Molly is my matriarch doe. I also have 2 of her daughters, Anabel, and Ryleigh, who were litter mates from Molly's 1st litter of 9. Last month I bred all 3 on the same day to Charlie, who is also from Molly's 1st litter. Of the 3 breedings, Molly and Ryleigh both had multiple falloffs very quickly. So, I was confident they would kindle. The 3rd doe, Anabel, adamantly refused the buck for over half an hour. So I tried again the next day. Same refusal.
Now move forward a month. Molly kindled right on time Friday, and had 8, of which 6 survived. Not her best, but ok.
Ryleigh kindled Saturday. I had gone out to check on her Saturday afternoon and found her eating a rather small kit on the wire. I assumed from its size that it was malformed. I also saw some blood spotting on the edge of the nestbox. So I checked the box and found nothing. About then, Ryleigh moved and then I saw that there were 4 more kits under her, on the wire. 3 were dead. I took the last one, which was still alive, and put it in with Molly since I didn't think it would survive alone. Several hours later, I went back to check on them and found more kits in Ryleighs cage, all on the wire. Most were dead, but I did find 3 still moving. So, I put those in her nestbox and crossed my fingers that she would care for them. I figured that was all and went back inside. This morning I found a total of 9 dead kits spread all over her cage, and one more outside the cage. The 3 that I had put in her nestbox yesterday are now all covered in fur. So, she seems to be caring for those 3. In total, Ryleigh kindled 14, mostly on the wire. I've removed the dead ones.
Last of all, I found that Anabel, the one that adamantly refused the buck, gave birth last night to 12 healthy kits. Two or three of them are a bit smaller than the rest, but they all seemed fed. Anabel was not especially pleased with me messing in her nest. She's a good, protective mother.
Ryleigh is the one that I have questions about. This is her 3rd litter. The entire 1st litter of 12 kits was on the wire, in December, and all died. She raised 5 from her 2nd litter, which had a total of 13 kindled, all in the nestbox. Now, I was expecting that she had matured in her mothering and things would get better. But, out of 14, all kindled on the wire, only 4 survived. The 1st failure I forgave since she was inexperienced. The second litters problems may have been my mistake since I hadn't actually pulled her kits out at birth to determine mortality. It is quite possible that there were only a couple dead but being left in the nest may have killed the others. But, I am bewildered why she kindled on the wire this time. Especially since she does seem to be caring for the ones that I took from the cage bottom and laid in her nestbox. She does understand the box, she used it last time.
So, out of a total of 34 kits born this weekend, I have 22 still alive. I expect some mortalities. But, this is a bit more than I'm comfortable with. Ryleigh is the main trouble spot apparently. But, given her very large litters I don't want to give up on her yet. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?
Now move forward a month. Molly kindled right on time Friday, and had 8, of which 6 survived. Not her best, but ok.
Ryleigh kindled Saturday. I had gone out to check on her Saturday afternoon and found her eating a rather small kit on the wire. I assumed from its size that it was malformed. I also saw some blood spotting on the edge of the nestbox. So I checked the box and found nothing. About then, Ryleigh moved and then I saw that there were 4 more kits under her, on the wire. 3 were dead. I took the last one, which was still alive, and put it in with Molly since I didn't think it would survive alone. Several hours later, I went back to check on them and found more kits in Ryleighs cage, all on the wire. Most were dead, but I did find 3 still moving. So, I put those in her nestbox and crossed my fingers that she would care for them. I figured that was all and went back inside. This morning I found a total of 9 dead kits spread all over her cage, and one more outside the cage. The 3 that I had put in her nestbox yesterday are now all covered in fur. So, she seems to be caring for those 3. In total, Ryleigh kindled 14, mostly on the wire. I've removed the dead ones.
Last of all, I found that Anabel, the one that adamantly refused the buck, gave birth last night to 12 healthy kits. Two or three of them are a bit smaller than the rest, but they all seemed fed. Anabel was not especially pleased with me messing in her nest. She's a good, protective mother.
Ryleigh is the one that I have questions about. This is her 3rd litter. The entire 1st litter of 12 kits was on the wire, in December, and all died. She raised 5 from her 2nd litter, which had a total of 13 kindled, all in the nestbox. Now, I was expecting that she had matured in her mothering and things would get better. But, out of 14, all kindled on the wire, only 4 survived. The 1st failure I forgave since she was inexperienced. The second litters problems may have been my mistake since I hadn't actually pulled her kits out at birth to determine mortality. It is quite possible that there were only a couple dead but being left in the nest may have killed the others. But, I am bewildered why she kindled on the wire this time. Especially since she does seem to be caring for the ones that I took from the cage bottom and laid in her nestbox. She does understand the box, she used it last time.
So, out of a total of 34 kits born this weekend, I have 22 still alive. I expect some mortalities. But, this is a bit more than I'm comfortable with. Ryleigh is the main trouble spot apparently. But, given her very large litters I don't want to give up on her yet. Does anyone have any suggestions or advice?
