Our first live litter YAY!!!

[Jensbuns]

Let me start by saying, we're newbies at raising meat rabbits. Last summer we bought our breeding stock- two Californian does and a buck. Our first litter of five was born on Christmas day. Not sure why but they all died. We were a little concerned about the second doe delivering while it was so cold out, so we brought her in and made a pen in the basement. Well, this morning she had a nice nest built in her box and a live litter . She has a good amount of straw in her box, but I noticed shes pushing wood chips in there as well. Could those smother the babies??? Anyway, it's good to know this forum is here.

 

[CritterCatcher]

congrats on the litter...

I use about a inch of shaving in the bottom of my nest boxes...they do stir it up but have not had a problem ..mine do fine
CC

 

[Miss M]

:bouncy: Congratulations on the new popples! :bouncy:

 

[MaggieJ]

Hello, Jensbuns and welcome to RabbitTalk! :hi:

Congratulations! That first litter of popples is always so exciting!

:mbounce:

 

[Anntann]

Congratulations on the litter! It's just so exciting!! You might want to add some broken up straw or hay to the box. Particularly to block off nest a bit so the kits don't crawl out or get dragged. (I learned that trick a couple of litters ago). I have one doe who puts EVERYTHING into her nestbox. If she could figure out how to get the feeder off the wall, that would be in there, too. :roll:

 

[Jensbuns]

Just wondering- but it doesn't seem like she's feeding them. I've read that the mothers don't spend much time with the kits, but I haven't seen her in there with them yet. Hope she knows what she's doing. So far they still all look alive and are wiggling like crazy. Praying this litter makes it! I can't get a good count, but it looks like six or seven. :?

 

[MaggieJ]

It is perfectly okay to take the kits out to do a count and to see if they are being fed. You will rarely see a doe in with her kits. She feeds them only once or twice a day for a few minutes... Rabbit milk is incredibly rich. The rest of the time she ignores them to avoid drawing "predators" to the nest. This is instinctual behaviour and persists even though there are no predators about.

To tell if the kits have been fed, take them out and look at their bellies. The belly should be nicely rounded and may even be distended if they have just been fed. If it is flat, shrunken and wrinkly, it may mean they have not been fed. When you return them to the nest, cover them with the fur "blanket" and expect the doe to hop in and check to make sure you did it right.

 

[Pickles]

Congrats on the little ones!

 

[curlysue]

Congratulations!I hardly ever see my does nursing.check early in the morning you can see the milk in the tummies.

 

[Jensbuns]

Counted them this morning and she has five very healthy kits. They do not have a fur blanket on them, but their bellies seem full.

 

[MaggieJ]

It would be a good idea to add some insulating materials on top of the kits if the doe has not pulled enough fur. Dryer lint works well but you can also use teased cotton batting or cotton puffs, feathers from a pillow and even shredded newspaper. You can also pluck fur from the doe's dewlap and belly... sometimes this will stimulate the doe to pull more fur on her own.

A good idea is to save fur from your rabbits when they moult for just such an occasion. There is nothing as warm for them as bunny fur.

 

[Jensbuns]

Oh my! I think I'll try the cotton balls, because this doe is pretty nasty. I can't imagine trying to pull her fur. She won't even let us touch her without growling and trying to bite. Is that typical of Californian does? Our buck is as sweet as can be, but these does are just plain mean.

 

[Anntann]

It does seem to be reported more with California does than any other breed. yup. (although the white NZ have a bad reputation, too)

 

[garnetmoth]

Congrats!
Our Cal sr. doe was very standoffish until she had happy babies (2nd litter) who lived and started jumping all over her. She calmed right down. Now she doesnt mind being pet (our NZ buck will come up for petting and runs around in circles when someone comes down to visit. )

 

[Miss M]

It does seem to be reported more with California does than any other breed. yup. (although the white NZ have a bad reputation, too)

Though I have a NZW that melts like a pat of butter if you rub her head. I actually put both hands in there and rubbed both of her cheeks and her head at the same time (like I used to do with our cats), and she acted like she was in bunny heaven!

 

[mountainrabbits]

First off Congratulations on the new kits! :mbounce: I've heard the same things about cali's and nz's, that they are mean-spirited hard to handle animals...but I've had both (bucks and does) and haven't seen any indication of that kind of temperment. I know that earlier on in the development of most commercial breeds they bred for size and not at all caring about personality and probably didn't go above and beyond to socialize their herds any more than bare necessity (feeding watering weighing and such). To avoid this I would handle the kits as much as possible-really get them used to being touched rubbed feet held ears checked etc. while they are very young. For most meat herds you pick out the biggest fastest growing does and bucks to keep but I wouldn't keep them if they have a nasty temperment-if the next biggest has a better personality keep them instead-that way you can still have size and output without dealing with a killer bunny or worse-several killer bunnies in your herd. I would also look at the does from your next couple litters and save the biggest sweetest ones you can to replace the meaner does, it will take a while to see how the saved does mature before you can get rid of the mean ones but it will probably be very worth your wait.

 

[Jensbuns]

One week old! I guess all the fussing and worry was for nothing, because we seem to have five healthy buns. Thanks to everyone for the advice. The doe is still downright nasty, she charges at us when we go to feed her and she tries to bite, but she seems to be mothering well for a first timer.

 

[MaggieJ]

Jensbuns, your doe will likely calm down once the kits' eyes open. I think does know how helpless the kits are in that first ten days or so.