Kits in the Classroom- THE FINAL CHAPTER...UPDATE

Advertise with us
Shop deals on ebay
shop deals on amazon
Rabbit Talk Forum

Help Support Rabbit Talk Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.
Schipperkesue

Schipperkesue

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 20, 2013
Messages
637
Reaction score
2
Location
Alberta, Canada
I have had rabbits in my class for over 20 years. They are a lovely addition and teach the children many things biological, but are especially useful for fostering empathy. Up until now I have had small breeds, but this year I am considering a pregnant Flemish giant doe.

Here is my plan. Please set me straight on any details I may have not taken into consideration and offer any advice you think I may need.

I have a large, calm, sweet, kind, sandy doe in mind. She is young and has not been bred yet. My classroom has several rooms off limits to the children where she can be placed to avoid trauma both to the doe and to the children if she experiences problems kindling.

Until now the doe has been in an outdoor hutch. The indoor hutch is large, wheeled and has a heavy gauge wire floor, similar to but larger than her current enclosure.

My class is very quiet. Small groups of children are in the class 25% of the day. Larger groups, 25% and it is empty for 50%. The children are all respectful and the noise level is low and constant.

I plan to breed her at home over a couple, three days and bring her here the next day. I have hoppers for feed and water that will last her 5 days which will cover the weekend.

I will prepare the children and when kindling is imminent I will move her to a quiet corner and restrict access. The hutch and kits will remain in the quiet area until their eyes open. small groups of quiet children will be able to view the new kits, supervised and for short periods of time.

Any thoughts, ideas or suggestions as to how I can make this as successful as possible?
 
Personally i think this is a great idea, you seem to have everything covered for the children and the rabbit. I can remember the first litter I ever saw cause someone was willing to take the time to show me and it is something I remember 35+ years later:) And have had rabbits after that most of my life!
 
You might want to wait until her second litter or move her with her first litter after they have successfully left the nestbox at around 2 weeks. First time does can have so many problems early on with the litter that would be traumatizing to children who aren't used to animal care and breeding.
 
I think it's a nice idea. If it's the doe i think it is, her Dam has kindled in my house before, with all of us milling about. She actually enjoyed the attention. I often bring my favourite does inside with their litters. The extra exposure is great for the kits. Many of my Flemish does that i have brought indoors are allowed hop loose in the house. They jump up on the couch to nurse and check their litters (usually in a towel and laundry basket). Mom would nurse while we watched t.v. Then back to hopping around. Flemish Giants are super laid back so she probably would do well in that situation. Plus the babies would be well handled.

If she is brought in right after breeding so she adjusts to the new smells etc, then she will probably be fine. In 4 years i've been breeding Flemish i have not had a first timer Flemish doe loose a litter or have problems. They are quite hardy and good moms.
 
The only red flag I'm seeing is it being her first litter.

Most does do just fine, but I think the general consensus is that there are generally higher chances for things to go wrong the first time around.

A does productivity is based around how many kits she weans, which is a reminder that many losses happen later too, weaning enteritis for example.

Also, if it were me, I'd come strait out and be very clear that NONE of the babies would be available for adoption by students or their families. I wouldn't want to see kids competing over which bun is "theirs" or have devastated kids who's kits didn't survive.

I don't see any problem with allowing school age kids to touch babies, but good hand washing and hand sanitizer would be a necessity. I've read somewhere that a lot of those weaning deaths could be caused by bacteria people sometimes carry on their hands, like e-coli.
 
I find that a diet heavy in hay and light on pellets really keeps weaning enteritis and other digestive upsets to a minimum. We never lost a kit to digestive problems.
 
akane":2vxul9h2 said:
I find that a diet heavy in hay and light on pellets really keeps weaning enteritis and other digestive upsets to a minimum. We never lost a kit to digestive problems.
Click to expand...
I've only gotten weaning deaths when does have, for some reason or another, weaned way too early. (but I'm well aware that isn't the only potential cause for them)

A diet of mostly oats and hay saved all 10 that weaned at 3 weeks last time. They didn't grow as fast as a normal litter, but they did transition onto pellets and hay just fine later.

Giant breeds do need a lot more calories then dwarf and small breeds though.

Flemish kits grow very quickly, don't they? What would be the best feed for them?
 
Our Flemish get unlimited 16% pellets and Pressed alfafa cubes. I rarely give them anything else; maybe boss or oats on occasion. In the summer they also get weeds/grass/branches. They grow well and steady on this for us. They put alot of their initial growth into frame...then weight. They go thru a "goofy" stage during adolesence. Depends on the line though. Production ones are quite "beef cake" earlier on.

My rabbitry is heated and my cages have solid bottoms so i don't get cases of enterteritis even if i do wean early. They have eatin enough of their moms poop and established their guts very early.
 
Flemish and giant breeds grow rather slow compared to commercial types. That's why they don't make good meat rabbits. You have to cross them to something lighter boned and faster growing to get a good meat rabbit. We used checkered giant x nz does with a argent cross buck for our larger line of meat mutts. Even then most of those went to the dogs due to the heavier bone and less meat. It was actually the mini rex x argent breeds line that grew the fastest and had the best meat to bone ratio even though their max weight was much lower.

We regularly have kits weaning at 4-5weeks. We've done a lot of back to back breeding with high calorie and protein diets to support them. Still never saw weaning enteritis. I don't even send pellets with our kits. They just cold switch and do fine. I'm more likely to send a slice of our hay along.
 
