered to the good mamma. Saturday will be 2 weeks. I will pull them out and get better pic's of the kits. Enjoying the whole experience!

 

[loopylander]

Hello everyone, I am just learning about meat rabbits with the hope of getting my first pair within a year. Congrats on your new additions bigmike. What would you say is a good size pen for a standard rex sized doe and female kits kept together till 3 months old?