kindling confusion

[akane]

I have marked down that Twix was bred to Ashige Dec 11th making the 8th 28days when I add the nestbox and due on Jan 11. She's in the solid bottom cage in the house. I was cleaning it yesterday and getting a nestbox ready to prepare for her to kindle. While scooping up a pile of hay in the corner I found a fuzzy black kit. I looked through all the bedding handful by handful but found no other kits. I put it in the nestbox and put the nestbox back in the same spot the nest was in but Twix was too upset by the changes in the cage and dug everything plus the kit out of the nestbox. So I put it back in with some dryer lint since the hair was lost and put the nestbox outside the cage for a few hours until she calmed down then put it back last night.

This morning the nestbox was untouched and the kit not fed but Twix was in the opposite corner pulling fur, smashing it in to a nest, and refusing to leave that corner. I thought for sure I'd recorded the date wrong but do you think instead she kindled that early? Irregardless of that could she kindle more still? What should I do with the kit we have so far? It was fed when I found it but hasn't been since and it's stomach is no longer round. I'm thinking of waiting to see what she does with the new nest and maybe slip the kit in there later today. I'm not sure if I should try to move her nest to a nestbox again.

 

[MaggieJ]

I had a similar problem with my doe, Alice. For some reason when she kindled back in the summer, she ignored the nest box and built a very nice nest beside it. I wish I had left well enough alone, because she too was upset when I moved the kits to the box and she did not care for them. Since she is normally an excellent mother, I concluded that I had made a poor call moving the kits. It is standard operating procedure to move kits to the box and place the box where the nest had been, but sometimes a doe neglects to read the books. :roll:

She very well may kindle more kits in the new nest. I suggest you let her nest where she wants to. It may not be ideal, but she has indicated that she does not appreciate intervention. If she kindles more kits, you should be able to slip the lonely only in with them without her being upset.

Good luck with her. Sometimes rabbits will make you want to pull your hair out.

BTW, since being moved to a colony and allowed to do her own thing, Alice has reverted to her good mothering behaviour. She has five lovely kits that are almost three weeks old in one of the nest tunnels. She hasn't let them out to play yet, but they are doing well and growing fast.

 

[trinityoaks]

Sometimes rabbits will make you want to pull your hair out.

Does that mean we're getting ready to kindle? :mrgreen: :lol:

 

[MaggieJ]

I certainly hope not in my case.

 

[avdpas77]

If she is in a solid bottom cage, I would leave her alone and let her kindle where she wants... she is already upset with the changes, and the kits should be OK there. If she has kits withing a few hours, the kit can go right back with them, if not, if you have another doe with kits about the same age, you can foster it. Else, the kit is likely to be lost. Some people try to nurse them with a pet bottle or a syringe, but I never had much luck with it. One of them can likely tell you what to do if that is what you chose.

Personally, I put in the nest-box 10 days in advance. All of my present does will not foul the box (If I have one that does I pull it back out). Some will pull the hay out and eat it, and some won't. Still, as long as the are not fouling it, I am sure that it is in when it needs to be. It is very easy to not mark the date down right away, and then miss the day by a week latter on when you are fixing records. Even if you write the day down immediately at breeding, sometimes one can simply add wrong and miss the due date.

I have a bit different procedure than the others. I do not touch my kits or the nest for three days after the doe has kindled (unless I smell an odor, or see something obviously amiss) Even if my doe were to kindle on the wire, if she made a good nest underneath, I don't think I would mess with them for a least a couple of days.

 

[akane]

Twix flattened, scattered, and abandoned her new hair pile so I put it in the nestbox with the kit and moved the nestbox to the new nest location. Then I held twix loosely in the box. She wiggled, circled, and then flattened which is when I think the kit managed to make itself known. She turned to sniff him and I let her go. She turned around backward, arced over him, and started arranging the nest better. I left very very quietly and hopefully she will finish feeding him and go back to taking care of him.

 

[Pickles]

Crossing my fingers for ya that all will be well with the lone kit and the up & coming arrivals!

 

[MaggieJ]

If Twix doesn't kindle more pretty soon, your lonely only is not going to be able to keep himself warm without help. It takes at least 4 kits to generate enough heat to be safe. Any chance you can bring Twix and kit indoors? If not, it might be best to take the kit indoors and just return it to Twix twice a day for feeding. It's easier to supplement heat indoors than out. I'd leave a nest box with Twix for a couple of days, just in case she isn't done.

 

[akane]

They are indoors. Our mini rex have averaged litters of 2 so far. 4 is on the upper end of litter size I see people list for them and some still breed year round. I know a breeder in Wisconsin with all of them outside and litters in the 2-4 average size who breeds through winter with metal nest boxes and no major problems.

 

[MaggieJ]

Just goes to show you that you never stop learning! I'm amazed that small litters can keep themselves warm in a Wisconsin winter. Another myth exploded?

 

[akane]

This morning it was warm and had been fed some. Twix never fills her kits up to ping pong ball look but they never get too skinny either. I'm gonna guess doe and I thought black but it looks more blue now.

 

[curlysue]

My does wont feed the kits if i move them either.soo i fix a wire box around them.I hear all the time too put them in a box but my does didnt read the book either.My sister has mini rex and she gets litters of 5 and 6.my bunnies are in the basement soo i just use heat lamps.

 

[MaggieJ]

One possible solution to the question of "to move or not to move" the kits might be to have a bottomless box that could be set in over the kits. It would contain the nesting materials and keep them from wandering without drastically changing the doe's arrangements. Just a thought!

 

[akane]

Demon rabbit has got to have more than 4 in her. So far I haven't been able to really tell a mini rex is pregnant just by looking but demon rabbit looks and feels like a round barrel. I think she's going to explode. Which may be a good thing because I can foster a couple out to other does who haven't had more than 2 before. Then I'll have lots of pelts and dog food because I'm not selling her offspring to anyone.