What to do....

[OneAcreFarm]

I have 9 does currently. Of those 9 does, 7 have had kits in the last two weeks.
Of those 7 does, 5 have made nests, pulled fur, had the kits in the box and fed
the kits. All these litters are doing extremely well, and three of them were
first timers.

The other two, also first timers, did not carry hay or pull fur. They had the
kits in the boxes, but Tizzy's litter chilled to death before I could find it. She
was sitting in the box like a chicken and the kits had tunneled away from her
and each other. All six died. The other one, Megs, had them in the box but it was cold and there was no fur so they got chilled. I brought 5 inside, there was one dead one that I tossed to the cats. I revived them and went back outside to find another kit had been born and half eaten...The box was a pit of poop and urine as well. I gave the five to the other doe that lost her kits but she has not been caring for them well. This morning they were cold again and three had died. I put the remaining two in the box with Hermoine, which is the youngest litter I have. Not sure if they will make it but it is worth trying.

I know I won't be keeping Megs. She has terrible feet as well, so she is going to FC this weekend.

Should I even bother trying again with Tizzy? I have been calling her the "Daft B....", heard that on a Brit-com and it seemed to fit. ) She is one of the "Three Furies", sisters that were all so squirrely to begin with. Of the three, Sassy is the only one that got it right. She had a litter of 8, in the box, pulled fur, fed them and they are growing well. She has also calmed down a lot.

With all my other does doing so well, I am thinking it is not worth the effort
to even keep her....

What do you think?

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I would say it depends on your cage space- if you breed her back and can grow out a litter while still having room for growing out replacement does, I would give her another chance. If you still want to cull her after that, you might be able to sell her as a proven doe if she does well her second time. Since you have already invested the time and money to get her this far, you may as well give her another month and see how it goes.

 

[kotapony]

MamaSheepdog offers a good suggestion I think. But if it were me, I'd probably cull her. Economically you have enough in her that giving one more chance makes sense. But from my view point, rabbits are a hobby and hobbies are something I have precious little time for. The food source is great, but my main motivation is my enjoyment of caring for them. If you were saying this was otherwise your favorite doe ever, then by all means I'd give her another chance or two. But the fact that she's the Daft B$&@ kinda says it all to me. I'd cull her and put my effort into does I actually liked.

 

[MaggieJ]

Both MamaSheepdog and Kotapony offer good reasoning for their answers. With so many other really good does, I would probably cull her... but then I always have to cull hard because of space and because I only have so much energy to put into critter chores. There is no "right" decision here, just a choice for you to make.

 

[MamaSheepdog]

I agree with both points of view myself! If space is tight, I wouldn't hesitate to cull her- you might just have a line of excellent first time kindlers with your other does... and you likely don't want to breed in a wacky temperament either. But I like to give animals a chance, as in my personal case with Evil Blue (who remains evil, btw, despite hopefully being bred!)- plus I like to get a return on my investment, and feel that a second chance to recoup some pellets is worth another month.

I'm sounding like a bit of a gambler here, I know! "My luck is about to change, I feel it in my bones! Another $20 on Red! Waitress, another rum and coke, please!" :lol:

 

[Miss M]

Many have a "three strike" policy for new does. They will often mess up the first time or two, only to be perfect mothers forever after that.

 

[Bramble Hedge]

I am afraid I agree with everyone, so I am no help at all.