I got a new doe today. I was told she's had a few successful litters before. She is moving hay from area to another. Is she just making a comfortable place to rest in her new home? Do rabbits do that for any other reason than building a nest?
Hay stash?
- Thread starter Gary
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promiseacres
Herd Master
She's nesting, was she bred ?
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- #3
She probably was at the place I bought her from. I bred her with my buck today, then let her in her own area in the coop. She's not pulling fur. I noticed her moving hay and I made her a nesting box but she's not using it. I thought maybe she was just padding up a place to rest.
Mini Horses
Herd Master
decorating her new home? 
Baymule
Herd Master
Get her some paint and wallpaper! 
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- #6
Baymule
Herd Master
She could be nesting or she could be making it "hers". Either way, better to be prepared and pleasantly surprised or just have a lovely wad of hay decorating the place, than to be unprepared and her lose a litter on the wire. Keep us updated on her!
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- #8
Baymule
Herd Master
I raised show rabbits many years ago, had a barn of a couple hundred. I handled the kits from birth, Especially if one or more was out on the wire. I warmed them up and returned them back to the nest. I fostered kits on different mommas. I never had a doe reject a kit because I handed her baby. Not one time.
That said, respect the doe. If she is nervous, growling or striking at you, it's rather obvious that she does not like you messing with her babies, so don't-unless you have to.
That said, respect the doe. If she is nervous, growling or striking at you, it's rather obvious that she does not like you messing with her babies, so don't-unless you have to.
AmberLops
Herd Master
Sounds like she is nesting! I do have one doe that does that when she wants to breed though...just keep a box in there and wait and see.
And it's perfectly fine to handle the babies. I handle mine the day they're born and every day after that
The old myth of mom rejecting babies is not true unless the doe is particularly over-protective or a bit crazy...ha ha!
And it's perfectly fine to handle the babies. I handle mine the day they're born and every day after that
The old myth of mom rejecting babies is not true unless the doe is particularly over-protective or a bit crazy...ha ha!
