# 12 Beautiful Baby Bunnies!!!



## GypsyG (Dec 4, 2018)

My big Flemmish Giant doe, Wendy, gave birth to thirteen bunnies last night! Unfortunately, one of them was DOA, but still... that's 12 baby bunnies!!!!


The sire of the litter is a big broken red French Lop/New Zealand cross, so there is a whole rainbow of bunny cuteness in that nest box! Chestnut agoutis, broken agoutis, blacks, broken blacks, reds, broken reds, one that is either a broken tort or a tri color, and even a blue!!! I didn't know my doe carried non extenstion red or dilute!!! More holes in her genotype filled in! Yay!!!

But... I had bred a doe who I knew was prone to small litters two days before I bred Wendy, hoping if I needed to I could use her as a foster mom since Wendy is prone to big litters (her previous record was 10). The other doe's breeding didn't take, and she ended up having a false pregnancy (one more stunt like that and she'll get served with dumplings), so now I have a doe with eight teats and twelve kits. 

Now I am faced with the decision to let nature take it's course and see what happens, or wait a couple of days and cull any that appear to be runts for the greater good of Wendy and the litter.

So far they seem very uniform in size and energy level.

The poor little unlucky 13 seemed to be underdeveloped with malformed legs. She did not even bother to finish trying to clean it. I didn't know what else to do with the the poor little dead thing, so I tossed it to my chickens. They knew what to do and made quick gory work of it. 

I try to only reserve does for my herd that come from litters of 8+. I will probably reserve two or three does from this litter if everything goes well!


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## BlessedWithGoats (Dec 4, 2018)

Congratulations!


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## GypsyG (Dec 4, 2018)

That was a really bad photo of mom... Here's a better one.


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## GypsyG (Dec 9, 2018)

While I was out solving the mystery of the disappearing runt (the litters down to 11 kits), I took some pictures of the rest of their litter with their newly sprouted fur.


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## B&B Happy goats (Dec 9, 2018)

Ohhhh they are beautiful  !  I would love to have a Flemish Giant, we just have NZ Whites.... so sorry about  my misunderstang  on the other post.


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## B&B Happy goats (Dec 9, 2018)

Do you sell them or keep them all ?


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## GypsyG (Dec 9, 2018)

B&B Happy goats said:


> Do you sell them or keep them all ?


I save and sell the best and I eat the rest.

My Flemish doe and my Rex doe  and one NZ buck are the only purebreds I have.  The rest are meat muts that I have selected for rapid weight gain on natural fodder, large litter size, and good fur quality.


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## GypsyG (Dec 9, 2018)

I wouldn't imagine rabbits ship well.  

This litters sire is a French Lop/New Zealand, and he's a really big buck.  They should be really big rabbits.


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## B&B Happy goats (Dec 9, 2018)

I just sent you a pm...


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## GypsyG (Dec 9, 2018)

B&B Happy goats said:


> I just sent you a pm...


And I just responded!


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## GypsyG (Dec 26, 2018)

Photo bomb! 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 



They are all over the place now!  They are just growing like weeds and mom is dreaming of weaning day!


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## Baymule (Dec 26, 2018)

That is a nice litter, they are like a bouquet of flowers, all different colors! She is a good mom, her daughters should be good moms too.


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## GypsyG (Dec 26, 2018)

Baymule said:


> That is a nice litter, they are like a bouquet of flowers, all different colors! She is a good mom, her daughters should be good moms too.


The blue one and the black one appear to be does, and they are the biggest, spunkiest ones in the litter.  I think I'm going to keep both of them.  

I'm also planning on reserving the red buck out of Posey's litter... I've named him Opie.  


 

I'll probably want to keep a doe from Hosta's upcoming litter too... I better get to work finishing the new hutches!


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## Baymule (Dec 27, 2018)

Rabbits are a good farm animal. They are small, don't take much room, make no noise (good for backyard farms) make good fertilizer and give lots of meat. Have you ground the meat for chili or made sausage?


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## GypsyG (Dec 27, 2018)

Baymule said:


> Rabbits are a good farm animal. They are small, don't take much room, make no noise (good for backyard farms) make good fertilizer and give lots of meat. Have you ground the meat for chili or made sausage?


I need to get a meat grinder still, so not yet.  It is on my "soon to do" list though.


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## Baymule (Dec 27, 2018)

I have a small grinder I bought 30 years ago for $60. It still works and makes the rounds in the neighborhood, I loan it out to others that don't have one. You can use just rabbit meat for chili, but for sausage you have to add fat. Beef fat is best, ask for it at a custom slaughter place or at the grocery store. Making your own pan sausage is a great feeling. It makes good lasagna too.


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## GypsyG (Dec 27, 2018)

Rabbit lasagna sounds like an awesome idea!

My brother and I go in halves on a butcher calf and a hog every fall, so I have a box of fat in the freezer.  

I have been dreaming of this grinder at Lehman's.
https://www.lehmans.com/product/electric-meat-grinder-and-sausage-stuffer/


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## Baymule (Dec 27, 2018)

GypsyG said:


> Rabbit lasagna sounds like an awesome idea!
> 
> My brother and I go in halves on a butcher calf and a hog every fall, so I have a box of fat in the freezer.
> 
> ...


Definitely get it, it is an investment in fine dining!


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