# First litter on the wire



## clint (Dec 29, 2011)

I found them this afternoon 9 kits total.  They where alive but 4 of them where tore up pretty bad.    The wife wanted to hand raise them but we ended up putting them in the box.  She has sense scratched up two real bad.  I read that hand raised kits have about 10 percent Chance of survival that is why we put them back.  I did mess with her last night trying to get her to build in the box she was building nest next to box?  She is a big doe and was a 4H 4th place winner and very tame.  So she will get a couple of more trys for sure.   Can I breed her before two weeks if all the kits are lost.


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## lastfling (Dec 30, 2011)

Just a thought, but you can remove the kits and nestbox  and bring them to the doe 1 or 2x a day for feeding only.  That way they'd be supervised but the doe would still be feeding them.  You could possibly avoid the scratching she appears to be doing.  I haven't had to do this, but have read on several threads where it has been accomplished successfully and the kits reared to weaning age.


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## Tab003 (Dec 30, 2011)

If kits are lost or you take them away. You can rebred the next day.  Better luck w/ the next litter.


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## Citylife (Dec 30, 2011)

Hopefully she raises them for you.  Taking them away and bringing them to her to nurse does make sense.  
Good luck with them.


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## Legacy (Dec 31, 2011)

That fact that she is building a nest at all means the instincts are somewhat kicking in. That is promising that she will do better next time.


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## clint (Dec 31, 2011)

They didnt make it.  She did end up building a nest and pulling more hair in the nest box.  I rebreed her and pulled the box.  Going to leave it intact for next time.  I think if it happens again maybe we could of let her build the nest then put them back in.  She did have them then built the nest, hopefully she can get the timing down.


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## Bunnylady (Dec 31, 2011)

Sorry to hear that you lost the whole litter. 

I usually tell people that  anything they get from a first litter is gravy, 'cause it seems like an awful lot of does make a mess of things first time around. Better luck next time!


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