upcoming excitement

[sam]

In five days our family will be expecting some new babies. We are new to this project and other than research I have been doing for quite a while, we are pretty green at this. I know to put kindle boxes in three days before they kindle but what would some advice be to be ready for the special day? What should we be doing and/or have on hand for the upcoming days. Thank you for your help and advice.

Sam

 

[Zass]

You will need to have straw or hay available as nesting material. Some people also add a layer of wood chips in winter.

Other tan that...rabbits pretty much do all the work themselves. Watch to make sure Momma has all the babies in the box and pulls enough fur, and also make sure she has enough cage room to get away from the nestbox, as she will typically only be visiting it for about 10 minutes once or twice a day.

 

[KKRabbitry]

Nest boxes are the essential thing, and you know about that
We fill ours with a small layer of shavings at the bottom, and lot's of nice, soft hay.
This time of the year, the most important thing is to make sure the kits stay warm once they are born.
Hopefully your does will make good nests, and pull lot's of hair.
We usually put heat lamps on our first time does, just to make sure they do ok.

Another thing is to make sure that your does toenails are trimmed nice and short. Other wise there is a greater chance of them bruising or puncturing the babies on accident. We have lost a couple that way, due to clumsy mothers

Can't think of anything else in particular. 95% of the time everything goes well.
Best of luck with those new babies, we want to see pictures when they are born!
What breed are they?

 

[sam]

I do have straw for them that my daughter filled the nest boxes with. The barn is enclosed with heaters in it to keep the waters from freezing so I'm hoping that will be good for them. We have cal's and NZ that are due this weekend and through next week. 14 in all. I also have SF that will be bred in Feb for the first time. Thanks again for all the help.

S

 

[LilacGal]

:hex: :hex: Healthy Popple Dance!

 

[sam]

put nesting boxes in this morning. Is it common for them to pull all the straw out. I had 4 that jumped in and dug down to the bottom of the box to the wire. Will they cover it back up or do I need to put more straw in? I saw on a post here that someone uses cardboard and they will shred it for the nest, does that sound like a good idea? Man I have a lot of questions. Sorry for all the novice rambling but I'd really like to do it right the first time and not make stupid mistakes.There are lives, small as they may be, in the balance and I'd like to give them the best chance to start with. Thanks so much.

S

 

[ilovehome]

I have a doe that does that...see the Sweetie Pie is a She Devil post. She put the hay back in last night, and remade the nest with a good dose of fur. I put some fresh hay in her cage once I saw she was actually nest building. Good luck!

 

[sam]

I went out to check how the nesting is going to find that 3 of the five boxes the girls pulled out all the straw for nesting. One looked like she was making a nest on the bottom of the cage. Is this normal? These are all first time moms except for one of the five that is not pulling out all the straw. Any ideas to keep the straw in or is it one of those things that they will do what they do. Getting concerned

S<br /><br />__________ Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:32 pm __________<br /><br />ok so I have figured out what was wrong. My 16year old daughter informed me that the reason why they are making nests outside of their boxes is because their boxes are not "bedazzled". Here I thought I was doing something wrong and it boils down to I have DIVA'S for does or ones with style.

 

[3mina]

If its possible, I know it isn't always, put the boxes where the girls are nesting. Otherwise, just keep putting the straw back in.
Are these all first time does? Sometimes maiden does don't always get all the steps in the correct order so be aware of it and expect possible losses because of their inexperience. It doesn't mean you've done something wrong, it's just inexperience. I just keep track of who does what in my notes so I can make decisions when the time comes.

 

[concreteblonde]

I went out to check how the nesting is going to find that 3 of the five boxes the girls pulled out all the straw for nesting. One looked like she was making a nest on the bottom of the cage. Is this normal? These are all first time moms except for one of the five that is not pulling out all the straw. Any ideas to keep the straw in or is it one of those things that they will do what they do. Getting concerned

S

__________ Mon Dec 16, 2013 10:32 pm __________

ok so I have figured out what was wrong. My 16year old daughter informed me that the reason why they are making nests outside of their boxes is because their boxes are not "bedazzled". Here I thought I was doing something wrong and it boils down to I have DIVA'S for does or ones with style.

LOL!

I have a doe, that on her second litter decided she didn't want anything to do with the nest box. She would pull the hay out and put it in the corner between the nest box and the wall. I would put it back in and she would pull it back out. Finally, I gave up and she had her entire litter right in the corner. One of the kits fell out and I put her back in. I took zip ties and put up smaller gauge wire around the bottom so the kits wouldn't fall out.

They are all healthy as can be! Never have seen anything like it before.

 

[sam]

i have been putting two nest boxes in so its harder for them to make a nest on the floor. two of the three have decided to play nice and one even went all "Bob Villa" on me this morning and started pulling hair out and making a really nice nest. Thanks for all the help and advice. Yes these are first time moms except one.