Popple (kit) question

[Brody]

Ok.. I haven't had a litter in awhile and the last litter I had was at the shelter .. so I was busy doing my job not drooling over them daily ...
Joy's new litter is just 17 days old and they are DETERMINED to follow mom around the crate she is residing in here ...
I'm sure the last litter was 21 + days old - are these guys the typical ones or was the last litter? Is this litter starving or is it just the difference between NZW kits (last litter) and JW popples? The himi (or whatever s/he is) has always been VERY active - and the smallest of the bunch

thanks

andrea

 

[Anntann]

Can only give you my experiences with the NWZ and the Angora kits, but the NWZ took a LOT longer than the Angoras to get out of the nestbox. I'm guessing a week difference. The angora kits were out fast...and I remember posting the question about how to keep them IN, thinking they were latching onto Mom and coming out with her. They've been out eating pellets and hay for 10 days now, and out exploring things for a week before that..and they're only 4 1/2 weeks old.

Thinking outloud...other species follow a "large = slow growing; small = fast off the mark"...I would think that rabbits are the same?

 

[MaggieJ]

Well my experience has all been with mutts, so I can't comment on the different breeds, but I do know that some does are more permissive than others. My matriarch doe, Patches, was permissive and doting. Her kits were out of the box by two weeks or so and she was still nursing them occasionally at 7 - 8 weeks. She loved her babies.

Her sister, Brindle, on the other hand ran a tight ship. She was a nervous but successful mother, a bit on the aggressive side after kindling and I'm quite certain she made her kits stay in that box... or else! They were generally about three weeks old before they were out and then they sat up on the hood of the box in a line and didn't dare move. I didn't keep Brindle very long. She had huge litters and raised almost every kit, but they were all nervous and lanky... didn't fill out and were just not what I wanted. But... those two does taught me a lot.

 

[Brody]

thanks- very helpful as always

Joy is a bit nervous as a mom - she isn't thrilled they are out - in fact she clambers into the box to get away from them ... but she seems to still be feeding them so all is well I guess ..

 

[MaggieJ]

She needs to get away from them some of the time... Kits can be relentless in their quest for more milk! As long as they seem to be doing okay and she is feeding them at least once or twice a day, they should be fine.

 

[ladysown]

not sure if breed makes a difference or if it's mom who makes the difference, or if it's just something genetic.

my most recent observations:
Holland Lop doe. 8 kits. Fostered two to a harlequin doe who only had five kits. This way, even things out a bit. Holland Lop doe...kits out of box starting just after day 10, but very definitively at two weeks. The two that were fostered. Often find the two HL kits out, but they are more prone to go to sleep with their harlequin fostermates if I pop them back into the nestbox. The other six, I can pop them back in to my heart's content, they'll just pop right back out.

But I've had NZ kits out at three weeks and others that I've had to force out at five week. Same with Mini Rex, Harlequin and Holland lops. This HL litter at two weeks has been a bit of shocker.

The one Netherland dwarf litter I had stayed in box til week four, except for one very precocious into everything kit that was a VERY hard sell as a pet. Ended up going to the pet store as no one wanted that very busy little body.