# First babies!



## VickieB (May 6, 2013)

My two does had their litters at the same time! I went out this morning to check on them around 8:30, and found empty nests. I checked again around 9:10 and found 10 babies in one and 11 in the other!  I'm soooo proud of my little mommas. Now we just have to see how well they do in the nurturing department. So far everything looks great though. I found all the babies under a mound of hair and looking healthy and happy.


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## VickieB (May 6, 2013)

I cleaned the trays today around 3. There was some blood in each, but I wasn't worried. I figured that would be normal. I just went out to check (6:10) and there is quite a bit of new blood in the tray of one of the mothers. Is it normal for them to still be bleeding 9 hours later?


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## VickieB (May 7, 2013)

Moms seem to be fine this morning! They seem to be feeding the babies well. There are a few small ones that don't seem to have a full belly like the others. Is there anything I can do about that? I've been wondering if I take out the well fed babies will the other babies get fed? Has anyone tried doing that?


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## VickieB (May 7, 2013)

My sister's rabbits kindled yesterday and today(She had gone with me when I bought my rabbits, and had purchased these on the same day. We had them bred before we left the breeder's). She has 3 does, and they had 9, 10, and 11 bunnies. (Between the two of us we had 51 babies in a little over 24 hours with 5 first time moms) Every mom is doing a wonderful job of taking care of them. I called the breeder this morning and mentioned how we had had so many babies, and how good the moms were. I shared with her what I've learned here, and asked if what we were experiencing was unusual. She told me we had bought Production White rabbits, that they were a commercially bred rabbit that had been bred to have large litters and be great moms. She said that they will generally have anywhere between 8 and 15 babies a litter. Well, I'm a believer!


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## nawma (May 7, 2013)

Wow! Congratulations to you and your sister. Great start with your new does. Sounds like they are going to be good moms. The blood spotting sounds consistent with my experience. It takes a day or two for moms milk to completely come in and I bet your babies are all already starting to get full bellies. Have fun!


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## VickieB (May 9, 2013)

Well, it's been a full three days, and so far so good. Every baby is still alive. I have one little peanut that I thought we would lose, but even that one seems to be growing and is very active. I'm beginning to think we are going to get through our first litters without losing a baby. This has been a great experience!


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## sonnythebunny (May 9, 2013)

a  peanut would not be in a meat breed, most likely it is a runt, and peanuts usually die after a few days, but I'm glad the other babies are well!


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## VickieB (May 9, 2013)

I thought the term "peanut" just referred to a runt. What is the difference between a peanut and a runt?   (I'm new to rabbit ranching...   )


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## sonnythebunny (May 9, 2013)

a peanut is a rabbit with the double dwarf gene, so the mom (say a holland lop) usally has 1 dwarf gene and 1 normal, that is called a TRUE DWARF. And the dad (another holland) has 1 dwarf and 1 normal, if you breed these you will get a peanut. but if you breed a rabbit with 2 normal genes, and one with 1 dwarf and 1 normal you MIGHT get a peanut, but it is not very likely, and If you breed rabbits with 2 normal, you will not get a peanut. get it?


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## sonnythebunny (May 9, 2013)

oh sorry, hehe
a peanut is malformed, deformed, and it's internal organisms are mush
a runt is just smaller than the others


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## VickieB (May 10, 2013)

Oh! No, my little one in definitely not a peanut then. He/she seems very normal, just small. He is about 1/2 the size of the others. Since these are meat rabbits, that's not a good trait to have...


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## VickieB (May 13, 2013)

The runt of Mom 1 died a couple of days ago, and yesterday I found one other kit in her nest dead. She was trying to remove it. It looked as though it weren't being fed. 

Today I checked all of her remaining kits (there are 8 left) and they seem fine. But when I checked the kits of the other mom I found 3 that definitely were not being fed. They were just skin and bones. While she was laying out on the wire I pet and scratched her so she would continue to lay on her side and put one of the thin kits beside her to nurse. She wouldn't let it nurse, though he was doing his best to. I'm afraid we're going to lose the 3. 

Does anyone have a suggestion or should I just let nature take its course and chalk it up to a first time litter?


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## nawma (May 14, 2013)

You could try putting those babies in with your other doe.


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## VickieB (May 23, 2013)

The kits are now 2 1/2 weeks old. We lost 2 from each nest. I tried putting the last two that died in with the other doe, but she wouldn't feed them either. The remaining kits are all looking good. They are up and about, very active. They jump out of the box throughout the day, will stay out for a short while, then jump back into the box. They are so cute! This has been a lot of fun. I'm looking forward to when my other 2 does kindle, which should happen in about 2 1/2 weeks.


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