New Zealand Red--Fatty?

[EnglishSpot]

Weighed her again today, 10.5lbs! When she was out and hopping about, I noticed that she now has a waistline! And one of the stomach rolls disappeared! She looks overall slimmer. She's not lean but she's not as tubby as last week. I gave her some kale today, she inhaled it after she tried the first leaf.

I have BOSS as a part of my feed and today I really noticed how nice and soft her coat is! When she first came home it was very dry and reminded me of how a taxidermist mounted fox would feel (yeah, I was the bad kid and touched all the stuffed animals at the Nature Center) and she wasn't that "nice" to the touch. A few days ago I brushed her and while the hair wasn't as dry, it still was just 'ok'. Today, what a remarkable difference! I think between the excercise, BOSS, and ACV, she's really making progress!

Anybody want to rescue her sister and a fellow cagemate? They're out in Chardon, OH. The NZW is Snow White and the NZR is Ariel. Wish I could have taken Ariel also. http://cleveland.craigslist.org/grd/4761187994.html

 

[Zass]

She is beautiful, If I was close enough, I'd consider it.

Do they actually have adult NZ rabbits in 24x18 inch cages???? :shock: Because it's kinda what it looks like from the pics... Or maybe they are just in them because the rabbitry is being dissembled.

At least, the resting pads are considerate.

 

[JenerationX]

The cage in that 4th picture looks ummmm..... beat to hell.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Yes, the rabbits were in 24x18s. I feel bad for them. Do you see the mountain of food in the bowl? No wonder all the rabbits are rolling lardyards. Confined space+no exercise+LOTS of food=fatties And he wondered why their litters were small?

Granted, I have Fiona in a 24x24, but I let her out to roam on a daily basis for about an hour or so. She can stand, stretch, groom, run and be rabbity in the yard.

The row of cages are pretty rusty at the bottom and they're all one piece, so I passed on them.

I keep getting the urge to go back for Ariel! I don't have the room for her.

As far as the "grow-out" cages he has there are about six turkeys also living in the area of the barn where the cages are stacked, and he said the turkeys go destructive and pull everything around. <br /><br /> __________ Wed Feb 25, 2015 11:04 pm __________ <br /><br /> It's been over a month since the last post on this thread and my fatty is what I think is called 'rubenesque'!! LOL She's lost weight, has a waist, no longer has stomach rolls, and really enjoys digging in the snow banks!!

I bred her on February 3 and I can tell she's pregnant just from the complete change in personality!! She was moved into a much larger cage I buildt and gave her a nest box today. She started mussing with that instead of trying to tear through the floor of her cage like she usually does when I give her hay and straw. Now Fiona just lounges with her eyes half closed and has a restful attitude with addition of the nest box nearby. She nearly fell asleep in the presence of my husband and two kids running around like crazies!! The last few days I've been able to reach into the cage and pet her head, ears and body without fussing at me. I think the Craisins helped--she's a girl that can be bribed!! She's inquisitive and a nice rabbit.

I'm really looking forward to her litter. I'm wondering if I'll get reds or agoutis having been bred to a self black. Heh, my sister may not get this rabbit!!

 

[Susie570]

Fun to read about her journey. Heck, after all that work, I would keep her too. What ever happened to her sister? And, you forgot an updated picture.

 

[EnglishSpot]

I don't know what happened to Ariel, I'm almost afraid to look on CL and find her and Snow White still posted. I'm still tempted to get her, but it's an hour's drive into the snowbelt here in northern Ohio, and it was a white-knuckled drive almost two months ago. I am looking forward to keeping a daughter or two from Fiona, knowing they come from a solid rabbit.

Here's a picture of Fiona that I took today. She's loving her new digs.

 

[Susie570]

She looks much more... 'proportional'!! Great job!

 

[JenerationX]

Ok... you switched rabbits on us.

 

[EnglishSpot]

LOL! I most certainly did not switch rabbits!! Thirty minutes ago that self same rabbit gave me a love bite on my hand in the same spot she did a month ago!

She's made a nice nest in the box I gave her, so I'll post about her babies on this thread.

__________ Sun Mar 08, 2015 12:51 am __________

SHE KINDLED THIS MORNING!!! (Ironically, today was the day the scab fell off my hand where she nipped me in the last post.)

