Maple' pregnancy and taming down my colony rabbits

[Shara]

So, I think Maple will be kindling in the near future, maybe even this week! She has made a nice little hidy-hole, and hunkers down in there, and MAN she is getting ROUND! I can' wait to steal her litter. I will have popples to play with again! And future meat! Woohooey!

I am concerned about housing the kits inside, since it stay 80-90 in the house with the woodstove, and is very cold outside, comparativly. I plan on keeping them in a box on the shelf in the colony. Out of reach of the does, but still outside, so they don't go through a hard time adjusting.

I have decided it is unacceptable for my rabbits to be wild in the colony. Scott took his tools out of my shed (finally!well, okay, it was his toolshed, and I put my rabbits in there, lalalala) lol, and so I now have a shelf that is almost chest high to put my rabbits on to work with them. I caught Cedar (colony buck) who I have never worked with before, and was amazed at how calm he is, relatively. I flipped him over, checked him out. He has a normal penis, both testicals are down (I haven't checked him since I got him, when it was all still small) and he has a very nice red coat. Some brown tips on his face, but I am not worried about showing. I like his body type, and will have to take pictures and get a critique on him. To me he seems well balanced with big blocky shoulders, which is what I was advised by Bob Bennet to look for (via a book of his, of course). My doe Maple is longer, but I have heard many commercial bred does are longer. Bob Bennet says it is a good thing, so who am I to disagree? I plan on working with them a couple times a day, until I can get them tame enough to bring into the house for the kids to play with. I think Cedar has potential for a calm kid rabbit!

Anyways, had to update! I am so excited for Maple's litter, and hope it is SOON!

 

[MaggieJ]

Sounds like you are well on your way to making your colony work for you. Hope Maple pops a nice bunch of popples for you!

 

[Shara]

I think I am getting there! Didn't expect there to be such a learning curve, though!

 

[pfaubush]

Crossing my fingers and wishing you luck! I'm very anxious to hear how it works out!

 

[Shara]

Fur pulled out there this morning, and maple had some of her own fur in her mouth....betting its today or tommorrow.

__________ Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:38 pm __________

Six kits were born in the last couple of hours! One light one has a pretty bad gash on it's little face...all three light ones have injuries. I pulled them and will keep them in a box outside in the colony space. Hopefully everything goes well and they grow up with out any problems!

__________ Wed Feb 02, 2011 3:54 pm __________

oh no, one was born outside of the nest. I am trying to warm it up, I think i might be able to bring this one back...cross your fingers for me!<br /><br />__________ Wed Feb 02, 2011 4:18 pm __________<br /><br />hmmm...I think we lost it. Gonna give it another 20 minutes or so, but it is warming up and not moving, so I doubt there is any reason to wait. I had it in my hands at first and was blowing on it, to reduce shock if I could, then once it didn't feel as cold (and I began getting light headed) I put it in a sandwich bag, leaving the top open and put it in a small bowl of warm water. It feels warm to the touch and I haven't seen any movement yet.

Hubs is upset that I am spending so much time trying to revive one kit, but I am DONE with dead babies! I need to try. Although I told him that it was because that is $10 dying right there. But he didn't even understand that.