# getting soon, so excited <done no babies>



## talchemist5 (Feb 18, 2011)

well according to the excel spreadsheet i created to monitor the dates/numbers for my wee herd on monday i need to put the nest box in with my youngest doe, Lucy.  

i am finishing her nestbox tonight and will give it too her mid-day on monday.  since i am using extra materials right now and we will have another frost  before spring gets here i am using wood sides and the dimensions from storeys guide to raising rabbits <well alittle larger>

i am excited and worried about her and if i even mated her correctly....it is so odd not knowing if it worked, if she will be good a mother or if the buck, Buck, even had ammo to shoot.

and by the end of the week, well thrusday i need the nestbox for Mary as well.  hopefully one of them will give me some kitts.  it is like waiting to open a christmas present and not knowing if it is socks or the thing you wanted 

does anyone have any opinions on good straw/bedding for the box?  i will be going to the feed store tomorow to look for straw, since i need at least one bale for the garden mulch this year.


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## terri9630 (Feb 18, 2011)

I use pine shavings.


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## cattlecait (Feb 19, 2011)

I put about an inch of pine shavings in the bottom and fill the box with straw. Mama will arrange it how she wants it


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## rabbitman (Feb 19, 2011)

cattlecait said:
			
		

> I put about an inch of pine shavings in the bottom and fill the box with straw. Mama will arrange it how she wants it


I do the same as well, if you are expecting another frost than you should definaltly use straw that will keep the babies nice and warm.


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## talchemist5 (Feb 21, 2011)

she has her box in now.  she ignored it at first but after a few hours alone she has removed a few big piles from it and now she is laying there panting.  it is a little warmer right now but the other bunies arent even fazed by the weather so i think she is panting from internal reasons.  

is it normal for a doe to pant before she gives birth?  

she also seems to have removed a nice divot fromt he box, just no fur pulled yet.  i am probally just being paranoid/overeager but i am fasinated by the entire process.

i still say i am excited.  today was 28 days so no telling how much longer.


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## terri9630 (Feb 21, 2011)

talchemist5 said:
			
		

> she has her box in now.  she ignored it at first but after a few hours alone she has removed a few big piles from it and now she is laying there panting.  it is a little warmer right now but the other bunies arent even fazed by the weather so i think she is panting from internal reasons.
> 
> is it normal for a doe to pant before she gives birth?
> 
> ...


She may be close so leave her alone.  They don't like to be bothered/watched.  Some pull fur before kindeling and some after.


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## talchemist5 (Feb 21, 2011)

yeah i am watching from inside the house were they cant see me.

motly just a walk by and look out the window every so often.


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## savingdogs (Feb 22, 2011)




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## talchemist5 (Feb 22, 2011)

man i am bad at waiting.  i am ansy....still no changes so far today.  the nest box apears to have a nice big hollow in it with nothing inside and she is lounging around....not as much panting this afternoon....

i am only going out there for a spot check first thing in the morning before work, as soon as i get home for work, and finally to feed/water everyone at 8pm.

i hate waiting


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## woodleighcreek (Feb 22, 2011)

talchemist5 said:
			
		

> man i am bad at waiting.  i am ansy....still no changes so far today.  the nest box apears to have a nice big hollow in it with nothing inside and she is lounging around....not as much panting this afternoon....
> 
> i am only going out there for a spot check first thing in the morning before work, as soon as i get home for work, and finally to feed/water everyone at 8pm.
> 
> i hate waiting


I know how you feel! My doe is on day 32 and is just lounging in the box, occasionally pulling fur. I now have a webcam on her so I can spy.


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## talchemist5 (Feb 23, 2011)

if my math/formula and excel is correct today should be day 29/30 so i am just over excited.....i hate playing the waiting game....but at least she seems happy.

she is just calmly lounging/eating/drinking and the nest box is clean, no poo and she hasnt eaten it...she even seems to have cleared a depression in the middle of it...

i think i will give her some extra straw in the morning if she doesnt have them tonight to see if she will add it to the box.


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## talchemist5 (Feb 24, 2011)

she played in the extra straw some....snuck a few peices into her box...then nothing....

i gave some to mary my second doe, she dove in and tried to tunnel into it...when that failed she tried to move it around...so now she has her box.  it is just day 27/28 for her so i still have a few days most likely.