I was in the garage hanging with the rabbs at 2am (I got out of work at 1) and by about 3 went in the house. I went to bed, got up at 10am (7 hours later) and checked on everyone again and lo and behold!! Fiona had her litter!!!

I pulled Lexi's box to get pictures and had my hands full with Fiona's as well! She didn't pull a lot of fur, it seemed (or maybe because she's a NZR and her fur isn't as fluffy as Lexi's??) so I was uncertain how many I'd find.

I made myself go through and check Lexi's litter first since they're now 24 hours old. Took pics with the help of ArticWolfLady. Put everyone back and "opened" my present of Fiona's box!

Not a whole lot of hair but wow NINE babies!!! That three more than her prior litters of only six for her original owner! Three blacks and six ?????. I don't know what an agouti baby looks like (dad is an aa, I assume Fiona's an Aa, hence the three blacks in the litter). All of them except one had bellies with milk in it (gonna keep an eye on that one) so Fiona had already fed them!! When I put the kits back, I added fur from Lexi's nestbox. Fiona didn't quite know what to think when I gave her the box back, she kept going and sniffing the added fur.

Here are a couple shots of three of her kits. The lighting made the brown kits look black, but the ones with the otter look to them are a deep chocolate brown. Can anyone assist?

 

[Susie570]

I don't know but their smooshy little faces are killing me!!

 

[JenerationX]

Fatty kits! LOL

 

[katiebear]

WOW.. nine from Lexi and now nine from Fiona , Those girls are keepers...I'd find sister in law something else...

 

[ladysown]

looks like black and agouti. pretty much to be expected. Enjoy those kits.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Oy! Nearly a month has passed since Fiona and Lexi had their babies! Tomorrow Fiona, about 12 babies, and four of my 9wkrs go to my sister's place in southern Ohio! I've got the cat kennels ready for travel and on the way we drop Henry (another of the 9wkrs) off to his new owner. I'm keeping a male and female from Fiona, so I'll sort them tomorrow and put them in with Lexi. I weighed my biggest 9wkr today and he's 3.6lbs!!

 

[Susie570]

Congrats, EnglishSpot! I know you'll miss Fiona though.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Fiona, the four 9wk olds, and twelve 4wk olds were delivered to my sister this past weekend! I have to say I am rather relieved to not have 26 rabbits on hand. I kept two of Fiona's babies and the four broken babies from Lexi. Now is the time to clean up, get the Fortress of Rabbitude ready for the outdoors, grind all the sharp points from the cages, and re-situate the eight rabbits left. I am looking forward to not feeling overwhelmed by rabbits!!

This weekend it poured rain EVERY SINGLE TIME we went to work with the rabbits!! I told my sister she should name her rabbitry 'Rainmaker Rabbits'. Fiona tried to nip me again before I left. I laughed!! Good bye Fiona!! It was amusing because I consolidated five of Lexi's litter in with Fiona's bunch for the trip, so when time came, Fiona now has 12 babies in her cage! It's so cute when she was laying out and they'd just crawl on top of her. Thanks to Maggie for her bunny bucket idea; I did that for my sister's rabbit cages!! And got the sink dish pads from Dollar Tree for resting pads. Thank you RT!

I just hope I did get a boy and girl from Fiona's bunch before I left! If I got two girls I won't be too sad, but if I did manage to keep a boy, YAY!!! If they both end up being boys, I'll just grow them out and decide whom to keep on size, temperament, and the like! I really hope I managed to correctly sex them and got one of each!! <br /><br /> __________ Tue Jul 07, 2015 1:39 pm __________ <br /><br /> On a very sad note, this morning my sister called and let me know that Fiona had died unexpectedly. She wasn't too far along with kits, but apparently she'd been bleeding from her vent and her lips were blue. That is all I know of Fiona's passing. -/-(

While this puts a crimp in our program, Fiona is not entirely gone. Heaven remains, the only living kit from Fiona's litter this spring.

She'll have Fiona's grandbabies next month.

 

[Susie570]

aww... have to wonder what happened to her, poor thing :/

Glad you have her kit and future generations to look forward to!

 

[alforddm]

She was such a pretty rabbit. I hope her daughter has great kits for you.

 

[EnglishSpot]

Amusingly, my buck Wheatley shares some grandparents with Fiona, so her genes will be on both sides!