Kits different sizes?

[irisshiller]

Hi everyone, I'm here to pick your brains again

I posted some time ago about 2 litters that I got, one of which seemed to have problems... it was a first time litter of 6 from a New Zealand doe. The kits were wasting away at first, I tried to hand feed them but 4 or them died anyway... In the end, the doe seemed to cotton on and since then she's been really protective of them, hopping in to nurse them whenever I open the nest box! So fortunately, the 2 last ones made it!

Here is the strange thing, though: they seem to be very different sizes. The brown one seems to grow extremely fast, he is already the same size as the kits from the other litter, who are 1 week older. The white one is much smaller, but seems fine for the rest. It is really funny seeing them all hopping around together. The ones from the first litter are 1 month old by now and the ones from the second about 3 weeks.

I wonder why they are such different sizes? Some people wonder if there is something wrong with them, the one seems so giant-ish and the other dwarf-ish The mother and father came to me together when they were 5 months old. The girl I got them from said she didn't think they were brother and sister, but obviously she didn't know. I wonder if they are maybe too closely related and that accounts for the poor survival rate and different sizes of the kits?

Anyway I won't breed them again together, also not the other doe. I have some lionheads that I'd like some kits from, that will be for next spring maybe. If they don't decide for me, they seem to be very good at escaping at the wrong moment :/

Some pictures:

 

[Marinea]

Personally, I don't judge a doe by her first litter. So many times, things just seem to go wrong. If it were me, I would give the doe and buck a second chance, and go from there.

As to the differing kit sizes, if the smaller one is healthy and active, it may just be smaller. Keep an eye on it as weaning time approaches to make sure you don't have any issues with weaning enteritis, but it may just be a smaller bun, or it may surprise you and catch up in size almost overnight.

 

[Dood]

The grey kit in the second litter looks like it is Vienna marked so you might be experiencing the dwarf gene in your New Zealand's

hopping in to nurse them whenever I open the nest box!

sounds more like a nervous doe than an attentive mother. It is actually detrimental to kits to be woken up by a doe who frequently visits the nest box as they waste energy squiggling around.

In some European systems they remove the nest box completey and only bring it back twice a day so there is no chance of a doe disturbing her litter

 

[Zass]

:yeahthat:

It always seems to me that those nervous and/or aggressive does are the most likely to lose kits, for all sorts of different reasons.

The kits could have dwarf genes, or the size difference could be from the smaller kit being poorly nourished.

In one litter, I had a kit that was exposed to mold toxins at an early age. It never grew anywhere near as fast as it's siblings.

I've gotten to the point where I pull the nestbox and keep it inside if anything at all goes wrong. It's easy to bring it back out once or twice a day for nursing.

 

[irisshiller]

Thanks for your answers! Yes she did seem a bit nervous, well it was her first litter after all and she is young. She is not aggressive though and doesn't have a problem with me touching the kits. She just comes up to have a look. The other doe lets me get on with it

She does carry the Vienna gene and I have a strong suspicion the dad (a REW) does as well! The kits he had with my English spot doe have very light-coloured, grey eyes, which I think could be an indication of Vienna? So what is the connection between Vienna and dwarf genes? It would be very funny to get a dwarf bunny out of those two huge parents

I don't plan to breed again for now because I want to keep all the bunnies and at some point I will run out of space! I prefer not to give them to pet homes (well unless I know the people) because I am already taking in quite a lot of unwanted pets and don't like the idea of them being passed on again and again to other homes (or worse).
It would be interesting though to breed them again and see what happens!

Some more pictures (can't stop myself)

 

[Dood]

The Vienna gene is very rare in meat rabbits and was likely brought in by crossing to one of the dwarf breeds and the dwarf gene could have been intoduced as well.

Without the other genetic modifiers that make rabbits small the dwarf gene in larger breeds usually makes the kits smaller than littermates and shorter ears, at least in my experience of breeding Netherland dwarf bucks to New Zealand mixes

 

[Zass]

She might have been nursing a lot for a while if she was producing more milk than two kits could easily drink. Her milk supply would have adjusted with time.

 

[user 3309]

I got a NZ/FG (REW) mix that sired my ML doe (is also REW) and the due date is today! Will see if I get different sized kits in the same litter.

 

[Dood]

I got a NZ/FG (REW) mix that sired my ML doe (is also REW) and the due date is today! Will see if I get different sized kits in the same litter.

it is NOT recommended to cross a larger buck with a significantly smaller doe and I sincerely hope your doe survives giving birth

Also the Mini Lop breed does not carry the dwarf gene.