# doe kindled... only 2 kits. is that normal?



## EmilyClick28 (Apr 18, 2016)

so I bred my mini lop doe last month. she's a first-time mother so i was prepared for the worst. Luckily, on in the middle of the night on day 32 she kindled perfectly in the nestbox and pulled a boatload of hair. I checked it this morning and was surprised to see there are only 2 kits! im thrilled to have any babies, and she cleaned the box up nicely and ate the placenta, and the babies are both warm and healthy, but i thought mini lops usually have at least 3.... is birthing only 2 kits normal?


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## samssimonsays (Apr 18, 2016)

It is not uncommon for smaller first litters. Any rabbit can have 1 and up in kit counts. COngrats on the babies! 

I had a french lop give me 1 kit her second litter. Sometimes if they are a bit older when bred for the first time they can give smaller litters as well. Sometimes it is just the rabbit. I had several that gave me three every time where as others have given me 12-15 each time.


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## EmilyClick28 (Apr 18, 2016)

wow really? huh yeah this doe is almost a year old, so a bit on the older side. I'm super happy to just have any babies, either way! this is my first successful breeding. do you maybe have any tips for keeping them warm? i heard with less kits they can get cold easier. since its been going below freezing at night where i live, i moved the doe to my bedroom to kindle about a week ago. shes litter trained so shes just been living in my bedroom. its fairly warm in here so i was hoping that would help keep the kits warm. and she pulled a boatload of fur, and the kits SEEM fairly warm, i just want to make sure they stay healthy. this doe seems to be a natural supermom! on her first ever litter shes been doing really great and everything, and shes very protective of the litter. shes just been sitting beside the nest box, like shes guarding it all day, i had to get her out to check the babies. but yeah do u have any tips on keeping a small litter warm? is there anything more i could be doing?


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## SandDherds (Apr 18, 2016)

If it's pretty warm in your room and there is plenty of fur in the nest box and the kits feel warm to the touch you should be fine. I've never had a problem with my girls kindling in -5 everyone survived aslong as there was plenty of fur and straw/fur in the nest. Congrats on the kits! I'm currently waiting for my first English lop litter and when I palpated 2 weeks ago I was able to feel at least 6, I should have kits here anyday now!


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## samssimonsays (Apr 18, 2016)

I wouldn't worry unless they start to fail. If they are inside the house and there is fur, she's doing a great job!


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## LukeMeister (Apr 18, 2016)

Congrats on the kits! 
I had a Dutch doe birth two babies, then I palpated her and it turned out she had five more babies still in the womb!
She could have more kits in the womb but it's been a while so maybe not. As @Samantha drawz already said, sometimes does just give birth to one or two kits so this is normal.


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## EmilyClick28 (Apr 18, 2016)

SandDherds said:


> If it's pretty warm in your room and there is plenty of fur in the nest box and the kits feel warm to the touch you should be fine. I've never had a problem with my girls kindling in -5 everyone survived aslong as there was plenty of fur and straw/fur in the nest. Congrats on the kits! I'm currently waiting for my first English lop litter and when I palpated 2 weeks ago I was able to feel at least 6, I should have kits here anyday now!



yeah the kits are very warm to the touch. one of them is wiggling around quite a bit and very responsive to me holding it, and even made little grunting noises. the other one seems to be sleeping a lot more and slightly smaller, and not quite as responsive, but its very warm and its alive so i hope its okay. the mom i think has really good instincts because she seems to be doing a pretty good job with them. i hope they make it!


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## EmilyClick28 (Apr 18, 2016)

LukeMeister said:


> Congrats on the kits!
> I had a Dutch doe birth two babies, then I palpated her and it turned out she had five more babies still in the womb!
> She could have more kits in the womb but it's been a while so maybe not. As @Samantha drawz already said, sometimes does just give birth to one or two kits so this is normal.



really? well that would be neat! yeah it would be nice to have a larger litter. but huh yeah okee good to know.  
thanks everyone very helpful!  ill keep u updated on how it goes!


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## EmilyClick28 (Apr 18, 2016)

oh yeah, one more thing! so i was wondering if theres a way to tell what color the babies will be when they grow up, just by their skin color?
one of them is light pink all over, so i was thinking that one might be white? 
the other one is like dark grayish with a pink underbelly. any idea what color that would be? chestnut? black? chocolate? gray?


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## SandDherds (Apr 18, 2016)

The pink should be white and the other I have had lots of chestnuts it seems chestnuts have small pink dots on there heads and pink inside the rates so if that the case you probably have a white and a chestnut! What color was the doe? Pictures would help! (And I love little wrinkly baby bunnies!!)


