New litter of 11!

[Truckinguy]

Thursday I was off work and puttering around in the garage for a bit in the afternoon, no fur to be seen in the nestbox. I went inside for about an hour and I came back out to a wiggling nestbox full of fur and popples! I pulled the nestbox out, took it into the kitchen and started checking it out. I thought there might be six or eight but they just kept coming out. 11 born, all alive and well! They've even survived the cold we've had the last couple of days. I pulled the nestbox this morning because I didn't see any movement but they were all alive and cozy in the nest. All the water bottles were frozen solid, mind you!

I only have three does I'm breeding right now so I don't have one to foster some kits but we'll take what nature gives us, hopefully most (or all!) survive. My does so far have been excellent mothers so I'm hoping for the best!

 

[moonkitten]

Congratulations!!! They look like nice fat, happy kits

 

[Silver Star Rabbitry]

Congratulations! They look nice and healthy. What breed are they?

Emily

 

[avdpas77]

ll, and all look fat and healthy....With some good milk production from the doe they should all do well... looks like they got a good feeding last night.

 

[MaggieJ]

Wow! ELEVEN? And all looking good! That must be an awesome doe, Truckinguy! The one at top, just to the right of the pink one looks like it may have some interesting markings... Too early to be sure, of course.

CONGRATULATIONS!

:wbounce:

 

[Brody]

adorable

fingers crossed - all those bodies can keep each other warm

 

[Truckinguy]

Silver Star, they are New Zealands.

This doe is a lucky one. She was one of what I thought were four bucks (oops) last year until she started giving birth in the corner of the cage. I grabbed her out of the cage in mid birth and three born and put her in a nestbox, whipped some wire together to make a quick cage and put her in it. A few minutes later she had six fat kits in the nestbox and looked quite pleased with herself. This is her third litter since then, fourth overall.

The funny thing is, when I put her in with the buck, she didn't move a muscle. I mean literally! I had to move her bum to the middle of the cage so he could mount her. He fell off three times so I guess she lifted for him enough to do the deed. (Go Stanley!)

She is the daughter of Ebony. Those of you from HT might remember last summer I posted about Ebony losing a litter and being paralysed for a week or so then passing away.

Maggie, that kit will likely be a steel, black with brown tips.

 

[Brody]

oh I'm glad Ebony's daughter is doing so well - I know you liked her ...

 

[MaggieJ]

That's great that Ebony's line carries on!

Steels are nice. Just that little bit different look that adds interest to the nestbox.

 

[DevonW]

11 wow! How About donating say about 10 to my doe who only gave me one lol.

 

[Briza]

Wow~ what a pile! Good goin momma bun.
Looks like they are all fat and sassy.
B~

 

[Anntann]

What a great story! and Ebony's daughter....I remember the Ebony thread; that was a sad thread But WOWZERS! 11! Absolutely wonderful picture, too.

 

[ladysown]

enjoy them!

 

[trinityoaks]

What fun, and what a fine lot of little fat bunnykins!

 

[Half Caper Farm]

Nice chubby litter. She should be ok to raise 11 - I had two commercial does a couple of years back that had 11 and 12 each, then had 2 more kits each fostered to them. They never missed a beat or lost a kit.

 

[Truckinguy]

The odd colour one turned out to be a blue. Got a couple looking a bit scrawny but the rest are fat and squirmy. I can't believe how warm it is in the nest and the garage is freezing! Rabbit fur is a great insulator!

 

[Aileen]

I'm guessing here - does mama get extra food til babie are weaned?

 

[Truckinguy]

Yup, momma is free fed while lactating. My does usually eat and drink like a horse while nursing. I guess their metabolism is in full hyper drive!<br /><br />__________ Tue Feb 02, 2010 9:26 am __________<br /><br />Down to 10 now but the ten are fat and sassy with full bellies! One pink one looked poorly a couple of days ago so I wasn't surprised. Fingers crossed!

 

[avdpas77]

Bad eyes? :lookout:

 

[Devon's Mom Lauren]

The dark ones look like House Hippos LOL! Nice looking litter and that blue one looks nice too I love that colour.