Is She Pregnant?

[user 3309]

I managed to let my NZW buck breed with my doe before his untimely demise. She's not too moody like last time and and even allowed me to give head scratches.
The doe appears to be extra cautious around me though and today will be the third week after the breeding.

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

She is quite chunky. Did you palpate her? You want to feel inside her abdomen towards the pelvic area for little grape-sized things....Those are kits.

This is one of my mini Rex does when she was 2 weeks along... She was big... She had 6

 

[user 3309]

Thanks BBF! For some odd reason my doe does not have a noticeable dewlap.

Found a helpful "How to Palpate" video on Youtube:

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JaAgwzZVEaA[/youtube]

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

All does are different. My black doe doesn't have a pronounced dewlap either, but I bred her and her stomach was HUGE and she ended up having 7 kits. And no problem <br /><br /> -- Mon Jun 23, 2014 7:19 pm -- <br /><br /> Oh and if you don't feel anything but she's showing symptoms of pregnancy even nesting and stuff, it could be a Phantom pregnancy....Sometimes hormones in the does will male them think they're pregnant, when they're not Lol. Sometimes parts of the rabbit world are strange lol

 

[user 3309]

Momma Doe does not want to be picked up! Didn't get a good feel, but I felt soft lumps on her side before she used my chest to hop away.
I'm suspecting she might be pregnant again due to how easily she got "oops! bred" earlier.

Got a couple more shots in:

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

She definitely looks pregnant lol :clap: :congratulations: and if you briefly felt something, thats a good sign...

the way I palpate my rabbits is I put them (on their feet) on a sturdy place with traction... (I use an old cat tree that we donated to the rabbit) and they're usually kind of tense when I put them on the cat tree, so I pet them and stuff so they loosen up, and I stand behind them, and I kind of grab inside of them (firm enough that I can feel something, but soft enough that I dont hurt anybody) and if I feel grape-sized objects more towards the sides of her abdomen (like I told you), I know she's pregnant... its actually very easy... I was able to do it on my first litter. It's kind of a "you know it when you feel it" experience

 

[user 3309]

That's good to know, thank you Bandits Bunny Farm!

I wanted to know if the kits can move inside the doe? I've been starting at her belly and can swear that I noticed additional movement that's not respiration.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

You want to feel inside her abdomen towards the pelvic area for little grape-sized things....Those are kits.

At three weeks along you should be able to feel their bodies and heads. They are grape-like at 9-14 days.

I wanted to know if the kits can move inside the doe?

Yes. As far as I know, all babies move when in the womb... otherwise they would be completely helpless at birth.

Very nice hutch, by the way! Are you going to put any shelves up to take advantage of all that vertical space?

 

[user 3309]

The shelf will be another project for my hutch builder buddy. I got to work with his schedule then we can design a plan for something awesome.

I've been using cardboard boxes as shelter and platforms for the buns:

I call this "Villa de Heineken"

 

[Bandits Bunny Farm]

Did the rabbit have the babies yet?

 

[Sagebrush]

opcorn:

 

[user 3309]

She's due any day now since she was bred by the 10th of June, but yesterday I came home to see Leo chasing her around on the deck below!
My dad think's he's a rabbit expert and does his own thing like continually feeding carrots to all of the bunnies and oat cereal, thankfully it's only done once per day.

Leo's face was smeared what appears to be blood so I immediately put him back into his cage. The NZW doe has light blood stains on her hind legs like she was bitten underneath! (she's still frighten you approach her on the ground, but is lovable back on the hutch as you can see on the video links below)

I showed Leo to my dad and he goes: "that's probably urine from the hutch above.." and mentioned that they were having sex with each other. Gah!
Unfortunately, I'm unable to follow up as I already went out of state and in Iowa right now. (There's a ton of Californians around the Des Moines area!)
I would of taken pictures but I was frustrated and in a hurry to pack for the trip.

Here's a couple of video's I've captured a week ago to get more opinions with the moving stomach.

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=aukY5VZnYm8[/youtube]
Non embedded link for video above: http://youtu.be/aukY5VZnYm8

[youtube]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pwe7GDBd814[/youtube]
http://youtu.be/pwe7GDBd814


Only odd thing that I've noticed during the suspected pregnancies: She was born in mid January as a "Jr. Buck" but sex change fairy got to him.
-She has not boxed either of us when reaching into her hutch, she has in the past.
-Comes to the door for head scratches and claws the door for attention.
-Discovered the power of her chin and began chinning everything in her cage.