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## talchemist5 (Feb 25, 2011)

well all Lucy did overnight was make sure that all the new straw fit into the box and she has a nice bug hole in the middle of the box so she has been getting into it at night....hopefull tonight she will have her kits since today is day 30/31.


we will see.

as for my second doe mary she seems to have arranged her box a little.  i am guessing monday still for her.


i hope by thte end of next week i will have lots of baby bunnies


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## talchemist5 (Feb 26, 2011)

well i switched out lucy's nestbox for a new one since i forgot to put the lower side on the front with sloped sides, it was a squared/rectangled box.  this one is much easier to see into and see if she did anything....which she hasnt.  but she has seemed to not drink much water since last night and was not intrested in todays hay snack, maybe she is getting close.  today should be day 32 and the waiting is killing me   maybe this whole enterprise will teach me to be more patient.....

as too my second doe Mary, she got her box this week and it seems she doesnt really care other than to sniff it....but this morning i was startled by her change in personality.  i called her mary cause she was contrary...hiding in the corner and being scared of me to some extent if i ever opened the door but friendly with it closed.....this morning she ran to me and wanted to be petted and played around as i tried to clean her cage a little....she has never done that...none of them have.  i like it.  it was like after she got bred she became more friendly for a few days...now with her box she is plain nice.  odd.

it seems even the lowly meat bunny is a big bag of suprises and personality.


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## talchemist5 (Feb 27, 2011)

well as of about 12 noon i found one large dead kitt on the wire.  she has pulled fur and made a nice place in the box but there are currently no kitts.  i hope since i accidently waited too long to rebreed her 12-14 hours <the next morning and i overslept> that she may have more that are just later than the first,

i think the kit may have been a fetal giant?  it was 5 inches long and wider than my thumb with some hair on it.  it had a cut/tear on its belly and i think it bled out?

this is sad but i still have some hope.


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## talchemist5 (Mar 1, 2011)

ok time for round 2, my second doe Mary is really in overdrive with her nesting behavior.  everytime i come by she mugs me to see if i brought her more straw for her nest and she bounds in iand out of the box excitedly.....i think she is really getting ready.

hopefully Mary will have a full litter and if she does i will be so excited.  

it is really sad to only get one dead kitt....but it at least proves that Buck isnt a total dud and she can conceive....i bread her first....before i added the lights while they were a little stressed over comming here...so i may have tried to early or without proper conditions.  maybe this time will be the charm....i also know she pulls fur, makes a nest, and seems to kinda know what she should do. i think since lucy has done nothing else i will rebread her tomorow....yesterday was day 35 so i just wanted to be sure.


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## talchemist5 (Mar 3, 2011)

ok, i guess they are both done now.  Mary had 1 kitt born dead in the box.  she built a big nest with lots of fur and she even had the kit inside....but it may have been to large(4.5" long) or something else.....i dont know.

did i do something wrong?  did i breed them too early durring the winter and before i added the light to give them a steady light level?  or while the buck was too cold?  or is this genetic?  is there a condition that could cause a buck to always have fetal giants?  i had one 5+" kitt and one 4.5" kit from 2 different moms.  could they have been to stressed from moving out here?  i do see that they are much better around me now than then.  could they be too fat?  or could i have had a perfect storm of conditions?

for now i plan on rebreeding her tonight i guess? or should i wait till tomorow night for Mary?  i rebred Lucy last night and Buck was feeling good...he tried 3 times spent a few minutes pounding his feet on the floor.  after his third mating she got up and walked off.  she didndt just lift her tail like the first time i mated them, she moved forward and lifted her entire hind in up like a cat does.

if anyone has any advice i would appretiate it.


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## norcal (Mar 3, 2011)

Sorry about that.   Our first accidental breeding didn't go good either (1 immediately died & the other 3 in about 3 days).


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## dkluzier (Mar 3, 2011)

Sorry to hear of your loss.


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## rabbitgeek (Mar 3, 2011)

talchemist5 said:
			
		

> did i do something wrong?  did i breed them too early durring the winter and before i added the light to give them a steady light level?  or while the buck was too cold?  or is this genetic?  is there a condition that could cause a buck to always have fetal giants?  i had one 5+" kitt and one 4.5" kit from 2 different moms.  could they have been to stressed from moving out here?  i do see that they are much better around me now than then.  could they be too fat?  or could i have had a perfect storm of conditions?


It doesn't sound like you did anything wrong. Even though rabbits are supposed to breed like rabbits, they don't.  

We can do everything by the book and it doesn't make any difference to the rabbits because the rabbits won't read the book.

So take a deep breath, let it out, and move on. Eventually you'll have kits bouncing in the nest box.

Have a better day!
Franco Rios


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## DianeS (Mar 3, 2011)

Oh, bummer. I'm sorry that happened.

This is the first litter for each of the does, right? (Unless I have you mixed up with someone else.) Losing first litters is just sooooo common. There isn't anything I know of that keeps that from happening. One baby or eight, they just don't live.

Hang in there, it's unlikely that anything you did contributed to this. It's just the way nature works sometimes.


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## talchemist5 (Mar 4, 2011)

and a new twist this morning.

for mary i was leaving her box in there and giving her 24 hours from the one she lost before i bred her again.....another dead baby last night.  this one seemed a little stretched.  sad.  

the question? should i wait another 24 and breed her tomorow night to be sure she is done?  was this likely the second horn that had one kit and the first had one kit?  since they have that dual bioiogy.  

yes this is suposed to be thier first breedings, according to the guy i bought them from.  one was a show bunny Lucy.


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