My new crazy colony

[Disney]

I think i've complained enough.. there is nothing that i can do so i'll just accept it as how it is.

Thankyou for the idea MamaS.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

Thankyou for the encouraging replies, i really appreciate it.

It's not so much that i worry if the kits are gonna be okay after being weaned, they will eat solid food and pellets by then so they should be fine.

But what bothers me is kinda hard to explain.. i hope i can make this across.
Their adult health and condition. I may be wrong but i think early weaning will effect them in their growth rate, bone development, their teeth condition, and such.

4 weeks is not really early. My rabbits all wean their own litters at 4 weeks and I have extremely healthy rabbits.

I want them to get full care and nursing that is available. They will nurse for about 8 weeks or/and longer and that will consist in my eyes, a better rabbit. I would hate to see a kit who has to miss out on the extra nourishment. It makes me see that rabbit in a different way, like a poor half-baked runty rabbit who hasn't grown to is fullest potential and is lacking in body, health and condition.. even if the kits turn out big and strong, they might have been even bustier if they had gotten a full-care from momma. I had high hopes for this litter and was leaning on the female kits to use them later as breeding stock and relieving their mother. But now i will be stuck with incomplete lacking bunnies.. it just makes a huge difference in my eyes, which i can't really explain.

I know you want the best for your rabbits but, sweetie, someone has given you some really bad information. A female rabbit in a colony will have a litter every 31 days. She will allow the buck to breed her right after kindling and she will wean the litter herself when she is near kindling. If she accepted the buck then it meant she was ready and wanted to be bred. There is absolutely NO REASON for you to think they will be somehow lacking because they are weaned at 4 wks.

I know it sounds stupid but i'm awkward like that.. i think it has more to do with me being a perfectionist and wanting everything to be right and fabulous.

It is not stupid, but neither is it "right and fabulous"...it is just that you have been wrongly informed.

 

[Disney]

3 Weeks have passed and momma has gotten fat so the next litter will arrive soon..
As for the kits, they are just getting out of the hutch and exploring the pen, though i'm a bit worried of their size and weight.. they look so frail.. i don't know if they are gonna be okay if mom shuts them out after the next delivery..

I know it's stupid to ask this.. but is it an idea to foster the upcoming newborns to another doe so the momma keeps raising the earlier litter.. the big orange vm doe in the picture just kindled a litter of 2 kits so i thought of fostering the newborns of the white doe to her, is that an idea or will she look for the newborns and still reject the bigger kits?
If possible, it might work out for everyone's best interest.. so any feedback?

New pictures of the 7 Bew kits..

18 days old

20 days old

21 days old

 

[MamaSheepdog]

They look like nice healthy bunnies to me. Are you feeding anything besides pellets, though? It is a good idea to give them rolled/crimped oats at this age, and hay of course.

I would be hesitant to foster the kits to another doe. I do not know if this applies to rabbit lactation, but I know that human milk changes its nutrient values as the infant ages, providing just the right combo of fat, protein, etc. for different growth stages.

 

[Disney]

There is a pile of hay inside the hutch and i made a wet mush of the pellets for the kits so they can consume it without much effort. They have a hard time breaking down the dry pellets so they keep spitting it out again.

Hmm thay might be so but i'm willing to take that, the orange doe has too much milk, her 2 kits are FAT so i thought it would be a good idea to foster the newborns to her. But i'm not sure what the white doe would do.. would she go back to the bigger litter and continue with them or reject them and looking for the missing newborns, which only makes it more complicated.. she might think there is no litter to feed anymore and go off by herself while she had 2 litters to care for. Soooooo much worries it's giving me a headache<br /><br />__________ Sat Jul 21, 2012 9:17 am __________<br /><br />A month has passed ans she is on day 31 today but shows no signs of kindling.. there is no nest, no resting, heavy breathing, normally she would have shown signs of getting redding for labor but now i'm completely left in the dark..

but i really thought she was pregnant, she looks hagged and her belly bulges down so i'm gonna wait and see.. i hope it's a false alarm though.