Lots of great replies! Thanks! Yes, I have thought about the chance of loss of the first litter. She has to have a first litter some time so I think I will not tell the kids she is pregnant and separate her as her time to kindle draws near. That way if there are issues there will be no trauma for the kids. Most are farm kids anyway and are pretty familiar with animal birth and problems.

JD, yes, the rabbit is the one you are thinking of. Honestly, she is the loveliest doe I own. Sweet and friendly, and oh, so laid back. Your rabbits are amazing! I only worry she may be too young to breed. Is she? Should I wait a bit?

Zass, you are right. I always tell the children that the animals born in the class are not for give away or for sale. I tell them it is a conflict of interest if I were to sell them an animal because I am their teacher and that is their relationship with me. If they want a pet rabbit I will provide them with some breeders numbers to call. Also I have been up front with them about why I keep rabbits (food) but I also plan to tell them that all these kits will be sold to homes or kept for breeding. Perhaps not necessarily true, but helps me do an end run around teary eyes.

I have also had chicks, goslings, turkeys, poults, puppies, mice, snakes, fish, cavies, hamsters, hermit crabs, frogs, tadpoles, salamanders, isopods and millipedes in the class. I can't emphasize how wonderful it is for children....if you are well prepared!
 
You could never get away with this in the school districts I worked at - too many city people worried their kid will die of salmonella from the classroom pets instead of the lettuce on their Big Mac :shrug:
Most are farm kids
Click to expand...
I get it now. However, these are the kids that dont really need the biology lessons :p

Just one of the reasons I quit teaching :(

Back to the topic...

Do you have a plan for waste management?

My 10 pound AmChin's plus 8 kits get pretty stinky pretty quick. Are you going to be re-purposing their litter to compost at the school? Take it home? Send it to a landfill?
 
Thats great Sue! I cull hard for bad personality. I'm so glad you like her! Her 6 week old sister just went to a lovely family to be a house pet. Her full brother went to a family that raises special needs foster kids. And her other half brother went to a military family that could not have a dog. Had a school in high level contact me wanting a class pet for their special needs class. But the higher ups only aproved a size from "wrist to elbow", so the teacher couldnt go ahead with one of my babies. Lol 
That whole line of rabbits i have are very good natured! and are coming along great in the other departments too. I think she would be great and handle the class and students well!
I was so happy to get an update from the family with the 6 week old the other day. Sorry for the high jack...just excited to share...


If she is fleshy and in good condition go ahead and try a breeding session. I tried one of my young girls about the same age a couple days back but she didnt lift, figured she may need more time and i was mostly curious and didnt push it. It's also that time of year. I have bred does at 8 months and it did not stunt the doe and they were excellent first timers. Some are ready sooner then others, i wait a couple more months if they act like they need it.
 
Excellent, JD! I think tomorrow will be the big day! It should be warm the rest of the week so hopefully everyone will be in a breeding mood. I am thinking I will try her with a big harlequin coloured buck I have. I would be producing meat kits, and he is big but fine boned so I may get color for the kids and meat for me.

Dood, I have a 'better to ask forgiveness than permission' attitude to animals in the class. I also have a special ed room so I feel free to take advantage of any iffy rules we have. Our school board has mostly rural schools but many of the kids live in the tiny town where the school is located. If I am ever told no, the animals just come home...but no one has ever said no! I used to work in the inner city. Biology lessons were always needed there!

Waste! An important consideration. I collect the paper from the shredders here. It comes out of the shredder in plastic bags and must be thrown out. For some reason it is non recyclable. I usually take it home and raise my chicks in it, then compost it. I plan to use it beneath the wire to absorb the waste, then either take it home or put it in the dumpster behind the school where it would go if I didn't take it.
 
You might want to sprinkle a little aglime (aka barn lime, sweet pdz) in the pan. It will absorb moisture and cut smells. That's actually all we use in the tray of our indoor hutch. I'm switching mine back to large solid bottom cages though. The hutch was an interesting cage idea but it's not as practical indoors as they lead you to believe. It leaks urine all over the place. I have long narrow planters full of aglime sitting on the floor under the edges and legs to catch urine. I'm going to have to scrub the wood floor like crazy with vinegar when I take the hutch down. Hopefully we can sell it and the other wire cage for something to help recover the cost. The 4' marchioro cages are only $70 at petland while our 3' leaky hutch was over $100.
 
Some limes are very caustic and can burn the skin and eyes or even explode if mixed with the wrong chemicals.

Clay kitty litter might work or a horse stall deoderizer, i know "Stable Boy" is very safe but the dust can get messy.
 
I usually line the pan with the plastic bag the shreddings come in then pull the bag together to contain waste and shreddings so any ultra absorb active powder should work.
 
Horse stall deoderizer is all aglime. Just various brands of it and possibly with magnesium added. Otherwise it's simply crushed limestone which is calcium carbonate and not caustic or reactive. You don't want hydrated lime.
 
Have fun. I never left a rabbit in the class, but I used to bring newborn kits in all the time. Seems I had less issues when the kits were getting out and exposed to different environments early on. There is nothing like seeing a naked kit right after being born, then seeing it at several stages of growth. I also hatched chicks in the class, and did dissections later on.
 

Latest posts

Back
Top