What does this movement mean in the video

[garden lady]

I have 5 rabbits. They are Flemish Giants that were given to me. There are 2 males 3 females and they were running loose in the neighborhood. My husband built a hutch and we caught them and they were caught Aug. 18 and 19th. I saw their sides moving and thought they were pregnant and read on line it is peristalsis and it looks like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9EvwV490EM. After reading this was just digestion type movement I was happy and decided they were not pregnant. The older female is now day 32 IF she was bred the day we caught her. The other 2 are day 31. So, about a week ago this one female was building a nest, carrying hay in mouth and everything. Then, yesterday morning there was fur in her nest, lots and lots all piled in the nest. She seemed just a little different, but by night she was calm and eating, but after she built the nest I watched her and she had movement like this http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k9EvwV490EM so I thought she was pregnant and then after she pulled fur this movement stopped. Has anybody seen either one of these kinds of movements in a pregnant rabbit? If her babies died then she would be sick or I would see a change? Tonight she is eating and seems fine. We have been in the 80s during the day, but cool in the morning and at night. Hope this is not too long and it makes sense. Thank you!

 

[SatinsRule]

On several occasions in the past year alone, my does have not littered until day 35, and a couple have done so at about day 37. It's normal. Be patient.

 

[ZRabbits]

Thanks for posting the videos. That's just so cool! Yes, patience is the key when it comes to Mommy watch. Hope to hear the news soon that you have healthy Flemish popples.

BTW, Welcome to Rabbit Talk.

Karen

 

[MaggieJ]

Welcome to RabbitTalk, Garden Lady! :hi:

Did you take a look under the pile of fur? She may have already kindled.

 

[SatinsRule]

I hadn't even noticed it was your first post!

Welcome to Rabbit Talk!!!

 

[Mary Ann's Rabbitry]

yes, Like maggies said. If there is so much fur in there you think there is no babies,until you start digging. If not she will very soon.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I bet there are kits under all that fur.... :bunnyhop: :bunnyhop:

and :welcome: :welcomewagon: :welcomewagon: :welcomewagon:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Welcome to RabbitTalk, Garden Lady! :welcomewagon:

If there aren't any kits under all of the fur, I bet there will be soon! Sometimes does will start pulling fur a couple of days prior to kindling.

Congratulations on catching the Feral Flemmies! I hope they give you a good start in rabbit raising.

 

[3mina]

Welcome home, I'm thinking you've probably got popples in that nest or will have soon.

 

[garden lady]

Thank you all! You all are so smart! I went out this morning and she has 1 HUGE baby. I am not sure if she is done. I will put a picture later. opcorn:

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Whoo-hoo! Hopefully she will have some more soon.

Single kits have a hard time maintaining their body heat, so depending on the temperature there, it may be a good idea to put a hot water bottle in the nest. You can fill a small water bottle with hot water and put it in a sock. Glass holds heat better, but unless you have something small it would probably take up too much room in the nest. The kit needs to be able to move away if it gets too warm.

 

[garden lady]

Welcome to RabbitTalk, Garden Lady! :hi:

Did you take a look under the pile of fur? She may have already kindled.

I think you are right. When I saw the movement stop, I think she had them and I did not see the fur moving in the nest, so thought nothing was there.<br /><br />__________ Thu Sep 20, 2012 11:54 am __________<br /><br />

Whoo-hoo! Hopefully she will have some more soon.
Well you can tell I am an amateur at this. I went out with the camera and the one baby was gone, so I put my hand in the fur and there are 5 babies. I am wondering now if they were born yesterday. In this picture I moved the fur. I was not sure if there were 5 and thought I better look again and make sure no dead ones and see if all was right, so went back and she had covered them again with the fur. The temperture today is going to be 85 or so. It has been for several days. The box they are in is on the east side, but you can see the hay and fur in there. I have a nest box in the front part, but she took all the hay out. At night it gets in the 40s. The hutch is under trees and shaded. I do not have to worry about being cold, but will the babies be okay with that amount of fur? Here is a picture of the babies and Lulu the mother today.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

Those kits look at least 3 days old to me, but I have Rex and their fur may not come in as quickly as other breeds. Are you sure she only pulled fur yesterday? Is it possible that she had them before she pulled fur and you just didn't see them?