 

[GBov]

I dont want to sound harsh or anything but you really need to CALM DOWN!!! :meditate:

Repeat after me.............

Rabbits are fun! Rabbits are relaxing! Rabbits make me feel good! Rabbits are good for me!

:lol: Sorry but you remind me of my Mum, she gets into a spiral of anxiety over her animals too so I have to do the same thing to her too.

But if you have your rabbits in a colony set up - and its a GREAT set up you have! - you are trying to give them the most natural life they can have. But that includes letting them breed when THEY want to. She will NEVER accept the buck in that setting unless she WANTS him.<br /><br />__________ Sun Jul 22, 2012 8:54 am __________<br /><br />In a cage he has the upper hand, well, mostly, but in a colony she is the boss.

So, as you have given them such a wonderful home, just sit back and enjoy it.

And no, your babies wont be half baked if she is done with them at four weeks, they will just be normal bunnies. Its the ones that have six or eight weeks of milk that are not normal.

It might be intresting to compare a few of each in later life to see how they do. Did the extra milk help or hinder them? If a young animal gets too big and fat too young it usually doesnt help it along in later life.

 

[Disney]

Not harsh at all, actually i'm happy you said it

*shouts*
Rabbits are fun! Rabbits are relaxing! Rabbits make me feel good! Rabbits are good for me! But sometimes they make me crazy!

Thankyou i really needed that haha!
Now i'm thinking to myself: "was i really that mad to rant this much?"
But i guess i should be happy cause it's day 34 today and there are still no signs of kindling, so it appears to be a false alarm..
A heavy weight is now lifted of my shoulders.. these kits will be her last litter for this summer and that's enough for now
I have a total of 29 rabbits now and it's really getting out of the hand, so if she was going to kindle on top of that, i would lose my mind

The only thing i'm now worried about is the doe's conditon, she doesn't look as good as she used to and she should have been done molting.
Can i give her something to boost her energy and improve her fur?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

The only thing i'm now worried about is the doe's conditon, she doesn't look as good as she used to and she should have been done molting.
Can i give her something to boost her energy and improve her fur?

Do you have more than one feeding station set up for pellets? I only see the one big tray... maybe the other rabbits are more dominant, and she is only getting to snatch a mouthful here and there?

BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) are good for weight gain and improving the coat. You also might consider adding grains to your herd's diet. Look here for ideas: trinity-oaks-grain-feed-mix-t6809.html Piper posted my grain ratios on page two at the bottom of her post. I no longer feed pellets, but when I did, I offered the grain mix in the morning, and fed pellets in the evening. Some people feed Calf Manna, and it is an excellent supplement which I have used with my horses and also fed to the rabbits initially until I read the ingredients and found it contained mainly corn. I had no adverse effects, but don't want corn in my rabbit's diet.

I don't know if you are raising for meat at all, but I do. In my last batch of 16 that we processed, I found two that had pinworms, so I wormed my entire herd, with the exception of two growout pens that will also be headed to "camp" soon- and I didn't want to wait 30-60 days after worming them. Fecal smears are hit and miss for detecting worms, since the eggs need to be present in the feces at the time the sample is taken. If you want to dose them prophylactically, you can find the dosage I used here: post87308.html

I think that as part of good herd management even if raising only for pets, it would be a good idea to dispatch a couple rabbits a year. Akane raises colony style, and recently found that a high percentage of the young have cocci infections, but appear outwardly healthy. I would never have suspected my rabbits had worms, either.

Good luck with your mama doe! Hope she starts gaining soon.

 

[Disney]

I accidentally closed the tab while i was typing, i was going to burst in tears but then i tried to 'open closed tabs' and it completely came back with all of the text!
thank god this forum has such a feature build in, others don't so you have to start writing allover again! :x

Do you have more than one feeding station set up for pellets? I only see the one big tray... maybe the other rabbits are more dominant, and she is only getting to snatch a mouthful here and there?

