Jumping Beans

[Bunnerbun6]

So, our kits are 3 days old. First litter - is it normal for the little nut jobs to be jumping beans and getting out of the nest box?

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

They are basically blind and deaf at that age, and jump when they feel movement. This is supposed to be jumping to make contact with their mother in order to search out and find a teat, but sometimes they jump when the human checks on the nest. I usually try to wrangle any that jump away from the others back into the protected part of the nest box and lightly cover with the bedding to hide them and help them settle down. If they get out of the nest box they can get chilled and die easily, mom will NOT move them back.

 

[Bunnerbun6]

Hmmm, they are jumping around when nobody is messing with them. Thanks for the info.

 

[Larsen Poultry Ranch]

Hmmm, they are jumping around when nobody is messing with them. Thanks for the info.

Is it possible they are feeling the vibrations from someone/mom walking past the cage? The pic showing the bunny from the side looked like it had a partially full tummy at least, so they look like they are being fed. Maybe you just have extra jumpy bunnies. They should settle down within a week once their ears and eyes start working.

 

[ButtonHerder]

I don't know much about bunnies, but they are adorable!

 

[Niele da Kine]

I call them "popples" at that stage since they pop up like little mad things. We've switched to dropped nest boxes so if/when they pop out of the nest they will roll back in. The momma bun can't pick them up and move them around like cats can so if they get out of the nest, many times they're a goner.

 

[Bunnerbun6]

The jumping beans are growing and happy now at 3 weeks.

 

[Niele da Kine]

They grow amazingly fast, don't they? Mum bun should start weaning them around now and should anything happen to her, they're now fully functioning little bunners. Did she manage to keep the full litter? Was this her first time?

You'd mentioned it was a first litter, but I don't know if that's for you or for her.

What breed are they?

 

[Bunnerbun6]

She kept the full litter and yes, it is her first litter too. She is an American Sable and we bred her to a standard Rex (castor).

 

[Niele da Kine]

How many did she have? It's great that she kept them all being a first time mum bun and all.

Isn't the dense Rex coat a double recessive in order to get it to show up? Does the Sable have any Rex in her background?

All the buns here are English angora, so they lose the long wool coats on them if they're bred to any non-angora. I'd been thinking of getting some Rex or mini-Rex for folks asking for pet buns, but haven't been able to find any anywhere in the state.