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## EmilyClick28 (Apr 18, 2016)

The doe is a chestnut agouti, and the buck is a solid black. And yeah the dark one is like dark all over except it's belly and underside is pink


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## SandDherds (Apr 18, 2016)

Yep then I would gusse she/he is chestnut! I used breed a pair of a mini dutch mix and a holland lop alot! The doe is chestnut and the bucks I used were a tort lop (R.I.P skyler) my last litter from them was about 6 months ago but all of those kits got out and a bear put an end to them... buuut I also put an end to that bear...well actually i had a wild life rehabilitation guy trap him soo we are kinda even now... even if he killed 4 of my ducks about 7 of my rabbits including my favorite (R.I.P lucky) and some of my hens and a turkey if you want to see the pics I got of the monster I could show you lol he was climbing on my door and I snapped a few photos and videos. But back to the rabbits I always got pure blacks and chestnuts from that pairing I wanted torts but I always got chestnut that looked like ditches or just straight blacks. Here is her all her kits (R.I.P all of you guys and gals!)


 

 

please excuse the pics that have nothing to do with the bunnies this was 6 months ago and I had to use my phone and take pictures of the pictures on my phone lol and at that time I had a mama hen eat the top of her eggs so if you saw that egg that was where it was from (p.s the chick survived) The same chestnut doe is bred to a pure black mini dutch mini rex mix right now!! And should Kindle in a week or so!


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## EmilyClick28 (Apr 19, 2016)

oookaaaaay well cool im planning on showing some my rabbits, and i heard chestnuts are a good color for that. wow a bear? thats crazy! sorry about your losses  those are such cute babies though! and i really hope it goes well for you! haha i can see youre a much more experienced breeder... this is my first successful litter. oh one other thing, i was planning on maybe keeping one of these kits and selling the other, and i was wondering how much i could sell it for? both parents are from great bloodlines and are show quality. i bought the buck for $50. the buck has a full pedigree and the doe has a partial pedigree that i dont have but could get if i needed to, and i would give these 2 babies pedigrees only i dont actually know HOW.... so anyway, these would be good for breeding, showing, or just as pets, and im planning on spending lots of time with them to make them tame. they are purebred mini lops. how much do you think theyre worth? $20? $30? $40? $50? most the local rabbits i see on craigslist are around $20-$30.... how much would you sell these for? well one of them. like i said i'm keeping one and selling the other probably


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## EmilyClick28 (Apr 19, 2016)

oh yeah sorry for all the questions but i wanted to ask one more thing. so exactly how often should i check and handle the kits? i know that its a myth that the doe will reject or eat them if u touch them, especially since my doe is super sweet and comfortable with me. but its only day 1 and ive already checked them 3-4 times.... is that too much? sorry its just so hard to leave them alone i want to make sure they are okay! both of their tummies look round and full, and they are squirming plenty but still sleeping quite a bit. they seem healthy and all but i really need to know how often i can check on them... ive only taken them out of the nest box about 3 times today but ive been peeking in it once every hour or so. should i leave them alone more? its hard to stay away! me being a first time bunny mom and all... i will DEFINITELY be checking them at least once a day, but should i be leaving them alone more? is it bad to mess with them too much? im trying to keep them as warm as possible but like i said its hard to leave them alone theyre so cute and tiny!!!!


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## samssimonsays (Apr 19, 2016)

If inside the ears is also white then Chestnut or potentially chinchilla but chances of chestnut are high. 

If mom has no issues with you handling them then it is fine. Some does don't do well with it while others are fine. YOU know your animals best   They are always better socialized when handled often from birth.


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## SandDherds (Apr 19, 2016)

I agree with Samantha drawz. If she is fine with it then that's great! For me I normally handle about 4-6 times from day 1-7 and then day 7-14 i handle about 7-10 times letting the kits crawl around my room alittle for maybe 5-10 minutes and on day 14-21 I just handle them whenever I need too cause at about day 13 mine have a pretty good coat of fur and there eyes begin to open and they start hoping for the first time. I normal just sit with them and after they open their eyes I start checking and playing with them more often.


As for selling them are the rabbits you saw on CL pedigreed? If they aren't then I would say 40$ for a doe and 35-30$ for a buck. So it really depends of the quality of the ones that you see on Craigslist but for a pedigreed mini lop I would probably try 50$ OBO for bucks and does and see if people would take them for that much or they ask  to lower the price alittle. Just be sure you put all the info about them and let people know they would be good pets or good for show or for breeding. After about 4 days of that price I would probably lower it a bit but that's what normally works for me with my rabbits


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## EmilyClick28 (Apr 19, 2016)

oh really? great wow thats awesome because yes i really enjoy holding and petting them even when theyre this little  and yeah the doe is very sweet with me but is pretty protective of the nest. while shes hopping around my room i take the nest box for a minute and check through it but try not to take it for too long because she freaks out when she notices its gone. and no most of the rabbits on craigslist were not pedigreed, and most of them were purebred but some were not. And really wow thats awesome. I would pedigree them but i don't have the mom's pedigree and i dont know how to pedigree them... so i'll probably just sell them for $30-$40.  okay wow thank you so much ill try that  and haha yes i hate it when people post ads for selling animals and don't provide any description. I'll be sure to add all the info.  thanks!


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