Hi MamaSheepDog

She is actually the 'alpha' rabbit in the group so she gets to eat whatever she wants, luckily nobody is left out.
Everybody gets to eat, even rabbits that are just added new to the colony, so that's not the problem there.
I only use that black tray and i feed 3x times a day and they get a pile of hay in between, that's more than enough i think.

It's not that i think she is thin and tired, she is her usual bouncy self and her belly is still bulging out so that's not the issue. It's her looking worn out and her fur feels and looks dull, she looked like a totally different rabbit a few months ago before breeding.
i thought it was because she is currently raising a litter of 7 and was bred back by the buck accidentally, since raising kits and being pregnant at the same times is exhausting her, but she doesn't seem to be pregnant so what's the problem then?
It's not really a big of a deal but i makes me wonder how i can help her recover again.

BOSS (Black Oil Sunflower Seeds) are good for weight gain and improving the coat. You also might consider adding grains to your herd's diet. Look here for ideas: trinity-oaks-grain-feed-mix-t6809.html Piper posted my grain ratios on page two at the bottom of her post. I no longer feed pellets, but when I did, I offered the grain mix in the morning, and fed pellets in the evening. Some people feed Calf Manna, and it is an excellent supplement which I have used with my horses and also fed to the rabbits initially until I read the ingredients and found it contained mainly corn. I had no adverse effects, but don't want corn in my rabbit's diet.

Thank you, that seems interesting, i will look into it and hopefully will try it soon!
I live in the netherlands so the US brands are not available her.

I feed Besterfood

nutrient - Function - Quantity
Crude protein - build and maintain muscle - 15.9%
Crude fat - energy, skin and coat - 2.9%
Crude ash - Minerals and trace elements - 7.4%
Crude fiber - digestion and stimulation - 16.8%
Methionine - 0.32%
Phosphorus - Bone and teeth - 0.55%
Vitamin A - Eyesight and mucous - 10100 IU / kg
Vitamin D3 - Muscles, Pregnancy and lactation - 1000 IU / kg
Vitamin E - Muscles, Pregnancy and lactation - 40 mg / kg
Copper (II) sulfate pentahydrate (Cu) - 10 mg / kg

Are the proportions to these nutritions right? Please let me know what you think of the food

I don't know if you are raising for meat at all, but I do. In my last batch of 16 that we processed, I found two that had pinworms, so I wormed my entire herd, with the exception of two growout pens that will also be headed to "camp" soon- and I didn't want to wait 30-60 days after worming them. Fecal smears are hit and miss for detecting worms, since the eggs need to be present in the feces at the time the sample is taken. If you want to dose them prophylactically, you can find the dosage I used here: post87308.html

I think that as part of good herd management even if raising only for pets, it would be a good idea to dispatch a couple rabbits a year. Akane raises colony style, and recently found that a high percentage of the young have cocci infections, but appear outwardly healthy. I would never have suspected my rabbits had worms, either.

Good luck with your mama doe! Hope she starts gaining soon.

I only have pet rabbits so i don't raise for meat but i never thought of worms!! Good thing you told me about it, so need to search more on this subject, and look for signs of worms being present and how to prevent/treat them.

Luckily i have some pictures that i took a few days ago

This is the doe i am worried about, she is the dominant female in the colony and mother of 7 kits.
The fur is dull and not as vibrant as it was before.


This is her in march, look at the difference!! Will she ever look like this again?


She is the one in the back, the smaller doe on the left is her 4month old little sister. They have the same parents bot born a year apart.


She is sitting in the tray


I love this photo, he is 2 weeks old, the orange doe is his mother.


5 Bew's with their older sister, how cute!


This is how the colony pen looks like now, i added another hutch for the other doe to kindle in it.