DianeS
Ridin' The Range
I'm so relieved. She kindled yesterday, and did things mostly right, except she kindled on the wire. I got to the kits before they got too cold - yay! All eight lived. Mom was curious about them, but was way too jumpy for me to try to get her to nurse. I took them inside for the night, to eliminate the possibilty of mom tipping the nestbox or making other mistakes.
I tried again this morning, with partial success. I tried just putting the nestbox into her hutch, she was curious but wouldn't get in. I tempted her with grass, and she'd put her front feet in but jump back as soon as the kits moved. So I picked her up and put her in it, and she ignored the grass and jumped out. I put her in it and tried to hold her still, and that almost worked, but the angle was all wrong and I couldn't hold her. So I finally put the nestbox on the ground, sat on a box next to it, and put mom in the nestbox while holding the scruff of her neck, and quickly shoved a handful of grass in front of her. It worked! She started munching the grass and mostly ignoring the kits. She was quite twitchy, obviously not used to all the movement underneath her. And she only tolerated it for a few minutes. The kits were still hungry, but I decided to quit while they were ahead and not create a bad association for the mom.
I did it again tonight, going straight to putting the nestbox on the ground like I did that morning. Put mom in it, held her by her scruff, and put lots of greens in front of her. She dug right in and let the kits nurse a full 20 minutes. Yippee! I didn't even have to hold her the whole time. I let go a few times to test her out, and she stayed right there. Much calmer and less twitchy this time too.
She doesn't seem to notice when she steps on a kit, though. I won't put them in her hutch to nurse unsupervised yet, because of that. I want her to move (from instinct) when she is standing on a kit, because not doing so keeps that kit from nursing. Even when the kit struggles she keeps standing on it until I move her foot. So I'll continue to supervise a while yet.
But all in all she's doing quite well. Especially for a first-time mom!
I tried again this morning, with partial success. I tried just putting the nestbox into her hutch, she was curious but wouldn't get in. I tempted her with grass, and she'd put her front feet in but jump back as soon as the kits moved. So I picked her up and put her in it, and she ignored the grass and jumped out. I put her in it and tried to hold her still, and that almost worked, but the angle was all wrong and I couldn't hold her. So I finally put the nestbox on the ground, sat on a box next to it, and put mom in the nestbox while holding the scruff of her neck, and quickly shoved a handful of grass in front of her. It worked! She started munching the grass and mostly ignoring the kits. She was quite twitchy, obviously not used to all the movement underneath her. And she only tolerated it for a few minutes. The kits were still hungry, but I decided to quit while they were ahead and not create a bad association for the mom.
I did it again tonight, going straight to putting the nestbox on the ground like I did that morning. Put mom in it, held her by her scruff, and put lots of greens in front of her. She dug right in and let the kits nurse a full 20 minutes. Yippee! I didn't even have to hold her the whole time. I let go a few times to test her out, and she stayed right there. Much calmer and less twitchy this time too.
She doesn't seem to notice when she steps on a kit, though. I won't put them in her hutch to nurse unsupervised yet, because of that. I want her to move (from instinct) when she is standing on a kit, because not doing so keeps that kit from nursing. Even when the kit struggles she keeps standing on it until I move her foot. So I'll continue to supervise a while yet.
But all in all she's doing quite well. Especially for a first-time mom!
