Doe just kindled, but barely pulled any fur?

[Lorelai]

Our NZW doe just kindled for the first time, but she's barely pulled any fur. We're not overly concerned about the babies freezing, because they're inside, but I'm not sure if this shows a lack of mothering instinct or what. At least she had them in the nest box! Do some new mamas wait to pull fur? In our experience, our two senior does pull copious amounts of fur just prior to kindling. Suggestions? I read somewhere that one can pull fur for her, so she gets the idea, but we might have freaked her out when we tried that, and now I'm worried that she's going to neglect the kits.

 

[rabbitman]

I had a NZW doe pull so much fur, then she had her babies on the wire and the nestbox with all the fur was a waste, because they died. Then I had a mix of some sort pull hardly any hair. The babies did not freeze luckly becasue I save old fur from previous litters. You might want to try that just in case it were to happen again.

 

[xotatiannaxo]

they are all differnt, but from what ive seen from our NZW's is that the first time moms dont really do a whole lot of anything. i had one drop the babies on the wire and not pull any fur, even tho there was a nesting box in there. she just had her second litter yesterday and has an amazing nest full of fur and is doing great. so i think the first time they just dont know what to do. we have lost all or half of our kits from the first litters. from not doing it right or the doe standing and crushing them, having them on the wire, not making a nest... ext. but they get better at it

 

[Bunnylady]

Congrats on your new litter! In the box, all cleaned up, and only a little fur pulled? Sounds like she gets about a B, not bad for a first effort! I usually consider anything that you get from a first litter "gravy," as does frequently make a hash of it the first time out.

A lot of my does will continue to pull fur occasionally for several days after kindling, particularly if the nights are cool, so she may add some more with time. I don't know why this "pull the fur for her" advice persists; as you said, it freaks them out big time! Does find kindling stressful enough, without having someone attacking them and yanking their fur out (looking at it from the rabbit's perspective; somehow, what she does to herself doesn't seem to count). I don't think the doe will connect your fur pulling to the kits, but I would generally try to avoid upsetting her any more than you can help. Good luck, it sounds like your doe is doing a good job so far!

 

[smalltimer]

i just had a litter for the first time a few weeks ago she hardly pulled any fur but a great mum but it was not cold here in australia

 

[Lorelai]

Thank you all for your replies! She seems to be doing all right... she didn't pull tons of fur like our two senior does, but she pulled enough (it seems like either the kits burrowed into the pine shavings, or she pulled a bit more fur). Between that and the pine shavings, the litter is very well covered. I walked into the garage this evening to dig around in the freezer and caught her in the nest box, which made me happy. I think I was a little nervous for her, because it's her first litter, but based on what I could tell earlier today, she probably has 8 kits or so in there. We'll wait until tomorrow before we bribe her into letting us check if there are any casualties.

 

[Lorelai]

Update - We checked on her kits last night, and counted seven total, which wasn't far off from my original estimate. Sadly, two were dead, so that's five. I'm happy to see a first litter survive at all though! It'll be interesting to see how these five grow compared to our other litters where the mamas have popped out anywhere from 9-13 kits. Oh, and we did notice Daisy pulling more fur yesterday, so I think she's kinda figuring things out as she goes along. Hopefully she keeps it up!

 

[Bunnylady]

5 is a good size for a first litter. For some reason, does don't seem to produce as much milk with the first litter as they do with subsequent litters. If a doe's first litter were a big one, she would probably lose quite a few of them, or else they would grow very slowly. The supposedly optimal size for a litter is about 6, striking the best balance between growth and the doe's milk supply.

 

[hoodat]

You can always use a shedder comb, the same kind you use on dogs, to get more fur for the nest.

 

[Lorelai]

We lost another one, so that makes four. But on the plus side, she does seem to be pulling fur. She must be feeding them, or they wouldn't have lasted this long... maybe she's just inexperienced. Here's hoping we don't slowly lose them one by one.