Kit weight 3 weeks NZW

[duxthe1]

I weighed Alice's litter for the first time today. They are three weeks old today. They are NZW so there are no identifiers for them yet but my KBtat pen is on order and I plan to ID them at 4 weeks in order by weight.

Of the 5 kits, one is a meathead. It weighed in at 14.1 Oz! The smallest weighed 10.5 Oz. Number two heaviest at 12.7, along with a 12.4 and 11.7 Oz.

Does anybody else weigh at 3 weeks? If so how do these numbers look?

Alice has been a great mom, especially considering this is her first litter. I've never seen her actually nurse these kits but when I do see one try to latch on lately she breaks loose right away. For the last several days these kits have been nibbling away at the forage. Hay, lots of kale, and whatever else looks appealing from the garden. Haven't seen any eating pellets yet.

 

[Dood]

I use to but don't anymore

Here is a chart as a guideline

 

[duxthe1]

Thanks. It looks like Meathead is pretty close to the standard but everybody else is behind by a few Oz.

I'm wondering if relative size is a good indicator of sex. I can't tell the sex with these kits but I'm suspicious that the little one is a doeling. Its smaller overall but also has a noticeably smaller skull that the others.

 

[shazza]

in my (limited, to be fair,) experience, the does are much larger than the bucks until they get to be about a year old. then they'll usually be even, with the bucks appearing slightly larger due to their big meaty faces. consistently it seems the largest kits in my litters are does. females do tend to be larger in many animals.

 

[duxthe1]

Hmmmmmm. That bodes well then. I have really been impressed with how Alice kindled and raised these kits. I really would like to raise up a doe from her and if Meathead does indeed turn out to be a doe then its a no brainer.

-- Fri Sep 22, 2017 5:53 pm --

When I fed pellets today at lunch I turned my back for a minute and when I turned around there were two kits beside Momma chomping away on pellets. 3 weeks and 2 days. Looking at them its almost hard to believe they're that young. <br /><br /> -- Wed Sep 27, 2017 4:54 pm -- <br /><br /> 4 week weights today. They have done well over the last week. I've had to start feeding a lot of pellets to keep the feeder from going empty as these little guys are shooting up fast. Meathead is well ahead of the chart Dood posted at 1lb 6.8oz. The middle three are right on pace with the chart at 1lb 4.8oz to 1lb 4.5oz. The runt coming in at 1lb 3.2oz, still not too far off the pace.

I sexed the kits at this weigh in with 3 does and 2 bucks. Meathead is a doe! :cheer2: Current plans are to keep her as a breeding doe unless she shows some serious faults as she grows. Lizzy, my other current doe has 7 kits just under two weeks old so there is a chance that one of her kits can earn the "keeper" designation instead. Given that Meathead came from a litter of 5 and any potential usurpers would come from a litter of 7, I'd be surprised if any could out-pace her.