Usually kits start opening their eyes at nine days, so that will give you a better idea of their birthday.

They look very sleek and healthy! Congratulations!

 

[Dreamerz]

Congrats & Welcome !!!

 

[MamaMandy]

I'd say MSD is right on their age...my baby chestnut Netherland Dwarf looked black for the first few days until the fur came in a little bit more. Congrats on the Flemish babies and welcome to Rabbit Talk.

 

[garden lady]

Those kits look at least 3 days old to me, but I have Rex and their fur may not come in as quickly as other breeds. Are you sure she only pulled fur yesterday? Is it possible that she had them before she pulled fur and you just didn't see them?

Usually kits start opening their eyes at nine days, so that will give you a better idea of their birthday.

They look very sleek and healthy! Congratulations!

Thank you! We found fur the morning of the 18th and no babies because my husband felt in there, but the morning of the 19th I did not feel the nest, just looked in. Not sure if it changed any though, but they could have been born on the 19th. I have no idea how long she was carrying them. I caught the last male on Aug. 19 and she was caught Aug 20, so she would have had to been bred at least by Aug. 18 so today is day 33 IF they were bred the last day, which is so crazy. They were loose all that time and so far the other 2 females have not pulled fur or made a nest and if they do my gosh opcorn: Can you imagine if we had not caught them how many rabbits there would be running loose! I got to thinking about what a good mama she is and her mother must have bee a great one to have her babies without hay, without a box, without good food.

 

[OneAcreFarm]

I bet she had them sometime on the 18th, after your hubby checked....they look at least that old. Congratulations!

 

[garden lady]

I think my post is too big, so going to put part here. I am still trying to find my way around Rabbit Talk. I posted this on Backyard Chickens.
Well, these are just the mystery rabbits. Not sure if they were born last night or night before, but there are 5 BABY RABBITS!! I saw the one because it was out of the fur. I went back with the camera and it was gone. I felt in the fur and found 5 babies. In the picture they are uncovered and I did that. I went in the house and talked to my family and went back to make sure there were not any dead ones because I had not felt way back in the nest. Pretty sure there are 5 and she had covered them back up again. They are fat and healthy. I changed my avatar. The one before was her sister Sunshine. The picture today is Lulu the mother. Lulu and her brothers and sisters were not born in a hutch or even a colony, they were born in the wild. Not sure of the whole story, but somewhere a few years ago somebody felt SORRY for 2 Flemish Giants and turned them loose and they had babies, who had babies, who had babies. This neighbor went and got 4 of them a year and a half ago. They were running around and winter came and next spring he gave 3 away because he did not want rabbits.<br /><br />__________ Thu Sep 20, 2012 12:45 pm __________<br /><br />One was running loose. She was digging tunnels in my yard, eating my hollyhocks and sleeping by the patio. My daughter named her Zoup. She went home off and on to see what was going on over there and he caught her. Put her in a hutch and did not know she was pregnant and she had 9 babies on the wire that died. He felt SORRY for her, so went back to this place and got 4 more baby rabbits, which are Lulu, Sunshine, Snickers and Cream who are maybe 9 months old. Not sure if Snickers or Cream is the daddy of the new 5. The man kept them over there in a hutch and then he left and his family turned them loose. They were digging tunnels and running loose. The family moved away. Lady that owned the house said I could have them. I was tossing food over the fence for months and watering them. New people moved in and had dogs. Rabbits took off through the wire and came to my garden, so we built a hutch to last a LIFETIME and caught them. They were born wild, but caught young and had attention when little, but then later none, but they love attention. They are not big. Zoup is the size of a Flemish Giant, but these 4 are small, but still growing. It will be interesting to see if the new 5 if fed correctly from the beginning will be normal size.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

eating my hollyhocks

Really? I have been wondering if I could feed Hollyhocks to the bunnies. I guess the answer is yes.

 

[3mina]

MSD and garden lady, what colours of hollyhocks do you have? single or double blooms? I would be grateful for (and happy to buy) any spare seed pods.