How long after building a nest?

[Mrr]

I have three pregnant does right now, all of which are on day 31 of their gestation period. This morning on my way out the door I noticed that one was building her nest and pulling fur.. Does this mean she could have them by the time I get back from my shift?

I'm a bit worried because, even though she's had the same nest box for several pregnancies, she's choosing to build her nest in the corner of the hutch on the wire. I tried moving the in-progress nest back to the box, but she got agitated and moved it right back to you corner. I figure I'll just wait until it's done and move it back?

 

[FourRingCircus]

It's a good chance she'll have them soon! I have does that build and rebuild their nests for a couple of weeks, then others that wait until almost literally the last minute... others that do it after they kindle :roll: (not so good for the kits, unfortunately).

I assume it's warm where you are at (if you could add your general location to your profile that would be helpful for any area specific questions you might have )... that makes a nest on the wire less of a hazard since they are less likely to get chilled being out in open air. I have had one or two do that (no matter how many times I tried to move it). Once the kits were born I was able to scoop the whole thing up and transfer it with little disruption.

 

[macksmom98]

I would do exactly that, wait until she has them then move it, as long as temps are warm enough where you are. I bet you will find wigglers when you get home, a lot of mine build their nest then immediately have them, and when you factor in the fact that it is day 31, it is time Keep us posted, best of luck!

 

[Mrr]

Dang. No babies today. It's almost as though she just pulled out a bunch more fur after I left and then said "screw it", and left her nest half finished. I'm thinking this means I'll see babies tomorrow morning?

The other two pregnant does haven't even started pulling yet, and tomorrow is day 32.. the males fell off them several times so I'm sure they're pregnant, maybe just a bit behind schedule?

 

[FourRingCircus]

It might also depend on what time of day they were bred - if it were evening that will push them back a little bit. No worries! It is nervewracking though, isn't it??

Another thing to consider is that males can become sterile in the heat (no idea what your temps have been though), although the one pulling fur is a good sign.

 

[Mrr]

Very nerve-wracking! If I recall correctly my Flemish usually has hers at the last possible moment, but the other two (including the one pulling fur) are new to me so I guess we'll see. It's been pretty warm today, about 32 degrees celsius, but I'm not sure what it was like when I bred them. I do remember that I put my chinchilla with two males (one or two pop offs each) because my other male seemed pretty tired.. so hopefully between the two she got something fertilized.

I believe I bred them in the afternoon, after work one day.. so maybe no kits until day 33 you think?

I'm just way too impatient for this, I want to see some babies soon!

 

[macksmom98]

All of mine that are bred in the afternoon or evening kindle sometime on day 32 Fingers crossed that today is the day for you!

 

[Mrr]

It happened!!

For two of the three does at least. My Flemish must have built her nest last minute because I checked at 10:30pm last night and not even a tuft of hair was pulled. This morning at 8am however, I found a well built nest with 12 kits squirming around inside! Her first litter was only 6 (and 4 died), so this is a huge jump for her. Do you think her litter size has to do with the fact that these are only half flemish?




My second doe - the one that wouldn't stop building on the floor, eventually decided that the nest box was best and moved it back in there last night. She had a litter of 8!

My chinchilla mix hasn't even pulled fur though.. her nest box is just a big litter pan for her, so I'm going to clean it out this evening and hope she kindles sometime tomorrow morning. I've been told that they kindle in the early hours of morning.. do they ever have them during the day?

 

[macksmom98]

Oh wow! congrats on your success Mine have kindled all different times, and yes, some during the day. Hope the last ones arrive in just as good of shape as the rest, and enjoy them!

 

[ButtonsPalace]

I had a doe have them at 11:19 am and this litter was at a bit before 10am however I had another doe who had hers at about 1 am-2am *I was up very late and happened to see it after*