# My first litter!



## Jean Derby (Sep 25, 2016)

I don't have pics yet......

But I have been attempting to raise meat rabbits for a year. With no success stories. 
We successfullybred my silver fox/cinnamon doe  with the chestnut NZ buck. She kindled 12 chubby kits. I am so excited to finally see babies. And I am so excited to see them grow.


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## Bunnylady (Sep 25, 2016)

Welcome to BYH!

Congrats on warm and wigglies. 12 is a lot for one doe to raise; she may lose a few, but to have any after trying for a year is sweet!


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## DutchBunny03 (Sep 25, 2016)

If you have another litter at the same time, you could foster a couple of the kits to the dam of the other litter. Good luck!!


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## Jean Derby (Sep 25, 2016)

I'm waiting to see if the chin doe will kindle soon. If she does, I  may give her a couple


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## Jean Derby (Oct 1, 2016)

Ok. Out of the 13 babies (we found an extremely tiny one that was dead) we now have 8. I don't think she could feed all 12. And so today's count was 8.I changed the nest bedding and put the hair back in place after removing the smelly deceased. I feel like maybe I could have helped even though alot I have read says otherwise. I hope the remaining balance of the babys will continue to grow. They are furry and chubby and wiggly all over. And beautiful fur colors.


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## DutchBunny03 (Oct 1, 2016)

The dam is a beautifully marked rabbit! What colors are the kits?


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## Hens and Roos (Oct 1, 2016)

Congrats!


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## Bunnylady (Oct 1, 2016)

Rabbits are only "plumbed" for 10, and there's a lot of pushing and shoving that goes on during the few minutes that the doe is in the box nursing. The strongest kits win, the others fade out and die. This is particularly true with first litters, as the first time mother's milk doesn't really come in good until about day 3. But I think the 8 she has now have an excellent chance of making it.

I'm curious - do you know that the doe has Cinnamon in her, or are you guessing? Because her color looks like black with sun fading/staining; when she does a complete molt, she'll probably be all black with the silvering.


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## Jean Derby (Oct 1, 2016)

I don't know for sure. I was told she was a silver fox cinnamon mix. But she was all black when I brought her home. 
The father is a chestnut NZ buck. 
Some of the babys are like a light red Others are black and others are a torte mix. And there is a couple black bodies with red bellies chin and paws.


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## Bunnylady (Oct 1, 2016)

It's kind of funny that the Cinnamon breed has that name; the rabbit color that is sometimes called cinnamon is a chocolate agouti. The Cinnamon breed color is called Tortoiseshell or Tort in most other breeds. Go figure.

Does the black body/red belly look like this?




That is a Tan rabbit, and the color/pattern is also called Tan. The Tan breed is a smaller rabbit (4 to 5 lbs); to get this color showing up on something in the commercial sized breeds, you'd probably have to have some Silver Marten in the mix.






Silver Marten (6 to 9 lbs)

I'm intrigued, and looking forward to baby pictures!


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